Amelia (Amy) Kraehe, Ph.D.

Dr. Amelia (Amy) Kraehe is an accomplished leader and researcher in the arts, culture and education with nearly thirty years of experience in univerisities, public schools, and museums. She regularly advises senior leaders, organizations, and government agencies across the US on evidence-based, purpose-driven approaches to professional education, recruitment and retention, campus environments, and leadership development. 

Kraehe has been a vital part of the College of Fine Arts since 2018, and was named Associate Vice President for Organizational Excellence and Impact at Arizona Arts in 2025. She previously served as the Associate Vice President for Equity in the Arts for four years and was an inaugural Interdisciplinary Arts Research Fellow from 2020-2022. She received the Excellence in Fundraising Award for her contributions to the philanthropic development of Arizona Arts. She earned the Women of Impact Award from the University of Arizona Office of Research, Innovation, and Impact in recognizion of her effectiveness in driving discovery, interdisciplinary collaboration, community outcomes, and the empowerment of others. 

Prior to her work in academic leadership, Kraehe steered the journal Art Education for three years as Senior Editor and provided strategic direction and management for the Art Education Research Institute and Symposium for five years before establishing the Racial Justice Studio in 2021 as a platform for arts research in the public interest at the University of Arizona. An influential voice of leadership in the field of art education, she was awarded the Mac Arthur Goodwin Award for Distinguished Service in the Profession from the National Art Education Assocation.

Kraehe is a boundary-spanning scholar whose writings, podcasts, public lectures, and workshops illuminate how sociocultural, economic, and political contexts intersect with and influence the development of professional identities and organizational capacity within educational and cultural institutions. She has published four books, and her work regularly appears in leading peer-reviewed journals. She has received many research grants and professional honors, including the prestigious Manuel Barkan Memorial Award from the National Art Education Association.

Kraehe is a professor of art and visual culture education in the School of Art, an affiliate faculty in human rights practice, and a member of the Graduate Faculty. She earned a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction with specialization in cultural studies in education and an M.A. in art education from The University of Texas at Austin. She earned teaching licenses in Georgia and Texas in conjunction with post baccalaureate graduate studies in urban education at Georgia State University in Atlanta. She received a B.A. in studio art and economics from Wellesley College in Massachusetts.