William Walter

Q & A

What have you been doing since graduating from FSU?

In 1968, I was hired by Palm Beach County to be a part of their county school desegregation process. I worked in three migrant camps on the edge of the Everglades. When the transition was complete, I moved to the coast and spent 20 years teaching and managing the art department at Palm Beach Gardens High School. I received my MEd. in Curriculum and Instruction from Florida Atlantic University in 1973, and taught as an adjunct art professor with Palm Beach Junior College for the next ten years. In 1979, I became one of the first National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certified teachers in the country, and I became a consultant for the NBPTS. I received a teaching exchange in 1986 with the Wm. Fullbright Teacher Exchange Program, and taught at Newland School for Girls in Hull, England. Consequently, I bought a flat in East Yorkshire, England and maintained it for 25 years. I helped develop Alexander W. Dreyfoos, Jr. School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, FL and finished out my career there in the art department, then retired to Fort Walton Beach in 2000. In 2012, I made my way back to Tallahassee. I am a papermaker, and I translate my travel landscape drawings into collages. I occasionally teach for the FSU OLLI Program, I teach their traveling life long learners in Italy.

What did you learn at FSU to get you there?

I learned the value of education and the importance of a trained professional art educator. I am very proud of the education I received at FSU. I honed my art skills and developed my teaching practice. I learned to be a life long learner. My training was professional with the focus on quality in every aspect. My professors required a knowledge of process and an understanding of product. We were taught to be self-driven and self-critical. I maintain these qualities to this day.

What advice would you give to art students?

Challenge yourself and others. Listen. Use your daily process and training to advance your awareness, process and product. Set goals and revisit them often. Be in control.