Tina Atkinson currently serves as the elementary division research commissioner for the National Art Education Association, in addition to serving as the Middle Tennessee regional chair for the Tennessee Art Education Association (TAEA). Atkinson was recognized as a Blue Ribbon Teacher in 2019 for instructional excellence in her school district, was selected as the TAEA Tennessee Art Educator of the Year in 2018, and has been teaching visual art to university students and children in kindergarten through twelfth grade for twenty-three years.