CHAMPAIGN — Champaign is home to two of the top art educators in the Land of Lincoln, says no less an authority than the Illinois Art Education Association.
The organization announced Monday that Bottenfield Elementary’s Melissa Farley (Elementary Art Educator of the Year) and Krannert Art Museum’s Kamila Glowacki (Art Education Museum Educator of the Year) were among nine winners in different categories honored as the state’s best.
Art, design and media educators are selected for their “excellence and service to the field,” according to the organization. IAEA Vice President Eryn Blaser said the group's awards and scholarship committee found both educators' "professional performance, service and leadership to be exemplary in every regard,” Vice President Eryn Blaser.
Of Farley, a Unit 4 educator and UI alumna in her 12th year teaching young artists in central Illinois, the organization said: “Melissa strives to continuously improve her practice by furthering her education, participating in programs like IAEA’s Collaborating for Excellence, and taking additional coursework in Educational Leadership, Studio Art and more,” adding that the National Endowment for the Humanities awarded Farley a grant to participate in a week of experiential training at Crow Canyon Archeological Center.
“Melissa believes that influential art experiences are imperative to a well-rounded education. She focuses on experimentation in her classroom and encourages students to explore their unique perspectives.
“Students engage with various materials, prompts and artists. Melissa believes that all students are artists and helps them find the type of art they connect with. Melissa is a practicing artist that loves to explore new processes. She is fascinated by the absurdity of the human imagination and is infatuated with the world's curiosities. Honey bees, animal bones, vibrant colors and surreal scapes dominate her work.
"Melissa grows her repertoire of skills by seeking unique experiences and shares her expertise with teachers by leading art-specific training. She actively engages with her educational community by co-presenting at IAEA's annual conference and coaching with the Illinois Federation of Teachers. Melissa is a passionate educator who strives to grow, learn and improve. She believes new experiences catalyze growth and actively pursues new challenges.
"She brings these novel experiences to the classroom to inspire her students to become curious, lifelong learners and instills her 94-year-old nana’s motto, ‘Be good, learn a lot and have fun.’”
A Champaign-based museum educator, musician and artist, Glowacki earned her master of arts in art education from Illinois and now serves as education coordinator at Krannert Art Museum.
Earlier this year, she was among 16 recipients of the UI’s Chancellor’s Staff Excellence Award, honored for her “commitment to public arts and cultural education,” which “has strengthened public engagement and championed diversity, equity and accessibility in museum programs since 2014.”
In her nine years as a museum educator at KAM, she had led tours and programs for all ages, the IAEA said in its announcement, adding that “her experience as a musician and visual artist in the Central Illinois DIY/punk music scene is at the core of her work in museum education and community engagement.
“From this multidisciplinary approach, she conceived and organized ‘Art Remastered’ — an annual live music event in which local musicians perform creative responses to artworks on display at KAM. With her colleague Ishita Dharap, she co-created ‘Rest Lab,’ a recurring pop-up space at the museum designed for resting with intention.
“Most recently, she led the creation and teaching of a year-long outreach partnership with Booker T. Washington STEM Academy fourth-graders involving weekly visits to the school or museum, collaborations with local artists, an exhibition of student work and a culminating parade performance.
“(Her) artwork has been featured in the Polish Museum of America, Krannert Art Museum and merchandise for clients including Polyvinyl Records and Girls Rock! Champaign-Urbana.