Degrees:
Ed.D., University of Houston; M.A., College of Mount St. Joseph; B.A., College of Mount St. Joseph
Biography:
Michaelann Kelley, Ed.D., is an Associate Professor of Art & Design and Chair of the Department of Creative Arts at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati, Ohio. An alumna of the Mount, she brings more than three decades of experience in teaching, administration, curriculum development, arts advocacy, and collaborative scholarship to her work with students and colleagues. She helped lead the transition from the Department of Art & Design to the Department of Creative Arts, supporting interdisciplinary collaboration across the visual and performing arts. Her university leadership also includes gallery management, student exhibition coordination, cooperative education supervision, and faculty governance, including her election as Chair of Faculty Assembly.
Before joining the Mount in 2020, Kelley served for six years as Director of Visual Arts for Aldine Independent School District in Houston, Texas, overseeing visual arts curriculum, instruction, and professional development. Previously, she taught art for 23 years at Eisenhower High School, where her teaching encompassed all levels of high school art, including the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, Advanced Placement Studio Art, and AP Art History. She earned her B.A. and M.A. from the College of Mount St. Joseph and her Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Houston.
At the Mount, Kelley teaches foundation studio courses, art education, printmaking, and professional preparation courses while advising students and supervising internships, cooperative education experiences, and student teaching. Her teaching connects artistic practice with sustainability, cultural understanding, community engagement, and career exploration. Recent initiatives include projects using reclaimed materials, German-American art and heritage field experiences supported through Germany on Campus, and partnerships that connect university students with schools, museums, galleries, and practicing artists. Through her gallery leadership, she creates opportunities for students to exhibit their work, learn professional practices, and engage with regional artists and community audiences.
Collaboration and reflection remain central to Kelley’s scholarship. A Critical Friends Coach since 1998, she studies how educators learn together, develop professional identities, and strengthen their teaching through sustained relationships. Her publications include a book about her long-term collaboration with the Portfolio Group, peer-reviewed articles, and chapters addressing knowledge communities, narrative inquiry, self-study, and teacher development. At the Mount, she helped establish the interdisciplinary “Rabbit Hole” learning community, whose collaborative inquiry has led to publications and national and international conference presentations. Her recent scholarly activity includes presentations through the American Educational Research Association, the International Study Association on Teachers and Teaching, and the Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices community.
Kelley also supports professional growth across the continuum of art education. Through an Ohio Art Education Foundation grant, she developed the JOY novice teacher learning community, bringing early-career art educators together for mentoring, lesson development, reflection, and mutual support. She works closely with preservice art educators to encourage conference participation, presentations, professional leadership, and community teaching experiences. In 2025, she co-led the Ohio Art Education Association Summer Symposium at the Mount, bringing art educators and preservice teachers together for studio workshops, master classes, and professional exchange.
Her contributions have been recognized through numerous honors, including Mount St. Joseph University’s St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Mission Award in 2026, Emerging Scholar Award in 2023, and Co-op Faculty Coordinator of the Year Award in 2022. Earlier recognition includes Eisenhower High School Teacher of the Year in 1999, the Stanford University Outstanding Teaching Award in 2013, the Texas Art Education Association’s Outstanding Art Educator Award in Administration and Supervision in 2018, and the National Art Education Association’s Western Region Supervision and Administration Art Educator Award in 2020. She has also received the Texas Art Education Association’s Lone Star Advocate Award and was named a TAEA Distinguished Fellow in recognition of her sustained contributions to art education. The Mount recognized her with its Outstanding Alumna Award in 1995.
Alongside her teaching and scholarship, Kelley maintains an active photographic practice exploring everyday observation, place, memory, and belonging. Her solo exhibition, Moments, was presented at the Delhi Cultural Arts Center Gallery in 2024. Her photograph Fog over the Ohio, selected for the 2026 Golden Ticket juried exhibition at Clifton Cultural Arts Center, reflects her return to the Midwest after nearly thirty years in Houston and the intertwined experiences of isolation, transition, and reconnection with family.
Across her roles as educator, scholar, artist, and administrator, Kelley advocates for meaningful access to the arts and for learning environments in which individuals feel supported and heard. Her work connects artistic exploration with reflective practice, community relationships, and opportunities for students and educators to develop their own creative and professional voices.
News Features:
MSJ’s Rabbit Hole Learning Community Showcases Collaborative Research at International Conference
Dr. Michaelann Kelley Attended and Presented at the 21st Biennial Conference of the International Study Association on Teachers & Teaching at the University of Glasgow, Scotland
https://www.msj.edu/news/2025/09/michaelann-kelley-presents-at-ISATT-glasgow-scotland.html
Dr. Michaelann Kelley, Ed. D., Receives Ohio Art Education Association Award!
https://www.msj.edu/news/2024/12/michaelann-kelley-oaea-award.html
Delhi Cultural Arts Center 2024 First Solo Exhibition Featuring Michaelann Kelley, Ed. D.
https://www.msj.edu/news/2024/09/michaelann-kelley-solo-show-2024.html
Research:
Craig, C. J., Kelley, M., & Curtis, G. A. (in press). The Chicago connection: Dewey, Addams, Schwab & Jackson. In M. Norton Silk, S. Ali, S. & C. J. Craig (Eds) Narrative inquiries into becoming a teacher: Historical to contemporary perspectives. Information Age Publishing.
Kelley, M., Curtis, G. A., & Craig, C. J. (in press). How a global crisis changed our current practice: Pre- and post-pandemic teaching. In C. J. Craig (Eds.) International Study Association of Teachers and Teaching (Bari, Italy) (pp. ). Brill.
Kelley, M., Curtis, G. A., & Craig, C. J. (in review). Teaching the way we were taught: Living-reliving and telling-retelling stories of promising practices, in S. Razmeh (Ed.) Unveiling pedagogical identities: Exploring critical teacher education through personal narratives.
Kelley, M., Curtis, G. A., & Craig, C. J. (in review). Narrative family knowledge tree: A reflective examination of the shaping influences. (AERA paper repository) https://www.aera.net/Publications/Online-Paper-Repository/AERA-Online-Paper-Repository.
Kelley, M., Curtis, G. A., Craig, C. J., & Martindell, P. T. (in review). Impact of career challenges and obstacles on educators’ lives: A collaborative narrative inquiry. (AERA paper repository) https://www.aera.net/Publications/Online-Paper-Repository/AERA-Online-Paper-Repositoty.
Kelley, M., Curtis, G. A., & Craig, C. J. (2023). Vignettes of the best-loved self. In C. J. Craig, D. McDonald, and G. A. Curtis (Eds.) Learning, leading, and the best-loved self in teaching and teacher education (pp. 123-144). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-11902-6_8.
Kelley, M., Curtis, G. A., & Craig, C. J. (2023). Annals, chronicles, and narratives of collaborative professional growth: An examination of a longstanding knowledge community. In S. Adams & A Breidenstein (Eds.), Exploring meaningful and sustainable intentional learning communities for P-20 educators (pp. 27-49). IAG Global.
Kelley, M., & Curtis, G.A. (2023). Collaborative reflection, knowledge, and growth: Exploring ongoing teacher learning within knowledge communities. In C. J. Craig, J. Mena, & R. G. Kane (Eds.), Teaching and teacher education in international contexts (Advances in Research on Teaching, Vol. 42) (pp. 255-272). Emerald Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-368720230000042024.
Kelley, M., Craig, C. J., & Curtis, G. A. (2023). Examining gender issues in education: Exploring confounding experiences on three female educators' professional knowledge landscapes. Frontiers in Education, 8. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2023.1162523/full.
Kelley, M., Curtis, G. A., Craig, C. J., Easley, A., Martindell, P. T., & Perez, M. M. (2023). Looking through the rear-view mirror while moving forward: Drawing on past collaborative experiences of inform present practice. In A. Cameron-Standerford, B. Bergh, & C. Edge (Eds), Pausing at the Threshold (pp. 791-801). Equity Press. https://equitypress.org/pausing_at_the_thres (internationally peer-reviewed).
Kelley, M., Curtis, G. A., Craig, C. J., Reid, D. & Easley, A. (2022) Reflection through critical friendship: Promoting growth of teachers. Frontiers in Education 7:1056471. Doi: 10.3389/feduc.2022.1056471.
Craig, C., Li, J. & Kelley, M. (2021). “Charting waters of new seas”: The scholarly contributions of Elliot Eisner. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 54(2), 147-164.
Craig, C. J., Curtis, G. A., Kelley, M., Martindell, P. T., & Perez, M. M. (2020). Knowledge communities in teacher education: Sustaining collaborative work. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54670-0_11 .
Curtis, G. A., Martindell, P. T., Craig, C. J., Kelley, M., & Perez, M. M. (2020). Over the hill or picking up speed?: A reflective look back at collaborative group values. Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices (S-STEP) International Biennial Castle Conference [Paper presentation], Herstmonceux, Sussex, England.