Bachelor of Arts (BA), Ohio University, 2024, Environmental Studies

The OHIO Museum Complex is a small transdisciplinary museum located on the Ohio University campus in Athens, Ohio. In collaboration with this museum, I established event programming systems to cultivate experiential learning. These events, driven by the philosophy of empowering individuals from diverse demographics, encourage community members, university students, and faculty, to host workshops about their passions in a free, accessible environment with the goal of developing newfound connections between ideas, disciplines, and backgrounds.

Committee: Nancy Stevens (Advisor) Subjects: Adult Education; Environmental Studies; Museum Studies

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2020, Art Education

Research suggests that museums are not reaching their full potential for including visitors with disabilities (Bienvenu, 2019; Ginley, Goodwin, &, Smith, 2012; Kudlick & Luby, 2019; Rappolt- Schlichtmann & Daley, 2013; Sandell, 2019). Recently, scholars have critiqued art museums for their lack of accessibility (Kudlick & Luby, 2019) and exhibitions that misrepresent disability history (Sandell, 2019). The history of outsider art demonstrates how artists with disabilities are discriminated against in the art world (Prinz, 2017). Creative art centers, programs which provide artistic mentorship for adults with disabilities, are often positioned within outsider art discourse (Wojcik, 2016). Due to discrimination against artists with disabilities, art museums can increase inclusion through engaging with artists at creative art centers. Therefore, I utilized action research methodology to design and implement an integrated art museum professional development workshop for artists with disabilities at Open Door Art Studio, a creative art center, and community artists. The primary objective of the study was to explore how museum practitioners can collaborate with creative art centers to develop inclusive programming for creative art center artists and community artists. Based on interviews with Open Door Art Studio artists and staff members, I structured the workshop around time in the museum gallery for discussion and a collaborative art making exercise in the museum's studio space. For the time in the studio, I paired artists from Open Door Art Studio with community artists to create collaborative art pieces. From the post-workshop interviews, I found that the workshop, especially the collaborative portion, supported social connection between artists from Open Door Art Studio and the community artists. This social connection was demonstrated in the way that artists found things in common with each other, spoke about how they enjoyed meeting each other, (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Dana Kletchka PhD (Committee Chair); Jennifer Richardson PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Art Education

MA, Kent State University, 2016, College of the Arts / School of Art

PACE, CHRISTINE, M.A., AUGUST, 2016 ART EDUCATION ART MUSEUM EDUCATION AND WELL-BEING (161PP.) Director of Thesis: Robin Vande Zande This research looks at how well-being manifests within art museum educational programming with non-traditional participants. The specific programming studied took place onsite at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) in Quebec, Canada, where this type of programming has been in practice for almost two decades. Museum educators, administrators, and program personnel were interviewed in order to explore the ways in which well-being is perceived, defined, and implemented within curriculum and teaching at the MMFA. Program observations, content analyses, and literature reviews were all conducted, coded, and analyzed as part of this qualitative, collective case study. The goal of this research is to allow those within, as well as those outside of, the field of art education to more fully understand art museum education programming for well-being, justify a need for this type of programming, and to apply information learned as a model for future programming.

Committee: Robin Vande Zande Ph.D. (Advisor); Linda Hoeptner-Poling Ph.D. (Committee Member); Richard Adams Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Art Education; Cultural Anthropology; Education; Museum Studies; Museums; Social Research; Sociology; Teaching

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2008, Arts Policy and Administration

What makes a house museum successful? Historic house museums are a vital integration of basic education for students throughout the country. These museums' fiscal well being must be sustained if they are to educate children and adults alike. By conducting case studies of two historic house museums' operational and development strategies, their successes and challenges are explored.This research considers the testimonies of key house museum constituents including staff, current and former board members, and volunteers of a house museum located in a large Midwestern city, and one in a small rural Mid-Atlantic Southern city. Primary document sources and published accounts were also analyzed as data. Through these interviews, patterns of performance are identified and each institution's histories are told. By discussing each museum's relationship to supporting organization and operational context areas of success and challenge are explored. By ensuring participant testimonies and institutional identities would remain anonymous, they were offered opportunities to candidly recount their stories and consider why their museums were successful and in what areas they might need improvement. Research data findings revealed current and past strategies for corporate sponsorship, foundation support, grants, individual donations, memberships, rental fees, government support, and public recognition. After analysis of findings, they were contextually interwoven to construct an overall picture of what a historical house museum is and might be in the United States. This research demonstrates how two house museums were successful in sustaining their educational and cultural missions, and explored their importance, successes and potential vitality for sustaining institutions with value to future generations.

Committee: James H. Sanders, III PhD (Advisor); Barbara Zollinger Sweney PhD (Committee Member); Christine Ballengee-Morris PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Museums