For thirty-five years, George Székely has been a pioneer in
developing creative changes and methodologies for art teaching. His work has been formulated in books,
journals, unique performance-style keynote presentations, and teaching
demonstrations through his nationally initiated Adopt-a-School projects. He was among the first art educators to
emphasize the importance of children’s play in art making and to advocate the
study of children’s home art as the foundation for school art practice.
A National Treasure by student chapters of the National Art
Education Association (NAEA), he has published over a hundred-fifty article in
major journals of education, and has been a contributor to art education
programs on public television. He has worked on a Public Television Program called "Art to Heart" in a series about Early Childhood Art Education by Kentucky Educational Television (KET).
He
was named the recipient of the 2007 NAEA's Marion Quinn Dix award and the
Commonwealth’s first Distinguished Fellow Prize presented by KyAEA in 2009. He
has published eleven books, among the most recent From Home Art to School Art,
Video Art for the Classroom, A Retrospective 1973-2003: Essays for Art
Teachers, From Play to Art, The Art of Teaching Art (also published in a
Chinese edition), and Encouraging Creativity in Art Lessons. Dr. Székely ’s new book is called, Art
Teaching, published by Rutledge International.
Dr. Székely is a frequently invited guest speaker at
national/state/province-level art education meetings in the United Stated and
Canada. A prolific painter, he has had twenty-six one-person shows in New York
and throughout the United States and Europe. His work has been reviewed in Art News, Arts, The New Yorker, The Staten Island Advance, and The Eastside Weekly. A graduate of the High School of Music and Art in New York
City, The Cooper Union, Pratt Institute, and Columbia University, he has taught
in the New York City public schools and at the City University of New York.
Since 1978, he has been Senior Professor of Art Education at the
University of Kentucky and has formerly served as Area Head.
