Shivani Bhalla is an artist, scholar, and educator with multiple years of experience working in diverse educational settings in India and the US. She has an MFA and BFA in painting from India and a PhD in Art Education from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She is currently working as an Adjunct assistant professor in art education at the University of Illinois, Chicago.
Bhalla’s research focuses on the intersection of art and disability, exploring how art can serve as a tool for empowerment and advocacy for individuals with disabilities and other minoritized identities. Her experiences as an immigrant woman of color and as someone living with chronic illness have shaped her critical perspective and made her an ardent supporter of equity and inclusion in educational settings.