biostatement

bio/artist statement

In 2000 I graduated from The University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with honors and K-12 Art licensure, beginning my career as a Junior High Art Teacher in Arizona. Upon completing my first year I found a combined position as High School Art Teacher/Alternative Learning Center Art Teacher in the Twin Cities, allowing me the opportunity to teach general population high school art curricula as well as urban and at-risk students, the topic of my undergraduate honors thesis.

In addition to teaching I made time for writing grants and co-directing Babylon Art & Cultural Center, an urban community art center in South Minneapolis. In 2005 I took a break from teaching to lead a group of Babylon-affiliated artists into the indigenous region of Chiapas, Mexico. Designing and executing murals with Mayan communities, I presented our work at conferences in Seattle and Mexico City and returned to the Twin Cities to teach Art for one more year.

Reflecting on my career as an Art Teacher, I realized that one of the most profoundly rewarding and meaningful aspects of teaching had been the connections I found working individually with my students with exceptional learning needs. In 2007 I returned to Iowa City to earn an M.A. in Special Education with a focus on Alternative Education, At-Risk students, and Diverse Student Populations. Currently I am employed as an Art and Resource teacher at Tate Alternative High School where I instruct students individually and in small groups, integrating an art curriculum with diverse learners' needs.

Honored to be teaching fulltime in the very setting that inspired my undergraduate honors thesis and part-time for the Art Education Department at the University of Iowa, in 2009 I began my PhD fieldwork in Uganda, Africa by painting my largest mural yet under the supervision of the Dr. Kefa Sempangi of Makerere University and the Africa Foundation. Working with secondary students, 40% of whom have been orphaned by the AIDS epidemic in Africa, I directed the planning and execution of a student mural spanning the facade of the school, initiating an ongoing, interactive exchange of ideas and experience among at-risk students worldwide for which I recieved the University of Iowa's Obermann Graduate Fellowship and the Stanley Award for International Research. I will return for one month in July/August, 2010 for follow-up data collection.

email: daniel at danielkinney dot com

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