Joseph Lupo, a professor of art, printmaking program coordinator, associate director and graduate studies coordinator at the WVU School of Art and Design, was recently recognized by both the West Virginia Art Education Association (WVAEA) and Southern Graphics Council International (SGCI).
Lupo received SGCI’s Excellence in Teaching Printmaking award and was named WVAEA’s Higher Education Art Educator of the Year.
The WVAEA promotes the importance of art education across the state and addresses common problems art educators face. Each year, a K-12, higher education, retired educator and non-educator are awarded for their efforts to improve art education. SCGI grants the Excellence in Teaching Printmaking award each year to an educator who excels in both teaching and performing printmaking.
Lupo creates a variety of prints, including self-portraits.Lupo was nominated for the WVAEA award by Heather Harris, Service Assistant Professor of Art History and Curator of Education for the Art Museum of WVU. Caitlynn Buckler and Jameson Mulac, two of Lupo's former students, submitted nominations for the SGCI award.
“Joe is a relentless advocate for arts education and its importance in the curriculum,” Harris said. “As a leader in the school of Art and Design, he is a champion for our programs and their essential role at WVU. He is, likewise, an amazing teacher, whose students routinely articulate the impact his support and care has had, even many years after leaving WVU. It’s a joy to have Joe as a colleague, and to present someone so deserving with this award.”
Lupo said he was humbled to receive both awards.
“I believe art school is a place that should be both challenging and nurturing, a place of serious investigation and a place that can be fun and light-hearted,” Lupo said. “Art school should be welcoming, safe and supportive for the LGBTQIA community, those coming from marginalized communities, neurodiverse people, and those dealing with challenges to learning or anxiety. My goals as a professor are to earn my students’ respect and trust and to help create an open and welcoming atmosphere in the printshop where students can exist and make work in a sincere and authentic way.”
The SGCI award included a $1,000 honorarium and financial support to attend the 2025 SGCI conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Lupo used the honorarium to help fund a residency at the Jenny Robinson Printmaking Studio in Sydney, Australia, an experience he spoke about during a virtual panel of 2024 SGCI award winners.
Lupo said he hopes both awards will highlight the work performed at the School of Art and Design.
“I hope these awards bring more attention to the amazing work all of the faculty do daily,” he said. “They are some of the most dedicated and inspired faculty I’ve met. We all have a passion for teaching and take seriously the responsibility of teaching a diverse student body at a land grant institution in Appalachia. The fact is that any School of Art and Design faculty could win the WVAEA Teaching Award any given year.”
For more information about the School of Art and Design, visit artanddesign.wvu.edu.