Mary Erickson

After completing her bachelor's of fine arts in art education from the University of Illinois, Mary Erickson taught at the high school and community college levels before beginning her university career at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. She earned both her master's and doctorate in art education at The Ohio State University and has been on the faculty at Arizona State University since 1990. Her selected honors include Independent Booksellers Association Art Award (co-author) in 2003, National Art Education Association’s Art Educator of the Year in 2002, and Visiting Scholar at the Getty Center for Education in the Arts in 1994–1995. Her research has been supported through numerous grants from the National Art Education Foundation.

Some of Erickson’s recent publications include “Teen Artists: Impact of a Contemporary Art Museum Program” with L. Hales (i2014) in Studies in Art Education; “Beyond the Constructivist Museum: Guided Interaction through a Visitor-Exhibition Interface” with P. Villeneuve (2011) in The International Journal of the Inclusive Museum; and “Objective-Driven Evaluation: A Collaboration between Studio Foundations and Art Education” with J. Klein and M. Wirtz, (2011) in FATE in Review.

Erickson is the coordinating consultant for online curriculum at the Tempe Center for Education in the Arts. She is collaborating with museum educators at the Phoenix Art Museum, Heard Museum, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, the Tempe Center for the Arts, and the ASU Art Museum on updating and revising Token Response, a classic interactive gallery game for all ages and all skill levels. Erickson is currently also investigating the development of art inquiry in advanced high school studio art programs.