Irma Carolina Rubio is an artist and educator who has dedicated more than 20 years of experience and leadership to the field of art education, ranging from designing and implementing sensitive, relevant and cutting-edge K-12 curriculum in public schools and universities to working administratively at museums and community arts organizations. Most recently, she completed her ninth year as a PK-12 public school art teacher in San Antonio. Rubio earned a B.F.A. in Visual Studies from Texas Tech University, a MAAE from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and completed three years of doctoral coursework in Art Education and Women’s Studies at Pennsylvania State University, investigating feminist indigenous epistemologies and Zapotec weavers’ embodied knowledge.
Tell us about the classes you’ll be teaching this year.
This fall semester, I will be teaching ART 352D Drawing for Nonmajors course, and AED 351C: Learners and Instructional Sites in Art Education. Students will engage with community-based arts, museums and early childhood environments as observers and facilitators of visual pedagogy.
What attracted you to the Department of Art and Art History and The University of Texas at Austin?
I was attracted to the Department of Art and Art History for the meaningful contributions Art Education faculty have made to the field and pre-service teacher preparation over the past decades. Some of the most amazing peers and innovators I have met in the field completed their graduate studies in Art Education at UT Austin. I also appreciate the interdisciplinary potential of working with peers in Studio Art, Art History and the Visual Arts Center.
How did your professional pathway lead to your current artistic focus?
For over 20 years I dedicated myself to the field of art education as a public-school teacher, as a teaching artist at a grassroots community arts organization and administratively at museums in San Antonio and Chicago. I also worked as an artist assistant to the author Sandra Cisneros. These experiences led me to a full-circle moment and space, where I may be of service to future art educators at the university level. As an artist, I’m currently working on a series of mixed-media pieces related to my observations and lived-experiences as a public-school art teacher in the state of Texas.
What’s something that students and colleagues should know about you?
I am genuinely interested in the happiness and long-term professional success of the students I work with. I’m also very open to interdisciplinary collaborations that engage students, community and decolonizing pedagogies.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not teaching/researching/working?
I enjoy traveling and observing the natural world, in particular the sky and botanicals. Spending time with my family and little dogs, Yolotli and Peppa, brings me joy.