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The Indiana Daily Student

arts

Local artist working toward her Ph.D. in art education

Local artist and art educator Linda Helmick is enrolled in the IU School of Education and working toward a Ph.D. in Art Education.

Helmick earned her BFA from Herron School of Art and Design and then continued her education at the University of Indianapolis, obtaining a M.A. in Painting and Teaching and 
Education.

Prior to enrolling at IU, Helmick taught art at a private high school in Indianapolis. She spent her free time developing her personal 
studio practice.

Helmick said it was the student teachers she worked with while teaching high school art that convinced her to return to school.

“I realized I could make a bigger difference teaching teachers and inspiring them,” she said.

Helmick said she specifically chose IU after researching the art education department and finding a consistent level of dedication to service and the community among the staff. She said she immediately felt welcomed and at home here at IU.

However, Helmick said she was concerned about being separated from the Fine Arts Department. Although she tried to negotiate a fine arts minor in addition to her Ph.D. track, Helmick was unable to integrate both departments into her 
educational track.

“I am sad that the fine arts department and the art ed department do not collaborate with each other and work together,” Helmick said. “They are missing a richness of experience and learning that could occur.”

Still, Helmick said she is happy she pursued art 
education.

Helmick indicated the work she has done with her students and colleagues ignited a new passion for research, specifically the kind of critical research that can make a difference in the world.

“I have discovered my feminist queer self here at IU and it has been nurtured and supported, so that is the perspective from which I write and research and paint,” she said.

Helmick said this more critical approach to her research provides for a deeper and more intellectual experience when she paints. She said academia has not stifled her spontaneous creativity. Instead, Helmick said her creativity is better informed by who she truly is.

This ability to integrate her personal values into her research and artwork, led Helmick to get involved in and write about a project with the homeless 
community.

She presented her research at a conference in Chicago and explained to her audience how art education can work together with social justice.

“If I can inspire other teachers in more places to teach art in a social justice kind of way that changes perceptions about the homeless and makes them visible and understood, that would be a great thing,” Helmick said.

Helmick said she is grateful for the difficult, stressful and challenging experiences she has had at IU thus far.

“When I look back I can truly say that I am not the same person who started here two years ago, and I am looking forward to the person I will be two years from now,” she said.

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