Melody Milbrandt

Melody K. Milbrandt became a member of the School of Art and Design art education faculty in the fall of 2001. She was previously an assistant professor of art education at the State University of West Georgia from 1996-2001. She received her Ph.D. in Art Education from the Florida State University in 1996, where she received the prestigious J. Paul Getty Fellowship for Art Education for her dissertation research in 1995. In 1990 she earned an Ed.S. in Educational Leadership from The Wichita State University and her M.A. in Art Education in 1985. Her undergraduate degree was completed at Southwestern College in 1972.

Milbrandt worked as an art educator for over 16 years in a variety of K-12 public school settings. Throughout her career she has been continually involved in state and national professional associations, holding many leadership positions and presenting numerous workshops each year. She was named Kansas Elementary Art Educator of the Year in 1990 and Georgia Elementary Art Educator of the Year in 1995.

Milbrandt's current work includes a book, Art for Life, co-authored with Tom Anderson with a projected publication date of 2002 (McGraw-Hill) and a descriptive study, "Teaching Social Issues Through Art Education in Georgia", for publication in Studies in Art Education (spring of 2002). Recent articles in art education include chapters in three books. The first is "Authentic Instruction through Postmodern Art" in Contemporary Issues in Art Education for Elementary Educators, by Gaudlius and Speirs (Prentice Hall, 2001). Another article, "Are Women Artists Lazy? or How Valuable are Classroom Discussions Anyway?" is found in an anthology of articles, Teaching Art in Context: Case Studies for Preservice Art Education, edited by Klein (NAEA, in press). The third, "Irene and Lamar Dodd: Two Generations Impacting Art Education in Georgia", is included in Histories of Community Based Art Education edited by Congdon, Blandy, and Bolin (NAEA, 2001). Other articles include "Violence in Art: Raising Authentic Issues for Discussion" (Art Education, 2000), "Dumping the School Art Style", co-authored with Tom Anderson in Visual Arts Research (1999), "Postmodernism in Art Education: Content for Life" in the Journal of Art Education, November 1998, and "Authentic Instruction in Art Education", NAEA Advisory, 1997-98. Milbrandt's research continues to center contemporary issues in art and teaching practice.