MAEA LKantner Award

LARRY A. KANTNER ART EDUCATION RESEARCH AWARD

This year will mark the first opportunity for members to be nominated for MAEA's newest award, the Larry A. Kantner Art Education Research Award. The award honors Dr. Kantner, professor emeritus of both the Department of Art and the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Missouri-Columbia. This award has been made possible through a gift from Dr. Kantner and matching funds from MAEA to create an ongoing endowment for the purpose of promoting and recognizing MAEA members who complete research in art education.
Larry Kantner has provided great service to MAEA over the years. He served many years on council and held a number of different offices, including a term as president. In 1986 he was MAEA's Art Educator of the year and went on to be honored that same year as the NAEA Western Region Art Educator of the Year. The National Art Education Association has recognized him with other awards, including the NAEA Distinguished Fellows Award, the NAEA Distinguished Service Award and the June King McFee Award, just to name a few. In 1997 he received the prestigious W. T. Kemper Fellowship for Excellence in Teaching. He is recognized both nationally and internationally for his writings and research in art education, particularly in the area of early childhood art and aspects of art education related to multi-cultural/cross-cultural themes. His former students are professors of art and art education at universities all over the country, and through his extensive work with international students, at universities all over the world. If you ask around, you will find out that Larry Kantner is recognized by long-time MAEA members as one of a handful of people who helped the organization get back on firm financial ground following some lean times in the late 70' early 80's. In the following recollection he remembered this time:

"My first contact with the MAEA was to be as the guest speaker at the general session during the spring meeting (1972) ........... In 1977 for a number of reasons the state spring conference had to be canceled, ............ There was some question if the MAEA would survive. I agreed to take on the responsible of hosting the conference for the next two years at MU. With no money, it was a challenge. The first year was very makeshift. We held the conference at the MU Memorial Union, there was at least a small response, I remember that I was very pleased that 30 people signed up for the dinner at the end of the conference. The exhibitors were not willing to attend because of lack of teacher participation. I remember inviting the teachers to my classroom and pulling out my art education collection of books for them to look at, this was our exhibition area. I served as conference coordinator, .............. Tom Hatfield agreed to come and be our keynote speaker. It was a lot of effort, but worth it and the organization began to show at least some signs of life. The second year was easier. That spring I had talked to many of the exhibitors at the NAEA convention and a number agreed to come back. Again, we set up the exhibition in MU's Memorial Union. ............ I was elated at the return of art teachers to the association. By the third year, it was time to move to a new location in the state and pass the conference chair on to someone else. We now had at least a little money in the bank. Every year since 1978, and much to my great pleasure, with the hard work of many fine art educators, MAEA has become a strong and viable organization."

Larry A Kantner Research Award Guidelines