Rice receives state honor for many art education achievements

November 3, 2025

Lorinda Rice has sculpted an art education career that has had a Michaelangelo-sized impact on thousands of Lincoln Public Schools students.
 
Nebraska Arts Council (NAC) members honored Rice for her many contributions to the Nebraska arts scene Oct. 10 with the Excellence in Arts Education Award. Rice, the visual art curriculum specialist at LPS, took part in a ceremony that honored painters, performers and educators from across the state. Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, Nebraska State Poet Emeritus Matt Mason and NAC Executive Director Mike Markey were among those who gathered at the Cornhusker Hotel for the once-every-two-years celebration.
 
Rice said it was an honor to be included in the 2025 NAC State Arts Awards program. She said she was especially grateful for her family and mentors who have championed her work for many years. She was also deeply appreciative of LPS art teachers who have partnered with her on projects and programs across the city.

“The work of LPS visual art education is a shared journey,” Rice said. “Meaningful change doesn’t happen in isolation. It grows through the support, ideas and collaboration of our district leaders and fellow teachers. I couldn’t do this work without the team of people in Lincoln Public Schools, especially the art teachers.”

Nebraskans for the Arts Executive Director Lance Nielsen and Lincoln Arts Council Executive Director Robert Goldberg said Rice has made a major difference both inside and outside Lincoln’s city limits. She currently serves on the board of directors of both groups and has held leadership roles in numerous other arts-based organizations. She has worked at LPS since 1998.
 
“Lorinda is a respected leader and educator because of the innovative professional learning she has shared with her peers at state, regional and national visual arts conferences,” Nielsen said. “She is also a passionate advocate in promoting arts education as relevant and essential for all students, regardless of zip code. Because of Lorinda’s vision of the importance of arts education, she has become a valuable board member for the Nebraskans for the Arts.”

“For many years she has helped facilitate new and creative programming with the Lincoln Arts Council to bring arts opportunities to students across the district,” Goldberg said. “We are now lucky to have her on our board, where she always brings creativity and new ideas. Lorinda is a real treasure and a great asset to LPS and all the students it serves.”

Nebraska Art Teachers Association (NATA) President Samantha Ashcraft said she was happy to learn of Rice’s recognition. Rice has been a NATA member for more than two decades and has promoted the arts on multiple NATA boards and committees. She has presented at many NATA state conferences and has been a staunch advocate for the group at national conventions.
 
“I love working with Lorinda,” Ashcraft said. “Her knowledge of the art community, current and historical art news and relationships, and the visual arts education system are truly inspiring. She is so deserving of this award!”

 
NAC is the latest organization to honor Rice for her years of hard work. The Lincoln Arts Council presented her with the Gladys Lux Education Award at the 2021 Mayor’s Arts Awards, and NATA leaders named her the recipient of the 2022 Roscoe Shields Service Award. The National Art Education Association (NAEA) presented Rice with the Western Region Supervision and Administration Award in 2023 for her leadership talents. The NAEA’s Western Region includes 15 states and three Canadian provinces.
 
Rice first pursued a career in graphic design at Northwest Missouri State University, but she decided to reroute her artistic talents into the education field. The decision led to a 17-year run helping students as a classroom teacher. She then switched to the administration realm and began supporting teachers by developing innovative curriculum. She also encouraged them to explore many professional learning opportunities at city, state and national levels.
 
Rice said one of the most profound changes during her career has been a shift in the overall goals of art education. Instead of focusing solely on a rigid scoring rubric for painting or drawing, students are now encouraged to keep track of how their art experiences have shaped life skills like creativity, teamwork and risk-taking.
 
“If we start looking at a portfolio of learning and talk about what had an impact on you, it’s not the score, it’s the experiences,” Rice said. “I remember making this work of art, I remember writing this essay about this book in fourth grade. Those are the things that we need to focus in on in education, and to help our students see, and our families see, that those moments are the moments that the child will carry with them out into their future.”
 
Rice has spread that message across the nation in conference halls, board rooms, museums and schools. She was part of a grant team that supported art-based inquiry and interdisciplinary learning with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and she served as supervision and administration director on the NAEA’s board of directors. She also exhibits her own artwork at the Burkholder Project Gallery in Lincoln.

 
Rice said the new strategy is allowing the process of artmaking to become just as important as the final product. She said it is encouraging to watch LPS students sculpt their own artistic pathways in classrooms every day.
 
“I love the curriculum that we do now, because it brings in lots of different artists and lots of different ways of making, and that is the essence of our world,” Rice said. “It’s a continually changing space, and if we’re curious, if we ask questions, if we look closely, we’re going to see those and want to know more and want to express that in different ways.”

Rice said she enjoyed speaking with fellow recipients during the afternoon. She said everyone who was there shares the same purpose of trying to make their cities, schools and state a better place to live.

“As I connected with other award winners at the ceremony, I was reminded of a common thread throughout all of our work,” Rice said. “Together, our goal is to help Nebraskans see how artists think and create, developing both technical skills and the creative thinking habits that matter most. Throughout history, artists have shared their interpretations of what they see and feel.”
 
Want to learn about art education at LPS? Visit our website at home.lps.org/art to explore our curriculum and more. 
 
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