service


SERVICE STATEMENT

Departmental, Collegiate, and Institutional Leadership
Across my career at the University of Iowa, my service has centered on systems-level leadership, curricular design, and long-range institutional stewardship. My approach to leadership emphasizes clarity, sustainability, equitable structures, and continuity during periods of transition.
From 2023 to 2025, I served as Area Head of Painting & Drawing during a period of institutional change. My leadership focused on strengthening operational coherence, improving transparency in decision-making, and creating durable systems that would support faculty and students beyond my term in the role. I developed shared documentation protocols, streamlined communication processes, and established organizational tools that reduced administrative redundancies while reinforcing collegial governance. These efforts allowed faculty to devote increased attention to teaching, research, and mentorship.
During this time, I led a comprehensive restructuring of the undergraduate Painting & Drawing curriculum in response to longstanding inconsistencies between the two tracks. Working closely with Undergraduate Advisor Lynne Landing and faculty in the area, and in consultation with Interim DEO Downing Thomas, I developed and formalized a unified curricular framework designed to serve undergraduate students more equitably across painting and drawing. This restructuring included the creation of new courses, clarified sequencing, articulated shared learning outcomes, and implemented advising structures that strengthened continuity across the area.
The goal of this work was to bring Painting and Drawing into closer pedagogical alignment as a cohesive undergraduate area, ensuring that students receive equitable access to instruction, resources, and developmental opportunities regardless of emphasis. I intentionally documented curricular maps, administrative workflows, and communication systems so that implementation could proceed seamlessly during my Rome Prize Fellowship year. These systems were designed to support leadership transitions and to position the area for long-term sustainability.
This work reflects my broader commitment to systems-level thinking and transformational leadership, principles further strengthened through my ongoing doctoral studies in Education with a concentration in Transformational Leadership and Coaching.
Beyond curricular leadership, I have maintained sustained investment in student mentorship. Over the course of my career at Iowa, I have chaired more than 20 MFA committees and advised over 35 BFA exhibitions. This long-term advising reflects a deep commitment to supporting students at pivotal stages of artistic and professional formation, guiding them as they clarify research trajectories, exhibition strategies, and post-degree pathways.
As supervisor of the Foundations program, I refined instructional systems for figure drawing and still life courses, ensuring pedagogical consistency while balancing logistical coordination with faculty autonomy. This work reinforced foundational rigor and strengthened communication structures among faculty, students, and models, contributing to a stable and productive learning environment.

Collegiate and University Service
My university-level service includes participation on the Five-Year Strategic Planning Committee, the Tenure Review Committee, and three years on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Executive Committee prior to statewide policy changes. I also contributed to the formal review of the African American Studies Department, offering programmatic and curricular analysis during a period of institutional assessment.
Over a three-year period, I participated in recurring think tanks, curriculum development sessions, and interdisciplinary planning meetings for the proposed School of Social Inquiry. Although the proposal was ultimately not approved by the Board of Regents, this sustained work required cross-unit collaboration, long-range academic visioning, and institutional design thinking. The process strengthened shared governance practices and deepened interdepartmental dialogue across the College.
Within the School of Art, Art History, and Design, I also contributed to the reimagining of the school’s annual arts celebration during its transition in name and identity. I helped develop the conceptual framework for Artober Fest, supporting expanded public engagement and reinforcing the school’s evolving institutional vision.

Student Enrichment and Visiting Artist Engagement
My service extends beyond committee structures into the creation of platforms that expand student learning into public and professional contexts.
I curated Body Boundaries at Project Project in Omaha, featuring MFA students, alumni, faculty artists, and graduate students from Maharishi International University. The exhibition fostered cross-institutional dialogue while offering emerging artists professional exhibition experience and engagement with complex social themes.
I collaborated with André Perry to organize a student-centered happening in the Black Box space with artist and musician Lonnie Holley. I curated a group of students to respond to Holley’s work through improvisation and embodied performance, expanding the boundaries of studio pedagogy and offering direct engagement with a nationally recognized artist.
Additionally, I facilitated interdisciplinary collaboration by inviting distinguished visiting artists, including Ayanah Moor, whose workshop bridged Painting, Printmaking, and interdisciplinary practice across the school.

Professional, National, and International Service
My professional service extends nationally and internationally through The Emergence Room Podcast, a sustained platform for mentorship and disciplinary discourse. Through interviews with artists, scholars, and cultural leaders, the podcast engages questions of creative process, identity, leadership, and transformation. It functions as both a public-facing project and a pedagogical resource, extending mentoring beyond the university while contributing to contemporary conversations in art and leadership.
In April 2025, I presented at the Canadian Association for American Studies conference in Montreal, where I chaired the panel “Bothered ’Bout Race?: Performances of Difference and Antiracist Identities Post–George Floyd” and delivered the talk “Eulogy as Emergence: Navigating Death, Survival, and Identity in a Racialized World,” contributing to international scholarly dialogue on race, performance, and cultural expression.
In February 2026, I will participate in ALI 2026 – Authority, Leadership, and Innovation, the 26th International Group Relations Conference in Italy. This residential seminar grounded in the Tavistock tradition offers immersive training in authority, organizational dynamics, and systems thinking, strengthening my capacity to contribute advanced organizational insight and group-process awareness to faculty governance and interdisciplinary collaboration.
While serving as a Rome Prize Fellow, I expanded my professional service through individualized coaching sessions for artists and emerging practitioners in Rome, offering structured support focused on professional clarity, sustainability, and embodied leadership. In parallel, I have completed the 100 coaching hours required to qualify for the Associate Certified Coach (ACC) credential through the International Coaching Federation (ICF), the leading global organization for professional coaching standards and certification. This milestone reflects not only sustained applied practice, but alignment with internationally recognized competencies in ethical practice, facilitation, and transformational development. My coaching work directly integrates my doctoral research in Transformational Leadership and Coaching with community-facing application, extending mentorship beyond the university into national and international contexts.
In November 2025, I volunteered at the United States Pavilion of the Venice Architecture Biennale, supporting Rome Prize Fellows in Architecture by facilitating weaving and textile-based engagement aligned with the exhibition’s themes. This contribution drew directly from my artistic practice and expanded interdisciplinary exchange within an international architectural context.

Ongoing Professional Development
I am completing a Doctorate in Education in Transformational Leadership and Coaching at Maharishi International University’s College of Business and Entrepreneurship. This doctoral work deepens my capacity in facilitation, conflict transformation, systems design, and adaptive leadership. Together with my participation in international group relations training, it represents an intentional investment in strengthening my institutional leadership skills and long-term service contributions.
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Community and Civic Engagement
My service includes sustained civic engagement. At the request of an Iowa City Council member, I assisted residents in navigating early voting procedures. For the past three years, I have participated in the 8-mile Run to Rescue race in Nebraska supporting a volunteer fire department, and I have twice run the Iowa City Rack Race supporting breast cancer awareness.
With encouragement from Iowa City Mayor Bruce Teague and City Council Member Laura Bergus, I sought appointment to the Iowa City Human Rights Commission and appeared on the public ballot for two consecutive years. Although not ultimately selected, this process reflected recognition from civic leadership of my capacity to contribute to equity-focused municipal service.

Conclusion
​Across departmental, collegiate, university, professional, international, and community contexts, my service reflects sustained engagement in institutional design, curricular development, mentorship, and leadership. Through structural program development, interdisciplinary collaboration, and public-facing professional engagement, I have contributed to strengthening the School of Art, Art History, and Design and advancing the University of Iowa’s broader academic and civic mission.



service highlights


University committees
     
  • Supervisor of Foundations Area, Painting and Drawing Area 2024-25
  • Curriculum Committee, School of Art, Art History and Design 2023-25
  • Art Hawks, University of Art Club, Faculty Advisor, 2024-25
  • Five Year Review, African American Studies, Member, 2024-25
  • Tenure Review Committee, School of Art, Art History and Design, Member, 2024-25
  • Five Year Strategic Planning Committee. Member, 2024- Present 
  • First Year Review Tenure Track Review, Member, 2024
  • Third Year Review Tenure Track Review, Committee Chair,  2024
  • Grant Wood Fellowship Hiring Committee, 2023-24
  • Recommender for Honorary Doctorate for Oliver Lee Jackson, 2023 
  • Grant Wood Fellowship Hiring Committee, Member, 2022-23
  • School of Art and Art History, Painting and Drawing Hiring Committee, Chair, 2022-23
  • University of Iowa Boxing Club, Faculty Advisor, 2021-present
  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion  Executive Committee, Member - 2020-23
  • Grant Wood Fellowship Hiring Committee, Member, 2018-19​
  • School of Art and Art History Faculty Studio Committee, Member, 2018-19 
  • CLAS Executive Committee - Member 2018-19
  • Junior Faculty Cohort - Member, 2018-22
  • CLAS Executive Committee -Member, 2017-18

Community
  • Body Boundaries, Project Project, Omaha, NE- Curator (of Iowa student and faculty group show)- 2025
  • On Bothering, Canadian Association for American Studies conference, Montreal, Canada- Panel Chair- 2024
  • "Queering the Cream City," Save Art Space, Milwaukee, WI - Guest curator
  • CSPS Hall (Legion Arts), Cedar Rapids, IA - Board Member
  • Film Scene, Iowa City, IA - Board Member
  • The Heights artist residency, Cedar Rapids, IA - Founder
  • University of Iowa Student Boxing Club, Big George's Boxing Club - Consultant and mentor

Lectures
2025
  • A Matter of of Site with AAR Fellows, Temple University, Rome, Italy, panelist
  • Shop Talk, American Academy in Rome with Darcy Tuttle, Rome, Italy
  • T.J. Dedeaux-Norris Presents the Estate of Tameka Jenean Norris, American Academy in Rome, Rome, Italy
  • University of Nebraska, Omaha- Artist Talk
  • Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA- Artist Talk                                                                              

2024
  • The Diverse Perspectives in Digital Media and Design, University of Connecticut, School of Fine Arts (March 6, 2024) -Artist Talk

2023 
  • Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA with Ange Altenhofen
  • Charles Allis Museum, Milwaukee, WI

2021
  • Yale School of Art, “Life after Yale” with Kenturah Davis and Jennifer Packer
  • Knox College, Galesburg, Il, Artist Talk and juror
  • Iowa State University Department of Art and Visual Culture
  • Vermont Studio Center, Black History Month Feature- Artist Talk
  • University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Fine Art
  • University of California Roski Talk, School of Art and Design