Dr. Barbara Suplee
Barbara P. Suplee, the first recipient of the NAEA Beverly Levett Gerber Special Needs Lifetime Achievement Award, was a founding member of the NAEA Special Needs Issues Group and served as its first President. For many years, Barb was a member of NAEA Delegates’ Assembly- first as a Pennsylvania Delegate and later, as the representative of the Special Needs Issues Group. In fact, she was our “super delegate.” Barb enlisted the support of Team East members by sharing her heart-felt concerns that the needs of students with special needs would be better served by an issues group that focused on them. Barb’s powers of gentle persuasion later convinced the NAEA Delegates who voted 100% to accept our group’s request to become an Issues Group. The rest is history.
Barb has been a strong voice for students with learning disabilities in her NAEA presentations and an advocate for students with special needs throughout her tenure as Chairperson of the Department of Art Education and Art Therapy at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She continued her advocacy as a Board Member of the Pennsylvania Art Education Association and the Philadelphia Arts in Education Partnership. In recognition of her contributions to art education, the Pennsylvania Art Education Association honored her as the 2002 Pennsylvania Art Educator of the Year.
Barb’s personal connection to people continues to win new members for the Special Needs Issues Group. Her message that art is important in the lives of people with special needs comes from her heart and has touched people and changed lives.
Barb has been a strong voice for students with learning disabilities in her NAEA presentations and an advocate for students with special needs throughout her tenure as Chairperson of the Department of Art Education and Art Therapy at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She continued her advocacy as a Board Member of the Pennsylvania Art Education Association and the Philadelphia Arts in Education Partnership. In recognition of her contributions to art education, the Pennsylvania Art Education Association honored her as the 2002 Pennsylvania Art Educator of the Year.
Barb’s personal connection to people continues to win new members for the Special Needs Issues Group. Her message that art is important in the lives of people with special needs comes from her heart and has touched people and changed lives.