CAA News Today

Statement

My name is Kelly Walters, and I am an Assistant Professor of Communication Design at Parsons School of Design at The New School. Prior to joining Parsons, I was an Assistant Professor at the University of Connecticut, an AICAD Teaching Fellow at California College of the Arts and an adjunct at the University of Bridgeport. Throughout my teaching career, I have had the opportunity to teach at public universities, small private liberal arts colleges and elite art institutions. The art and design programs in these environments utilize differing pedagogy on design and are reflective of the needs of the students at those institutions. All of these experiences have allowed me to see how art and design programs differ across discipline, and how teaching strategies can shift from one institution to next. Over the last few years, I have the opportunity to participate in the CAA Conference – as a presenter in 2019 and as a panel chair this past February 2020. I have always found CAA to be an invaluable resource to learn more about promotion and tenure guidelines, seek out grant opportunities or follow the most recent news in art and design scholarship. To be a CAA Board member would mean that I could help support the continuation of important initiatives like these that directly impact a diverse art and design education community.

I have engaged with the field of design as an educator, a professional graphic designer and through service to other professional organizations. I am currently an AIGA Design Educators Steering Committee member and entering my third year in this role. As the Communications Chair, I have led numerous meetings with the DEC Communications team to strategize and plan what resources and content we can share within our community for their success. Serving on this committee has provided me with necessary skills that I could bring as a CAA Board Member, including organizationals skills and the ability to work collaboratively on a team. I am excited to state my interest to participate on the CAA Board because of my extensive experience teaching and my interest in connecting people with resources or to each other. If selected as a CAA Board Member, I would be interested in supporting the following committee areas: design, diversity practices and professional practices. The multiple perspectives I hold as a Black woman, as an educator and practitioner, would make me a great Board member that would be sensitive to concerns around design and that of marginalized communities. I am excited about the prospect of moving forward art and design discourse, with a particular focus on engaging with urgent questions and critical shifts happening in relation to race, identity and representation today. I look forward to this potential opportunity and thank everyone for their time in reviewing my materials.

Download Kelly Walters’ CV