Research Fellowship

Crisis Response as Arts Entrepreneurship: Leveraging SNAAP Insights to Foster Entrepreneurial Arts Educators

Wen Guo (top)
Florida State University

Wen Guo is an Assistant Professor and Director of the MA Program in Arts Administration in the Department of Art Education at Florida State University. She earned her Ph.D. in Cultural Policy and Arts Administration from The Ohio State University. Her research focuses on various areas within arts administration and cultural policy, including arts policy networks, arts entrepreneurship, and community engagement through the arts.

Supported by the 2021 – 22 SNAAP Fellowship, Dr. Guo published a research article in Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy and a chapter in Innovating Institutions and Inequities in the Arts. Key findings have been presented in a keynote at the Society of Arts Entrepreneurship Educators Annual Conference, the 2024 a2ru Fall Webinar, and the O’Neill Center for Cultural Affairs Workshop Series. Her other scholarly work has been published in peer-reviewed journals and books, including Cultural Trends, Review of Policy Research, Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society, Chinese Public Administration Review, Studies in Art Education, and Artivate: A Journal of Entrepreneurship in the Arts, among others.

Rachel Fendler (bottom)
Florida State University

Rachel Fendler is Department Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Art Education at Florida State University, where she also serves as Director of Teacher Certification. She holds a PhD in Arts and Education from the University of Barcelona. Her research looks at how art making presents possibilities for young people to relate to each other and their city differently. This line of inquiry asks how creative practice connects young people to a transformative civic project that contributes emerging social imaginaries about the future.

Dr. Fendler is co-author of Developing a Model for Civically Engaged Art Education (2023). She has published in peer-reviewed journals such as Studies in Art Education, International Journal of Education through Art, International Journal of Arts Education, and Qualitative Inquiry and her work was included in volumes such as Global Shifts in Qualitative Inquiry (2024) and Promoting Civic Engagement through Art Education (2024).

Dr. Fendler served as Chair (2022) and co-Chair (2021) of the Art Education Research Institute, Secretary (2018 – 2020) of the Arts-Based Educational Research SIG of the American Educational Research Association. 

Career Resilience Among Arts Alumni Who Teach: Pathways, Satisfaction, and Changes in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Lindsey Kunisaki
University of California, Los Angeles

Lindsey Tomiko Kunisaki (she/her/hers) is a researcher, evaluator, and curriculum designer. Her past research has investigated cumulative inequalities in creative career pathways, culturally sustaining teaching artistry, and arts education policy implementation. Lindsey is currently the Research & Evaluation Specialist with the Visual and Performing Arts Education (VAPAE) program at the University of California, Los Angeles. She has also worked as an independent evaluator and curriculum designer for community-based organizations and cultural institutions, most recently including Getty’s PST ART: Art & Science Collide. Lindsey is a Ph.D. candidate at Claremont Graduate University and previously earned a Master’s degree (Ed.M.) in arts education at Harvard University and Bachelor’s degree (B.A.) at UCLA. She has been awarded the Gates Millennium Scholarship, Arts for LA’s Laura Zucker Fellowship for Policy and Research, and others.

Perceptions of Diversity, Social Justice, and Belonging Among Arts Graduates

Vaughn Schmutz
University of North Carolina, Charlotte

Vaughn Schmutz is an Associate Professor of Sociology at UNC Charlotte. He earned a PhD in Sociology from Emory University and a PhD in Arts & Culture Studies from Erasmus University Rotterdam. From 2018 – 2023, Vaughn was co-editor of Poetics: Journal of Empirical Research on Culture, the Media and the Arts. His research interests include the evaluation of art and cultural heritage, processes of classification and consecration in popular music, and inequalities in arts participation. Vaughn’s research on the role of arts and culture in social mobility has been supported by the National Endowment of the Arts and the Gambrell Foundation. At UNC Charlotte, he is co-founder and Associate Director of a research center for Community, Heritage, and the Arts (CHArt).

Connecting with Others: Relating Interpersonal Relationships to Preparation and Job Satisfaction in Art Domains

Mei Zheng (top)
University of Connecticut

Mei Zheng is a Ph.D. student in Educational Psychology at the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut. Her research focuses on the discrepancy between how laypersons and scholars understand creativity and how personal beliefs influence individuals’ creativity and meaning in life. She is also interested in the role of art in talent development and people’s beliefs about creative arts, as well as the connections between arts and creativity. Mei is also a musician in a traditional Chinese instrument cohort and continuously working on fostering cultural awareness.

Catherine Little (bottom)
University of Connecticut

Dr. Catherine Little is a Professor in Giftedness, Creativity, and Talent Development in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Connecticut. Her research interests include professional learning and differentiation of curriculum and instruction for advanced learners, including the role of mentorship experiences in developing talent. She serves on UConn’s Honors Board of Associate Directors and is currently the President-Elect of the National Association for Gifted Children. Catherine also performs regularly as part of a large symphonic chorale in Connecticut.

Non-White K‑12 Arts Educator Collaboration: Using Counternarratives as an Analysis Tool

Tiffany Bourgeois (top)
The Ohio State University

Amy Lewis (bottom)
James Madison University

This study will examine how non-white K‑12 arts teachers collaborate and take advantage of cross disciplinary opportunities. The researchers will examine data from K‑12 arts teachers that identify as non-white using a counternarrative lens, a central tenet of Critical Race Theory, to emphasize experiences commonly overlooked.

The Intersections of Creative Access: The Impact of Race, Ethnicity and Gender on Career Development in the Visual Arts and Design

Lauren Cross
University of North Texas

This study will investigate how the educational experiences and career trajectories of women and art students of color are impacted by the intersections of institutional racism and sexism within the visual arts and design academy.

Exploring Diversity for Arts Graduates in Leadership Roles

Marisol D’Andrea

This project will examine diversity (ethnicity, gender, and age) in arts graduates who work in management or leadership roles, both within and outside the arts.

Are We Training Arts Students to be Arts Entrepreneurs? A SNAAP Study on the Institutional Experience of Arts Students and Their Entrepreneurial Careers

David McGraw (top)

Wen Guo (bottom)
Elon University

This project will investigate three main research inquiries: What skills and experiences from postsecondary education are important for students adopting an entrepreneurial career path? Does institutional preparedness influence students’ adoption of an entrepreneurial career path? Is there a significant difference between white and non-white graduates in adopting an entrepreneurial career path?

Unraveling Gender and Race Bias in Fashion Design Careers 

Natalie Salvador (top)
Otis College of Art and Design

Amelia Williams (bottom)
Montana State University

This study will explore female and BIPOC career paths in the fashion industry by examining the career trajectories of designers around race and gender, analyze skills taught in postsecondary fashion education; and explore the effects of socio-cultural and gender norms on career paths in fashion design.

The Effects of High-Impact Educational Practices on Community Engagement of Arts Alumni

Jihee Hwang (top)

Junghwan Kim (bottom)
University of Oklahoma

Hwang and Kim examine how the experience of community-based, high-impact educational practices (HIPs) during college, in conjunction with the surrounding communities’ arts infrastructure, influences art alumni’s community-engaged activities throughout their careers and lives after graduation.

Parental Educational Attainment and Graduate Degrees

Amy Whitaker (top)
New York University

Gregory Wolniak (bottom)
University of Georgia

Whitaker and Wolniak look at inclusion and educational attainment in the arts, using SNAAP data to observe the connection between diversity and inclusion and parental education attainment in the arts. Additionally, they analyse the SNAAP cohort of art majors who go on to study business and law.