When the Teacher Becomes the Student
“As an educator, I always felt this school was very special,” said Carol Daynard, DIP ‘09. “During the crits I was a part of, I noticed how particularly kind and helpful the faculty were toward the students and how accepting they were of a wide range of learners.”
Daynard dedicated her career to the public school system, working as everything from a classroom teacher to assistant superintendent with a focus on supporting children with learning differences.
Just a year after her retirement, she was back in the education sphere but in a new role. A continuing education course at SMFA in the fall, followed by a ten-day spring trip with the school to Oaxaca, Mexico, spurred Daynard to realize that she was, in fact, an artist, even if she didn’t feel like one yet. She obtained her diploma in studio art from SMFA in 2009.
Daynard’s practice explores life itself–her own and others. As we speak, it’s impossible not to ask her about the large-scale triptych “Who Does She Think She Is?” looming behind her. Each acrylic on canvas is a self-portrait. In two of them, she depicts herself as each of her grandmothers: Grandma Ida with her foot up on an ottoman brazenly, and Grandma Rose holding a cup of tea. In the center panel, she appears in Napoleon-like military regalia.
Part of Daynard’s identity as an artist involves continuing to give back to SMFA.
After graduation, Daynard took a spot on the Board of Advisors (formerly the Board of Governors) and prioritized updating a gigantic alumni directory. Her role digging into the archives, combined with a few international trips with her husband, Richard, where she engaged with alumni abroad, prompted Daynard to want to bring an awareness of SMFA to the wider international community.
In response, she and Richard established the SMFA Faculty and Travel Research Fellowships in 2014. The fellowships are granted on an annual basis to support faculty research and promote opportunities for exchange between the SMFA faculty and other arts and cultural institutions, organizations, and peers. All the while, they increase awareness and interest in SMFA and bolster the strength of the faculty as practicing artists.
In the decade since, more than 50 faculty have benefitted from the grants. The funds have enabled an array of experiences–from Sean Glover’s, Professor of the Practice, trip to Oaxaca de Juarez, Mexico to develop curriculum for a Freso Mural course, to Yanyun Chen’s, Professor of the Practice, visit to speak at the Society of Animation Studies conference in Yokohama, Japan.
Each fellowship opportunity has deepened faculty scholarly and artistic development, increasing the skills and knowledge they can pass on to their students and their pedagogy itself. It has also helped move the needle on SMFA’s strategic goal of introducing the school to different international art scenes and gaining applications from students around the world.
Getting more deeply involved with SMFA
“The SMFA at Tufts Art Sale was my first introduction to the school,” Lilly Yun said. “I was new to Boston, and my apartment had empty walls. It offered me a great opportunity to find art and was really the start of me becoming an art collector.”
Yun and her husband, Ted, have been friends of the SMFA for two decades and most recently became supporters of the Faculty and Travel Research Fellowships.
Lilly Yun had a background in business but when she and her family moved to Boston, she launched a second career as an interior designer. She first worked for a Beacon Hill firm before ultimately launching her own studio. Because her clients needed art that was in dialogue with her interiors, she began making connections in the city’s art scene, too.
She and Ted began seeking ways to get more involved in the school as a way to nurture Boston becoming an arts capital with the ability to sustain more emerging and established artists.
“I found these fellowships to be a really fitting way for us to support SMFA,” said Yun. “A quality education is so important, and that starts with the faculty. You need strong faculty who are interested in their field and can stay current in their expertise. When the faculty can express their own passion, it ignites passion in their students as well.”
Yun and Daynard were recently invited to hear 2024 recipients present the body of work that the Faculty Travel and Research Grants made possible. The breadth of faculty interests and the commitment to their craft were moving. “Their creative processes and areas of expertise were all so different, but every single one was so appreciative of the opportunity, and that excitement is going to be passed on to their students,” Yun said.
As Daynard reflects on the decade of impact these fellowships have provided, it’s all about community: “I think that art, especially during these kinds of times, brings people together. It's inclusive, it's a way of connecting. Beyond color, race, religion, politics, and this is illustrative of the impact art can have.”
Photograph courtesy of the artist, Cathy Lu. Work shown partially funded by Faculty Travel and Research Fellowships.