Local Learning and New York Folklore are pleased to welcome Suzanne Kolodziej as the Folk Arts Education Network Coordinator for New York State. This position will amplify the network’s public work and reach, and work to address underserved and underrepresented identities and perspectives in arts education.
Suzanne is inspired by children’s innate creativity and loves to promote opportunities for children to “think visually.” In teaching art, she emphasizes expression, experimentation, and exploration.
She earned her bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University, a M.A. in Art Education and a M.A. in Historical Textiles and Costume, both from the University of Illinois. In addition, she holds a certificate in Art Museum Studies from the University of Illinois, earned through an internship at the George Eastman Museum and funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.
She retired from Cornell University in 2015 after 12 years in Education and Outreach. She worked at the Cornell Theory Center developing a virtual worlds museum program and then, at the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, running the outreach department for the East Asia Program. The East Asia Program was a National Resource Center (NRC), supported under the auspices of Title VI of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and the U.S. Department of Education
Presently, at the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester, she is a Teaching Artist, Museum Educator, and Program Assessor in the Expanded Learning Collaboration with the Rochester City School District. She teaches grade level and special needs classes, with an emphasis on discovery and process. Her personal creative pursuits explore collage, metalsmithing, text and textiles, and 3D printing.
Suzanne will start February 1, 2021.