Election 2011
Offices open for election in 2011 include Vice President and Secretary. Candidates for Executive Office must be members in good standing and should have a thorough understanding of the programs and services of the organization. Use the links in the right column of this page for more information on responsibilities and qualification requirements of Executive Officers.
The following individuals are being presented by the nominations committee as interested, qualified candidates for open positions on the Executive Committee.
Candidates for President Elect
THOMAS KNAB, Candidate for Vice-President
I offer my nomination for Vice-President of NYSATA. I have been an advocate for arts education at the local, state and national levels. In the current environment of budget cuts and anti-public employee sentiment I believe now is a crucial time for active recruitment into our organization as well as promotion of the importance of the arts to society at large. I would be proud to assist NYSATA in achieving these and other goals. I am also very interested in helping the completion of revisions to our Constitution and By-Laws as well as Policy Handbook for presentation to the membership and trustees respectively.
Quite a bit of my leadership experience has been in my teacher union in Williamsville, NY. I served five years as the president of the organization representing over 900 teachers, nurses, counselors, social workers, teaching-assistants, and therapists. In this role I represented our interests to the local board of education and worked cooperatively with the administration to achieve the desired outcomes of each and to settle disagreements and discipline problems of my members. I also participated in lobbying State elected officials advocating for educational support – both financial and in policy. Previous to being president I served four years as the vice-president for Political Action. This office involved the support and election of pro-education BOE candidates, promoting the Vote/Cope drive to raise political action funds, and following and reporting on political events relevant to education.
Locally, I have always created professional development offerings for my colleagues and encouraged their participation in NYSATA. I have served as chairperson for Region One as well as Region One’s representative to the NYSATA Board of Trustees where I, for a time, served as its parliamentarian. I have presented at every State conference for the past many years. I have always tried to contribute what I could at the local and state levels including writing for the NYSATA Newsletter. I was also very pleased to receive Region One’s Art Educator of the year award for 2009. At the National level I have served the NAEA as the Elementary Division Eastern Region Director Elect and then Director. I am currently serving on its Facilities Guide Review Committee. I have also presented at every National Conference since 2001. I have served on Technology and Elementary Art curriculum writing projects for my District.
I have been selected to attend the National Gallery of Art’s Teacher Institutes in 2005, 2006 and 2010. I also was hired to work at the NGA Teacher Institute in the summers of 2007 and 2008 helping educators create podcasts on the artists of the Golden Age of Dutch Art. I was also selected as a Rauschenberg Awardee in 2008 and invited to attend professional development at the Lab School in Washington, DC.
I would be very pleased and honored to serve you as NYSATA Vice-President should you elect me. NYSATA has made great strides in supporting the needs of the membership and I would hope to take a leadership role in continuing this great work.
MARTIN MERCHANT, Candidate for Vice President
As a Vice President of the New York State Art Teachers Association who was appointed to fill an absence, I supported the Executive Board in whatever capacity they needed. I attended the 2011 NAEA annual convention in Seattle and represented NYSATA as a voting delegate, and I have begun to formulate a membership program. I believe my abilities lie in several areas and my responsibilities for NYSAYA can be fluid to accommodate a wide variety of assignments with discretion and effectiveness. As an elected Vice President I would provide continuity to this position.
I have served as Region 7 Co-Chair for five years. During that tenure, I oversaw the establishment of informal art teacher get-togethers called Art Teachers Let Loose – which have become routine events throughout our region. I created and continue to maintain our Region 7 website, and edited a newsletter for 4 years before we became fully online with our communications. Since I have been attending quarterly BOT meetings for five years, I’ve become familiar with the evolving culture of our organization. I helped launch the new web presence for NYSATA, and continue as a support person for our web content. I have served on financial and communications committees, and know our organization from the local to the state level.
I am permanently certified K-12 Art, PreK-6 Elementary, and High School English, and have been teaching art full-time since 1998 at the Middle and High school level, and have taught a graduate course at a local college and numerous Continuing Education classes. As Art Department Chair-person of my district in Hastings-on-Hudson since 2007, I have dealt with a full spectrum of budget, school board and personnel issues. I bring to teaching and administration 25 years of experience in the graphic arts industry as a commercial photographer from my previous career. Now working in the district where my children went to school and where I’ve lived for over 30 years, I have a chance to see the many sides of education – parent, community, tax payer, consumer, deliverer, and that experience will guide me as I deal with educators and the communities they serve.
Candidate for Secretary
JULIA LANG-SHAPIRO, Candidate for Secretary
My involvement with NYSATA began during my student days at LIU/C.W. Post. Over the years, I have taken on larger and more in depth roles within the organization including Conference Workshop Presenter (9 years),Conference Workshop Coordinator (3 years), Youth Art Month Co-Chairperson (1 year) and BOT (Board of Trustees)Secretary for the past three years. During the year, I work as the Art Department Chairperson forSayville Public Schools, Adjunct Professor for the School of Education at Dowling College, and Professional Development Instructor for SCOPE. In my recent capacity as the NYSATA secretary, I feel that I have brought my energy, enthusiasm, and a fresh outlook to the position. I look forward to continuing work with the BOT and NYSATA on all future endeavors.
