Nominations for Master Teacher Award Due Jan. 20

The Visual Arts Center of Richmond is soliciting nominations for the Shelly Shepherd Master Teacher Award, which goes to a VisArts instructor who exemplifies the organization’s mission through his or her excellence, creativity and dedication to students. All nominations should be submitted online and are due by Jan. 20 at 5 p.m.

VisArts has recognized one member of its faculty with the Master Teacher Award since 2001. The award was renamed in 2011 to honor the memory of long-time watercolor instructor Shelly Shepherd. Shepherd was extremely dedicated to her students and was an excellent teacher. She was a fixture at VisArts for many years, always accompanied by her dog Buster and known for her sense of humor.

Winners of the Shelly Shepherd Master Teacher Award are recognized at Collectors’ Night—set for March 18 this year—and are also honored at the [work] exhibition, which will go up in the summer of 2017.

Students, staff, faculty, board members and members of the greater Richmond community are invited to nominate their favorite VisArts instructor for the award. The committee looks for instructors who demonstrate:

•    A teaching style and attitude reflective of VisArts’ values of excellence and creativity
•    A dedication to meeting students’ individual and varied needs
•    Achievement or recognition in his or her artistic discipline
•    A strong history of teaching with VisArts

Past recipients of the Shelly Shepherd Master Teacher Award include:

Jeff Vick
Leslie Shiel
Tesni Stephen
Lisa Fisher Johnson
Jay Sharpe
Jim Valentine
David Tanner
Susan Quinnild
Kirk O’Brien
Shelly Bechtel Shepherd
Richard McCord

Nominate an Instructor