Thomas M. Brewer, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus Art Education
University of Central Florida
See Art Resume
Thomas Brewer was born in Urbana, IL in 1948, attended public school there and graduated from Champaign Central High School in 1967. Attended Parkland Community College and received a B.A. in Art Education and Ceramics from Southern Illinois University Carbondale (1973). After graduating he worked as a studio potter for nine years and began teaching art in 1982. He completed an M.A. in Art from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (1985) and then a Ph.D. in Art Education from Florida State University (1989). He taught K-Post Graduate art and art education for 35 years and was the Coordinator of Art Education at UCF from 1996 to December 2015. He served in three similar university positions before landing in Orlando.
Brewer was awarded a 2013-14 J. William Fulbright Teaching/Research Fellowship to Iceland. His research and scholarship in Visual Arts Education has focused on student learning, curriculum and instruction, assessment, and education policy. He served as Chair of the National Art Education Association’s (NAEA) Research Commission (1998-2001) and Chair for the Southeastern College Art Conference (SECAC) Visual Arts Education Policy Committee. He was named the 2007 NAEA National Art Educator of the Year and received the 2010 SECAC Award for Outstanding Service. Brewer served on the National Art Education Foundation (NAEF) Board of Trustees 2012-2016, was elected NAEA Distinguished Fellow (2012), and in 2016 was elected to the Council for Policy Studies in Art Education.
His more recent solo exhibitions were at Mjólkurbúðinni Listagilinu, Akureyri, Iceland, 2016 (with Gils Artist Residency) and William Carey University, Hattiesburg, MS, 2015. His studio work has been included in exhibitions at the South Carolina Museum, Columbia, SC; McKissick Museum, Columbia, SC; the Arkansas Art Center and the Arkansas Art Center Decorative Museum, Little Rock, AR; the Evansville Museum of Art, Evansville, IN; and the Walton Art Center, Fayetteville, AR. National exhibitions include: American Crafts Council Spotlight Exhibitions; Ohr Rising: Gulf States Competition; in 2008 A Twist on Tradition: National Juried Exhibition and Jersey Shore Clay National, Platters and Pourers National; Red Heat: Contemporary Works in Clay 2010; and Functional/Dysfunctional National Juried Ceramics Competition 2013. Brewer is currently represented at Carol Robinson Gallery, New Orleans, LA; The Cinema Gallery, Urbana, IL; and at www.tombrewergallery.com Urbana, IL.
Brewer had a studio and residence in New Smyrna Beach from 2000-2021 and since March 2021 permanently lives and works at 305 W. Griggs St, Urbana, IL, US.