ASE Larry Marone Grants

Larry Marone Grants

Each year ASE awards three, five hundred dollar ($500) cash awards. Grant applicants/recipients must be current members of both NAEA and ASE. TGrants have a timeline of one (1) year from receipt to completion.

Strong grant applicants will be asked to include the following:

Clarity of Proposal/Summary

• Proposal is clearly written, easily understood. It provides a number of details related to implementation for making art more accessible in the classroom.

Need for Grant

• Grant need is clearly stated and easily understood. Proposal sites specifics of needs related to learners to be served by the grant and project to be undertaken and clearly will have a significant impact on the students to be served. 

Material, Equipment, Other Needs and Application

• Materials, equipment, and other needs for which grant will be used are fully and specifically listed and the unique application to help make art more accessible in the classroom.

Goals for Improving or Extending Learning in Art Education

• Outstanding goals for anticipated learning in art education through the use of the grant are clearly and precisely stated. Specific objectives for making art more accessible in the classroom are explained.

Design of  Budget

• A budget for the use of the $500 grant is included. Specifics of the cost of intended purchases of materials or equipment, media, technology, and other expenditures are detailed. 

The Application form is posted online each year, and linked at the end of this section. The grant application deadline is typically in mid-NOVEMBER.

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2026 Larry Marone Grant Awardees + Projects

Art Teacher: Tara Farrell (PA)

Project: My project aims to create a fully accessible and inclusive art making environment for my students with disabilities at William H. Hunter School. As a new teacher at this school this year, I have identified critical gaps in the adaptive tools and materials needed to ensure all learners can meaningfully participate in the arts. The ASE Larry Marone Grant will allow me to equip my classroom with essential adaptive art tools that will assist my students with the ability to participate in art. These tools are not simply enhancements; they are requirements for me to create an equitable learning environment for everyone.

Art Teacher: Arianna Crop (OR)

Project: With this grant, I will purchase several adaptive pieces of equipment for cardboard construction, including a Chompsaw cardboard saw, electric scissors, and cordless glue guns. These tools will reduce safety and mobility concerns by minimizing the physical strength and fine motor demands required for cutting and assembling materials. At the same time, they will increase student independence, engagement, and creative risk-taking by allowing students to safely access and manipulate materials on their own, resulting in more inclusive and meaningful participation in the art-making process.

Art Teacher: Sara Lucas-Dreiss

Project: Let It Glow is an accessible, multisensory visual arts unit designed for students with complex support needs, including students with cortical visual impairment (CVI), motor challenges, and multiple disabilities. The project uses UV light, high-contrast materials, and adaptive tools to reduce visual and physical barriers while increasing student engagement, choice, and independence. Lessons are intentionally designed to support communication, sensory exploration, and authentic self-expression through art. The goal of Let It Glow is to create meaningful access to visual art experiences that honor how students see, move, and interact with the world.

• Increased student engagement and sustained attention during artmaking through high-contrast and illuminated materials 

• Expanded opportunities for student choice-making and expressive communication using AAC, eye gaze, and body language 

• Reusable adaptive tools and lesson structures that support long-term sustainability and alignment with IEP goals 

• Strengthened collaboration between art, related service providers, and classroom teams

NAEA Art in Special Education Awards

Each year the NAEA Awards Program offers the opportunity to nominate outstanding art educators in all Divisions and Regions, and from each state and province for national recognition. Our ASE Group offers 2 awards:

• NAEA, CEC, VSA Peter J. Geisser Art Educator of the Year Award

• NAEA, CEC, VSA Beverly Levett Gerber Lifetime Achievement Award

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2026 ASE Awardees

Sara Lucas-Dreiss

2026 NAEA, The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), VSA Beverly Levett Gerber Art in Special Education Lifetime Achievement Award

Sara Lucas-Dreiss, NBCT is a nationally recognized leader in inclusive and adaptive arts education, assistive technology integration, and special education systems design. Her work has been defined by expanding who gets to fully participate in the arts. She challenges compliance-based models of special education and advances access-driven, strength-based systems that presume competence and center authentic artistic practice.

Sara designs and implements innovative instructional frameworks that embed assistive technology, Universal Design for Learning, and competency-based documentation into meaningful, rigorous arts instruction. Her systems streamline data collection, strengthen educator capacity, and ensure all students, including those with complex support needs, have authentic opportunities to create, communicate, and demonstrate learning.

A committed advocate beyond the classroom, she co-founded and sponsors the Special Needs Alliance Group (SNAG), a disability advocacy and peer support organization dedicated to fostering autonomy, leadership, and equitable access. Through SNAG, students build self-advocacy skills, strengthen community, and advance inclusion.

Sarah Swanson (PA)

2026 NAEA, CEC, VSA Peter J. Geisser ASE Art Educator of the Year Award

Sarah K. Swanson is a dedicated U.S.-based art educator and visual artist who has spent two decades enriching the lives of youth with disabilities. With 20 years of experience in special education, she blends her artistic passion with a commitment to fostering resilience in her students. Her research, which focuses on art education, disability inclusion, and building resilience, has been shared at professional conferences and published online. In recognition of her innovative work, she was awarded the 2021 Larry Marone Grant for Special Needs in Art Education. Additionally, she is proud to have served as a Sculpey Teacher Ambassador, supporting art educators and enthusiasts nationwide. Academically, Sarah holds an MA in Art Education from Moore College of Art and Design and earned a BFA in Fine Arts from The New School’s Parsons School of Design. She resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she balances her professional life with raising her beautiful, culturally diverse, blended family.