For over three decades, Dr. Minuette Floyd has been a leading voice in the field of art education, both within the state of South Carolina and on a national level. This November, she was honored with the 2023 South Carolina Art Education Association (SCAEA) Thomas A. Hatfield Lifetime Achievement Award. This career award honors Floyd’s enduring commitment to teaching and the promotion of art education across South Carolina, spanning an impressive career that includes 8 years as an elementary school art teacher and 27 years as a faculty member at the University of South Carolina.
This accolade adds to Floyd's already illustrious collection of awards, making her one of only 27 art educators in the award's 29-year history to receive this distinguished recognition. However, this isn't her first SCAEA award—in 2002, she was named the Higher Ed Educator of the Year, followed by the Dr. Deborah Smith-Hoffman Mentor Award (2012), the SCAEA Art Educator of the Year (2015), and the Outstanding Art Educator in Higher Education Award (2016). On a national level, Floyd has received three significant NAEA awards, including the Mary J. Rouse Art Education Award (2002), the Outstanding Art Educator in Higher Education (2005), and the Committee On Multiethnic Concerns (COMC) J. Eugene Grigsby, Jr. Award (2011).
Floyd was presented with the Thomas A. Hatfield Lifetime Achievement Award on November 18 at the 2023 SCAEA Annual Conference in Greenville, South Carolina.
A Colorful Career
Throughout her career, Floyd has played a pivotal role in advocating for diversity and inclusion in K-12 arts education. Through action-based research and teaching, she has conducted numerous workshops and seminars for art educators, introducing them to racially diverse artists and culturally sensitive curriculum design for public school settings. Serving as Co-Investigator on a significant three-year grant project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, titled "America’s Reconstruction: The Untold Story," Floyd served as curator of exhibits and conducted summer workshops for educators across disciplines. These workshops explored the history of arts and culture in the South Carolina Lowcountry during the post-slavery Reconstruction Era, considered one of the most neglected and misunderstood periods in U.S. history.
Floyd's leadership profile is expansive and includes a sustained commitment to the Young Artist's Workshop (YAW), a community-based art enrichment program benefiting children ages 5 to 18. Each semester, YAW students receive 7 weeks of hands-on art instruction in the classrooms and studios of USC's School of Visual Art and Design, covering various mediums and concluding with a public exhibition and reception. In 1998, Floyd began teaching the course, allowing young students to delve deeply into meaningful topics that they can explore at their age levels. This artistic exploration positively impacts the quality and diversity of the work students produce. Based on their experiences in YAW, some of the K-12 students have even gone on to enroll at USC as School of Visual Art and Design majors. It is also a valuable experience for the art education majors who instruct the classes, as they receive input on their initial experiences as educators before embarking on the more structured phase of student teaching in the following semester.
Floyd is also a champion of globalized art education and has led numerous study-abroad trips to Africa and England. She has given national scholarly presentations that emphasize the importance of supporting and advocating for diverse faculty leadership in study-abroad programs, drawing insights from her personal experiences with students overseas. Presently, her research is centered on the continent of Africa, aiming to dispel stereotypes and misconceptions while connecting students with multicultural content.
The School of Visual Art and Design proudly celebrates Dr. Minuette Floyd's outstanding contributions to art education in South Carolina and beyond. Her tireless dedication continues to shape the future of art education, inspiring generations of aspiring educators and leaving an indelible mark on USC students and the community.