Profile for Lisa Lenarz

Brief biography

I'm currently Associate Professor in the Department of Art here at UW-La Crosse. Within the department, I serve as Art Education Faculty; teaching primarily methods and field courses, advising students in the major, and supervising pre-service art teachers during all three of their clinical field experiences. I've been teaching art and art education courses in higher education since 2012 and have an additional 10 years of experiencing teaching all levels of K-12 art in public schools (at the Elementary, Middle, and High School levels), including: (1) charters, such as Montessori, and the School of Technology & Arts; (2) digital art/media, and (3) teaching adaptive art for differently abled learners at the high school level. 

My research centers primarily on pedagogies and practices in art education to best prepare pre-service teachers with the knowledge, skills, and competencies for future career pathways as well as being active community arts leaders and collaborators. Some examples of these research topics are: visual literacy, technology in art education, career and global competencies in art education, and competency-based measures of assessment. In 2023, I taught a faculty-led study abroad course in Japan (primarily in Tokyo) for pre-service teachers. It was part of a two-course program offering. 

In addition to being an art educator, I'm an interdisciplinary artist, who works primarily in drawing, printmaking, sculptural installation, and digital media. Notable exhibitions include the Brooklyn Museum, as part of Ulrike Müller’s published, “Herstory Inventory: 100 Feminist Drawings by 100 Artists,” and at Galerie 5020 in Salzburg, Austria. Some of my work can be viewed online at: https://www.moxiedheart.com/. 

I earned an M.F.A. in Interdisciplinary Visual Art in 2010 at the Vermont College of Fine Art, in Montpelier, VT. Studio emphases included: printmaking, video/audio/digital, and sculptural installation.