The Value of Art Education
Mrs. McCormick’s Crawfordsville High School Art Classroom, 1993. Photo courtesy of Jeff Fulmer.
By Jeff Fulmer
Growing up in rural west-central Indiana, I never gave much thought to what kind of career I wanted to have. Sure, parents, especially grandparents, would ask, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” On the playground of Anna Willson Elementary School, kids would pretend to be policemen (now hopefully the more gender-appropriate police officers) or firefighters, race car drivers, professional basketball players, or any number of careers. None of these seemed quite real to me. They were like cartoons or caricatures. None of these career options seemed like what I wanted to do when I grew up, not to mention what I wanted to be.
So, I moved forward. In middle school, high school, and college, I took classes that excited me and stayed away from those that didn’t. I was good at answering questions, I took tests easily and often found the right answer, but to me, often, the questions were more interesting than the answers. To me, art seems to ask the right questions. Instead of solving an equation or memorizing dates of famous historical events, art allowed for a true multiverse of answers to each aesthetic question. I guess this love of the question also led me to teaching, that, and the reality that I come from a long line of dedicated teachers. My grandmother was the very first “Teacher of the Year” for South Bend Community Schools in South Bend, Indiana, in 1980. My mother taught Gifted and Talented classes in Zephyr Cove, Johnson Lane, and Jack’s Valley Schools in Nevada. My aunt was also a teacher, and two of my cousins still are. My wife, Maria, is an elementary art teacher at Oran K. Gragson Elementary School in Las Vegas, Nevada. In addition to my family lineage of teachers, I also trace my roots as an art educator back to my art teachers Mr. Sableat at Molly B. Hoover Elementary School, Mr. Spear at Tuttle Middle School, and Mrs. McCormick at Crawfordsville High School. My professors Gregory Huebner and Douglas Calisch at Wabash College and James Pink, Thomas Holder, Bill Leaf, and Mark Burns at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas helped make me the artist, the educator, and most importantly, the person that I am today.
I am an artist. I am a teacher. I am an art teacher. I find this work hard, valuable, challenging, important, fun, exhausting, relevant, and transformative. I cherish the opportunity to help teach someone to draw, paint, or sculpt. But even more, I cherish the opportunity to help others see the world differently and help them become the people that they have the potential to be through art and education.
Firetruck by Jeff Fulmer, Cut Paper, Paste, Popsicle Sticks, Crayon, Yarn, Aluminum Foil, 1980.
“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.”
“ Good teaching is more a giving of right questions than a giving of right answers.”
The latest installment of the Nevada Humanities Exhibition Series, Mojave by Jeff Fulmer, is on display at the Nevada Humanities Program Gallery through May 25, 2022, and is always viewable online.
Photo courtesy of Jeff Fulmer.
Jeff Fulmer is a Coordinator and Adjunct Faculty Member in the Fine Arts Department at the College of Southern Nevada (CSN), where he teaches a range of courses and manages the College’s art galleries and permanent collections. Jeff studied sculpture, art theory, and graphic design and received his MFA from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) in 2000. In 1997 he earned his BA from Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, with concentrations in painting and drawing. Jeff has taught at UNLV, Wabash College, and Herron School of Art before joining CSN. He has exhibited his paintings and sculptures regionally and nationally. Jeff currently serves as the Chair of the Clark County Board of County Commissioners Art Committee.