Awards, Accomplishments, and News

Flávia Bastos, Ph.D. was the 2020 recipient of the Distinguished Research Professor award from the University of Cincinnati.

For the past two decades, Bastos has fulfilled various administrative roles within DAAP including interim director of the School of Art and attained over 20 grants to support her research in art education. Now in its third year, Bastos’ collaborative research joins student-made videos from high schools all around the country into a website titled “Who is American Today?” Each video portrays a teen’s unique perspective on how they feel about being American today using digital media storytelling skills.

As a first-generation college graduate and a woman of color, Flávia Bastos, Ph.D. wears her identity proudly and advocates for inclusivity in a traditionally white male dominated culture. In an effort to create visibility for Latino issues on campus, Bastos worked with four other UC professors — Maria Espinola, Mauricio Espinoza, Farrah Jacquez and Michael Odio — to examine the demographics of Latino faculty and propose a university grant to create an association for Latino faculty.

The association stands as a way for members of the Latino community to recognize each other and provides the means to engage in conversation that can lead to strategic policy across campus. The group recruits Latino faculty, staff and students — thus, supporting them to succeed and make a contribution toward a more diverse and equitable campus.

Flávia is a Distinguished Fellow of the National Art Education Association, a Distinguished Research Professor at the University of Cincinnati, the Chairperson for the Council of Policy Studies in Art Education, and former Director of the Higher Education Division of the National Art Education Association.

She received the 2009 Ziegfeld Award of the International Society for Education through Art (InSEA) for her distinguished service in international art education and the Mary J. House Award of the National Art Education Association Women’s Caucus in 2007. She is past senior editor of the Journal of Art Education and has published and lectured extensively in the United States and other countries such as such as South Africa, Brazil, Chile, Indonesia, Spain, Portugal, and Canada.

Her books include Transforming City Schools through Art: Approaches to Meaningful K-12 Learning, a co-edited volume published by Teachers College Press (2012), and the anthology Connecting Creativity Research and Practice in Art Education: Foundations, Pedagogies, and Contemporary Issues (2014) released by the National Art Education Association.