Crayola is synonymous with crayons — some of the first mark-making instruments we encounter as children. For her master’s thesis research, art educator and alumna Amelia Fleming (MA in Art Education, 2017) explored the historical evolution of Crayola, going beyond its common association to capture it as a brand, a product, an integral classroom tool, and a part of American history.
Much like Crayola, upon closer inspection, Fleming herself eludes easy categorization. A passionate educator with a mind for organizational management, Fleming is an enthusiastic advocate for arts education, personalized learning, and educational advancements that fit the demands of the 21st century. This summer, Fleming leads the launch of the Department of Art and Art History’s inaugural pre-college Studio Art program, UT Summer ST.ART (the “ST.” standing for “Studio” in “Studio Art”), as its program director. UT Summer ST.ART focuses on instilling new skills and motivating students to expand their ideas in the process of building their college portfolio.
Originally from a small town in northeast Georgia, Fleming grew up on a crop farm and experimented from an early age with “making potions” — a precursor to what would become experiments in the darkroom as a photography student at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). It was during her time at SCAD that she began moving into administration, working first in admissions and then assuming the role of Art Studio Coordinator from another UT Austin alumna, Peter Abrami (MFA in Studio Art, 2015). As studio coordinator, Fleming dove headfirst into curriculum and program development, learning the nuts and bolts of running a pre-college program while hatching plans for what her own might look like. Before she left for graduate school in Austin, Fleming was serving as assistant director of programming for a summer program, overseeing pilot programs, schedules, and staffing.
By the time she arrived at The University of Texas at Austin, Fleming was already getting a sense of who she was as an educator. “You have to be open to observing things and, when working with students—no matter what age they are—you have to be open just to listening to them,” said Fleming about the connection she sees between her pedagogy and her research as a master’s student on the history of the Crayola crayon. “In the classroom or in a workshop, I want to set up materials. I want to get us making. I'm not a lecturer. That is not my goal in a classroom. I want to get our project going, I want us to turn on music and then I want to float and talk to each person. I want to make it a priority to talk to each person.”
When speaking about who she is as an educator and as the Program Director of UT Summer ST.ART, Fleming has clear goals:
First, you want to build a program or lesson that is flexible enough that you're not so confined to this strict schedule; that there is time to breathe and have room for that fun, silly stuff that wasn't planned.
You want to build opportunities for somebody to experiment. That really is my thing. We started our workshop this morning by holding up the hand that we use to write or draw with and then putting it behind our backs and drawing with our wrong hand.
It’s exercises like that that can reframe what it means to create and to do so confidently. Because lastly, my goal is to build confidence in making, your thought process and how you solve problems. Not even just within the art room. These are skills and a mindset that translate to how we present ourselves in the world.
And Fleming has big plans in store as she builds the infrastructure to scale the UT Summer ST.ART program into a project where everyone involved can benefit—high school students become better prepared for college life, UT students are given opportunities to teach alongside professionals, and K-12 arts educators may well one day see the program as a state resource for curriculum development and lesson-planning. “How can I turn this into another opportunity for educators? For more students? Just creating that ripple effect.”
If you’re thinking about applying to Summer ST.ART (and you still can!), Fleming has a preview,
If you were to come this summer to Austin, I think what you can expect is something fast-paced when it needs to be fast-paced, but then something that can slow down and give you opportunities to breathe and relax. Because summer should be a reset. You can expect our classes to be taught by working artists, because it’s so important to learn from someone who is an active participant in their own learning. You can expect to kayak and go for day trips hiking. We're going to go have a fun evening at Laguna Gloria. We're going to get to go see a special skateboarding exhibit at the Jones Center. We're going to watch movies on the rooftop of the art building. We’re going to have a great time.
To learn more about Summer ST.ART and apply, visit the landing page on our website.