Carol Webb, Art Educators of Iowa Middle Level Art Educator of the Year
Miller Middle School art teacher Carol Webb is the Art Educators of Iowa’s Middle Level Art Educator of the Year.
Webb, who has taught art at Miller for 15 years, will be honored at an awards ceremony Saturday, Oct. 8, during the AEI Fall Conference in Des Moines.
“Teaching middle school art is full of rewards and challenges,” Webb said. “I continually find new significance in art instruction each school year. In the words of many art and education professionals who have impacted my career, the way to teach art is through connections – connections to creative experiences, to the personal and the global in art interpretation and art making, and, most importantly, connections to the students with whom we interact daily.”
During her tenure at Miller Webb had worked tirelessly to connect students to art. Each year she takes eighth grade art students to the Des Moines Art Center.
“Her students are among the best prepared for their experience at the Art Center,” said Madelyn Mayberry, retired MCSD art teacher and Art Center docent. “It is obvious to us that Carol has shown her students images of artworks they might see and that they also have experience in the process of discovery. They use quite sophisticated art terms to describe, analyze, and interpret the meaning they find in the art. Carol does an outstanding job of empowering her students to get the most out of their touring experience by teaching them observation skills and encouraging grounded, personal dialogue about the art.”
Webb has also created numerous after-school art classes, routinely seeking out funding for them. She has also received three different “Artists in Schools” grants from the Iowa Arts Council, resulting in unique artistic collaborations that include “The Homework Machine”, a collaborative piece by T.J. Moberg now displayed at the Marshalltown Public Library.
She spent two years on the School Re-Organization Committee, serves as treasurer and framing coordinator for the annual “Young Artists of Marshalltown” district art show, regularly mentors new Miller teachers and is an informal mentor and adviser to other MCSD art teachers.
Webb is an 11-year member of the AEI Board, serving as an area rep, membership chair, and the last five years as treasurer.
