VCUarts Professor wins National Art Education Award

The Edwin Ziegfeld Award annually honors one American and one international art educator who, like InSEA’s (International Society for Education Through Art) first president, Edwin Ziegfeld, have forged new directions in art education and have made an outstanding and internationally recognized contribution to art education through exceptional records of achievement in scholarly writing, research, professional service and community service.

Taylor will present the Ziegfeld lecture and receive her award at the USSEA Award Ceremony on March 3 during the National Art Education Association conference in New York.

“I am thrilled by this prestigious award,” Taylor said. “But, mostly I think, I am grateful for the validation. We educators work so hard to make a difference. We do this of course through our teaching and are rewarded daily in the classroom. But, it is the vast time and effort we devote to research that may give us pause. Although I, as many of my colleagues do, believe strongly in the power of the arts to make a difference in the world and specifically in education, I often wonder if anyone else understands much less values the research that I do. So, gratefully I can say yes, this award is telling me that people are reading, understanding and truly care about my efforts. That validation is motivational as well as satisfying and I am truly honored.”

Taylor’s focus over the past few years has been on the $1 million grant project from the Qatar National Research Foundation grant for the development of

In 2011, Taylor was honored as a National Art Education Association Distinguished Fellow and the Southeastern Art Educator of the year. In 2010, she was named the National Higher Educator of the Year and the Virginia Art Educator of the Year. She chairs the National Council for Policy Studies in Art Education, is past editor of the journal of Art Education and has served as reviewer for many journals, conferences and grant awarding agencies.

“Dr. Taylor is a wonderful example of a professor who excels in all of the duties that her position requires,” said Joseph Seipel, dean of VCUarts. “She is an accomplished teacher and researcher who also contributes through her service to the art education field. This honor is richly deserved.”

Taylor earned her Ph.D. in Art Education from Penn State University at which time she was named the United States Getty Doctoral Fellow for her research “Hypertext-based Art Education: Implications for Liberatory Learning in High School.”

Following 10 years of public school teaching, Taylor taught at Radford University and the University of Georgia prior to coming to VCU. Taylor is well respected in the field of art education for her research in the areas of hypertext theory, interactive computer technology, hyperaesthetic theory, service-learning, curriculum and assessment in art education.

Taylor's publications include a book-length exhibition catalog on the work of artist Joseph Norman, a co-written book on interdisciplinary art education, book chapters and essays in art education anthologies and numerous invited and peer-reviewed articles in such respected journals as Studies in Art Education, Art Education, FATE in Review, Computers in Schools, the International Education Journal, Innovate and the Journal of Hypermedia.

The Department of Art Education is part of the VCU School of the Arts, which has 16 programs and more than 3,000 students. VCUarts is ranked No. 4 overall among graduate arts programs in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report. The Department of Art Education offers a bachelor of fine arts degree, a master of art education degree and a master of art education degree with an accompanying teaching license track.