California Institute of the Arts has selected Tracie Costantino as its next Provost. Costantino comes to CalArts from the Rhode Island School of Design, where she was interim Provost.

“We are excited to have attracted a leader of Tracie’s experience, talent, and knowledge,” said CalArts President Ravi Rajan. “Her commitment to student success and her extensive research on creativity and arts education make her an ideal selection for CalArts, where expanding the boundaries of art and art education have been an integral part of our culture since Walt Disney founded the school in 1970.”

Costantino’s research focuses on the nature of cognition in the arts, creativity and the transformative potential of aesthetic experience as an educative event. Her interest in interdisciplinary curricula and creative learning has been supported by two grants from the National Science Foundation.

Costantino represents the first major hire by Rajan, who is in his first year as CalArts’s president, and only the fourth president in the school’s history.

“Tracie’s extensive experience with pedagogy, along with her background in faculty training, academic advising and diversity recruitment, made her a strong candidate,” Rajan said. “A school like CalArts attracts many strong candidates, but Tracie stood out as a special leader and a natural fit with our community.”

In addition to being Interim Provost, Costantino also served as Associate Provost of Teaching and Learning as well as Dean of Faculty at RISD. Before that she was a tenured Associate Professor of Art Education at the University of Georgia.

She received her undergraduate degree from Boston College, a Master’s from Brown University, and her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

“I am excited and honored by this opportunity,” Costantino said. “CalArts has a well-deserved reputation for expanding the boundaries of art, which emanates from its faculty and their sincere commitment to radical pedagogy and the new forms and ideas it generates. I’m looking forward to getting to know CalArts and its dynamic community of citizen artists.”

Rhode Island School of Design President Rosanne Somerson pointed to Costantino’s many successes while at RISD: “Tracie’s impressive record of academic leadership, strong strategic vision, and deep understanding of interdisciplinary and creative learning have been crucial contributors to RISD’s continued academic success. Her advancements made a significant positive impact in areas of faculty development and recruitment and academic advising. Tracie is a collegial and gifted leader, and I have the utmost confidence that she will be a tremendous addition to the CalArts leadership team.”

Costantino will begin her role as CalArts’s Provost this summer and will relocate to the Los Angeles area, along with her husband, artist Daniel Barber, and their two sons, Oscar and Adam.