Faculty Bios

KD Kurutz

Director
School of Art Education

KD Kurutz holds an MS in Industrial-Organizational Psychology and comes to the Academy with 35 years of arts education and administration experience. She began her career as a teacher, and then worked as an art gallery director and curator. From 1980 to 1997, she served as Curator of Education for the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento where she established model educational programs for all audience levels, particularly through museum-community collaborations. Kurutz has served as an advisor and consultant for several arts organizations and programs including the CSU, Sacramento School of the Arts, California Arts Council, Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, California Department of Education and the National Endowment for the Arts.

KD Kurutz has dedicated the past 12 years to working with K-12 education. From 1997 to 2001, she was co-director of "Transforming Education through the Arts Challenge" in California, part of a national initiative in arts education and K-12 school reform, funded in part by The Getty Trust and the Annenberg Foundation. In 2001, she co-founded the California Consultancy for Arts Education, a non-profit dedicated to providing Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade teachers with the training and resources needed to incorporate the arts in their teaching.

She has written and lectured widely on museums, art education, programming for audiences with disabilities, and California art in cultural context. Kurutz is co-author of the award-winning volume California Calls You: The Art of Promoting the Golden State, 1870-1940. She was also a contributing author for Artworks for Elementary Teachers, Ninth Edition. The California Art Education Association presented her with their Award of Merit in 2002.

Rachel Shirkey

Online Program Manager
School of Art Education

As the Online Program Manager for the School of Art Education at the Academy of Art University, Rachel Shirkey utilizes her education and experience in visual arts, education, and project management. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Design Communication from the University of Minnesota, and then worked as a project manager at design and brand agencies for several years. Rachel returned to the University of Minnesota and earned a Master of Education degree in Art Education and teaching credential, and has been working in art education since. Prior to joining the Academy, she was a high school visual arts teacher, teaching all areas of fine arts and computer arts, for eight years. She also held positions as a school district Visual Arts and Multimedia Magnet Coordinator.