Strengthening community and creative practice
When you fuse a passion for teaching with the soul of an artist, you create an award-winning combination.
Susan Furneaux, an instructor in Textile & Apparel Design at College of the North Atlantic (CNA), recently received the Arts NL Arts in Education Award.
“It is great to be honoured by my peers in the province – people who know me and whom I have taught,” she said. “After receiving the award, many of the hundreds of people I’ve had the pleasure of teaching reached out with congratulations. It was a really nice way to reconnect.”
The award acknowledges Furneaux’s contributions to arts education, and also gives her the opportunity to shine a spotlight on textile and apparel design.
“It is also nice for the craft to get a nod,” she said. “It’s such a strong part of the economy in the province, but I feel it’s underrepresented in the arts – not as sexy as music or film.”
Born and raised in St. John’s, Furneaux said teaching has become more than a means of making a living—it has evolved into a passion.
“I love teaching, and I kind of fell into it at the beginning of my career. As a one-of-a-kind fine craft artist, I’m not a fan of production work. Teaching initially was a way to make extra income between gallery exhibitions,” she said. “It became very clear early on that I loved adult education – that ‘aha’ moment when people just get it. It never gets old.”
Having worked at College of the North Atlantic for more than 25 years, Furneaux never tires of watching her students’ progress.
“The students and the satisfaction that comes with watching them – some arriving in the first semester not even knowing how to thread a needle and then graduating two years later with a gallery exhibition of their own designs – are magical,” she said. “I also like my schedule here at CNA. I don’t usually teach in the intersession, so it allows me four months of the year to focus on my studio, research new techniques and take part in art residencies.”
The Textile & Apparel Design program recently moved to CNA’s Prince Philip Drive campus, and Furneaux says they are content with their new location.
“We are really happy to be in a community,” she said. “Many don’t realize that all of us textile instructors have our own art practices, and that’s an important part of teaching craft and art. It allows us to keep up our chops and stay current with trends, technology and materials in our specific areas.”
For more information or to view her work, visit www.susanfurneaux.com or find her on Instagram at @susanfurneaux.
For more information about textile studies at CNA, visit Textile & Apparel Design-College of the North Atlantic.
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