PATRICIA STURTZEL NAMED 2015 CREATIVE ARTS TEACHER OF THE YEAR

Patricia Sturtzel of Louisville, Ky., has been named 2015 Teacher of the Year by The International Association of Creative Arts Professionals.

Nominated for this award by her students in recognition of the quality of her teaching and the enthusiasm she generates for the world of quiltmaking, Pat is best known for facilitating group collaborative quilts and for teaching fiber art processes. For the past 10 years, Pat has focused on working with students in a variety of environments, facilitating projects with kindergarten through high school students (including pregnant and parenting teens) and frequently conduct professional development workshops for classroom teachers to help them include the fiber arts into their curriculum, making connections to cultures, math and science. Workshops often include adaptations for working with students of all abilities including those with disabilities. In the realm of arts in healing, she regularly facilitates arts sessions with adults recovering from substance abuse, veterans with PTSD and other mental health issues, older adults with dementia, children at a mental hospital, survivors of cancer and refugees. While many of these sessions include other art forms, she involves working with fabrics and other fibers when possible. Tie-dye activities are popular as well as a no-sew “fabric collage” process that she has developed. Several times a year, she also works with quiltmakers and others wanting to learn fabric dyeing, surface design techniques and incorporation of those fabrics into quilts. She wants people to connect with fabric, so she has developed a variety of methods for that to happen.

Other finalists for this prestigious award included Susan Emory, Richmond, Va.; Debbie Maddy, Graham, Texas; Gwen Marston, Beaver Island, Mich.; and Carol Soderlund, Geneva, N.Y.

This is the 30th year this award has been presented by the International Association of Creative Arts Professionals, a organization dedicated to empowering quilt, fiber, mixed-media and other creative artists to craft business success from their passion through education, professional development and networking. Teachers, who are nominated by their students or employers, are judged based on the answers to a questionnaire. The criteria include commitment to development of fine workmanship and personal expression of students; involvement in and contributions to the field of quiltmaking; and professionalism, including personal code of ethics and serving as a role model.

Judges for the 2015 competition were Jacquie Gering, award-winning modern quilter and the 2015 Quilt Teacher of the Year; Mimi Dietrich, well-known appliqué artist, teacher and author and the 2014 Teacher of the Year; and Laurie Bay, artist and longarm quilter.

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