Becky Gaugler

Becky is a museum educator and leader with more than 20 years working in the field. She is passionate about learning through objects and out-of-school learning environments, engaging visitors of all ages in rich dialogue about objects through a process of inquiry and discovery. Becky loves to see people slow down and make connections – and she wants to use those connections and conversations to help make the world a more equitable and just place. After earning a BA in art history from the University of Michigan, Becky discovered her passion for museum education during her internship in Carnegie Museum of Art’s Education Department. She returned to school to earn her MA in art history at Case Western Reserve (Cleveland), focusing her thesis on the definition and display of African art in western museum collections. This led to a coveted year-long position at the Brooklyn Museum as an Education fellow – fully immersing Becky in both theory and practice of teaching in a museum. After a few subsequent years as Coordinator of School Programs at the Rubin Museum of Art (New York), she returned to her hometown to work again at Carnegie Museum of Art – this time as the manager of the school & teacher programs. In this role, she helped co-found and co-chair the Pittsburgh Museum Educators Roundtable (PittMER), wanting to share and support the community of area educators. Before taking on her current role as Director of Education and Interpretation at the Vanka Murals, Becky spent several years in Pittsburgh as a freelance educator and consultant – working at a variety of location institutions including Mattress Factory, Children’s Museum, Heinz History Center, and Arts Education Collaborative (AEC). Becky loves to facilitate ways in which people can meet and connect through shared experiences and interests.