Prior to joining the UNK faculty in 2017, Claire taught visual arts in public schools in middle Georgia. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in 2006 from Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. At Wesleyan, she double majored in studio art and art history. Wesleyan is the oldest institution in the world to grant degrees to women. Claire earned an MAT and EdS, in 2009 and 2010 respectively, from Georgia College in Milledgeville, Georgia. Earning her PhD in curriculum and instruction in 2017 from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia served as the culmination of her love of teaching and learning. Claire’s dissertation, titled Aesthetics, the Purpose of Education, and the Process of Schooling, focused on education and schooling in the United States in the context of an aesthetic framework. Today, Claire’s research interests include art education, curriculum theory, and aesthetics.