Mike Letts, Northern Michigan University associate professor of art education, was selected “Higher Education Art Educator of the Year” by the Michigan Art Education Association (MAEA). He received the award at the MAEA annual conference in November in Traverse City, where he also presented a workshop titled “Teaching Critical Thinking with Art.”
“I was extremely happy and honored to win the award,” said Letts. “I've seen these awards given to so many great MAEA educators over the years, but never really expected I would win one, so it was truly a great honor to be recognized among so many excellent teachers.”
“Professor Michael Letts is a professional educator who consistently empowers our undergraduate teacher candidates and practicing teachers through the use of research-based teaching methods in the arts,” said MAEA President, Jane Montero. “He is a trusted and respected member of our teacher education program and has led our program through substantive changes.”
According to his online biography, Letts began teaching art in 1984 as a teaching assistant at The Ohio State University, where he earned his MFA in painting. Beginning at NMU in 1993, he taught painting, drawing, printmaking, cognates and art history before earning his Michigan Teaching Certificate in art and English a year later. Letts taught for more than a decade in area public schools before returning to NMU in 2007 to teach art education.
“Being from the U.P., I always thought we could do a better job of supporting young people with art opportunities in the schools in this amazing place,” said the Marquette native. “So I made it my mission to work for that.”
The MAEA is an organization that promotes quality visual arts education through leadership, service, and professional development. At the fall conference, Letts' workshop presented a way of facilitating constructed responses from students to study content of artworks or readings. He showcased how a research-based teaching strategy called “PMI” (plus, minus, interesting) can be implemented in art classrooms to help students develop effective thinking and prepare them for discussion.
“Attendees at my session viewed a number of artworks using the [PMI] process and had some very energetic discussions,” Letts added. “The standing-room-only session space was filled with teachers, and I received many positive comments about the content.”
Two NMU students, Sadie Shansky-Genovese and Cali Tighe, also presented a workshop at the conference titled, “Painting with Dirt.” They used natural materials such as pigments derived from soils and handmade recycled paper to create paintings.