About the Author

Grace Aki

My name is Grace Aki and I have been an art educator for 10 years. I have six years of experience teaching elementary art and just started my fourth year teaching high school artists. I was born and raised in Indianapolis, IN and have spent my entire career teaching in the areas surrounding where I grew up.

I discovered my passion for art during a high school drawing class. My teacher presented the curriculum as a skill to be learned, not as a unique talent. This really inspired me to delve into learning art skills and then ignited my passion for teaching these skills to others. I attended Purdue University to get my degree in Visual Arts Education and my love for the field has continued to grow since.

After three years of teaching experience, I decided to further my education with a Master’s degree in Visual Arts Education from AOEU. I became an avid reader of the AOE articles, listened to the podcast episodes, attended the Art Ed NOW Conference, and took the AOEU Drawing Studio Course. My experiences with AOEU were all incredibly insightful and inspiring, which made their degree program the obvious choice when deciding where to further my education.

Once I received my degree from AOEU, I decided I wanted to make a career change and found a job teaching at the secondary level. Now in my fourth year, I feel very confident in my instructional practices, classroom management, and knowledge of art, art history, and art education. My goal is to continue to grow, learn, and share ideas with other educators. I love working in this field and it has become a huge piece of my identity.