Press Release August 2020
ILLINOIS ART EDUCATION ASSOCIATION NAMES STATE AWARD WINNER DEANNA SORTINO The Illinois Art Education Association selected Deanna as the Secondary Art Educator of the Year (2020). Deanna is an art and design educator at Niles West High School and graduate of Notre Dame and Lewis University. Annually, the Illinois Art Education Association (IAEA) recognizes art, design, and media educators among a highly competitive slate of nominees. Our awards and scholarship committee found Deanna’s professional performance, service, and leadership to the field to be exemplary in every regard and selected her for this recognition. Deanna will be formally recognized by the IAEA on November 6th and 7th at the 2020 Annual Conference. Please join the Illinois Art Education Association in honoring and elevating Deanna for this recognition. Attached are her bio and photo for distribution. The Illinois Art Education Association 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. Congratulations again to Deanna for her excellence! |
Mini Portfolio DayMini Portfolio Day was developed in 2016 in collaboration with my colleague, John Zilewicz. The creation of Mini Portfolio Day was established after seeing the inequities in opportunities offered to students in athletics versus students in the Fine Arts. We wanted to find a way to connect students with an interest in a creative career with college representatives and college scholarships in a more tangible and simplified way. What initially started with 80 students from Niles West High School and 20 art colleges in 2016, has now grown to over 300 students from over 13 public and private high schools in the state of Illinois. We have also increased to over 40 colleges in attendance and expanded with additional Mini Portfolio Days at Lake Zurich and Oswego High School.
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Black Creatives MatterWhen the murder of George Floyd sparked protests across the nation in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, Chicagoland-area high school art teachers Jonathan Pruc (BFA 2009) and Deanna Sortino were inspired by seeing the work of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) artists on social media. Almost immediately, they saw an opportunity to effect change in art classrooms across the country.
“We realized we should be recording and categorizing these artists to share with other teachers,” explained Pruc, a visual art and photography teacher at Mundelein High School. “We wanted to create a collaborative resource that would make it easier for educators to include more BIPOC into their curriculum.” That resource is the Black Creatives Matter initiative, a living document featuring the work of more than 500 Black artists that aims to inspire change in art curriculum development. The document—created in partnership with the Illinois Arts Education Association (IAEA) and a growing, all-volunteer team of Illinois teachers and contributors—includes additional resources related to anti-racism, Black Lives Matter education, and talking about race, and asks teachers to submit and share classroom project ideas centered on these artists. As an ongoing project, the team encourages community participation; anyone can sign up to contribute or submit an artist for inclusion. |
IAEA Teacher of the Year ApplicationPlease view my teaching portfolio here.
PRESS RELEASESArticle focused on Black Creatives Matter
Article focused on Black Creatives Matter
Press release on Art Educators of the Year for IAEA
Article focused on how we are connecting through dance during remote learning.
Remote volunteer consulting collaboration with UNICEF Nicaragua office.
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