Kristin Calhoun joined the Art Department faculty in 2015 and has served as Instructional Associate since 2020, but her professional affiliation with the college began in 2008 as a Lab Assistant in the Printmaking and Sculpture areas after coming to ACC in 2007 to take a Printmaking class “just for fun.” A passion for the medium grew into a complete trajectory shift and an education in Studio Art. That experience fostered a deep love and respect for the academic art environment and its capacity as a site for meaningful growth and change that continues to this day. She currently teaches Art Appreciation, Design I, and Drawing I/II at ACC and instructs 9th and 10th-grade Printmaking at The Austin Waldorf School. She has previously taught Printmaking, Drawing, and Shop Foundations at The University of New Mexico.
A graduate of The University of Texas at Austin, Texas State University, and The University of New Mexico, Kristin holds a BA in Cultural Anthropology and a BFA and MFA in Studio Art with a Printmaking focus. Experience in these fields manifests in her approach to teaching students how to both make and study art and in her own art practice. Kristin’s work focuses primarily on the significance of language and its culturally performative capacity, transfiguring words into conceptual objects meant to be viewed and contemplated rather than read or spoken.
Kristin maintains an active exploration into the study of andragogy within the community college environment, continuously reworking strategies for effective and student-centered teaching, most recently as a member of the Teaching and Learning Academy’s 2021-22 cohort. In her capacity as Instructional Associate, she aids faculty as needed, serves art majors with field-specific advising, and supports The Art Galleries (TAG) at ACC, most recently serving as the managing editor on La Necesidad de la Verdad/The Necessity of Truth. TAG’s inaugural publication, this e-book features Texas-based artists whose work addresses racial healing, social justice, and cultural awareness. Traveling, eating delicious food, and reading as much as possible to nurture her perpetually curious mind are among the things she enjoys when time allows.