About

Elizabeth M. Delacruz, Ph. D.

Professional Biography

Dr. Elizabeth M. Delacruz is Professor Emerita, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC), former chair of the Art Education Division, and former Editor of Visual Arts Research journal. White at the University of Illinois she was also an Education Associate at the Krannert Art Museum. She was a longstanding member of and served twice as Chair of the University of Illinois Faculty Senate Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure. Elizabeth received her B.F.A. and M.A. in Art Education from the UIUC, an Ed. S. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Florida, and a Ph. D. in Art Education from Florida State University. Elizabeth's research, shared across 60 published papers and over 100 scholarly presentations before scholarly and professional audiences, focuses on the interface of visual arts education with contemporary art practices, social theory, multicultural education, community life, and new media/technology. Her 1997 NAEA book, Instructional Theory, Research, and Design in Art Education: Design for Inquiry, was well-respected in the field of art education. Her paper "Racism American style and resistance to change: Art education's role in the Indian mascot issue" was nominated in 2004 for the National Art Education Manual Barkan award for scholarship. Her 2009 co-edited anthology, Globalization, Art, and Education, is comprised of 40 insightful chapters from scholars from around the world and deals with the interface of culture, contemporary art practices, new media, and education. Globalization, Art, and Education is now in its second printing at the National Art Education Association.

Elizabeth created and taught courses addressing art education, culture and community, service learning, curriculum and instruction, artistic development, technology, and research methods at the University of Illinois from 1988 - 2013. She also created and taught undergraduate electives to students across the university through School of Art+Design open offerings. Planned in collaboration with Anne Sautman, Director of Education at the Krannert Art Museum, Elizabeth created the course Museums in Action, involving students from across the campus in Krannert Art Museum programming, This course resulted in ARTzilla, a special event planned by the students in this class, and designed especially for a young, hip college audience; and student created podcasts about selected holdings in the Krannert. Elizabeth's graduate courses have been offered both on and off campus; and in Art Speak, a multicultural high school youth empowerment program developed in collaboration with Anne Sautman, Director of Education at the UIUC Krannert Art Museum. Elizabeth's graduate courses have addressed curriculum development, contemporary methods of teaching, multicultural education, artistic development, technology, research methods, and writing for publication. Her University of Illinois off-campus face-to-face courses in central and northern Illinois served Illinois teachers seeking professional development and advanced degrees. Over the years, Elizabeth was consistently included on the UIUC "List of Instructors Rated as Excellent by Their Students". Since 2011, Elizabeth has taught and developed graduate level courses for the University of Florida online Master's degree program in art education.

In addition to teaching in the university setting, Elizabeth served as Chair of the Visual Arts Program at the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts, a reviewer for the National Endowment for the Humanities, a consultant to the Center for Basic Education in Washington DC, a consultant to the Getty Center on Education in the Arts, a faculty member of the Florida Summer Teachers' Institute for Art Education, Higher Education Division Director for the Illinois Art Education Association, and two terms as Chair of the UIUC Faculty-Student Senate Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure. Elizabeth has given workshops, developed program materials for, and served as consultant to numerous school districts and teacher institutes, and to museums including Krannert Art Museum, Champaign, Illinois, the Lakeview Science and Art Museum in Peoria, Illinois, the Ft. Lauderdale Art Museum, Ft. Lauderdale FL, and the Baltimore Art Museum, Baltimore, MD.

Prior to coming to university life, Elizabeth taught in the public schools, teaching K-12 Art, self-contained EMH and EH Art classes, English, Graphic Design, and Journalism to widely diverse students populations in rural and urban schools in both Illinois and Florida. While teaching in the public schools she had the opportunity to work with migrant populations in south Florida, rural populations in both central Florida and central Illinois, and in school settings serving primarily affluent students and other schools serving predominantly low income and minority populations in northern Florida. Returning to her roots in public school art education, Elizabeth recently taught high school art, part time, in central Illinois.

Over the past 30 years as an art educator, Elizabeth's long standing interest in ways that art education makes a difference in the lives of children and families, and how schools and communities may be enriched, challenged, and improved through educational arts-based initiatives aimed in furtherance of imaginative, creative personal expression, intercultural friendship, social justice, and world peace and prosperity. She has been invited to consult, present her research, and lead workshops for educational institutions, museums, foundations, and governmental agencies throughout the US and internationally. Elizabeth is recipient of three national awards for her leadership and contributions to the profession of art education: the United States Society for Education through Art National Edwin Ziegfeld Award; the National Art Education Association Women's Caucus June King McFee Award; and The National Art Education Association National Higher Education Art Educator of the Year Award. She was a keynote speaker for the 2011 United States Society for Education through Art Globalization conference and keynote speaker for the 2012 New York State Art Teachers Association annual conference. Other recognitions include the UIUC College of Fine and Applied Arts Teaching Excellence Award, appointment in as Research Fellow at the UI Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society (CDMS), UI College of Education Preparing Teachers for Technology (PT3) Grant, Vice President Sylvia Manning Applications of Learning Technologies in Higher Education grant, and the Vice Chancellor's Teaching Scholars Award. Her research through her CDMS Fellowship resulted in a National Endowment for the Arts Challenge America Grant and a Lowes' Charitable Education Foundation Grant.