Advocacy

The arts are important in our schools because while we may not need more artists we will certainly not need fewer. There is much research arguing for and against the arts in regard to correctional and causation outcomes and as a result advocacy efforts often get muddied. We need to keep a clear vision for the arts in our schools. In a culture obsessed with testing the arts free students to explore and experiment. The arts are a place to find personal meaning and a place for introspection. The arts provide students with a complex set of skills including those associated with innovation. The arts provide a unique ways to understand our world through multiple perspectives. The arts stretch our cognitive abilities beyond the limits of language and words and enable us to express ourselves through our poetic voice. The arts assists us with generating those hard to answer questions that set urgent, difficult, and wicked challenges in motion, so we can all act.

Professional Service: As my art education experience and expertise have come to be known, I am increasingly invited to serve on editorial boards; most recently as Associate Editor for Ubiquitous Learning: An International Journal. I have been on the editorial review panel for Art Education Journal (2008-2012) and Publication Material Committee (2010-2018) where I review journal articles, proposals, and manuscripts being consider for publication by The National Art Education Association (NAEA). In addition, I am often asked as guest reviewer to critiques articles in my area of expertise (art education and technology).

For example, I reviewed two art education research papers on visual culture for Research in Arts Education (2011), published by National Pingtung Teachers College, Pingtung, Taiwan as well as a research article for Journal of Virtual Worlds Research (2009). In addition, I have accepted invitations and reviewed proposals for the American Educational Research Association (AERA) (2005-2007; 2010; 2011; 2014; and 2015) as well as an award reviewer for the Mary J. Rouse Award (2012) sponsored by NAEA and the AERA Technology, Instruction, Cognition and Learning (TACTL) 2014 Best Research Paper Award. I have accepted all of these invitations, because I feel it is important to contribute both as a UF faculty member and as an art educator for form partnerships between professional communities. In addition to my educational pedagogical expertise, my art practice has afforded me an opportunity to assist the local community such as the Gainesville Fine Art Association as a juror (2009) and as a member of their jurors list (2014-present). Most recently, I was a juror for 2014 Artistic
Discovery Contest sponsored by the members of the Florida U.S. House of Representatives.

During the past 7 years I have actively served on a variety of committees, and have consistently presented and supported both art programs and institutions. Most recently, I served as a member of the Faculty Advisory Committee (FAC 2012-2014) in the School of Art and Art History providing academic and programmatic guidance to the Director of the School of Art and Art History. Additionally, as a member of the University of Florida’s Art in State Buildings Committee (2012-present) I assisted with the review and selection of artist Ivan Toth Depeña for the art installation for the rebuilt Reitz Union building.

I served on the Harn Museum Educational Group Advisory Board (2000-2013) and assisted with a variety of Harn workshops (Mindsight; Harn Summer Teacher Institute; and a docent workshop) as well as consulted with Harn Photography Curator, Thomas Southhall, on the museum exhibition and gallery talk in conjunction with the 2010 Florida First Project by nationally recognized photo portraitist, Dawoud Bey. I was recently one of three panelist for JumpART 2014 supported by the College of Fine Arts, School of Art + Art History, the UF Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the UF Engineering Innovation Institute. In 2007 I was a minority mentor in the University of Florida Minority Mentorship Program in which I mentored two minority undergraduates for a year.

As my art education experience and expertise have come to be known, I am increasingly invited to serve on editorial boards; most recently as Associate Editor for Ubiquitous Learning: An International Journal. I have been on the editorial review panel for Art Education Journal (2008-2012) and Publication Material Committee (2010-2018) where I review journal articles, proposals, and manuscripts being consider for publication by The National Art Education Association (NAEA). In addition, I am often asked as guest reviewer to critiques articles in my area of expertise (art education and technology). For example, I reviewed two art education research papers on visual culture for Research in Arts Education (2011), published by National Pingtung Teachers College, Pingtung, Taiwan as well as a research article for Journal of Virtual Worlds Research (2009). In addition, I have accepted invitations and reviewed proposals for the American Educational Research Association (AERA) (2005-2007; 2010; 2011; 2014; and 2015) as well as an award reviewer for the Mary J. Rouse Award (2012) sponsored by NAEA and the AERA Technology, Instruction, Cognition and Learning (TACTL) 2014 Best Research Paper Award. I have accepted all of these invitations, because I feel it is important to contribute both as a UF faculty member and as an art educator for form partnerships between professional communities. In addition to my educational pedagogical expertise, my art practice has afforded me an opportunity to assist the local community such as the Gainesville Fine Art Association as a juror (2009) and as a member of their jurors list (2014-present). Most recently, I was a juror for 2014 Artistic Discovery Contest sponsored by the members of the Florida U.S. House of Representatives.