Barnstable Teacher Receives Arts Educator of the Year Award

The Arts Foundation of Cape Cod awarded the Arts Educator of the Year Award to Mr. Carl Lopes, longtime chair of the art department at Barnstable High School, at the first annual Creative Collaborative conference last night. 

The Arts Foundation of Cape Cod conferred four new awards on leaders in the cultural community of Cape Cod in front of a standing room only crowd at the Cultural Center of Cape Cod.  The awards ceremony followed the day-long regional Creative Collaborative conference, which drew artists and cultural organizations from across Cape Cod to celebrate the year’s best collaborative projects in the arts.

The 2007 honorees were: Carl Lopes of Barnstable, Arts Educator of the Year; Harry Holl of Dennis, Lifetime Achievement Award; Martin Tulloch of Falmouth, Community Leadership in Support of the Arts; and the Provincetown Art Association and Museum Student Curating Project, Collaborative Arts Project of the Year.  These four new awards will be presented each year by the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod at the annual Creative Collaborative Conference in the fall.

Mr. Lopes’ nomination was submitted by a former student, Jonathan Guy-Gladding, who was inspired to pursue a career as an artist after studying under Mr. Lopes during his years at Barnstable High School.

Jonathan went to UMass Amherst, Mr. Lopes’ alma mater, and decided to major in Fine Art.  His work there won several prestigious awards.  And yet, he would say years later that he learned more in Carl Lopes’ class at Barnstable High School than he learned in four years at UMass.

Jonathan is now a successful working artist exhibiting in solo and group shows nationally and internationally.  His work as an artist has taken him through a stint with the Peace Corps, five rewarding years as an animator for Sesame Street, and into a solid art career on his own.

Guy-Gladding writes, “More than anything it was from Mr. Lopes’ classes that I first started to believe these things were possible.  I knew that Mr. Lopes believed in me and so I persevered.”

“He has encouraged and inspired thousands of students who passed through his classroom over the past four decades, headed an art department that I’m certain is among the very best in the country, and truly made art something real and appreciable to countless people, who have been able to realize their talents thanks to him.”

Back to the Awards!