This month, Barbara Caldwell, associate professor of integrated studio arts and art education, was awarded the Ziegfeld Service Award from the United States Society for Education through Art.

The Ziegfeld Service Award annually honors art educators who have made outstanding contributions to art education through their research and writing, as well as their professional and community service.

“[Caldwell] was long overdue for this recognition,” said Steve Willis, president of the society. “She is an outstanding educator, artist and person.”

Caldwell was overjoyed when she found out she won the award.

“[I felt] as if I’d just gotten a big hug from a giant room full of people,” Caldwell said. “I just really felt like I was part of a meaningful movement.”

Caldwell has been teaching art education and photography at Iowa State since 1996. Her long career at Iowa State, as well as her service in other art programs, led to her winning this award. In addition to this, she has also been on the board at the Society of Education for the past 18 years.

“I have been representing [the society] on the Iowa Board of Directors since 1996,” Caldwell said. “I am sort of a spokesperson for promoting authenticity, cross-cultural themes and diversity content in art education on that board in Iowa.”

Caldwell’s work is very much appreciated by her peers.

“We, at [the society], are very fortunate to have her as part of the executive board,” Willis said. “She has been a longtime member and a person who is sensitive to the [Society for Education] mission, and reliable on the many roles in [the society] leadership as we address topics that have impact nationally and internationally.”

It’s these topics, along with the individuals that Caldwell works with, that make her love her work on the board.

“It’s very collaborative,” Caldwell said. “Everybody on that board shares their ideas, respects each other’s ideas, and it plays out in articles that get published, policies that get promoted at a national level and networks developed with international and national advocates of rich art education. It’s a great group to be a part of, so I’m happy to serve.”

Caldwell is thankful for her fellow board members, not just for the recognition they have given her, but also for the mark they have left on her life.

“I am so grateful for the extraordinary leaders of [the Society for Educators] and [the International Society for Education Through Art] I work with,” she said. “They have impacted my life so much. They are richly diverse, and provide a sustaining sense of synergy and a caring community. We all thrive and serve because we believe art can be a force for good … within the individual and across cultures.”

Caldwell loves everything she does, and wants everyone to enjoy life as much as she does.

“One thing I tell my students a lot is to find a profession that really resonates with your core values, and to connect with networks of people that are committed to similar values,” Caldwell said. “Find a higher sense of purpose in what you do. It fuels your spirit, and helps share a legacy.”