Introducing CCAD’s 2022 Alumni Award winners

Arts Educator Award 

Kymberly C. Moreland-Garnett 
Fine Arts, 1991
Fine Arts Teacher
Trinity Preparatory School 
Winter Park, Florida

During her 22 years as a fine arts teacher at Trinity Preparatory School in Winter Park, Florida, Moreland-Garnett has led foundations, printmaking, and advanced printmaking courses, hosted international school trips, volunteered in her community, and advanced her own skills through various professional development activities.  In addition to many years of active participation in professional organizations, Moreland-Garnett received the 2009 H. Benton Ellis Award for Excellence in Teaching and the following year was named Middle School Art Educator of the Year by the Florida Art Education Association. Earlier this year, the FAEA named her the June Hinckley Art Educator Award of Excellence winner, honoring her for submitting the most entries for its K–12 exhibition. Moreland-Garnett’s classroom is known as a common gathering place for her students, both to work and because she is seen as a trusted, caring adult on campus. In 2021, Moreland-Garnett led her printmaking class on a fundraiser in support of the Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando following a devastating fire; the effort raised $1,200 for the rescue. 

In addition to her work teaching art, Moreland-Garnett enjoys printmaking: monoprints using an etching press, and linoleum printing on fabric. Working with fabric has been an interest since she was a child, she says, and after graduating from CCAD, Moreland-Garnett expanded her practice to quilt-making. Find Kymberly Moreland-Garnett on Facebook.

What lessons or experiences from your time at CCAD influence the work you create today?
I vividly remember the first grade that I got for an assignment freshman year: Tam Peterson’s 2D Design class. I don’t know what the assignment was, but I got a D on it. Apparently I wasn’t listening when she gave the instructions and stated that the work had to be on a quarter-inch mount. I thought my two-inch mount looked great! I quickly learned to pay attention to the details! I learned that I work well under pressure, that friends can become family pretty darn quick, and that I should try to be open to new ideas as much as possible. (Though for our Senior Thesis, we had to critique a classmate’s work—my partner used cow intestines in his work. I didn’t get it). Skills that I learned at CCAD are passed along to my students every day.

Color Concept (Oh, the DRAMA!), 2D Design, Lettering, Printmaking, Ceramics, and being involved in Student Council and Botticelli have all shaped my career in so many ways. It wasn’t easy, but I do cherish the time that I had at CCAD.

What advice do you have for current students? For recent alumni?
My advice for current students? Have FUN! Try as many new things as possible. Talk to someone you haven’t talked to. Make connections. Ask questions! Take care of yourself—that is the most important thing!

Students graduating now have opportunities we didn’t even know could exist. It’s really amazing to me how much things have changed. If you have a great idea that keeps getting shut down, don’t give up. Believe in yourself. Don't be afraid to ask for help.

Creative Entrepreneur Award

Cathy Ann Johnson-Conforto 
(Illustration, 1989)
CEO and Creative Director, Luv-it Studio
Cofounder, Soul Ah-Mazing
Tuscany, Italy/Decatur, Georgia

Johnson-Conforto has logged many accomplishments both in design and business since graduating from CCAD. Her decades of experience in branding and innovations within the social expression and product creation industry include taking on leadership roles on a variety of new product and business pilots for Hallmark Greeting Cards, Inc., such as founding Hallmark Minority Exchange (now known as Hallmark Multicultural Center of Excellence). Johnson-Conforto was the first Black woman to design and illustrate in the Center of Excellence as well as the first Black woman to build a licensing brand that debuted at the North American International Toy Fair. Her passion and understanding of diversity in the workplace made a significant impact on corporate policies and structure changes at Hallmark and beyond.

Johnson-Conforto is CEO and Creative Director for Luv-it Studio, responsible for collaborations across multiple platforms including marketing, creative ideation, retail outlets and messaging for service sectors. In addition, she cofounded—with her son Clinton Love Johnson—Soul Ah-Mazing, a media platform that celebrates the human family in all its diversity. Johnson-Conforto recently illustrated the critically hailed children’s book Stand Up! 10 Mighty Women Who Made a Change. Find Cathy Ann Johnson-Conforto on Instagram.

What advice do you have for current students? For recent alumni?
ADVICE FOR A CURRENT STUDENT: Dr. Maya Angelou and I were in conversation. I expressed what many of us have felt, feelings of not fitting in. Dr. Angelou looked up with a big smile and chuckled. She said, ''Ms. Johnson, you were not born to fit in. You were born to stand out! STAND OUT until they notice."

ADVICE FOR ALUMNI: If you are too BIG for SMALL jobs, you will always be too small for BIGGER opportunities.

BE brave, BE beautiful, BE honest and LIVE the LIFE you want to WRITE.

Can you share a bit about yourself?
Growing up, the Linden library was a safe place for me. Reading books didn't interest me as much as drawing nice pictures. My local library provided me with a showcase of art, travel, culture, and a small glimpse of the world.

The passion for seeing beauty apart from images in books never left me. Art and culture were keys to opening up so many possibilities. I live part of the year in the USA and the other in Rome, Italy. During the pandemic, the Vatican became my remote studio. Illustrations, sketches, and the narrative of the making of the book (Stand Up!) are on display at the Zimmerli Art Museum.

There is a saying, ‘your talents will make room for you.’ In my spare time, I enjoy roaming Rome, chasing castles, and hunting the treasures of Caravaggio with my husband and our doggie (aka Frank Sinatra).

Joseph V. Canzani Alumni Award for Excellence 

Albert Wong 
Fine Arts, 1970
Professor Emeritus, Department of Art
University of Texas at El Paso
Vallejo, California

Born in Nanjing, China and raised in Hong Kong, Wong has had a long and fruitful career in art and education. An illustration and design professor at the University of Texas for 36 years, Wong has directly shared his knowledge and experience with hundreds of students over the decades. In addition to his work in the classroom, Wong, a painter, illustrator, and graphic designer, has participated in individual and group exhibitions around the world; has work in more than a dozen corporate and museum collections in the U.S. and Hong Kong; has created advertisements for corporate and nonprofit clients; has written academic papers on such subjects as calligraphy, graphic design, and haiku; has made academic presentations on Chinese and Japanese culture; has had work in a number of books and periodicals; and has translated the work of other art historians. Visit Albert Wong’s website.

What lessons or experiences from your time at CCAD influence the work you create today?
The robust and vigorous training at CCAD taught me (when I became an art teacher) that solid art training should not be any less demanding, nor any less vigorous than medical or any other professional training. To this day, I’m still influenced by lessons from my freshman year color concepts, 2-D and 3-D classes. The instructors imparted to me a strong sense of work ethic in the studio. My four years was also a period in life-changing acculturation. To this day, my work still reflects the conference of my heritage and my American cultural experience.

What advice do you have for current students? For recent alumni?
A good art education should be part bootcamp, part heuristic, and part inspirational. Work as hard as you can. Learn to take criticism and rejection. Put personal ego aside. Take calculated risks. Read a good book. Attend a good concert. See a good dance performance. Watch a great film. Travel widely. Leave your comfort zone. Experience unfamiliar things. Listen to your elders. Be ambitious. Be adventurous. Be involved. Be proactive. Be compassionate. Be a good person. Be reciprocal to your community. Love your family and each other.