The Art Education Association of Indiana (AEAI) is theprofessional education organization dedicated to promotion, advancement, andimprovement of art education at all levels in the state of Indiana. The goalsof AEAI are to increase public awareness, develop strategies for art educationadvocacy, inform membership about current issues and political action,recognize outstanding teacher performance and programs statewide, and assistthe Indiana State Department of Education in development and implementation ofart education curriculum materials and resources.

PRESS RELEASE:

Mary Hilger Receives 2011 OutstandingIndiana Art Educator of the Year Award

TheArt Education Association of Indiana will be holding its annual convention 4^ththrough 6th in Indianapolis, Indiana. Fort Wayne resident Mary Hilgerhas beenselected to receive the Outstanding Art Educator of the Year award. Awardrecipients are nominated by their peers and are teachers who show outstandingartistic achievement and service in education.

Mrs.Hilger presently teaches middle school art at Indian Springs Middle School inColumbia City. She attended Indiana State University and holds Bachelor’s andMaster’s degrees from St. Francis College in Fort Wayne. She has served on theScholastic Art Award Competition advisory board, and received a Lilly TeacherCreativity Grant to travel to Italy and study Michelangelo, create drawings,and has published books that she illustrated from that experience. She hastaught summer art camps for 25 years, and has had a student exchange withJapan. She is an active advocate for the arts, and provides multiplesopportunities for her students to exhibit their work. Mary believes that “Godis using me as an instrument to spread His love through the gift of art”, andshe has worked with multiple churches and religious groups in her communitydoing live chalk drawings for charity. Mrs. Hilger drew a portrait in honor ofMother Therese after her death, and presented the portrait to the SisterNirmala and it hangs in Mother Therese’s Mother House in Calcutta, India.She has also presented portraits to Pope JohnPaul II and Pope Benedict XVI, who she actually met. Money for the education ofthe children in Abakaliki, Nigeria was procured through the auction of herartwork, as well.

Terri Nagel, who nominated Mary for this award, says “Mary is a very giving arteducator and spends much of her time helping others to achieve their personalbest, reaching out to share her artistic gifts with the larger community andthe world.”

Jan Boylen, Principal at Indian Springs Middle School says “Mary shares herknowledge and passion with each of her students in our school. She strives toassure that students gain recognition, even at national levels, for theirartistic talents.”

Thereis no doubt that “Mary is the real deal, a self effacing and hard workingindividual who gives it all she has, and then she gives some more.” She istruly deserving of the “AEAI 2011 Outstanding Art Educator Award”.

Hilger was nominated by peers foroutstanding artistic achievement and service in education. She will receive heraward on Nov. 5 in Indianapolis during the AEAI annual convention.

Hilger has demonstrated hercommitment to teaching and raising awareness of the arts. A Scholastic ArtAward Competition advisory board member, she received a Lilly TeacherCreativity Grant to study Michelangelo in Italy, creating drawings andpublishing illustrated books. An arts advocate and summer art camp teacher for25 years, she facilitated a Japan student exchange and has discoveredopportunities for her students to exhibit their work.

“God is using me as an instrument tospread His love through the gift of art,” Hilger said. She has worked withmultiple churches and religious groups, creating impromptu chalk drawings forcharity. She presented her portrait of Mother Therese to the Superior Generalof the Missionaries of Charity, and it now hangs in Mother Therese’s MotherHouse in Calcutta, India. She also gifted Pope John Paul II and Pope BenedictXVI with portraits. An auction of her artwork has raised funds for theeducation of children in Abakaliki, Nigeria.

“Mary is a very giving art educatorand spends much of her time helping others to achieve their best, reaching outto share her artistic gifts with the larger community and the world,” saidTerri Nagel, a Fort Wayne Community Schools art teacher who nominated Hilgerfor the award.

Indian Springs Middle Schoolprincipal Jan Boylen also praised Hilger. “Mary shares her knowledge andpassion with each of our students. She strives to gain recognition for herstudents, even at national levels, for their artistic talents,” she said.Hilger completed bachelor’s and master’s degrees in art education at SaintFrancis College, now University of Saint Francis.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014 - 7:58 am

What do Venice, Calif., Fla., and Italy all have in common?Mosaics.

Art teachers Mary Hilger, of Indian Springs Middle School inColumbia City, along with Mary Sorrell, of Brookville and Laurel schools havereceived a grant from the federal Fund For Teachers to learn more about makingmosaics.

Hilger, a 2007 Lilly Grant Foundation winner, said she met Sorrellat an Art Education Association of Indiana state convention last fall and thetwo hit it off. They shared a common interest in learning more about makingmosaics, so it seemed natural that they applied for the grant. Hilger said ittook them three months to complete the application, and she was surprised andexcited they were awarded the grant on their first try.

“I applied for the Lilly Foundation Grant four times before I wasa recipient, “ Hilger said.

Since 2001 the fund for teachers has invested more than $22million in 6,000 teachers' careers. This year they awarded 525 grants with onlytwo in Indiana.

The women will start their tour June 12 with a four-day trip toVenice Calif., to The Mosaic House. While there they will meet withprofessional artists Cheri Pann and Gonzalo Duran and tour their home whilelearning more about the mosaic techniques the artists used. Colorful mosaicscover the home's walls, front porch, benches, walkways and entryways. Theteachers will make a videotape of their experience and take it back to showtheir students.

From their they will fly to Venice, Fla., where they will spend timewith "the Mosaic Mermaid" Nancy Olliver to learn contemporary methodsfor making mosaic and each create a mosaic memory jar to be shipped home.Olliver creates jewelry and furniture using broken pieces, often from itemstreasured by people.

Then it's off to Venice, Italy, where they will be going to theAngelo Orsoni Mosaic Foundry. For five days they will work with professionalartists and be immersed in an intensive mosaic workshop using gold leaf andhand-cut opaque glass tiles. They will learn about traditional tools, cuttingmaterials and firing techniques. They will be staying at the Orsoni bed andbreakfast, which Hilger said means they will be able to work long hours becauseit is connected to the workshop. They will be making their own pieces ofartwork there that will be shipped home as well as touring historic mosaicsites in the area.

“I am going as a learner and I will bring back my knowledge to thekids; at this stage in my career, it's a pretty exciting event,” Hilger said.

Hilger, a 30-year veteran of teaching, said there is nothingbetter than hands-on learning and that's exactly what they will be doing onthis trip. Everything she learns will be brought back and incorporated into herteaching curriculum. Once she has taught her students the basics of makingtheir own mosaics, Hilger said she is planning to do a schoolwide project. Theproject will involve students in making a large mosaic of the school eagle/starlogo out of found materials, primarily plastic bottle caps that they can paintin different colors. The final mosaic will be 4-by-8-feet.

“We need something light because it will be hung up on a steelbeam,” Hilger said.

An added bonus to the trip will be a blog of Flat Stanley, a papercutout doll, who will be touring all their experiences with them, and postingas they go. Hilger said you don't have to be a student an Indian Springs tofollow them. Just go to http://mosiactravels.blogspot.com.