Dr. Lawton is the Florence Gaskins Harper Endowed Chair in Art Education and thought leader for the Hurwitz Center at the Maryland Institute College of Art. A fifth-generation educator from Washington, DC, she earned a BA degree in Studio Art and Sociology at the University of Virginia; an MFA in Printmaking from Howard University; and an EdD in the College Teaching of Art from Teachers College, Columbia University. Lawton’s scholarly research and teaching revolve around visual narrative and intergenerational arts learning in BIPOC community settings. Her artwork is grounded in social liberation seeking to illuminate contemporary issues, cultural traditions, and the stories of people impacted by them. Honors include: National Art Education Association (NAEA) Distinguished Fellow; NAEA Higher Education Art Educator of the Year; J. Eugene Grigsby Award (COMC/NAEA), Pearl Greenberg Award for Teaching and Research in Art Education, Fulbright Distinguished Chair at the University of Edinburgh/UK; Associate Artist at the Tate Exchange in London, and local and international artist residencies. In addition to co-authoring the book, Community-based art education across the lifespan: Finding common ground, she has over 30 scholarly publications and 80 presentations and art exhibitions. Permanent Collections include: the Library of Congress Rare Books & Special Collection; National Museum of Women in the Arts; Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum; Tate Britain Library; Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Edinburgh; Virginia Commonwealth University Cabell Library Special Collection of Artist’s Books; the College of Health and Human Services, University of North Carolina at Charlotte; Teachers College, Columbia University; Georgetown University; James E. Lewis Museum at Morgan State University; Frederick Douglass Museum and Cultural Center; Washington, D.C. Superior Court; and Myers Foundations.