USU Professor Tamryn McDermott Selected for National School for Art Leaders Program

LOGAN, Utah — USU Art Education faculty member Tamryn McDermott has been selected to join the 2026 cohort of the School for Art Leaders, a highly selective, nine-month leadership development program through the National Art Education Association.

Since 1947, art educators from all states, regions and professional contexts have provided volunteer leadership that has shaped the field of art education and positioned the NAEA as the premier professional community for art educators. NAEA built upon this legacy, developing its primary leadership initiative, called the School for Art Leaders.

The program is designed specifically to support art educators as they excel as leaders. The program uses experiential action-learning modules and in-depth conversations with expert leaders to equip participants with the skills and perspectives needed to lead in education, the arts, and advocacy.

McDermott will bring an interdisciplinary background to the cohort, with extensive experience as an artist, educator and administrator with a BFA and MFA in studio art, a master’s degree in art history and arts administration, and a Ph.D. in arts administration, education and policy.

“I’m an art practitioner,” McDermott said. “I make art, I exhibit art, but I also have a master’s degree in art history and arts administration and a lot of my professional experience has been in arts administration.”

At USU, she teaches and mentors pre-service art teachers, helping them to develop their artistic practice and identities as educators.

“We call them artist teachers,” she said. “When you go to job interviews, the fact that you are an artist and a teacher gives you strength. Doing what you’re teaching is huge.”

McDermott has long been a member of NAEA and regularly presents at national conferences. Recently, she earned a leadership role as co-chair elect for the Seminar for Research in Art Education, a position that informs her teaching and mentorship of her art education students.

“Part of my own mission is to support our students in learning how to become researchers and integrate that into their teaching practice, or to become researchers in art education,” McDermott said.

She described her acceptance into the program as both timely and meaningful.

“I felt like the timing was right to apply,” McDermott said. “I felt I would be a good candidate for the School for Art Leaders, and hopefully get accepted. I was so grateful that I was. It’s selective.”

The School for Art Leaders will begin with an in-person kick-off at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas. Following this, participants will virtually collaborate over nine months on leadership development projects and prepare presentation for the 2027 NAEA national conference.

McDermott said that this experience will benefit her students by contributing to national conversations around leadership, advocacy and innovation.

“Part of my goal is to bring what I learn back to my own classroom and share with my students,” she said. “My goal is for them all to be leaders in their future schools. Part of the work we do as art educators is advocate for the work, for the value of the arts in our spaces.”

For more information about NAEA and the School for Art Leaders, visit the website.