Forty campus proposals were selected in fall 2021 to receive the Actions that promote Community Transformation (ACT) grants. Initiated in fall of 2020, ACT recipients are awarded seed grants — ranging from $3,000 to $5,000 — to support and enable diversity, equity and inclusion projects within their local communities at UT Austin.
Art Education Associate Professor Christina Bain, Associate Professor of Instruction Donalyn Heise, and Assistant Professor of Instruction Dawn Stienecker received 2020 ACT grants to complete phase one of their project, Creatively Connecting Communities Through EDI Art Curriculum, Conversation, and Change, and 2021 funding will go toward phase two.
In phase one, the group conducted a needs assessment of Texas K-12 art teachers to identify and begin filling gaps in EDI art curriculum. The results informed graduate art education students’ development of EDI curricular resources (videos, PowerPoint decks, lesson plans, discussion guidelines, resource lists, etc.). Phase two of this action research project includes: 1. Working with UT undergraduate and graduate students (via coursework) to develop additional EDI resources for K-12 teachers, 2. Developing a minimum of 5 EDI artist videos (to support UT recruiting and K-12 art teachers’ EDI needs), 3. Offering EDI Professional Development Workshops for K-12 art teachers.