Professional Art Education Association Taps Mississippi College Student for Board of Directors Post
Brittany Bradley’s goal is to impact the world, one child at a time.
The scope of the Mississippi College senior art education major’s influence will soon be expanded significantly, thanks to the nation’s leading membership organization for visual arts, design, and media arts education professionals.
The National Art Education Association Board of Directors has selected the Jackson native to serve as Preservice Division director-elect. She began her term at the conclusion of the 2023 NAEA National Convention Board of Directors meeting and will work closely with her division director. She will join the Board of Directors as a division director after the 2025 NAEA National Convention.
Stephanie Busbea, professor and chair of the MC Art Department, said Bradley’s selection to the esteemed post contributes to the art program at MC’s elevated status.
“We are so proud of Brittany – she will be a great representative of Mississippi College and Mississippi,” Busbea said. “She already has some great ideas for improving the student chapters across the nation.”
Busbea said that Bradley’s place on the national art education stage was foreshadowed during her high school career when she received the NAEA Rising Star Award, given to only a few high school students in the nation.
“Her art teacher, Renna Moore-Edwards, graduated from MC in 2004,” Busbea said. “She recognized her talent and leadership potential and submitted her work for the prestigious award.
“At the NAEA Southeastern Awards Ceremony in San Antonio this year, the regional vice president mentioned that Brittany is the first Rising Star to serve on the Board of Directors.”
Bradley, who also received the 2023 Southeastern Region Preservice Art Educator of the Year Award at the NAEA ceremony in San Antonio, said being named a National Rising Star by the NAEA in high school provided the impetus for her to run for the Board of Directors post.
“It means a lot to be chosen by the Board of Directors because it shows that they care for the future of fellow educators and their students,” the Jackson native said. “The doors of opportunity have been consistently opening for me, so continuing to be a part of this community of educators is more than enough to help guide me in being a better educator for myself and my future students.”
As Preservice Division director-elect, Bradley said she will be responsible for learning the NAEA’s protocols and procedures, and bringing innovative ideas to provide resources and guidance for future educators.
“Many of the colleagues I have spoken with expressed a need for more resources to help guide them inside the classroom and adapt to their constantly changing environments,” Bradley said. “My goals for this service are to be more active in aiding preservice educators in the many ways they can build on their newly found foundation in the art world.”
As a child, Bradley was inspired by her uncle and mother’s passion for drawing to become an educator.
“Art education was introduced to me by my former art teacher, Mrs. Renna Moore-Edwards,” she said. “It was a decision influenced by constant support and opportunities presented to me in high school.”
As a member of the NAEA Board of Directors, Bradley will help provide that support for countless students across the nation.
“The NAEA is a great place to meet fellow art minds that can help art students with guidance on what can be helpful to them as future art educators,” she said. “These are people who enjoy what they do and are not afraid of expressing themselves in the best way they know how – through art.
“The NAEA has opened up so many doors and opportunities for me and others who are introduced into this career field.”
Bradley was introduced to Mississippi College’s art program by Moore-Edwards and her colleague, Michelle Carpenter, who is also an MC alum. Together, they convinced the talented youngster that MC was where she needed to be.
“I was told that MC was a great place to get constructive criticism and helpful instruction and guidance from those who have found success studying there,” she said. “Educators may be there to teach students by the state’s standards, but they also are lifetime teachers who help children with the necessary tools to be successful in their personal and professional lives.
“My goal is to give back that same nurturing and well-needed guidance that I was given. Mississippi College aided my first step in beginning this lifetime goal. MC was the first and only university that answered the call in my search for colleges and has been the school that has aided me in continuing my education to better myself as a future educator.”
She credits the training she received at MC for helping position her to have a strong influence on educators who improve the lives of their students through art.
“The NAEA is a community full of passionate, diverse individuals who care about each other and the success of their colleagues and students,” Bradley said. “This community will always feel like family. If not for the exposure to these opportunities, I would not have the strong support of the art community, as well as friends and family.
“Art has always been a part of my life as a way of expressing what words could not. It has grown from being just a hobby to being a part of my lifestyle. Life is full of creative minds who, if given the right tools, can make a difference, no matter how big or small that difference may be.”
Founded in 1947, the NAEA champions creative growth and innovation by equitably advancing the tools and resources for a high-quality visual arts, design, and media arts education throughout diverse populations and communities of practice. Its members include pre-kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high school visual arts educators, college and university professors, university students preparing to become educators, researchers, scholars, teaching artists, administrators, supervisors, art museum directors, and more than 54,000 students who are members of the National Art Honor Society.
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