dr. gloria j. wilson

As a child, gloria wilson’s parents described her as rebellious. She has taken that rebellious nature into the field of art education–a place where her work does not fit neatly into the ways that have been normalized. She prioritizes connecting with loved ones through nourishing social interactions, taking long naps, resisting respectability politics, and saying "no" to “doing more” (labor). She insists on dancing it out, regularly. This is her joyspace.

Before returning to complete her PhD at the University of Georgia, gloria taught visual art and photography, for 13 years, in under-resourced secondary environments. She is currently Founding co-director of Racial Justice Studio and Associate Professor of Art + Visual Culture Education at the University of Arizona.

Her work explores and is rooted in Cultural Studies, Black Studies, Visual Studies and Critical Pedagogy. An artist and public scholar, her work broadly examines notions of power, access, and representation across arts modalities and specifically examines the intersections of identity and arts participation.

gloria has been an invited artist/speaker for Spelman College’s Museum of Art BLACK BOX series and also actively participates as a steering committee member for the Coalition on Racial Equity in the Arts and Education (crea+e), a national collective of artists, educators, activists and thought leaders of color who advocate, teach, research, and publish on issues related to race in the arts and education. In the field of art education, she is Chair of the National Art Education Association’s (NAEA) Committee on Multiethnic Concerns (COMC) and Associate Editor of the Journal of Cultural Research in Art Education. Her current art-making practices are grounded in garment and printmaking and the continuation of the Blackademic Project. Her work has been exhibited in museums and universities across the U.S.

Learn more on her website!