Drawing on inspiration from his teachers and life experience in art, Revere High School (RHS) art teacher Robert Pierson has built a career on passing those lessons on to others. For his dedication to art education, Pierson received an exclusive teaching award from the Cleveland Institute of Art (CIA).

Every year, CIA recognizes select high school art teachers from across the nation with its Excellence in Teaching Award. CIA formally presented Pierson with the award at a ceremony at CIA on April 22nd.

Daly Horton, an Admissions Counselor for CIA, nominated Pierson for the award.

“This is our third year giving out this award, so he is one of nine in total. We limit it to three per year, so it is a big deal,” Horton said.

Horton said that to consider a teacher for the award, CIA is looking for certain qualities.

“It is about making an impression. Being able to see a really good environment for students, somewhere that is safe for students to be exploring and creating. Somewhere cultivates creativity,” Horton said.

“Walking into Mr. In Pierson’s classroom, I could tell folks wanted to be there, they were really engaged, and had a lot of respect for him. That tells me that he has set up his classroom in a really successful way,” Horton said.

Pierson’s love for art started in elementary school.

I had good art teachers at elementary school that took a liking to the work I did and hung it up on the wall so they got a certain amount of recognition,” Pierson said.

The most influential person to his art at the time was his middle school teacher, Hetty Jones.

“I had a really good middle school teacher. She put my stuff in the hallway in the glass case in the hallway at the middle school. She kind of got me anything I wanted to do,” Pierson said.

It was also early on that he learned that to master something, you had to make mistakes. He cites this as something that has affected him as an artist and a teacher.

“I really struggled. I think it helps as an art teacher to know how hard it is to learn something and make some mistakes. I have often told these students make better teachers, because they know how hard it is to learn something,” Pierson said.

Initially, he did not major in art when he attended Kent State University (KSU) but instead majored in architecture, however, he admits that he struggled with this major, and did not consider himself to be a good student. It was not until junior year that his roommates, who were majoring in art, introduced him to it and he decided to switch majors.

“I started off at Kent State in architecture and I was not a strong enough student to do well in that program, but I was in an art dorm with other artists. I was not even aware you could major in art. I was flunking out of college, so I started taking art classes again. I was not the best student in the class, but a lot came back to me,” Pierson said.

After graduating with a degree in art, Pierson worked various jobs involving the subject until deciding to go back to school to get a Master of Arts in Teaching at KSU.

It was in this program that he was asked to write a paper on what teacher made a difference to him. Pierson wrote the paper about his middle school teacher, Jones, and the effect putting his artwork in the hallway had on him.

Pierson got in touch with Jones to send her the paper, and in a heartfelt phone call Mrs. Jones informed him of the job opening for art teacher at Revere High School (RHS).

“I got a letter back from Jones, who [was at that time] the art teacher at the high school, and she said the essay made her cry. Then she said there was an opening at the high school,” Pierson said.

Fellow RHS art teacher, Sarah Zustin, was not aware that Pierson would receive the award.

“I was surprised but not surprised, because I did not know he was receiving it. I am not surprised, because it was well deserved. He has put a lot of tireless hours at Revere to support the arts at various universities, especially the Cleveland Institute of Art,” Zustin said.

Zustin also said how over the years Pierson has become a role model, inspiring his students to be better artists and herself to become a better teacher.

“He has always been a good mentor for me. The years that he has on his back has really shown that when you are connecting the students in the art, they can be really successful. He really showed me the ropes around here and what to expect and what do to as a high school art teacher,” Zustin said.

Reflecting on what the award meant to him, Pierson feels a sense of validation.

“The biggest thing is when the school posted it on Facebook. The comments I got with former students, some made me cry. It was not just about being their teacher, just providing a really nice place, a safe place to be,” Pierson said.

When reflecting, Pierson feels that he has become a better teacher through following the examples of his former teachers, and those he worked with early on in his career.

“People must teach how they are taught. I watched, I learned how she [Jones] taught. It is willing to know how to do something and share where other people can learn. That is a skill I have gotten better at over time. By no means, I am not an expert at teaching, but I am better than when I started,” Pierson said.

The most notable example of Jones’s influence on Pierson as a teacher is the way she put her students’ art work in the hallway.

“That is the story. It was my middle school art teacher put my stuff in the hallway, which is why I am really big into putting my stuff in the hallway. It matters,” Pierson said.