Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2008, Art Education (Fine Arts)

This research presents the personal journey of one art educator who sets out to define creative leadership through community collaboration to create and execute a Kids' Guernica Peace Mural. Auto-ethnography, theory, research, methodology, practice and reflection combine to uncover a working definition for creative leadership in art education. The experience demonstrates how to implement creative leadership into pedagogical practice and furthermore provides a living example for art educators. The processes of creating leadership and creative art making overlap to make meaning and forms a bond that helps art educators understand a dynamic relationship between the two. Creative leadership becomes the overarching topic for leadership in art education, and bridges the gap that makes connections between creativity, art making and leadership. A definition for creative leadership is necessary for art educators to survive under the current implications placed on art education in k-12 schools and society.

Committee: Connie Wolfe (Committee Chair); Rosalie Romano Dr. (Committee Co-Chair); David Bower Dr. (Committee Co-Chair) Subjects: Art Education