Teaching God’s Beauty: Frassati Catholic Academy’s Becky Heier Named Colorado Art Educator of the Year

Becky Heier, an art teacher at Frassati Catholic Academy in Thornton, has been named the Colorado Private, Independent and Charter School Art Educator of the Year by the Colorado Art Education Association. (Photo courtesy of Frassati Catholic Academy's Facebook)

When students step into Becky Heier’s art classroom at Frassati Catholic Academy in Thornton, they find more than brushes and paints. They find a place where creativity becomes prayer and where beauty points to something — and Someone — greater.

That vision has now been recognized statewide. The Colorado Art Education Association (CAEA) has named Heier the Colorado Private, Independent and Charter School Art Educator of the Year, honoring her excellence in teaching and her dedication to helping students see God’s presence through the visual arts.

“Teaching art at a Catholic school is a great joy and blessing in my life!” Heier said. “Living my faith out as I teach God’s beauty through the visual arts — I can’t imagine anything else I’d rather do!”

In Heier's classroom, art and faith are integrally intertwined. Color, form and design are more than artistic concepts; they are reflections of divine order and creativity. Her students are encouraged not only to create art but also to encounter truth through it.

The CAEA praised Heier for her “steadfast commitment to fostering creativity, artistic excellence and critical thinking,” and for inspiring students in diverse learning environments. At Frassati, those words come to life every day as she integrates Catholic identity into every lesson — whether students are studying sacred art, exploring nature or reflecting on their own gifts.

Heier’s classroom embodies the heart of Catholic education: the belief that beauty, when rightly understood, leads the human person closer to God. Her award is not just a professional honor but a celebration of vocation — a recognition of what happens when a teacher’s love for art and faith become one and the same.

At Frassati Catholic Academy, her students already know what the award confirms: that Ms. Heier teaches much more than art. She teaches them how to see — to notice beauty in the world, and to recognize the Creator behind it.