Students and Other Interested Parties:

Greetings! On behalf of the Department of Art Education, I welcome you to browse our website and learn about our programs, faculty, and students. We continue to undergo many changes while still embracing the department’s overall mission:

Our Purpose
As a comprehensive education and research program for art education, art therapy, and arts administration, we strive to effect positive change in the community, the university, and our respective professions.

Our Business
We conduct diverse, accessible, comprehensive graduate and undergraduate programs and research in art education, art therapy and arts administration.

Our Values
We believe in the intrinsic value of art and its importance as a social good and as a catalyst for the development of the individual.

We continue to abide by our ever-strengthening identity of Art for Life, which directly reflects this mission. The core of all that we do continues to support the theoretical and practical application of art to bring about social justice and change.

As indicated, there are many new changes to look forward to. This year begins the new 5 year combined BA in Art/MS in Art Education degree program. As has been presented in previous letters, this program allows students to complete their BA in Art and MS in Art Education degrees in a minimum of five full years, receiving both their degrees simultaneously—these students would not only have two degrees but will also be eligible for their teacher certification. The first group of students who have signed up for this program have begun and they will be taking their first graduate level courses this spring. If you have any questions, you may contact this new program’s coordinator, Art Education Assistant Professor, Dr. Anniina Suominen Guyas or you may go to the program link on this site for advisement sheets and information.

The wait has been long, but at last, the new William Johnston Building is finished and we have moved in. Along with the Departments of Interior Design and Art History, Advising First and some programs from Human Sciences, we occupy several floors. We have, in addition to vastly improved offices, resource centers and seminar rooms, two very large studio classrooms connected by a large storage room for all of our art supplies, a research room—which is actually two rooms separated by a one way mirror for observation and will be wired for audio and video recording, and a large student lounge. We also share a very large library space with the Departments of Interior Design and Art History to house our ever-increasing collections (including the Mary Mooty Library, Charles Dorn Collection, and Ivan Johnson Archives), and two arena-style classrooms with a 200+ seating capacity. Words cannot express how impressive this new building is—we welcome you to come for a visit, and we hope to see you at the grand opening event on October 1^st; along with tours of the building and a reception, Ellen Dissanayake, noted author and art educator, will be speaking, followed by a book signing. For information about this event, please refer to http://cvatd.fsu.edu/William-Johnston-Building-Grand-Re-Opening.

I am proud to announce that we have hired Dr. Jeffrey Broome, to be our new assistant professor in art education. I urge you to check out his impressive biography linked on our faculty page. Welcome Jeff!

The Department’s academic journal, Journal of Art for Life, headed by Senior Editor, Dr. Marcia Rosal, continuesto be published and disseminated all around the world, so keep your eyes open for the new issue, slated to arrive this spring.

Our email listserve continues to provide our alumni updates to upcoming events and special announcements, so if you are one of our alumni, and have not been receiving these emails, please email the listserve at arted-alumni@fsu.edu  and we will be sure to add you.

Our graduate university and departmental application materials are available on this website, but you may also contact Susan Messersmith at smessersmith@fsu.edu with questions about the admissions process. If you wish you may contact the directors of the degree programs directly:

MS in Art Education: Dr. AnniinaSuominen Guyas

PhD in Art Education: Dr. Tom Anderson

MS and PhD in Art Therapy: Dr. Marcia Rosal

MA and PhD in Arts Administration: Dr. Pat Villeneuve

As well, please feel free to contact all faculty members with questions about their teaching specializations and research interests. If you have a question that is not answered by the information provided herein, please e-mail me at dgussak@fsu.edu.

Thanks for visiting and I look forward to hearing from you!

Dave Gussak, PhD, ATR-BC
 Associate Professor and Chairperson