Remembering as Creative Praxis

In this talk, Dr. Amber C. Coleman will share her creative praxis of research, teaching, and service through the lens of the concept of "remembering." Amber will discuss how she has expanded her praxis after the completion of her dissertation, Remembering Waterbearers: Archiving Black Women Art Educators’ Stories, which invoked Lorna Simpson's 1986 artwork (Waterbearers), and was a narrative inquiry study that investigated the narratives of Black women art educators in relation to the historical understanding of the art education profession. She will share her exploration of qualitative and arts-based methods to rethink the engagement with narratives from an intersectional lens, attend to the subjects in a critical and culturally responsive manner, and challenge barriers to how Black people navigate the arts and education more broadly. 

Amber C. Coleman, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) is an educator, researcher, and creative based in Phoenix, AZ. She received her Master of Art Education from The University of Georgia in 2018 and her Ph.D. in Art & Visual Culture Education from the University of Arizona in 2022. She is currently a Postdoctoral Scholar in Art Education at Arizona State University. Amber recently received the 2024 Elliot Eisner Doctoral Research Award in Art Education from the National Art Education Association. She has served on the NAEA COMC 50th Anniversary Celebration Committee, and is currently serving on the 2024 Adding Voices Conference Advisory Committee. Her praxis centers the lens of Black feminisms, critical pedagogical strategies, and arts-based research as she investigates underrecognized experiences and reimagines methods for engagement with the visual arts and education. She has given lectures on qualitative storytelling, arts-based research, and art educator identity. She has publications in the Journal for Cultural Research in Art Education, International Journal of Lifelong Learning in Art Education, Studies in Art Education. She most recently acted as a guest co-editor for Volume 76 of the Art Education journal on the subject of “Teaching in Tumultuous Times.”