In September, Julie Bloodworth retired from the Missouri Fine Arts Academy, a three-week summer program operated on the Missouri State University campus. On Feb. 16, she will receive the Missouri Arts Council’s 2011 Award for Arts Education, recognizing her lasting contributions to the state’s cultural and artistic climate. Bloodworth served 10 years as director of the academy.
Q: You spent 13 years at Missouri Fine Arts Academy. Did you always work in the arts? A: My background is in education. I taught English and speech and theater – from seventh grade all the way through college age – most of it in Reeds Spring. Then I taught at Missouri State University in the English department for a few years.
Q: What are some of your more memorable moments from the academy? A: Some of the kids during the past 10 years have gone on to really do wonderful things in the arts, and I’m always really proud of that. I guess overall though, I’m just so delighted that, for 15 years, the state of Missouri decided to fully fund the academy so that talented young artists from all over the state could have that three-week experience for free. During the last couple of years, since the economy has tanked, that has changed, to a kind of tuition base with scholarships available. It’s just a priceless opportunity, I think.
Q: You’ve had the opportunity to work in a more traditional education setting as well as for MFAA. Are kids the same everywhere? A: We use the term gifted and talented for these kids, and I like that term, but I have to admit that I think all kids have gifts. It just so happens that we identify the kids who have artistic gifts. They all have different attributes, but they’re all students, they’re all kids, they’re all teenagers, with the attendance problems and everything else that goes with every other kid in America.
Q: What are the biggest challenges facing arts education now? A: Money is always a challenge. And I can get on my high horse about the idea that arts are somehow less important than other avenues of intellectual pursuit, and I just don’t think they are. I think people can learn through the arts, about the arts and in the arts.
Q: How are you keeping busy and what plans do you have for the coming months? A: My husband (Terry) and son (Gabriel) own Springfield Hot Glass studio downtown, so I’ve been volunteering some there. We have a little Victorian cottage on Walnut Street that I’ve been working on, and I’ve been spending a little bit of time with my dogs. My undergraduate degree is in theater, in acting, and so I have really enjoyed doing community theater.[[In-content Ad]]
