My Bio

Meredith McDevitt is an artist-educator working and living in Brooklyn, New York. She received her Bachelors of Fine Arts from the Tyler School of Art and continues her artistic practice as a ceramicist. After spending time working at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of Art, she transitioned into the field of education. In her graduate studies, she partnered with experienced educators to design social justice-based lesson that identified, assessed, and changed unjust practices in the community.  Meredith currently teaches art to elementary students in Brooklyn and has begun sharing her anti-racist work with other art educators through professional development seminars and in her work as an adjunct professor at NYU.

Teaching Philosophy

Art has the power to re-shape the world. Through making, looking and discussing art, students can reimagine a better society. As co-investigators, my students and I use art as a means to understand our own realities, and develop a deeper understanding of the world around us.  

In my classroom, I use a critical multicultural curriculum, where lessons are designed to call out unjust practices in society. Through participating in a critical multicultural curriculum, students are given the tools to analyze images, question society’s norms, and respect experiences different from their own. The art projects that I promote give students the opportunity to share their own stories and learn from each other. 

For a group of young artists to openly share their stories and deconstruct the complexities of society together, I establish a culture of trust and respect. This respect can only be gained through building relationships and learning to listen to students. I also believe that it is my responsibility to know the political, cultural, and historical context in which I am teaching so that I may best serve my students and the community. Through thoughtful lesson planning and community development, my hope is that the art room will be a place of critical thinking, discovery and joy.