Bio
Melinda Zacher Ronayne is the Director of Visual Arts at the Interlochen Center for the Arts. Ronayne joined Interlochen in August 2010 and leads all aspects of visual arts education at the Interlochen Arts Academy and Camp, including the management of a 1,500 sq. ft. professional gallery and visiting artist program. Over the years, Ronayne has overseen the redesign of the visual arts curriculum and assessment system; the creation of a service learning in the arts program, including a partnership with the Munson Medical Center, and several large collaborative projects with other arts and academic divisions. Ronayne has developed and implemented several new visual arts Camp majors including High School Experimental Fashion, Intermediate-Advanced Drawing and Painting, the Junior Visual Arts Major for ages 8 – 13, and two week-long Institutes in Precious Metals and Experimental Drawing and Painting.
Ronayne has been named a Distinguished Teacher for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program. Over the last ten years, her students have consistently been Finalist recipients in the National YoungArts competition, Gold Medal recipients in the National Scholastics Art and Writing Awards and she has taught two Presidential Scholars in the Arts and seven Presidential Nominees.
Prior to coming to Interlochen, Ronayne taught AP 2D and AP Drawing at the Design and Architecture Senior High School in Miami. While at DASH, she served in a program that brought high-level arts instruction to inner-city youth at the Miami Edison Senior High School in Little Haiti. Ronayne has worked as an admission counselor and the coordinator of scholarship programs at the Maryland Institute College of Art and has taught International Baccalaureate Studio Art at Forest Hill High School in West Palm Beach, FL.
She is a regular presenter at the state and national level on the topics of arts and health, service learning in the arts, collaboration and portfolio development. This includes conferences for the Arts Schools Network, the National Art Education Association, the Michigan Art Education Association, and the Innovation & Entrepreneurship: Leading Ethical Improvement in Healthcare Symposium at the McCombs School of Business in Austin TX. Ronayne is actively involved in her local community as well where she serves on the Board of Trustees for the Great Lakes Children’s Museum and volunteers at the Cowell Family Cancer Center. Ronayne is an interdisciplinary visual artist. She is a Doctoral Candidate for an Ed.D in Leadership and Learning in Organizations at Vanderbilt University, and has received her MA in Arts Education and BFA in general fine arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Ronayne lives in Traverse City, MI with her husband Justin and two daughters, Quinn and Sadie.
