Roger Tomhave was trained as an artist, and though he has always been a teacher, administrator, and Professor in the arts, he has also always kept a hand in with the media that he enjoys – drawing, painting, and wheel-thrown ceramics. The process of making art, like that of playing the guitar, has always been very meditative for him. Starting with a blank page, a lump of clay, or simple melody has always intrigued him in what it may become. But, he is a storyteller, no matter the media, reflecting on his past, the places he has travelled, and the people he has met along the way. As he states in his song Let the Fire Burn, “It is the people, not its placement on the Earth, that measure what a place is truly worth.”
Singer/Songwriter
Roger is a multi-award-winning singer/songwriter recognized in the Empower Music and Arts Posi Awards, the Great American Song Competition, the International Indie Awards, the MidAtlantic Songwriting Competition, the Unsigned Only Music Competition, the USA Songwriting Competition, the WAMMIES, and many more. These songs fall into the categories of Americana, Folk, or Country, and usually take the form of ballads and love songs on the topics of family traditions, relationships, influences, and heroes. He has recorded three personal albums – Now I Begin, Let There Be Light, and Homemade and Handed Down, along with numerous recordings with former bands New Day and Spiritwind.
Art Educator Roger Tomhave, Ph..D. is a James Madison University Professor Emeritus, and has received the Virginia State Art Educator of the Year Award; Virginia, Southeastern Region, and National Supervision/Administration Art Educator of the Year Awards for the National Art Education Association (NAEA); and has been keynote speaker for the West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Virginia NAEA conferences. Art education research highlights include inclusive curricular perspectives, portfolio assessments, and arts advocacy initiated by eleven years as high school art teacher on the White Earth Indian Reservation in northwestern Minnesota, a Research Assistantship with the Getty Center in Los Angeles, and Master’s/Doctorate at the University of Minnesota. Professor Tomhave has also served as Fine Arts Coordinator (8 years) and Art Specialist (12 years) for Fairfax County Public Schools, Virginia. During his tenure, FCPS arts curricula were recognized for excellence by the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. He has been recognized as a Distinguished Fellow of both the Virginia and the National Art Education Associations.
