Hello. My name is Jennifer Ruth Hoyden and I am an educator, artist, gallery coordinator, and doctoral candidate in Art and Art Education. I have an M.A. in Cognitive Science in Education with a concentration in creativity, and I enjoy discussing, presenting, and publishing research that expands our understanding of imaginative thinking and experiences.

As an educator, I enjoy supporting students through meaningful explorations. I have designed and taught a graduate level research seminar series that builds research literacy around the compelling academic scholarship in and related to the field of Art Education. I have also led art workshops in both the U.S. and abroad for multidisciplinary audiences.

As a program fellow, I serve as a gallery coordinator in the Macy Art Gallery at Teachers College, Columbia University, where I collaborate with faculty, students, and staff to produce exhibitions featuring student and faculty work, along with special exhibitions for guest artists.

As a doctoral candidate at Teachers College, Columbia University, my research in the Art and Art Education Program focuses on how artists experience the materials they work with when making art. I am investigating the ways materials can be conduits for artistic thinking.

A self-taught fiber artist, my current practice is rug-hooking in the folk-art manner established in the 19th century – an expressive, experimental, functional visual art form. I value the patient nature of the materials which can be interrupted, taken back up, put down, and returned to.