Celebrating Shirley Marshall: a lifelong advocate for children and books

During Teacher Appreciation Week, the Stark Museum of Art proudly celebrated Orange, Texas native and retired teacher Shirley Marshall, a dedicated educator, a passionate supporter of the Museum and a lifelong champion for young readers.

Shirley Marshall spent 20 years in the classroom, with 15 of those years devoted to teaching second grade. Throughout her career, she committed herself to creating a warm, inspiring learning environment for all of her students, especially those who needed a little extra encouragement to open a book. “Many of my students didn’t have books at home,” she shared. “So, I made it my mission to change that.”

Her weekends often included visits to garage sales, where she searched for gently used children’s books. She brought those treasures into her classroom, where she built a classroom library designed to ignite curiosity and foster a love of reading. “I wasn’t a strong reader growing up,” Shirley said. “That’s why I connected with illustrated books. The images helped tell the story and brought the words to life.”

That connection is what drew her to the Stark Museum of Art’s current exhibition, “Childhood Illustrations: 100 Years of Original Illustration from the Art Kandy Collection.” Marshall, who worked at the Museum for more than 15 years, was one of the first guests to visit the exhibition on opening day. It was an emotional experience - one that brought back powerful memories of her time in the classroom.