Artist, art educator, researcher
In 2026, I left my position as Professor of Art Education at the University of North Texas to focus on my own artwork and on interdisciplinary, arts-based research and public pedagogy. Art Educates is where that work meets the schools, museums, universities and people I collaborate with.
How I got here
My teaching began in classrooms and community spaces. I taught visual art, photography, IB Art and English in international schools in Nagoya and Mexico City, and served as arts coordinator at the American School Foundation in Mexico City. In Chicago, I taught in museum and community programs, including summer arts camps at the Museum of Contemporary Art and teaching-artist work with Urban Gateways.
I spent fourteen years in higher education at the University of Arizona and the University of North Texas, serving as department chair at both. I started a faculty mentorship program, and I continue to review promotion and tenure dossiers for faculty in several countries.
My foundations in South Asian art and visual culture shape everything I do. I bring them into traditional and contemporary contexts through my artwork, my writing and my work with educators.
Semiotics of a Scarf
A pedagogical performance of material culture and gendered ethnic identity. Performance is one of the ways I bring art making and teaching together, and it informs the research and workshops I share with educators.
Education
- PhD
- Art Education, minor in Comparative Studies, The Ohio State University
- MA
- Art Education, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
- BFA
- Applied Art, College of Art, Delhi
Recognition and service
- NAEA J. Eugene Grigsby Jr. Award, 2026
- Outstanding Art Educator in Higher Education, Arizona Art Education Association, 2017
- Doctoral Research in Art Education Award, InSEA, 2014
- Elected member, Council for Policy Studies in Art Education
- Editor, Journal of Social Theory in Art Education, 2021–2024
Link: download my CV (PDF)
Let’s talk
If something here connects with your work, I would be glad to hear from you.