The Department of Art Education is thrilled to share that Dr. Wen Guo and Dr. Rachel Fendler have been awarded the prestigious 2024–2025 Research Fellowship from the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP). Their innovative proposal, “Are We Training Arts Students to Be Arts Entrepreneurs? A SNAAP Study on the Institutional Experience of Arts Students and Their Entrepreneurial Careers,” explores how arts education equips students for entrepreneurial success, focusing on skills, institutional preparedness, and equity.

Exploring the Future of Arts Education

Dr. Guo and Dr. Fendler’s research examines critical questions about arts education:

• What skills and experiences from postsecondary education best prepare students for entrepreneurial careers?
• How does institutional readiness impact entrepreneurial career paths?
• Are there differences between white and non-white graduates in pursuing entrepreneurial opportunities?

Using SNAAP’s comprehensive dataset, this study will provide valuable insights for educators and institutions seeking to empower arts students.

Dr. Guo and Dr. Fendler bring together a powerful combination of expertise to advance understanding of how arts education prepares students for entrepreneurial success and civic transformation. Their collaboration highlights the intersection of arts entrepreneurship and creative engagement, ensuring impactful outcomes for this SNAAP-funded project.

Dr. Wen Guo, Assistant Professor and Director of the MA Program in Arts Administration at Florida State University, focuses her research on arts entrepreneurship, cultural policy, and community engagement. With a Ph.D. in Cultural Policy and Arts Administration from The Ohio State University, Dr. Guo is a recognized leader in her field. Supported by the 2021–22 SNAAP Fellowship, her research has been published in Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy and Innovating Institutions and Inequities in the Arts and presented at conferences such as the Society of Arts Entrepreneurship Educators Annual Conference and the a2ru Fall Webinar.

Dr. Rachel Fendler, Department Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Art Education at Florida State University, adds expertise in civic engagement and youth agency through creative practices. With a Ph.D. in Arts and Education from the University of Barcelona, Dr. Fendler’s work explores how artmaking connects young people to their communities and fosters transformative social imaginaries. Her recent contributions include Developing a Model for Civically Engaged Art Education (2023) and leadership roles with the Art Education Research Institute.

Together, Dr. Guo and Dr. Fendler bridge arts entrepreneurship and civically engaged education, offering a dynamic approach that empowers arts students as leaders and changemakers. Their shared commitment to innovation and inclusion ensures this research will inspire educators and institutions alike.

Dr. Guo’s prior contributions as a 2020-2021 SNAAP Fellow include:

• Guo, W., & McGraw, D. J. (2023). The Arts Alumni Have Spoken: The Impact of Training in Higher Education on Entrepreneurial Careers. Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy, 6(3), 410-435. https://doi.org/10.1177/25151274221120071
• Guo, W., & McGraw, D. (2024). Stepping Outside the Classroom: Connecting Contextual Factors of American Universities and Arts Alumni’s Entrepreneurial Intentions. In: Woronkowicz, J., & Noonan, D. (Eds.), Innovating Institutions and Inequities in the Arts. Sociology of the Arts. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-59231-7_4

About SNAAP: Mission and History

The mission of the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project is to maximize the success and impact of creatives in society by driving evidence-informed changes in arts training and showcasing the value of arts and design education.

SNAAP began in 2002, evolving through collaborative efforts among arts institutions, researchers, and funders. Officially launched in 2008 at Indiana University, SNAAP has become a trusted resource for understanding the experiences of arts graduates and shaping the future of arts education.

Looking Forward

As Dr. Guo and Dr. Fendler embark on this exciting fellowship; their collaborative research promises to inspire educators and institutions while empowering students to thrive as creative and entrepreneurial leaders.

For updates on their work and more information about SNAAP, visit www.snaaparts.org.

Faculty and Alumni Spotlights: Fall Conferences

Pat Villeneuve to Retire

Professor Pat Villeneuve, Director of the Arts Administration program and faculty member of the Museum Education and Visitor-Centered Curation program will retire in January 2025 after 22 years at Florida State University. In addition to mentoring many doctoral and master’s students over the years, she also proposed the museum education and visitor-centered curation program, which started in 2014. Pat has received many awards during her tenure at FSU, notably the National Art Education Association’s National Art Museum Educator of the Year (2009) and a Fulbright Fellowship (2021) to Flemish Belgium, where she was co-hosted by FARO, the Flemish governmental agency for culture and heritage, and KU Leuven. Pat worked with a collaborative she established that included FARO and the Flemish museums M Leuven; MAS, Antwerp; and SMAK (Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art), Ghent. Through this collaboration, a number of European authors contributed to the book she co-edited with Ann Rowson Love, Dimensions of Curation: Considering Competing Values for Intentional Exhibition Practices, published by the American Alliance of Museums and Rowman & Littlefield in 2023. Pat and Ann have collaborated on many research projects and publications over the years including another co-edited book, Visitor-Centered Exhibitions and Edu-Curation in Art Museums (2017).

---

During her busy teaching, scholarship, and administrative duties, Pat maintained an active artistic practice creating artworks she refers to as deconstructed quilts. Currently her work Winter Weather Log is included in the Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) virtual gallery exhibition and in the American Quilter’s Society QuiltWeek in Lancaster, PA in September. Her work, Bauhaus Fringe, was selected for the juried exhibition New Quilts from an Old Favorite exhibition at the National Quilt Museum and will travel to additional venues through January 2026. Pat looks forward to full-time art practice and splitting her time among Tucson, Arizona, Door County, Wisconsin, and travel abroad. We will miss her tremendously, but we wish her all the best in her retirement and look forward to seeing more of her beautiful art quilts in the coming years.

Fall 2024 has been a busy time for the museum education and visitor-centered curation program faculty and alumni presenting at regional and international conferences. Ann Rowson Love and Pat Villeneuve spoke on a colloquium panel at the International Conference of the Inclusive Museum in Vienna, Austria in September. Their panel, “Story, Voice, and Polyvocality: Understanding Intersectionality through Qualitative Research in Art and Cultural Museums” featured contributors to Love and Randolph’s new book, An Introductory Guide to Qualitative Research in Art Museums (2024). Alumnus, Jay Boda Associate Director of Academics, Innovation, and Research at The Ringling (PhD, 2020) also spoke at the conference, “Getting to Know Our Audience: Developing and Using Audience Data.”

Along with her co-author, Deborah Randolph, Ann presented a book chat about An Introductory Guide to Qualitative Research in Art Museums at the Art Education Research Institute at Cambridge University in September. The conference also featured department colleagues Jeff Broome and Christen Sperry GarcÍa, current doctoral students, and FSU alumni.

In October, Ann attended the Southeastern Museums Conference in Baton Rouge, LA. In her role as chair of the Curator’s Committee she hosted the CurCom Annual Luncheon. She also got to spend some time with alumnus Sarah Graves (PhD, 2019), Manager of Visitor Engagement at Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. Sarah co-presented “On the Front Line: The Future of Museums is Visitor Services” with colleagues from the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art at the College of Charleston and the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University. Sarah is on the host committee for next year’s SEMC in Montgomery, AL.