Beatriz Galuban

Assistant Professor of Art

A Conversation With Beatriz

What would you tell a student who is thinking about attending A&M-Commerce?

As an undergraduate student in Canada, I attended a university like A&M-Commerce with a tight-knit art department in a small city. This allowed me to build close relationships with other art students, local artists, curators and my professors. I think A&M-Commerce provides a close-knit supportive community and familiarity for students who are looking for a personalized learning experience. The B.F.A. in studio art with All Level Certification at A&M-Commerce is for artists who are interested in taking their love of art and creativity into the classroom as future educators. Students in this degree track will be exposed to a wide breadth of courses in education, art classroom methods for K-12 students, studio art and art history courses.

What draws you to your discipline?

What I love about art museums is that they provide spaces for storytelling and community to flourish naturally among different groups of people. Through art education, we can learn more about ourselves, make meaning about the world around us and grow as more empathetic human beings. As an art educator, I enjoy sharing moments of wonder with students as they make connections and discover new ways of learning and teaching art in the classroom.

What has been your favorite course to teach?

My favorite course to teach has been “Teaching Art in the Elementary Classroom.” As the instructor, I had the opportunity to work with students to create lesson plans and elementary art curricula. In class, students got to learn methodologies for teaching and how to incorporate different media and contemporary artists in the elementary classroom.

Tell us about a project you are currently working on or recently completed.

This past year, I completed a grant-funded K-12 curriculum project where I got to work with contemporary artists in the Denton and UNT community in North Texas. Alongside other Texas teachers, I interviewed local contemporary artists and created a classroom art curriculum featuring dynamic art activities and critical discussion. In 2022, I was able to pilot one of my lessons with another educator in a local 4th-grade class. We presented the results of our lesson development process and pilot program at the 2023 NAEA convention in San Antonio, Texas.

Tell us a little about yourself (educational background, research interests, etc.)

I am passionate about art museums and their potential for cultivating empathy, community and connection among people. In addition to teaching art education courses, I also specialize in art museum access programming for adult audiences and currently teach the Connections program at the Meadows Museum, SMU (a program for people with early-stage Alzheimer's and their care partners). In addition to teaching in galleries and university classrooms, I currently serve as a director on the Museum Education Roundtable (MER) Board. I was born in Brazil and grew up in Canada, where I earned a Bachelor of Arts in art history and visual culture and M.A. in art history. I graduated with a Ph.D. in art education and a certification in art museum education from the University of North Texas in 2021.

Educational Background

• Ph.D., Art Education, University of North Texas, 2021
• M.A., Art History, University of Western Ontario, 2017
• B.A., Art History and Visual Culture, University of Waterloo, 2016

Academic Positions

• Assistant Professor of Art, Texas A&M University-Commerce, 2023-present
• Connections Program Educator, The Meadows Museum of Art, 2022-present
• K-12 Curriculum Development Specialist, University of North Texas, 2022-2023
• Family Programs Intern, Nasher Sculpture Center, 2022-2023
• Teaching Adjunct, University of North Texas, 2018-2023
• Adjunct Instructor, Texas A&M University-Commerce, 2021-2023
• Onstead/Meadows Fellow in Art Museum Education, The Meadows Museum of Art, 2020-2021
• Teaching Assistant, University of Western Ontario, Canada, 2016-2017
• Research Assistant, University of Waterloo, Canada, 2015-2016

Awards and Honors

• CVAD Paul Voertman Scholarship, 2019

Research Interests

• Art Museum Education
• Empathy and Storytelling in Museums
• Accessibility
• Autoethnography

Professional Organizations

• Museum Education Roundtable (MER)
• Meadows Museum, SMU
• National Art Education Association (NAEA)
• American Alliance of Museums (AAM)

Selected Publications

• Galuban, B. (2023, March 3). Building Community and Connection: Guidelines for museum educators teaching memory care programs. Alliance Blog. https://www.aam-us.org/2023/03/03/building-community-and-connection-guidelines-for-museum-educators-teaching-memory-care-programs/
• Galuban, B. and Asami Robledo-Allen. (2022, May). Illness, Empathy and Friendship: Promoting anti-ableist practices in art museum education. Journal of Museum Education. Volume 47, pp. 223-237.
• Galuban, B. & Hartman, Jennifer et al. (2023, April 13-15th). The artist down the street: Museum educators teaching about local artists in K-12 schools [Conference Paper]. NAEA National Convention. Texas, United States.