Aaron D. Knochel has worked in schools, museums, and community arts programs, both domestically and internationally. Currently, Aaron is an associate professor of art education and affiliated faculty at the Arts & Design Research Incubator (ADRI). Aaron is a mixed-methods researcher, curriculum theorist, and artist with interests in transdisciplinary learning, critical social theory, and media arts. His research includes community-based media production, digital visual culture in K–12 art classrooms, and learning in maker cultures. Current funded projects explore generative AI and interdisciplinary intersections on health, care, and creative practice. His published works include articles in Studies in Art Education, Visual Arts Research, and the International Journal of Education Through Art. He coedited Global Media Arts: Mapping Global Perspectives in Media Arts in Education (Palgrave, 2023) and Critical Digital Making in Art Education (Lang, 2020). 

Hyunji Kwon is an associate professor of art education and a faculty affiliate in the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of South Carolina. Her research expertise includes trauma studies and art pedagogy, informed by her extensive community work with trauma-affected individuals, including women living in transitional homes and survivors of sexual violence. She has received prestigious fellowships and awards, including one from the National Endowment for the Arts, and has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. She has also served on editorial boards for prominent journals in the field. Currently, she is working on a solo-authored book on trauma and art pedagogy. 

Cappie Dobyns earned her PhD from Drake University and is a 35-year veteran of teaching middle school art and gifted & talented in Texas and now Iowa. She sponsors a chapter of the National Junior Art Honor Society (NJAHS) which inspired her passion, research, and service in talent development and high-ability art education. In the National Association of Gifted (NAGC), Cappie served as chair of the NAGC's Arts Network. In NAEA she serves as a Research Commissioner, a member of the Professional Materials Committee, and as secretary of the newly formed Interest Group, Developing Potential & Talent in Art (DPTA). She received NAEA’s Outstanding NJAHS Sponsor Award in 2013 and has been a two-time recipient of NAEA's Western Region Middle Level Educator Award in 2001 and 2020. 

Kelly Bisogno is the coordinator of fine arts at the Virginia Department of Education. She has taught art to children, teens, and adults for over 15 years. She holds BFA degrees in Sculpture and Art Education from Virginia Commonwealth University and a master’s degree in educational technology and education leadership. She is a Distinguished Fellow of the Virginia Art Education Association and Virginia Art Educator of the Year in 2024. Kelly serves on several state and national arts education organizations and is the co-chair of the Arts Education Partnership Data Working Group. 

Keri Reynolds is a National Board Certified Teacher and secondary fine arts lead in Houston, Texas. Her teaching experiences transcend across a variety of age levels ranging from kindergarten to adults in various capacities and community settings and include specialization in teaching studio art courses at the secondary level. She also serves as the National Art Education Association (NAEA) Secondary Research Commissioner. Her research interests focus on contemporary art and community-based art education with underserved populations. She has presented across the country at NAEA and AP conferences, and her recent publications include articles published in SchoolArts and the Texas Art Education Association’s TRENDS Journal. 

Jane Dalton’s research integrates studio art and teacher education, focusing on transformative learning through mindfulness and the expressive arts. Grounded in neuroscience, Jane’s work explores how contemplative art practices enhance emotional balance, focus, and self-awareness—key elements of creativity and personal growth. Jane’s recent book, The Mindful Studio: Cultivating Creativity and Well-Being in the Classroom (Davis, 2023), expands on these ideas. Jane has coedited three books on contemplative pedagogy, including >span class="NormalTextRun SCXW262617826 BCX0">Through Lectio and Visio Divina, and continues an active studio practice that enriches teaching and research. 

NAEA Research Commission Chair 

Aaron D. Knochel has worked in schools, museums, and community arts programs, both domestically and internationally. Currently, Knochel is an associate professor of art education and affiliated faculty at the Arts & Design Research Incubator (ADRI). 

Knochel is a mixed-methods researcher, curriculum theorist, and artist with interests in transdisciplinary learning, critical social theory, and media arts. His research includes community-based media production, digital visual culture in K–12 art classrooms, and learning in maker cultures. Current funded projects explore generative AI and interdisciplinary intersections on health, care, and creative practice. His published works include articles in Studies in Art Education, Visual Arts Research, and The International Journal of Education through Art. He co-edited Global Media Arts: Mapping Global Perspectives in Media Arts in Education (Palgrave, 2023) and Critical Digital Making in Art Education (Peter Lang, 2020). 

NAEA Research Commissioner 

Connie Stewart is a professor emeritus in art education from the University of Northern Colorado. While teaching Current Issues in Art courses and working with UNC’s graduate program, Stewart’s research activities include critical art theory applied to art education, and utilizing contemporary art in the classroom. She is the author of Teaching Contemporary with Young People: Themes in Art for K–12 Classrooms (2021) with Julia Marshall and Anne and Cultivating Critical Conversations in Art Education: Honoring Student Voice, Identity, and Agency (2024) with Lisa Hochtritt, Eli Burke, and Toya Northington both published by Teachers College Press. Stewart holds a BA in Elementary Education (UNC 74), an MA in Visual Arts with an emphasis in Drawing (UNC 94) and a PhD in Educational Leadership/Aesthetic Education (TU&I 05.) 

NAEA Research Commission Working Group Member

As a professional arts educator for 33 years and a lover of photography all her life, Jennifer Fox holds a BA in Studio Art, a BFA in Art Education, and an MEd in Art Education. She has taught K–12 Visual Art, Gifted and Talented, AP Studio Art, AP Art History, and High School Drama. She has served as a visual arts instructor, drama instructor, yearbook advisor, department head, assistant band director, museum instructor, new teacher evaluator, and district lead high school art teacher. After retiring from the SC public school system in 2020, she served as an adjunct instructor and clinical supervisor for art education field experiences on the collegiate level, SCAEA board representative for secondary and preservice, and NAEA PLR committee member-at-large. As such, she facilitated state and national conference presentations. In 2022, she was the recipient of SCAEA’s Dr. Deborah Smith Hoffman Mentor-of-the-Year Award. Having taught visual arts on every level, her students' work has won awards on local, state, and national levels. As a fine arts photographer, her work has been featured in various venues and held in private collections. 

CAN Teacher Leader

Since graduating from the University of Michigan–Flint in 2004 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Art Education, Janine Campbell has been engaging students with innovative practices in the classroom. Her students' work has been featured in Davis Publications' Media Arts book, SchoolArts magazine and the MACUL Journal. She has been a featured session speaker for the Association of Middle Level Educators Annual Conference, a Cultivating a Calling keynote for ECET2, a keynote presenter for the Art Education Association of Indiana Conference, the Ohio Art Education Association Conference, as well as presenter for the National Art Education Conference, Illinois Art Education Association Conference, Florida League of Middle Schools, Michigan Art Education Association Annual Conference, the Michigan Association of Computer Users in Learning, and local educational institutions. Her classroom has won local and national recognition in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. She was named a PBS Learning Media Digital Innovator in 2014, Michigan Art Education Association Middle Level Educator of the Year in 2015, National Art Education Association Western Region Middle Level Educator of the Year in 2015, and received the MACUL Innovative Teacher of the Year Award in 2020. In addition to the work with students in her classroom, Janine is currently serving as a National Art Education Association Connected Arts Network Professional Learning Community Leader. You can follow her work on @campbellartsoup and find resources at www.bcwmsart.weebly.com. 

CAN Teacher Leader 

Frank Juárez is an award-winning art educator, artist, publisher, former gallery director, and business of art coach who lives and works in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Juárez brings over two decades of art education and arts management experience, organizing local and regional art exhibitions and community art events. He presents on art education at the local and national levels. He is the National Art Education Foundation Chair-Elect, Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass Board of Directors, and Connected Arts Network (CAN) National Teacher Leader. Through his professional work, he supports artists through grant programs and leads professional development workshops for artists. This has placed him at the forefront of promoting Wisconsin artists, networking, and attracting regional and national artists to collaborate and exhibit in Wisconsin. 

CAN Teacher Leader

As a dedicated visual arts educator since 2004, Leslie Grace has been fostering creativity and engagement in students throughout her career. She has been teaching at Nebinger Elementary School in Philadelphia since 2014, where she continues to inspire young artists. Grace is also the Elementary Division Chair-Elect for the National Art Education Association (NAEA), and she will assume her the role at the 2025 NAEA Convention. Since 2022, she has been a Connected Arts Network (CAN) Teacher Leader, and she is a 2019 graducate of NAEA’s School for Art Leaders. Grace is committed to advancing arts education leadership and innovation, and in addition to her teaching, she has held influential roles within the arts education community. She has served as President of the Pennsylvania Art Education Association from 2020–2022 and in 2014 she founded the Philadelphia Art Teachers Alliance, a professional network dedicated to supporting and connecting art educators across the city. To help shape the preparation of future educators, Grace also serves on the Moore College of Art and Design Advisory Board for their art education program. 

Tina M. Atkinson has taught elementary visual arts in Nashville for the past 26 years at Percy Priest Elementary. She has served as an art education adjunct at Belmont University, hosting over 20 university interns. Tina has received awards from national, state, and local organizations for her work. She holds degrees in art education, curriculum and instruction, and leadership and professional practice, and she is National Board Certified in Early/Middle Childhood Visual Art. Her research interests include authentic assessment, student voice, and research-focused instructional design in the elementary art classroom, as well as exploring aspects of how art educator professional identity is developed over the educational life cycle of the individual for the purpose of identifying barriers to the profession. Having recently taken ownership of researcher as part of her own professional identity, Tina strives to empower other early and middle childhood practitioners to embrace research as part of their own practice.  

Fine Arts Coordinator
Howard County Public School System, Maryland

Gino Molfino has served as an artist, teacher, advocate, and education leader for the Howard County Public School System for over 20 years. He has collaborated to develop state, national, and district fine arts policies and practices that cultivate innovation in public education programming, curriculum development, and professional learning for educators that honor the teacher as an artist and promote contemporary practices in artmaking. As the current coordinator of fine arts for the Howard County Public School System, Gino is responsible for the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of the fine arts curricula, assessment materials, professional learning, and instructional supports for over 200 preK–12 fine arts (art, dance, theatre) educators in the district. 

Amy Pfeiler-Wunder currently serves as the interim associate dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Kutztown University. She received her PhD in teaching and learning–art from the University of Iowa. Prior to joining higher education, she taught and made art alongside preK–9 students in various settings. Her work examines the impact of intersectionality on one’s professional identity and positionality with keen attention to views of the learners and curriculum creation. In addition, Amy explores how transdisciplinary studies have the ability to dissolve hierarchical boundaries between disciplines to illuminate the transformative power of integration. She is active in the National Art Education Association (NAEA) as the Chair of the Research Commission, a former Higher Education Division Director on the NAEA Board of Directors, and the cofounder of the Professional Learning Through Research working group. In 2017, she received the Outstanding Higher Education Art Educator Award from PAEA.