Jim O'Donnell

Adjunct Instructor

I’m an artist, art teacher, and art teacher-teacher. I’ve taught middle, elementary, and college studio art and coordinated an Art Education undergraduate program for 4 years while also being its sole instructor, supervisor, and committee chair. Since then, I’ve taught classes at AOEU, Ohio State University, Georgia State University, and High Point University on topics such as teaching art online, technology integration, class management, curriculum design, arts integration for early-childhood educators, drawing, design, art appreciation, and explorations of social justice through visual culture. For AOEU, I designed and taught “Teaching K12 Art Online,” a course created to support art teachers in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. I created KillYourColorWheels.com, a blog where I self-publish on art education topics, with an emphasis on meaning-making, creativity, social justice, ungrading, and, of course, art.

Most of my artistic output primarily processes family history and modern life through video, performance, installation, and drawing. Fun Fact: I auditioned for the first season of Bravo’s Art Star reality television show. After a 13-hour wait in line over 2 days, I only broke through to the second round of auditions; but the true prize was the friends I made along the way. In retrospect, I’m glad I wasn’t a reality tv star.

Professional Accomplishments:

i. Education

a. BA in art education from the University of Florida

b. MFA from Georgia State University in drawing, painting & printmaking

c. PhD from Ohio State University, where I examined undergrads’

relationships with manipulative and misleading media using a mixed-

methods, art-based approach.

ii. Certifications

a. North Carolina K–12 Art

iii. Awards

a. 2022 Ohio State University’s Department of Art Administration, Education & Policy Manuel Barkan Dissertation Fellowship Award

b. 2019 Ohio State University’s  College of Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Award for Teaching Excellence

c. 2016 Georgia Higher Education Art Educator of the Year

d. 2012 Georgia State University Annual Juried Student Exhibition Juror’s Choice Award, presented by Nicole Eisenman