 |
|
Robert demonstrating
injection dyeing |
|
We have a winner!
After counting all the votes and reading over each nomination, Robert Hils of the Southwest School of Art (SSA) is Handwoven’s 2012 Teacher of the Year. Not only did Robert get the most votes of any teacher nominated, his students also told many compelling stories of Robert’s devotion to his students inside and outside of the classroom.
As head of the Fiber Arts Department at the SSA, Robert not only teaches classes on weaving and dyeing, he also oversees the fiber program, manages the department’s collection of over fifty looms, and helps bring in artists for workshops and symposia, and through it all he still manages to find time to meet one-on-one with his students and guide them through their weaving projects. As one of his students put it in their nomination, “My first reason for nominating Robert is that he’s available when I need help—which is often!”
| |
 |
| |
Robert showing students how to repair a
broken floating selvedge |
Students also wrote not only of his patience (a must for any weaving teacher) and his knowledge of weaving (described by one student as “encyclopedic”), but also for creating a community of learning at the SSA where the students share ideas and help one another out. In this way, Robert is not just teaching his students to weave, he’s encouraging them to help one another. As one student put it, “Robert has built a community of teachers, and is there any more persuasive evidence of a great teacher than that?”
We have to agree, and so we’re happy to award Robert the title of 2012 Handwoven Teacher of the Year and a $500 grant, generously donated by Schacht Spindle, Company to go toward new equipment, repairs, and supplies to help further his teaching endeavors.
So raise your shuttles to Robert Hils, a truly exceptional educator and Handwoven’s 2012 Teacher of the Year.
