We have some exciting news to share about recent changes to leadership in the Department of Art Education. We are pleased to announce Dr. Sara Scott Shield’s well-deserved promotion to Associate Dean of Academic Affairs of the College of Fine Arts at Florida State. Over the past 9 years Sara has been with us (more than 3 of those as Department Chair), she has consistently demonstrated unwavering support for those who have been fortunate enough to have worked alongside and learned from her. Her communication, organization, and time management skills have significantly bolstered departmental operations. More than that, however, Sara has a special combination of integrity and empathy, making her a unique part of our “art ed family,” as she would say. We are confident that she will bring the same level of excellence to her new role.

Messages from faculty & staff:

Sara carried the Department—with grace, humor, and warmth—through the disruption of COVID, and helped us emerge from that experience as a more caring, collaborative, and supportive team of faculty and students. Under her leadership, she fostered a sense of collective purpose that inspired our Department to find sustainable methods for a continual evolution and improvement. Her gift to the Department of Art Education was her belief that a department can be a forward-thinking space for rigor, excellence, and solidarity; she provided the tools we needed to meet this aspiration.

I am delighted for Sara, who, as a representative of the Art Education faculty, has taken on the role of Associate Dean for the College. Even though I’ve worked with Sara for a short time, I am sincerely grateful for the opportunity to know her as a wonderful person and colleague. From the moment I was a job candidate for my current position, she consistently provided care, support, and transparency. I am eagerly anticipating the positive impact her leadership will have on the future of the College.

Sara is not only an extraordinary leader, but also led during extraordinary circumstances. She took on the role of Departmental Chair amidst the throes of a global pandemic, during social and political upheaval, and immediately after being tenured herself – leading the Department to new heights in that process through vision, wisdom, and a caring attitude for both students and faculty.

Sara has led our Department as Chair with gracious intelligence, clear vision, a collaborative spirit, and empathic compassion over the past several years. Her presence and leadership have helped us become a productive and loving family. I am not surprised that her stellar work and humanity has resulted in a promotion. We will miss her, but she leaves a strong legacy. I am so glad others will benefit from her wisdom and skill.

Sara’s warm welcome and encouraging mentorship made my entry into the Department as a newer faculty truly enriching. Her invaluable constructive feedback and confidence boosts were instrumental in my professional growth, and I deeply admire her organizational skills and dedication to fostering departmental growth. I am confident that she will excel in her new role.

Working with Sara was one of the best experiences I’ve had in my professional career. Sara stepped into her role as Chair at the height of the COVID pandemic, and to say she handled it with grace would be an understatement. She was and remains an incredible source of information, strength, and support to faculty, students, and staff alike.

 

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Now, we are delighted to say that Dr. Rachel Fendler has stepped into the role of Department Chair. Her responsibilities as Associate Chair have prepared her for this new management position, and we know we are in very capable hands under her leadership.

Courtesy of FSU News, by Anna Prentiss

As Florida State University art educators moved to online teaching this summer, some used the opportunity to provide K-12 children with opportunities to foster creativity and connect through art activities. 

Department of Art Education Associate Professor and Chair Sara Scott Shields reimagined her Theory and Practice II course to focus on the development of a website geared toward students and teachers in the K-12 community. The website, created by FSU students, consists of a collection of online art activities and live classes.  

This kind of novel approach is a wonderful example of vitalizing courses, making them more than just the same content delivered in an alternative mode. In Catching Summer Memories, Dr. Shields created opportunities to take advantage of remote instruction to engage students in experiential learning and to facilitate individualized, meaningful experiences.

-James Frazier, Dean

The website — Catching Summer Memories  — promoted independent, inquiry-driven summer art projects with the belief that summer should be an opportunity to explore the world through creativity, imagination and play. 

“This experience challenged me to reconsider what learning might look like for students,” Shields said. “It also pushed me to find creative solutions for providing authentic teaching experiences during a time where face-to-face interactions were limited.”  

Each lesson included a video/slideshow introduction, essential questions, step-by-step video lists of instructions, examples and a place to share work. All content was created by Florida State Art Education pre-service students during their six-week summer school session. 

This virtually-immersive experience was so helpful in our teacher-training. We were able to get some practical experience in lesson-creation, and even a small foray into virtual teaching. I am proud and excited to have all our lessons live on a website to inspire others.

-Amanda Cole, Art Education Graduate Student

Students finished the class with the confidence to start classroom teaching, having fulfilled their own responsibility of helping young people become better citizens of the world. 

“After taking this class, I truly believe there is no challenge too big to overcome in my future career as an educator and in life,” said Lauren Courtemanche, an art education graduate student. “I think being an educator is all about being innovative and problem solving on the fly. This class taught us how to do exactly that.” 

More than 100 students participated in the live classes over the summer, some as far away as Germany. 

This experience has pushed me to be a better educator by challenging my own conceptions of what teaching and learning can look like. Most importantly, this class — and the website my students created — gave back to the world. 

-Sara Scott Shields, Chair of the Department of Art Education

Parents, teachers and children were given the opportunity to rediscover ways to connect with one another in a world that has recently been isolated. 

“The website and distance learning opportunities my students facilitated created more connections than I ever could have hoped for in a traditional face–to–face class,” Shields said. 

Graduate student Elena Malcolm said the relevance and need for art in the K-12 school curriculum has never been more important.  

“As I continue along my path in becoming an art educator, I hope to keep the joy of making art alive for my students as we use art making to discuss and learn about our relationships with ourselves, our communities and our world,” she said. 

The website will continue to provide arts enrichment opportunities to K-12 teachers and students globally who need supplemental content for remote teaching and learning this fall.  

“If a normal class has a tiny pinch of creativity and spunk, this class had a whole spoon full,” said art education graduate student Sarah Myrick. “Through this class, I learned how to play again in my personal, creative and professional life. I also learned how to think critically about curriculum and the contemporary world around me while humanizing my students and creating lessons that matter to them.”