Beth Balliro // Lyssa Palu-ay // Working Toward Justice and Equity in College Art Pedagogy

Beth Balliro and Lyssa Palu-ay, both at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, discuss the challenges and triumphs in their institution's efforts to diversify its student body. Beth Balliro, Ph.D is an artist and scholar whose work is grounded in over twenty years of teaching in urban public schools, community settings, and museums. Her studio practice investigates the poetics and materialism of social debris while her video work seeks to uncover the many ways that social exchange is mired in concerns of race, class, gender and power. Her scholarship draws from critical pedagogy to investigate public schooling and its import for artists. She is an Associate Professor of Art Education at the Massachusetts College of Art & Design. Lyssa Palu-ay is the Dean of the Office of Justice, Equity and Transformation (JET). JET is focused on achieving systemic equity related to access, opportunity and dignity at MassArt through the areas of transformative learning and teaching, pathways to art and design education, and retention and mentoring. Lyssa is an alumna of MassArt and a well-established member of the campus community. She is a full Professor and has served on the Studio Foundation faculty since 2001, and in 2001 assumed leadership of the Boston Public Schools mentoring program, which later became the Academic Compass Mentoring Program. Her scholarship and research interests include the history of institutes of art and design, critical race theory, and experiences of students of color in art and design education.