REIGNITE! THE ARTS MOVING FORWARD November 19, 2021

David R. Modler is a maker, scholar and professor originally from Baltimore, Maryland. He earned his Bachelor of Science and Master of Education in Art Education from Towson State University and his Master of Fine Arts in painting from James Madison University. Modler is an internationally recognized expert in the field of visual journals, which he utilizes to explore some of the stylistic, conceptual and contextual concerns of his research and studio practices. He facilitates numerous lectures and workshops around the world as well as maintaining a prolific studio practice creating paintings, visual journals and installations. Modler currently works as an Associate Professor of Art and serves as the chair in the Department of Contemporary Art and Theater at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

I have a story for you to share. Come hear how storytelling moves us to reimagine our classrooms as culturally sustaining and revitalizing places for students to learn and grow. In this workshop, we will explore the use of power and privilege in storytelling and how understanding these concepts can help your students be their authentic selves in your classroom. With the national conversations swirling around Critical Race Theory (CRT), this workshop offers space to explore how our identity(ies) and the opportunities to explore multiple perspectives is part of your students’ stories. The workshop will not focus on a single story. The presenter acknowledges that teaching is inherently political and invites participants to attend the workshop who are willing to sit with discomfort and allow others in the room to sit with it, too. Storytelling is a very powerful and important element in our teaching and learning. Come share, learn, and grow with us as we explore telling your story.

Macy Bui is a K-12 Art Teacher in the Hempfield School District. She received her undergraduate and graduate degree in Art Education from Kutztown University. Macy is passionate about both the visual and performing arts, assisting with the musical and dance program at Hempfield High School.  

Elisa Hannay has been an elementary art teacher for Manheim Township School District for five years and taught as a K-12 art teacher in Haiti for three years. She received her graduate and undergraduate degrees from Kutztown. 

Michael L. Miller is a KU Alumnus and earned his MFA from the Maryland Institute, College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland.  After showing his own artwork for several years in the Philadelphia area, he became interested in community-based art.  This interest stemmed from the Mural Arts Program in Philadelphia.  Over the past 15 years, he has created collaborative murals together with hundreds of people and many community organizations in the greater Reading area.  He has taught art in Berks County for 28 years.

Dr. Marilyn Stewart taught at Kutztown for 31 years and received the Arthur and Isabel Wiesenberger Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching.  She is author of Thinking Through Aesthetics, Rethinking Curriculum in Art, Davis Publications’ K-8 art textbook programs, Explorations in Art, a frequent keynote speaker and consultant here and abroad, and has conducted over 200 professional development seminars in over 35 states. A Distinguished Fellow of the National Art Education Association, she has received recognition and numerous awards for her contributions and was named the 2011 National Art Educator of the Year.

Lavett Ballard was born in East Orange, New Jersey in 1970. She is an art historian, curator, and author. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Studio Art and Art History with a minor in Museum Studies from Rutgers University and an MFA in Studio Art from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Ballard’s art has been included in literary, film and theatre productions and museum, galleries, public, private institutions, and exhibitions nationwide. She was named by Black Art In America as one of the “Top 10 Female Emerging Artists to Collect” and was nominated for the inaugural Art for Social Change Pew Foundation-funded Residency, among other distinguished honors.

https://www.lavettbeart.com/

Elaine Cunfer teaches graphic design in the Art and Design Department in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. A member of the KU faculty since 1991, she brings her experience as a professional graphic designer,  illustrator, and information graphics specialist for various publications into the classroom.  Among the many topics she teaches are all levels of graphic design  and illustration courses.

Prof. Cunfer graduated from Kutztown University in 1983 and received her MFA degree in Visual Design from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in 1991.

Her illustration and design work has been published in national design journals including Print Magazine and the Society of Newspaper Design Annuals.  Included in her many interests are fine metals and jewelry design, and printmaking.

Vicki Meloney is an award-winning graphic designer and Professor at Kutztown University. She received her MFA from Temple University and has worked in the Philadelphia area for more than a decade before becoming an inspiring educator. Prior to teaching, Vicki worked with clients as small as local non-profit organizations and as large as international global brands. Her specialties include image-making, concepting, and all forms of print media with a special emphasis on Design for the Greater Good. Vicki's passion for community-based design led her to co-founding Replace-the-Hate and KUCD Designathon. Vicki also owns and operates a freelance design business and enjoys traveling the world to experience different sights, sounds and flavors.

A tenured elementary art teacher with 7 years’ experience teaching in the PA public school system in Montgomery County. Ali has a passion for clay and had been working in the medium since 2003.

A Kutztown Alum currently an Assistant Professor of fine art and the Coordinator of the Art Department at Campbell University. Maggie has been working in clay since 2005 and teaching ceramics since 2017.

Peg Speirs, Ph.D., is a Professor of Art Education in the Department of Art Education at Kutztown University. Her research interests include feminist art, theory and pedagogy; issues-based art education; and digital storytelling, currently editing a video about women and tattoo. Dr. Speirs co-edited the text, Contemporary Issues in Art Education, and co-authored articles and essays on teaching art for social justice, art and ritual, gender equity in arts education, a national study investigating curricular influences of new art teachers, and The Dinner Party Curriculum Project, an on-line resource for K-12 teachers. Dr. Speirs served as Interim Associate Dean in the College of Visual & Performing Arts for 4.5 years with the last term ending in 2018. She resumed this role part-time for the 2021-22 school year. Dr. Speirs is an artist, curator, and co-developer of Random Oaks, a creative research community in Kensington, OH.  

Landon Peacock is currently an art education graduate student at Kutztown University. He received his BFA from the University of Wisconsin- Madison in 2011 where he focused on painting and drawing. He has been a practicing artist since that time, exploring three-dimensional form through furniture design and concrete and then focusing solely on painting. He now teaches private painting lessons at his studio in West Chester, PA and enjoys seeing his students explore their unique creativity. For Landon, painting is a means of self-improvement that can help individuals become authentic versions of themselves as well as critical thinkers in a world that rewards conformity. This perspective guides Landon’s intention as an educator as he creates lesson plans and considers how to effectively meet student needs.

Jessica Skuraton is a junior at Kutztown University, and is currently working towards degrees in Art Education and Studio Art with a concentration in painting, in addition to a minor in Art History. She hopes to work as a secondary education teacher after graduation, while also maintaining her own artistic practice. Jessica aspires to create a future classroom where she prioritizes the discussion of relevant issues, while also sharing her own passion for creating art with her students. 

Rose Cushwa is a senior in the Art Education Certification Program at KU. She enjoys all art making, but is especially passionate about oil painting and ceramics. She loves studying all things education and is excited to start putting all of her learning into practice student teaching in the Spring.  

Bethany Sherman is an Art Education undergraduate student at Kutztown University minoring in English as a Second Language. Bethany is an active member in the university’s chapter of NAEA, and she also works as a student course assistant for Dr. Brenda Muzeta’s EDU 150 course on the instructional needs of English Language Learners.