VSU’s Jenny Evans Recognized for Service to Art Education

Valdosta State University’s Dr. Jenny Evans is the 2024 recipient of the United States Society for Education Through Art’s Edwin Ziegfeld Service Award. She joined the College of the Arts faculty in August 2021 and currently serves as an assistant professor of art education in the Department of Art & Design.

VALDOSTA — Valdosta State University’s Dr. Jenny Evans is the 2024 recipient of the United States Society for Education Through Art’s Edwin Ziegfeld Service Award. 

“This award shows how much passion I have for advocating for art education,” she says.

The Edwin Ziegfeld Service Award is presented annually to two distinguished leaders — a national recipient from the United States and an international recipient from abroad — who have made significant contributions to the field of art education.

Evans serves as editor-in-chief of the USSEA’s monthly newsletter, which supports the organization’s efforts to represent individuals working in curriculum development, teaching, and research related to art education and cultural knowledge. She helped organize the USSEA regional conference happening in mid-June in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and she designed the conference webpage, which she continues to manage.

“Most recently I had the opportunity to serve as the USSEA delegate at the National Art Education Association Conference in March,” she says. “This new role allows me to support the mission of NAEA and art educators at colleges and universities and at the elementary, middle, and high school level, as well as art museum educators, researchers, and more. Service means something; it produces advocation.” 

Evans joined the VSU College of the Arts faculty in August 2021 and currently serves as an assistant professor of art education in the Department of Art & Design. She says she enjoys teaching all her ARED: Art Education and INQR: Academic Perspectives on Inquiry courses. She looks forward to spending a month this summer leading students from a variety of academic disciplines on a study abroad experience in Montepulciano, Italy.