Art has been a part of Marian Hummel’s life for as long as she can remember. Her mother was trained as a teacher and would buy her art books and encourage her to paint, and her father gave her an adjustable camera when she was 12. Her parents told her she could do whatever she set her mind to, and encouraged her to explore her interests. She discovered she enjoyed photographing landscaping and fine arts, and now, decades later, she is proud to have turned her passion into a fruitful career.
The first stop on Ms. Hummel’s quest to achieve her goals was Farleigh Dickinson University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in fine arts in 1966. Over the years, she furthered her education with a Master of Arts in Visual Arts and a Supervisor’s certification from William Paterson College, a Teaching Certificate from the New Jersey Department of Education, and coursework at Montclair State University and William Paterson University. She also earned a Certificate in Commercial Photography and a Certificate in Photojournalism from the Germain School of Photography in New York City, took selected photography courses at the New School for Social Research, and completed a studio course with Karen Leeds, a New York photographer.
Between 1966 and 1999, Ms. Hummel used her talents and background to play a valuable role in the field of education. She started out as a teacher of art history, painting and drawing to Turkish high school students and as an art instructor at the American Academy in Istanbul, Turkey. Ms. Hummel returned to the U.S. in 1968, when she joined the Boonton Township School Systems. During her time there, she served as gifted and talented student coordinator, an art educator, and a District Administrator. Highlights of her career include being chosen as one of eight educators in the state to participate in the Performance Evaluation Project to develop objective measures of teacher performance as a method for evaluating teaching competence and for certifying teachers. Ms. Hummel was also selected for participation on a six-person committee with responsibility for formulating the art education philosophy supporting the State’s Curriculum Guide. She retired in 1999.
When Ms. Hummel wasn’t teaching, she enjoyed producing her own art. She participated in photography exhibitions at the Kemerer Museum, where she was named Best in Show, the Jockey Hollow Gallery, and the Bergen Community Museum, and is represented in the permanent collection at Lehigh University. Ms. Hummel also completed contract work on assignment and on speculation for several greeting card companies, and photographed and helped to register several Boonton Township homes with the New Jersey Historical Society. She wrote a position paper on art education that appeared in The Art Educators of New Jersey annual journal, and her photographs were featured in School Arts Magazine’s “The Photographer As Artist” and “Photography in Education” articles. Now, she is focused on photographing insects.
To keep in touch with her peers and professional communities, Ms. Hummel is a member of the Allentown Art Museum and the Order of the Eastern Star. She is a former member of Art Educators of New Jersey, Morris County Art Educators, the International Society for Education Through Art, the National Art Association, New York Administrators in Art, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the American Archaeological Society, the Museum of Contemporary Crafts, the Whitney Museum, the New York Photographic Historical Society, and the Photographic Society of America. Additionally, she served as Vice-President of Morris County Art Educators and Vice-President of the Boonton Township Education Association, where she was tasked with representing the teachers’ interests in School Board meetings, and at the county and local levels. She attended conferences and held workshops on both art education and gifted education.
In recognition of Ms. Hummel’s success, she received the Outstanding Elementary Teachers of America Award and the Grade Teacher’s Award for Teaching Excellence in Art, as well as a certificate from the New Jersey Department of Education, Division of Field Services for her contribution to the state’s Performance Evaluation Project, and a letter of recognition for her contribution to the philosophy for the New Jersey State High School Curriculum Guide. Her achievements have been listed among the pages of Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Education, Who’s Who in the World, and Who’s Who of American Women.
