About Dr. Travis
Biography
Dr. Sarah Travis is Assistant Professor of Art Education in the School of Art and Design at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Co-Editor of the journal Visual Arts Research, published by University of Illinois Press. A former public school art teacher from New Orleans, Dr. Travis uses narrative, phenomenological, and creative research methods to critically examine issues around identity and experience. Through this inquiry, she explores how art education can be an active pathway for critical reflection and creative agency. Dr. Travis has published journal articles in Art Education, International Journal of Education and the Arts, International Journal of Education Through Art, Journal for Cultural Research in Art Education, Journal of Social Theory in Art Education, Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, Studies in Art Education, and The Urban Review. In addition, she is co-editor of the books Pedagogies in the Flesh: Case Studies on the Embodiment of Sociocultural Differences in Education (Palgrave, 2018) and Experiments in Art Research: How Do We Live Questions Through Art? (Routledge, 2024).
Education
University of North Texas, PhD in Art Education
The University of Texas at Austin, MA in Art Education
Tulane University, BA in Art Studio & African and African Diaspora Studies
Research and publications
Selected publications
Books
Travis, S., Smith, A. G., Hernández-Cabal, C., & Lucero, J. (2024). Experiments in art research: How do we live questions through art? Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003430971
Travis, S., Kraehe, A. M., Hood, E. J., & Lewis, T. E. (Eds.). (2018). Pedagogies in the flesh: Case studies on the embodiment of sociocultural differences in education. Palgrave. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59599-3
Articles
Travis, S., & Crabbe, K. (2026). Sparks of creative agency in arts education: Flashpoints of social injustice to imagine otherwise. Journal of Social Theory in Art Education, 45, 36-50. https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/jstae/vol45/iss1/4/
Travis, S. T.; & Hood, E. J. (2025). Writing letters by hand: Critical pedagogical inquiry through inner and outer worlds. Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, 22(1), 22-53. https://doi.org/10.1080/15505170.2023.2175080
Hood, E. J., Travis, S., Brown, K. J., Herman, Jr., D., and Yoon-Ramirez, I. (2025). Dialogic praxis and racialized embodiment in art education. Journal of Social Theory in Art Education, 44, 5-60. https://doi.org/10.25892/R3ZP-RV84
Travis, S. (2025). Artefacts of inequity in art education: Critically tracing what disaster reveals. International Journal of Education Through Art, 21(1), 83-101. https://doi.org/10.1386/eta_00187_1
Travis, S. T. and Lewis, T. E. (2023). A phenomenology of joyful experimentation in art education. Studies in Art Education, 64(3), 344-358. https://doi.org/10.1080/00393541.2023.2220099
Travis, S. (2023). BE-ing here with transformative artist Brandan “BMike” Odums. Art Education, 76(4), 64-77. https://doi.org/10.1080/00043125.2023.2213116
Hood, E. J., & Travis, S. (2023). Critical reflective practice for art educators. Art Education, 76(1), 28-31. https://doi.org/10.1080/00043125.2022.2131201
Travis, S. (2022). Confessing critical frictions in the arts and education. Journal of Cultural Research in Art Education, 39(1), 76-90. https://doi.org/10.2458/jcrae.5384
Travis, S. (2021). “Artists, we need you”: Artist identity, creative agency, and the urgency of action. Studies in Art Education, 62(2), 142-161. https://doi.org/10.1080/00393541.2021.1896250
Travis, S. (2020). Flashpoints of artist identity formation. Art Education, 73(5), 16-25. https://doi.org/10.1080/00043125.2020.1781438
Travis, S. (2020). Portrait of a methodology: Portraiture as critical arts-based research. Visual Arts Research, 46(2), 100-114. https://doi.org/10.5406/visuartsrese.46.2.0100
Travis, S. (2019). Whiteness, artist identities, and artworld spaces. Journal of Cultural Research in Art Education, 36(3), 91-109. https://doi.org/10.2458/jcrae.4812
Salazar, S., & Travis, S. (2019). [self] re-presentation & [self] reflection: a conversation about artmaking, teaching, and research. Visual Arts Research, 45(1), 90-94. https://doi.org/10.5406/visuartsrese.45.1.0090
Travis, S. (2018). Art as civil disobedience: Allora & Calzadilla. Art Education, 71(4), 50-58. https://doi.org/10.1080/00043125.2018.1465319
Travis, S., & Hood, E. J. (2016). Troubling sociocultural narrative pedagogy: Implications for art educators. Studies in Art Education, 57(4), 318-328. https://doi.org/10.1080/00393541.2016.1204523
Kraehe, A. M., Acuff, J. B., & Travis, S. (2016). Equity, the arts, and urban education: A review. The Urban Review, 48(2), 220-244. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-016-0352-2
Kraehe, A. M., Hood, E. J., & Travis, S. (2015). "I'm so offended!": Curriculum flashpoints and critical arts education. International Journal of Education & the Arts, 16(18), 1-28. http://www.ijea.org/v16n18/
Teaching and advising
Classes taught
ART 140: Introduction to Art
ARTE 301: Curriculum, Assessment, and Art Education
ARTE 501: Issues in Art Education: Arts-Based Research
ARTE 502: Curriculum Development in Art
ARTE 505: Foundations of Art Education