Leslie Marie Grace headshot
Faculty

Art Education (MAT)

Leslie Marie Grace has been teaching at UArts since 2017 and instructs the Program Design and Methods course in Elementary Art Education. Grace also teaches visual arts at George W. Nebinger School in Philadelphia and serves as president of the Pennsylvania Art Education Association.

Biography
Leslie Marie Grace has been teaching visual art to primary age students since 2004.  She began her career teaching art at a magnet arts high school in Atlanta, after graduating from Georgia State University with a BFA in Art Education. Two years later, she moved to Philadelphia, where she spent a number of years teaching middle school art at a local private school while pursuing her Master of Education degree at Saint Joseph’s University. 

Experience
Grace began teaching art with the School District of Philadelphia and discovered her passion for teaching inner-city youth. Currently, she teaches art at Nebinger Elementary, a K–8 school in South Philadelphia, where she developed an art program from scratch.  

Grace takes an active role within the school and community and works effortlessly to display student art, sponsor drama club, advocate, fundraise and help her students see the world beyond their classrooms. 

She is the organizer/leader of the Philadelphia Art Teachers Alliance and serves as president of the Pennsylvania Art Education Association. 


Explore Leslie Marie Grace’s blog

Pennsylvania Art Education Association

Philadelphia Art Teachers Alliance 


Awards & Accolades
Grace’s accolades include:

  • being director-elect of the National Art Education Association’s Elementary Division
  • being named a Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Scholar in 2007;
  • being recognized by BillyPenn as a leader under 40 in the field of education in 2015;
  • being deemed Pennsylvania Art Education Association’s Outstanding Elementary Art Educator of the Year; and 
  • becoming a graduate of the National Art Education Association’s School for Art Leaders in 2019.

Contact
lgrace@uarts.edu