Bio
Caitlin Patton specializes in object-based education and student engagement, with a focus on visual literacy. As the Education Program Assistant for the Christian Petersen Art Museum and the Art on Campus Collection, she leads regular curriculum engagements with multiple departments, cares for the gallery space, and creates educational programming geared toward a campus audience. Her work focuses on connecting students to art, both inside and outside the classroom, and how to integrate art objects across disciplines.
Before joining Iowa State in 2022, Patton served as the Assistant Education Curator of Academic and Community Programs at the Bates Museum of Art, where she assisted the Education Curator with the planning, deployment, and evaluation of the museum’s educational programming that integrated exhibitions, collections, and programming into the college and area k-12 curriculum, and the Bates campus community. She has expertise in object-based learning and public art and engagement.
Caitlin welcomes collaborations with faculty and students across disciplines, particularly those interested in material culture, design history, or object-based research, and regularly partners with courses to provide collection access and support research projects. She is also available for media interviews, speaking engagements, and panel discussions on topics including visual literacy, student engagement, and integrating arts in the classroom.