The Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts honored Ramiro Santillan with the 2025 Art Educator of the Year award at the Gallery Exhibit Opening Reception on June 9.

 Santillan, the seventh Turner Center instructor to receive this award, is the Center’s Hudson Pottery Studio Manager and Lead Ceramics Instructor. He teaches nearly two dozen classes each month, in addition to behind-the-scenes efforts to promote the smooth function of hundreds of classes each year. These classes allow the Center to provide beginner and intermediate ceramics experiences to youth and adults. Santillan holds a B.F.A. in Fine Arts from Valdosta State University and has been invited to teach ceramics at the Ga. Governor’s Honors Program for two consecutive years.

“Ramiro is passionate about arts education and its ability to connect people and create community – and his passion reflects in consistent increases to quality and quantity of student work created, class attendance, and repeat students under his instruction,” said Turner Center Art Education Administrator Hailey Rathmann. “More importantly, students at the Center often say that his classes aren’t just about creating art – they’re also about people connecting because of art, working together, and developing new ideas.” 

Under Santillan’s instruction and coaching, many of the Center’s students have become proficient as artists and now exhibit and sell their work in professional settings - including in the Center’s 2nd Annual Glass and Ceramic Art Invitational, which is on display through July 30. High school students who have taken classes from Santillan have received honors such as first place for ceramics in the Ga. Division of the National Beta Club Art Competition and semi-finalist for the Ga. Governor’s Honors Program. Santillan’s consistent forward-thinking to find ways to further the growth of his students has also been critical as the Center continues to expand its ceramics programming, including through the addition of regular open studios and a new ceramics artist-in-residence role.

Beyond his work as an artist and instructor, Santillan is an advocate for the arts through the Center’s Regional Artists Community (RAC) and the City of Valdosta’s Public Art Advisory Committee (PAAC).

For more information about the Turner Center’s instructor team and regular beginner-friendly ceramics class schedule, visit turnercenter.org, or contact Art Education Administrator Hailey Rathmann at [email protected] or 229.247.2787.