Dr. Gillian Furniss, Ed.D. is an art educator and visual artist. Her mission is for all children to have access to a studio art experience so they can learn in and through the visual arts. She is committed to teaching art to children, training teachers to work in inclusive art classrooms in schools and community art organizations, and advocating for the visual arts as a site of learning.
Furniss teaches studio art, art education, arts integration, and art appreciation courses at the K-12, college, and graduate levels.
She teaches art education and autism workshops to pre-service and in-service teachers. She supervises teacher interns in schools and at summer arts camps. She teaches children in schools, after-school programs, and art workshops. She writes scholarship about art education and art therapy. Furniss presents research at local, national, and international conferences. She exhibits her artwork in solo and group shows.
All children should have access to a studio art experience
so they can learn in and through the visual arts.
HONORS, GRANTS & AWARDS
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
Recipient, Betty Oliver Scholarship, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, Maine, 2019
Awarded, Volunteer of the Year, Columbus Arts Council, Rosenzweig Arts Centerl, Columbus, MS, 2018
Selected, Permanent Art Collection, Artist-In-Residence Program, Sam D. Hamilton Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge, Dragon Fly-Lotus Flower, 2018
Recipient, Mississippi University For Women Alumni Association (MUWAA) Faculty Enhancement Grant to support the purchase of art materials for teaching art at a local non-profit organization, 2017
Awarded, Mississippi Art Education Association Higher Education Outstanding Art Educator of the Year, Mississippi Art Education Association, 2016
Recipient, Distinguished Artist Scholarship, The League Residency at Vyt, Sparkill, NY, 2016
Selected, Permanent Art Collection, Art Students League of New York, Lotus Flowers, No. 4, 2012
Awarded, Red Dot (First Prize), Art Students League of New York, Lotus Flowers, No. 4, 2012
Awarded, Blue Dot (Second Prize), Art Students League of New York, Lotus Flowers, No. 2, 2009
Recipient, Grant to curate the art exhibition Celebrating the Early Drawings of Benjamin, President's Office of Community and Diversity and The Meyers Foundation, Macy Gallery, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, 2007
Awarded, The Manhattan Borough President’s Certificate for Volunteerism, City Hall, New York, NY, 1997
Doctorate of Education, Art and Art Education Program
Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY
Master of Arts, Art and Art Education Program
Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY
Certificate of Graphic Design
Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, MA
Bachelor of Arts, Art History / History
Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA
Rutgers' CESP-Alternate Route Program for Teacher Certification, NJ
The Art Students League of New York, New York, NY
MassArt's Art New England Summer Workshops, Bennington, VT
Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, New York, NY
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME
© 2024 Dr. Gillian J. Furniss