Liz Rex

Liz Rex is Teaching Faculty for Art Education in Peck School of the Arts (PSOA) at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Since joining PSOA in 2013, Liz has worked with pre-service art education students at all stages of their program. She and her colleagues work closely with students and school partners in the region to cultivate reciprocal relationships and create positive and effective learning environments for all involved. Liz also works collaboratively with community partners to create innovative professional learning experiences for educators and students. For over a decade, she led summer visual arts programming for young students at the Arts Day Camp at John Michael Kohler Art Center and collaborates with Lynden Sculpture Garden on programming for their Innovative Educators Institute.

Liz’s doctoral research and dissertation titled, Art in Everyday Places: Democratizing Art Knowledge and Transforming Adult Identities as Non-artists Through a Vernacular Art Curriculum, continues to inform her teaching and artistic practice as she works to create and model art learning experiences that encourage broad understandings of art as an empowering, meaning-making endeavor that is accessible to all.

In her work with pre-service teachers, Liz advocates for students to embrace ongoing learning as an essential part of their professional practice. In her own practice, Liz makes regular journeys to Guatemala to learn about the evolution of textile processes and hands-on workshops with artists that reflect longstanding and diverse traditions of Maya peoples. She is also proud to embrace the slow and challenging process that learning can bring through ongoing study of the Spanish language.

Curriculum Vitae, CV (PDF)

Recent & Selected Works

Awards

Wisconsin Art Education Association Higher Education Art Educator of the Year, 2025