Amber Ward

Amber Ward is an associate professor of art education at Florida State University. She received a PhD and Certificate in Qualitative Research from the University of Missouri. She earned an MAAE from the Maryland Institute College of Art and a BFA with teacher certification from Colorado State University. Ward’s research considers who and what matters in learning/teaching and why, in a program that connects the outside world both with humanity and art. Using creative approaches of inquiry, she is interested in the material practices of craft, feminism, and sustainability with an aim of mending the world around us. Her scholarship can be found in Art Education, Art/Research International, Arts & Humanities in Higher Education, IMAG, International Review of Qualitative Research, Journal of Embodied Research, Journal of Social Theory and Art, Knowledge Cultures, Studies in Art Education, Qualitative Inquiry, and Visual Arts Research. Ward’s single-author book, Relational Encounters with Folk School Pedagogies: Craft as Creative Inquiry, explores folk school pedagogies using craft as a creative approach of inquiry. It uses a study at and inspired by The Clearing Folk School, a continuing education institution located at the northern tip of the Door County Peninsula in Wisconsin, USA. Ward has presented her artwork and scholarship in state, national, and international exhibitions and conferences, respectively. She has served as Art/Research International Section Editor, Art Education Editorial Review Board Member, National Art Education Association Pacific Regional Director of the Higher Education Division, and National Art Education Association Ecology & Environment Interest Group Executive Officer (Membership/Treasurer).