Marvin Spomer
Novice Art Educator of the Year
Awarded to a novice art educator within the first five years of teaching art and working at a minimum of 0.51 FTE. The award is named in honor of Dr. Marvin Spomer, whose service as Art Education Professor at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, has formed and inspired many art educators in Nebraska.
Marvin J. Spomer, 74, died Friday, November 5, 2010, in Lincoln, Neb. Born on June 12, 1936, he was the eighth child of John C. and Katherine (Greenwalt) Spomer. Marvin grew up in Lincoln and graduated from Lincoln High School, class of 1954. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1959-1965. He married Bonnie Beckmann on December 27, 1959 and they have a son, John and a daughter, Lisa. Marvin attended the University of Nebraska, graduating in 1958. He taught art at Lefler Junior High in Lincoln. He was the Art Supervisor of Norfolk Public Schools and served as Elementary Principal in Pierce, Neb. Marvin completed his Masters Degree in Art Education from the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kan., 1964. He began his teaching career at the college level as an Assistant Professor of Art at Mankato State University. For five years (1965-1970), Marv was the Chairman of the Art Department at Wichita State University. Following additional graduate work at Penn State, he served as an Associate Professor in Art at Iowa State University. In 1971, Marvin joined the faculty of the University of Nebraska as an Associate Professor in both the Art Department and Teachers College, retiring in 2000. Among Marvin's many honors were: Gladys Lux Award at the 2003 Mayor's Arts Awards, a one-person Sheldon Art Show, 2001; Nebraska Art Teachers Association's Lifetime Service to Art Education, 2000; UNL's Distinguished Teaching Award, 1986; UNL Service Award; Roscoe Shields Service Award, NATA; the Cooper Foundation Award for Painting; and an invitation to participate in the Snowbird conferences of the Getty Foundation for the Arts and serve as a consultant to their art education program. Marvin Spomer was the second recipient of the Roscoe Shields Award, following Roscoe Shields.
