Cleveland Institute of Art names 2026 Excellence in Teaching Award recipients

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 28, 2026

CLEVELAND—The Cleveland Institute of Art announces its fifth class of Excellence in Teaching Awards recipients, recognizing the meaningful impact three Northeast Ohio art teachers have had on their students as well as their steadfast dedication to the local arts and education communities.

Margaret Garbincus of Euclid High School, Adriel Meyer of Andrews Osborne Academy in Willoughby and Laura Skehan of Rocky River High School have sparked a passion for art and design among their students and fostered creativity in their classrooms. In doing so, they've helped prepare aspiring artists and designers for future success.

"This year's Excellence in Teaching Award recipients all share and demonstrate a commitment to helping students pursue their creative passions while also engaging in future-thinking practices that have them planning for life after school," says Crystal L. Johnson, EdD, Assistant Vice President of Admissions + Continuing Education at CIA. "They create spaces for students to express themselves and dream big when it comes to setting goals for themselves as artists, and then they help them map out the choices they need to consider to make those dreams a reality. This kind of growth-oriented mindset is what makes CIA's undergraduates successful, and seeing that foundation being laid in high school classes is exciting for us."

Garbincus is the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Studio Art & Visual Design teacher at Euclid High School, where she has taught since 2002. She's also a painter/muralist whose murals can be found throughout Northeast Ohio. Her public art includes murals at the Cudell Recreation Center in Cleveland, a bridge near the intersection of West 117th Street and Madison Avenue on the Cleveland-Lakewood border, and the Euclid Public Library. She also designed the "Greetings from Euclid" postcard mural in downtown Euclid. She earned a bachelor's degree in Studio Art-Painting from Ursuline College in Pepper Pike and a master's degree in Art Education from Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) in Cleveland.

Meyer is an art teacher at Andrews Osborne Academy in Willoughby, where she has taught since 2018, as well as Instructor of Weaving and Textiles at CWRU. She earned her BFA in Fiber & Material Studies from CIA in 2003, and as an alum of both CIA and CWRU, she brings a rich academic and creative background to her classrooms. She enjoys teaching both traditional art-making skills while encouraging artistic expression, fostering a dynamic environment in which students explore the intersection of traditional craft and contemporary voice. Her dual role in secondary and higher education allows her to bridge the gap for aspiring artists, guiding them through technical mastery and portfolio development.

Skehan teaches Drawing, Painting, Advanced Studio Art and AP Drawing at Rocky River High School. After earning her BFA in Painting and Drawing from Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, Massachusetts, she returned home to Northeast Ohio, where she has been maintaining her studio practice and teaching high school art for the past 18 years. Teaching high school students, going through one of the most challenging and tumultuous phases of their lives, is a responsibility that she is humbled by daily. She considers helping students tell their story through visual communication and providing them the tools to joyfully engage in a lifelong creative practice to be her life’s work. Last year, Skehan was awarded the Outstanding Art Teacher award from the Ohio Art Education Association.

The honorees each received $500 and had their name added to a plaque on CIA’s campus.

Garbincus, Meyer and Skehan join previous CIA Excellence in Teaching Award honorees:

• Elizabeth Bortz at Cleveland School of the Arts in Cleveland
• Sarah Curry at Charles F. Brush High School in Lyndhurst
• Cynthia Greene at Cleveland School of Architecture and Design at John Hay in Cleveland
• Dayna Hansen at Lakewood High School in Lakewood
• Mygenet Harris at Albert Einstein High School Visual Arts Center in Kensington, Maryland
• Michelle Kane at Mentor High School in Mentor
• Karen Mehling-Howson at Shaker Heights High School in Shaker Heights
• Robert Pierson of Revere High School in Richfield
• Nancy Rich-Drehs at Heights High School in Cleveland Heights
• Amber West at Olmsted Falls High School in Olmsted Falls
• Dan Whitely at Orange High School in Pepper Pike
• William Wilson of Westlake High School in Westlake

Educators who are considered for the Cleveland Institute of Art Excellence in Teaching Award are identified by CIA based on connections made throughout the recruitment cycle. Honorees are selected based on the outcomes of their students' portfolios as well as their commitment to providing access and opportunities for students to show their work and consider the best art colleges in the country. Three recipients are announced each year.

Contact

Cleveland Institute of Art
Michael C. Butz, Director of College Communications + External Relations
mcbutz@cia.edu / 216.421.7404

Cleveland Institute of Art

The Cleveland Institute of Art is a private, nonprofit college of art and design that has been the training ground for countless students who have gone on to make important contributions to the fields of creativity and innovation since it opened in 1882 as the Western Reserve School of Design for Women. Its students have designed internationally recognized products, their artwork has been exhibited in major museums and private collections around the world, and their entertainment media has been enjoyed by audiences and game players for generations. It enrolls about 550 students nationally and internationally and has a faculty of about 100 full-time and adjunct members, all of whom are practicing artists, designers and scholars.