Please join the MWFoundation to congratulate Jeff Hall on being selected as our 2026 Patricia E. Taylor Teaching Award winner. The panel of judges all commented on the amazing quality of all of this year’s applications.
Jeff’s proposal, “Expanding Global Perspectives: Integrating Indigenous African Art into the Classroom,” will take him to South Africa this summer, where he will:
• Expand the MLWGS arts curriculum with first-hand knowledge of underrepresented cultures by seeing how indigenous crafts, ornamentation, and ritual intersect with contemporary art;
• Create a primary source library of multimedia resources accessible to faculty, students, and families.
• Develop a new unit that examines how contemporary artists adapt traditional African techniques so that students can analyze examples and then create their own projects that merge tradition with innovation.
Jeff’s itinerary includes visiting the Iziko Museum’s survey of African art, exploring ancient rock paintings, attending a Ndebele workshop on mural design, experiencing Kruger National Park’s wildlife and landscapes, learning about Apartheid at Robben Island, and studying cutting-edge contemporary art that addresses challenging issues like Apartheid and the African Diaspora at the Zeitz Museum.
Upon his return, Jeff plans to integrate his new understanding and materials into lessons on African culture, colonialism, and global and leading staff development sessions where teachers can learn to integrate African art into their own courses. He also hopes to create a lasting contribution by working with students to design and paint a didactic mural informed by the resources and visual traditions he encounters in South Africa.
Of the relevance of his travel to his teaching, Jeff says, “Gifted students thrive when challenged with authentic, globally relevant material. By deepening my knowledge of African traditions, I can better cultivate their passions and provide more inclusive examples. Exposure to diverse cultural perspectives ensures that gifted students of all backgrounds see themselves reflected in the curriculum. This experience will strengthen my ability to connect them to art as a universal expression of our shared humanity.”
