Associate professor of art Dr. Fatih Benzer was awarded the United States Society for Education through Art (USSEA) Kenneth Marantz Fellows Award at a ceremony in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in April.

The award recognizes “achievement in the field of art education and in service to USSEA that is exceptional in its depth and breadth,” according to the organization’s website.

Benzer has been a faculty member in the Department of Art and Design for eight years and a member of USSEA for over 20 years.

“I’m grateful that Dr. Benzer’s contributions to the field of art education are being recognized as significant by this important organization,” said Vonda Yarberry, head of the Department of Art and Design. “With all that he contributes to the field, this is a well-deserved and highly coveted national award.”

“What’s so beautiful is seeing how his work transforms our students right here at Missouri State University,” she added.

Benzer, who is also director of the Missouri Fine Arts Academy, continues to have a far-reaching influence on art education, according to Dean Shawn Wahl of the Judith Enyeart Reynolds College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities.

“Dr. Benzer’s work in art education leadership and pre-college arts training will continue to have an impact across Missouri and beyond,” Wahl said. “This type of recognition is significant and well-deserved.  I continue to be inspired by the life-changing work of faculty and staff across academic colleges at Missouri State University.”

Building an East-West connection through art

Benzer said he felt both happy and honored to be recognized with the Marantz Fellows award, which the USSEA states is meant to celebrate “exemplary contributions to the field of culturally inclusive art education and to USSEA by its members.”

His contributions to art education and to the USSEA include state- and national-level workshops for art teachers to improve their use of digital media, organizing a regional USSEA conference and publishing his research on multicultural art education.

“It always feels great to see that your peers are there to celebrate your accomplishments,” he said.

Benzer, who is originally from Turkey, described the purpose of his teaching and research as “building a bridge” between eastern and western cultures. Part of this effort includes solo and group exhibitions “to create a common ground between East and West,” he said.

“My artworks were inspired by Ottoman and Persian miniatures, whirling dervishes echoing Rumi’s joyful poetry of freedom and devotion as well as abstracted spatial forms inspired by Byzantine and Egyptian architecture,” he explained.

The combination of images and signs that span time, cultures and histories are powerful ways to convey multiple meanings to audiences, Benzer said.

“Through multicultural projects, I engage students to discuss and understand how denotations and connotations worked to construct meaning out of artworks: denotations being literally what we see in a picture as opposed to connotations being what the words and images may imply or suggest by how they are shown,” he said.

Award confirms efforts are on the “right path”

Benzer said the award validates his teaching, research and creative efforts.

“In a way, winning this award is a confirmation that I am on a right path,” he said. “It really means that I should keep doing what I have been doing.”

Part of what Benzer does is develop creative ways to introduce multiple perspectives in art to his students, such as his “Switching Styles” project.

“The students choose two different artists who have two distinctly different styles of creating artworks,” he said. “They are asked to choose two artists and/or designers that represent two different cultural identities, worldviews, time periods, genders or gender expressions.”

The students are then encouraged to explore concepts such as cultural identity, appreciation as opposed to appropriation, inclusivity and acceptance, he explained.

This method helps students “develop sympathy for beliefs and practices that are different than their own,” he added.

Benzer enjoys how projects like “Switching Styles” encourage students not only to see the perspectives of others but to define their own styles.

“The most rewarding aspect of my job is to help my students find their own voices and build set of skills and knowledge to start their own adventures in life as artists and art educators,” he said. “I should state that hearing from a student I helped grow, many years after they graduate, makes my day.”

“Appreciation from my students when you are an effective teacher is one of the biggest rewards I can have.”