The Art Educators of Iowa presents Outstanding Art Educator of the Year awards to members of the Iowa Arts Education community who have shown stellar dedication to the craft of teaching art to children. Chrissy Block is the 2023-2024 Outstanding Elementary Art Educator Award recipient. Block is starting her fourteenth year as a K-5 art educator at Neil Armstrong Elementary in the Bettendorf Community School District. She will receive her award at the Art Educators of Iowa Conference on October 14th.
As a leading art educator in the state of Iowa, Block’s role is dedicated to helping students explore their own creative journeys while exposing them to a variety of art materials and art adventures. She has worked tirelessly to develop and evolve a K-5 curriculum aligned with the National Art Standards that promotes art education and inspires creativity in the classroom. Block has been instrumental in including a variety of art methods at Neil Armstrong Elementary and she strives to expose her students to many art connections, visual art forms, and mediums while scaffolding vocabulary and the elements of art.
Her students’ work regularly gets recognition including getting uploaded to Artsonia as well as being featured as part of the Young Artists at the Figge exhibition. Block’s own work was a part of the Beyond the Classroom exhibition at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport this summer as well. Block has also participated in various community art events, such as Paint the Lot at the Family Museum in Bettendorf and several Quad City Arts’ Chalk Arts Fest. She has done a few commissioned chalk and painted murals as well. Additionally, she has participated in numerous art education conferences including the National Art Educators Association and several Art Educators of Iowa conferences where she has also presented.
Outside of being passionate about her career in art education, Block is active in volunteering her time and skills in her community and at her children’s school. This past May, she began her Master of Arts in Art Education through The Art of Education University and will graduate next fall.
Meghan Purcell, a fellow art teacher said, “Chrissy is truly one of the best teachers I have had the pleasure to work with, and I’m so proud to call her colleague and friend.”
The Art Educators of Iowa professional organization was established in 1950. AEI and NAEA give awards every year to honor the arts educators and supporters of the arts, both regionally and nationally.