Hello to all..
As I sit here in my best friend's house preparing for my brother-in-law's internment tomorrow, I'm really missing my OAEA family.

I KNOW that all of you that are in Cinci or heading there will have a fantastic time with colleagues, but I'm sad to miss this face to face time with you all. I know that I am with you in spirit and hope to join the Fellows in May at our annual meeting. I thought about submitting this to the blog (thank you Susan for creating/monitoring it) but this 'old timer' couldn't figure out how to add a post for the blog, so I'm sending this along.

Here are a few pics of our new 'heaven' in southwest Kentucky---if any of you are ever in our area (or are passing through), call, email, and stop through! We'd love to have you, and we have plenty of room!  We have an awesome view from our back patio that makes us feel like we're in the country/mountains but are just 1/4 mile from the town square (population 4500) and actually in town! The fall color change is absolutely beautiful down here right now, and we are enjoying a quieter simpler life away from the hubbub of a busy big city with constant traffic and sirens. 

So have a GREAT conference this year! Enjoy the camaraderie and fellowship with colleagues and friends, and know that I'm thinking of all of you and the fun you're having! And please someone post pics of the jackets in memory of our dear friend Randy...

I'm missing my OAEA family!​
Diane

Suzanne began 2021 as the new Fellows Chair and as well as the Ohio Art Education Foundation Co-President, sharing that role with Dennis Cannon.  She is also winding down her teaching career at with Centerville City Schools where she has worked since 2001.  She recalls the year she started at the Kindergarten Village watching the devastating events unfold on 9/11.   Fast forward to 2020 she has experienced another life altering experience working through the COVID pandemic. She thought she could just ease through her final year, but it was certainly more challenging than expected with her school having seven different Integrated Arts schedules this school year!

Through all the challenges there have also been plenty of positive experiences.  She has been able to spend lots more time with her family and even had her Columbus daughter living with her last spring.  Suzanne was able to continue her work at the beading torch with her “bead buddies” Sue Ayers and Alice Tavani.
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She’s learned tons of new technology and is especially happy about having a stronger connection with families as everyone struggles to stay connected through Zoom and the Google Classroom.  Even though she had to make lots of adjustments to her classroom and even her teaching style the best part was when students were finally able to back in person.  

Sherri reached her milestone 70th birthday in 2020! When she and her husband, Scott, couldn’t take the international vacation celebration they had planned, they decided to build a ‘Florida Room’ onto their home in Gahanna. And, of course, every good home addition begs for extended porches, patios, and gardening. After untold hours of toil, the sum of their efforts is pictured below.
 
The new room has become center stage for celebratory activities of the Love family. Sherri ‘s Christmas theme this year was ‘trucks’. January’s theme is to be ‘snowflakes’. February’s theme is, you guessed it, ‘hearts’.

​How does a dragon (Alcon), a mage (Joe Berman), and an artist (Lynda Berman) celebrate Halloween?

Sandy spent 2020 working on three quilts. Sandy declined showing them as they are developing. Below are images of her quilts that were finished prior to the quarantine.

Dear Fellows:
This is my response to Barrie Archer's call for OAEA Fellows contributions for the website.
An inspirational song lyric and so much "alone time,"  a sewing machine, and lots of art quilting supplies = the resulting creation (to the left). We all know the healing power of the arts. This has been mine the last nine months! Maybe sharing it will put a smile on someone's face.
Thanks,  Joan


To be humble, to be kind
It is a giving of the peace in your mind
To a stranger, to a friend
To give in such a way that has no end
We are love, we are one
We are how we treat each other when the day is done
We are peace, we are war
We are how we treat each other and nothing more
And to be bold, to be brave
It is the thinking that the heart can still be saved
And the darkness can come quick
The danger's in the anger and in the hanging on to it
We are love, we are one
We are how we treat each other when the day is done
We are peace, we are war
We are how we treat each other and nothing more
And tell me what it is that you see
A world that's full of endless possibilities
And heroes don't look like they used to
They look like you do
We are love, we are one
We are how we treat each other when the day is done
We are peace, we are war
We are how we treat each other and nothing more
We are how we treat each other and nothing more
We are how we treat each other
Source: Musixmatch; Songwriters: Eric Donnely / Tim Warren; Nothing More lyrics © Incognito Street Music, Bywatyr Music

Donna Cornwell has been named a 2020 recipient of the Golden Apple Award from the Upper Arlington Civic Association. An award recipient does not know they have been nominated and usually there is a surprise ceremony at the teacher's school. Unfortunately that surprise ceremony couldn't happen this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the physical closing of school buildings. However, that didn't stop the Upper Arlington Civic Association from celebrating their award winning educators!  

It's a big deal for a teacher in the Upper Arlington School District to receive this honor and it is considered a once in a career event. Click on the link below where you can see more information about the award, the recipients, and a video specifically about our very own Distinguished Fellow, Donna Cornwell. 
https://directors1933.uaca.org/wordpress/events/golden-apple-awards/#close

​Congratulations, Donna Cornwell,           on this distinguished honor!​

 
Randy Robart has a solo show, Stories from Here and Now to Long Ago and Far Away, at Malone University in Canton, Ohio. The show is installed at the Johnson Center and opens January 6, 2020 with a Meet the Artist Reception slated for January 23 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
 
Randy’s show is comprised of 35 2D and 3D pieces in a variety of media including mixed media, lampwork glass, acrylic paintings, micro-mosaics, photographs, and fibers. As Randy puts it: “Artmaking has been a lifelong journey with a variety of stops and starts along the way. Folks who have shared the journey, the places traveled, and conversations along the way all factor into my work in one way or another, each with its own story.”
 
To see Randy’s show: The Johnson Center address is 2600 Cleveland Avenue NW, Canton, Ohio, 44709. Park on either the north or the south side of the building and enter the doors on either of those sides into the lower level.  Once inside you will find a lobby area. Take either hallway running east to the end.  Randy’s artwork is displayed in the McFadden Gallery near the end of the building.
 
The show is open during office hours 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Jan 6 to Jan 10.  Classes resume on January 13 when the building will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Johnson Center is also open during evening classes. Contact the curator, Sarah Shumaker at [email protected] to make an appointment for any other times. 
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The show closes February 29, 2019.

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​Jan Brasier, OAEA Distinguished Fellow (1997), and Ohio Art Education Association Honorary Member, passed away November 26, 2019.
 
A member of OAEA for 64 years, Jan filled many roles during that time including Secretary, Elected LA Member, YAM Co-Chair, and ArtLine Contributing Editor. Frequently a member of Dayton Conference committee, she served as Chairperson, Registration Chair, and On-site Chair.  Regionally she served as Western Region Vice President, PR, Secretary, and Membership Chair.  Jan was Co-Chair of the 1996 Spring Symposium. She was also an NAEA Contributing Editor and a member of Delta Kappa Gamma Society Pi chapter (1987).
 
Jan taught Art in Dayton City Schools (2), Kettering City Schools (33), and Kettering Adult School (7).  She also taught at Marin County Schools, California, the Dayton Art Institute (DAI) children’s section, St. Rita’s Catholic School, and in the Masterworks Program at Centerville Schools.  Jan
 
Jan graduated from Kettering Fairmont High School, Bowling Green State University (BS), Wright State University (MS Art Therapy), and the University of Dayton (MS EdA).
 
She was awarded Montgomery County Excellence in Education Grants (1984, 1985, and 1986), OAEA Outstanding Art Teacher (1985-86); NAEA Western Region Elementary Division Outstanding Art Educator (1994); and inducted into Kettering City Schools Chester A. Roush Hall of Fame (1997).
 
In retirement, Jan was a Teaching Guest Artist at local schools; assisted with OAEA’s YAM activities; served as a member of the Friends Board of the K-12 Gallery; and was a docent at DAI.  Jan also found time for she and Jerry to circle the world over seven years while she taught watercolor painting on cruise ships. After Jerry’s death, Jan continued to create at her residence, Lincoln Park. She hosted an exhibit of her quilting while at Lincoln Park.
 
Jan and husband, Jerry Brasier (d.2017), leave behind a son and daughter-in-law, Steven and Barb Brasier, and a daughter and son-in-law, Susan Brasier and Tom Goud, and three exceptional grandsons, Alex, Bryan and Charley Mann. 
 
For many years she presided over the garage sale fundraisers for the Distinguished Fellows.  In (2018) the Distinguished Fellows adopted the sobriquet, Brasier’s Boutique, for any future Distinguished Fellows garage sale fundraisers, as per Jan’s request.
 
Jan was renowned for recycling and readapting ANYTHING with ingenuity and creativity. 
 
Sherrie Dennis: “Jan was a role model hoarder art educator for all of us! Everyone loved her.”
 
Kurt Reichert recalls “the 1992 Dayton conference when the Saturday night centerpieces were real layered carrot cakes. After dinner the officers and planning committee were in the presidential suite going over evaluations when in walks Jan with a bellhop and a luggage cart of boxed half-eaten carrot cakes! She never wanted to see anything wasted!”
Thank you to Barrie Archer for providing the content for this Fellows Connection Blog Post.