About the Artist: Sandra Poczobut

Sandra Poczobut, PhD, OCT, is an artist, educator, researcher, and curator. Her interdisciplinary art practice takes the form of installation, performance, and large-scale drawing. Her research centers on arts-based methodologies, professional learning, the arts as literacies, and art education. Sandra has exhibited at the Ottawa Art Gallery, Elgin County Heritage Centre, Elgin County Railway Museum, The Artist Project, World of Threads International Fibre Arts Festival, and the Art Gallery of Mississauga, in addition to creating various site-responsive and place-based works.

An advocate for arts funding, arts education, and community-based practice, Sandra is committed to fostering more equitable, creative, and sustainable futures. She is the recipient of Museum London’s 2025 Steve Mavers Scholarship for Art Educators, an award recognizing educators poised to make a significant impact on the field of arts education and the lives of learners of all ages.

Sandra’s experience in community development, programming, curation, and educational consulting spans more than two decades. Career highlights include integrating ecology and design thinking as an instructor in the OCAD University and Art Gallery of Ontario Continuing Education programs; developing curriculum and teaching within Canada’s only program for internationally trained architects at JVS Toronto; and serving as an Artist-in-Residence with the Art Gallery of Mississauga, where she worked closely with schools throughout the Peel Region.

Her doctoral research was situated within the SSHRC Insight Grant-funded Reading Pedagogies of Equity Project (RPEP), where she held the specialized role of atelierista; an artist, educator, and pedagogical collaborator supporting professional learning among teacher educators. Her research explored how atelieristi might contribute to the emergence of equitable pedagogies in academic reading, examining the intersections of artistic inquiry, literacy, and professional learning.

Sandra’s previous work in programming and community development with municipalities includes the development, leadership, and implementation of numerous initiatives and collaborations, including rural LGBTQ+ youth programming, library makerspaces, early years community planning, and cross-sector community engagement projects.

Grounded in posthumanist and new materialist perspectives, Sandra’s interdisciplinary practice seeks to diminish disciplinary boundaries and hierarchies through collaborative and process-oriented approaches. Her scholarly, community-engaged, and creative work are deeply entangled, guided by a commitment to relationships, care, and respect for both human and more-than-human worlds.