Two faculty from the Tyler School of Art and Architecture were honored at the 2025-26 Temple University Faculty Awards: Amze J. Emmons with the Faculty Award for Creative Achievement, and Abby Ryan Guido with the Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award. Current and former students as well as faculty colleagues nominated the recipients. Emmons and Guido received their awards at a ceremony held at the Temple Performing Arts Center on Monday, March 16.
Amze J. Emmons, Faculty Award for Creative Achievement
Professor and program head of printmaking Amze J. Emmons received the 2026 Faculty Award for Creative Achievement, which “recognizes outstanding creative work that is considered to have national and/or international significance.”
Emmons is a multidisciplinary artist working across printmaking and drawing, with a focus on displacement, architecture and evidence of community. His work over the past several years began as a documentary practice, assembling collages from news clippings and translating them into drawings. More recently, his practice has taken on a distinctly local focus, shaped by what he describes as a daily movement through the city.
“It’s really sort of a walking practice that I have had in Philadelphia, of moving around the city and trying to document architectural moments or material and cultural evidence of community resistance against larger powers,” he said.
Amze J. Emmons, 2025, Winding the Bobbin, Wood cut, screen print, acrylic polymer, watercolor on linen, 30 x 60 inches.
Emmons explains that working in collaboration is a central element of his practice. “Part of what I love about printmaking is that it’s a communal workspace, and some form of intergenerational sharing of knowledge naturally occurs in those spaces,” he said.
Teaching, in turn, has become a way of shaping and supporting that exchange. “What I like about teaching in the classroom is that it gives a bit more structure to that natural process.”
Asked to explain what this award signifies for him, Emmons described the recognition of faculty work as part of a larger ecosystem of support, particularly for emerging colleagues. “I hope that for junior faculty, seeing a senior colleague being acknowledged for creative work can give them a sense for the support that can exist at Temple.”
That support, he emphasizes, doesn’t stop with faculty. It extends directly to students, creating opportunities that bridge research and learning. “When our faculty are given the resources and opportunities to pursue creative research, we always bring our students along for the ride,” he said. “I see things like Tyler’s print guild being able to go to the Brooklyn Fine Art Print Fair in April as a direct outcome of the kind of research that I and my colleagues do in the field.”
Abby Ryan Guido, Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award
Associate Professor Abby Ryan Guido was one of the recipients of the 2026 Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award, which honors faculty members who “epitomize the highest levels of sustained teaching excellence in a classroom, laboratory, or clinical setting.”
A two-time Temple University alum, Guido received her BFA from Tyler School of Art and Architecture and went on to complete her MBA from the Fox School of Business. She serves as Tyler’s chair of design and illustration. In addition to her teaching practice, Guido is also the founder of a design studio specializing in branding, publishing, UX and UI design.
Professional titles take a back seat to what she sees as her core identity. “In a lot of ways, I feel like I’m a teacher at my core who just happens to teach design,” she said. “Whether you're a designer or a teacher, so much of the real work is invisible. It's the thinking, the planning, the decisions nobody sees. I've always been comfortable in that space.”
Guido has led major curriculum initiatives at Tyler, including the launch of new BFA programs and interdisciplinary minors designed to respond to the shifting needs of an evolving design industry.
Abby Guido talks with a student during a game night event held in Temple Contemporary
Photo by Erin Rose Boyle
As her career has evolved to include more administrative responsibilities, pulling her away from the classroom, that identity has remained constant. “Teaching is still a big part of who I am, and to be recognized for that was important,” she said. “I told my kids this is probably the biggest award I’ll ever get. There may be others, but one that recognizes the thing that matters to me most – that makes it special.”
At the heart of her teaching philosophy is a commitment to helping students recognize their own potential. “There are moments in the classroom when students who didn’t see the potential in themselves suddenly realize what they’re capable of. Being someone who can help them get there, whether that means providing alternate ways to understand the materials, or sometimes just helping someone see their own potential – that’s how I define excellence in teaching,” she said.
That approach has been shaped by Guido’s willingness to continue learning. She points to her experience in the Provost’s Teaching Academy as a unique turning point provided by Temple University. “It exposed me to a lot of new techniques of teaching and some of the science and research that informs best teaching practices,” she said – insights she continues to bring into her work with students today.