Dana Carlisle Kletchka is the Curator of Education at the Palmer Museum of Art at The Pennsylvania State University, an Affiliate Assistant Professor in the Art Education program; co-director of the Summer Institute on Contemporary Art (SICA), a joint project of the School of Visual Arts and the Palmer Museum of Art; and a co-editor of ArtMuseumTeaching.com, an online community of practice. Dana is interested in post-critical art museum education pedagogies; professional development for PreK–12 teachers in art museum contexts; the use of social media and and digital technologies on interpretation and engagement in the art museum; and the professional positionality of art museum educators within the profound paradigmatic shift of art museums over the last 40 years. In 2015, she was awarded the National Art Education Association’s Art Educator of the Year for the Museum Education Division.
In addition to her responsibilities to the museum, Dana teaches graduate-level courses both online and face-to-face on museum studies, contemporary women artists, and professional development for PreK-12 teachers through the School of Visual Arts and Art History department. Her professional service includes serving as the Museum Division Representative on the National Art Education Association’s Research Commission: Professional Learning through Research working group; chair of the Curricular Integration Committee (CIC) for Penn State’s Commission on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Equity (CLGBTQE); and chair of Penn State’s Museum Consortium (PSUMC). As a member of the graduate faculty at Penn State, she serves on doctoral and master’s committees for art education and fine art students in the School of Visual Arts.
Her essays have appeared in books such as Judy Chicago at Penn State (2014), From Periphery to Center: Art Museum Education in the 21st Century (2007), and the forthcoming On 21st Century Arts and Culture Education, and she has published articles in journals such as Visual Arts Research and Art Education, serving on its Editorial Review Panel from 2003–2007. She recently co-edited, with Dr. B. Stephen Carpenter, II, Professional Development in Art Museums: Strategies of Engagement through Contemporary Art, a book on the theories, contexts, and practices of professional development for preK–12 teachers in art museums, now in the process of publication for the National Art Education Association.
Over the past 20 years, she has held professional education positions at the Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS; Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, OK; and the Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State in University Park, PA. Dana frequently delivers presentations on art museum education at state, national, and international art education, technology, and design conferences as well as for other museums and university classes. Dana earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in English and Art History (1995) and an M.A. in art education (1998) from the University of Kansas and a Ph.D. in art education from The Pennsylvania State University in 2010.
Dana welcomes questions regarding her professional position, publications, teaching, or art museum education in general.