Art Education

Jennifer Bergmark with alumna Stephanie Danker (Associate Professor at Miami University) recently had their article “Race-based mascots: Reflecting on university–community conversations” published in the International Journal of Education Through Art, Volume 18 Number 1.    

Elizabeth Jane (Manley) Delacruz, 69, of Champaign, died the morning of Dec 9, 2021. She was known to her family and close friends by her nickname, Betsy. The core of her being was her love for her daughters. Her daughters returned this love by caring for her in her final days at home in hospice care. She passed in comfort and peace surrounded by her daughters, her close family members, and her best friend. She grew up in Rantoul, IL where she graduated from Rantoul Township High School Class of 1970. She has resided in Champaign for the last several decades. Betsy received a BFA and MA in Art Education from the University of Illinois and received her licensure as an art teacher from University of Florida. She taught K-12 art across several schools in Illinois and Florida. She was passionate about the vital role creativity and artistic expression play in life and her mission as an art educator was affirming to students that creativity and the ability to make art exists in everyone. She also took joy in supporting students and opening her classroom as a space to come talk or just hangout if they needed. She joked that her only request was that they bring a piece of trash from the school grounds as an entrance fee. After completing her doctoral degree at Florida State University, she was hired by the University of Illinois Art & Design Department and spent 24 years as a Professor of Art Education teaching students in the US and from around the world how to become art teachers. She mentored many students through the doctoral program and cared deeply about supporting young researchers, writers, and teachers. During her time at the University, she served as the Chair of Art Education, editor of Visual Arts Research, a leading scholarly journal in art education, and was active in publishing research. Her scholarly interests included art traditions of culturally diverse societies, new digital and multimedia art forms in contemporary culture, the convergence of technology and education, and how art education practices advance social justice and civil society. She was a nationally recognized professor receiving multiple national awards including NAEA Higher Education Art Educator of the Year. After retirement she continued mentoring and teaching students in online graduate programs for the University of Florida and Eastern Illinois University. To her, art education was a vessel for engagement: with art, with people, and with the world. Her loved ones, friends, colleagues, and anyone who met her will never forget her playful and vibrant nature that she brought to everything she did. She enjoyed spending hours on Saturday mornings tending to her large side garden and chatting with passersby who would stop and admire it. She ran an antique store in Rantoul called the Crystal Ship in her young adulthood and has always been an avid thrifter. She had a full and adventurous spirit, always looking for new projects to take on and creatively make her own. She loved fixing stuff up (she joked her tool of choice was duct tape) and restoring and painting old furniture. Her faith and the McKinley Presbyterian Church community were also very important parts of her life. She was caring and generous and always sought out opportunities to help and give back to those around her. It was not uncommon for her to open her house to people needing a place to stay. She will always be remembered for her open and willing spirit, courage to be exactly who she was, and immense strength through the challenges she faced. She is survived by her daughters Emily and Grace, her sister Margaret Greenway, brother-in-law Roger, and her brother Lynn Manley. She was preceded in death by her parents Warren and Lois Manley and her brother John Manley. A Memorial Service will be January 29^th, 11 a.m., at McKinley Memorial Presbyterian Church, 809 S 5^th St., Champaign IL 61820. A virtual option will be available through Facebook Live: https://www.facebook.com/McKinleyChurch A reception will follow, pending Covid restrictions. In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to McKinley Memorial Presbyterian Church: https://tithe.ly/give_new/www/#/tithely/give-one-time/2133263 Condolences and messages for the family may be sent to the following address: Delacruz Family, in care of McKinley Presbyterian Church, 809 S 5^th St., Champaign IL 61820

Catalina received the Donald and Barbara Smalley Graduate Research Fellowship from the Department of Gender and Women's Studies for Spring 2022. Based on her dissertation proposal, “String Figuring: A Practice to Witness the Beautiful,” she was selected from the GWS graduate minors who applied. The Smalley fellowship provides $12,000 for the period from January 15 through June 30, 2022, along with a tuition and fee waiver. As the recipient of the Smalley Fellowship, Catalina will be asked to give a public lecture on campus based on her dissertation research.      

The Illinois Art Education Association selected Dr. Jorge Lucero as a 2021 Educator of Distinction. Jorge is a 2021 IAEA Educator of Distinction. Jorge is employed with University of Illinois. Annually, the IAEA recognizes art, design, and media educators for their excellence and service to the field. The IAEA awards and scholarship committee found Jorge ’s professional performance, service, and leadership to be exemplary in every regard and selected him for this recognition. Please join the Illinois Art Education Association in honoring and elevating Jorge for this recognition. The Illinois Art Education Association (IAEA) is the premier professional development provider for art, design, and media educators in Illinois. The organization serves thousands of teachers statewide through a wide range of programs and services. Learn more at ilaea.org. Congratulations again to Jorge for his excellence!

Dr. Jennifer Bergmark and Dr. Blair Smith together with their community partners,  Dr. Asia Fuller-Hamilton, Principal and Sunni Ayers, Art Teacher at Garden Hills Elementary, received a $25,000 community grant through the University of Illinois Call to Action to Address Racism & Social Injustice Research Program. This will fund a year-long community-based pilot project that is a collaboration between the art education program at the School of Art and Design and faculty and staff at Garden Hills Elementary School with a series of visiting artists and public art projects to investigate the role of the arts in revitalizing communities through civic engagement, collective care, and advocacy. A primary goal of this project is making space for historically marginalized people from this school/community to gather, create and address its most pressing concerns. This will be facilitated through three arts projects lead by visiting artists with a practice of advocacy embedded in their creative work. The artists and projects were chosen to provide a platform for addressing community concerns, rebuilding trust between families and the school, and expressing a sense of pride in the school and community. Additionally, this project will provide hands-on community arts experiences for both undergraduate and graduate art education students, challenging students to consider implications of race in both curriculum and pedagogical practices while expanding the notion of art education experiences. These projects are intended to generate conversation about other possibilities, raise awareness of community assets and provide a foundation for future collaborations between the Art Education program and Garden Hills Elementary school.

Associate Professor of Art Education Jorge Lucero hosted the Museum of Us on June 11 through the Art Institute of Chicago’s Learning and Public Engagement Department.

Associate Professor of Art Education Jorge Lucero was invited by the University of Michigan Press to talk about Irina Aristarkhova’s book Arrested Welcome: Hospitality and Contemporary Art, which uses a feminist lens to examine who is worthy of being welcomed. Listen to the podcast.