Lacy M. Johnson, PhD, joined the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts as Director of Academic Initiatives in June 2013. In this role she oversees the IART (Interdisciplinary Art) curriculum, the Innovation Grants program, and works to deepen connections between the Center, its programs, and the UH community. Before earning the PhD in Literature and Creative Writing from UH, Dr. Johnson worked as a cashier at WalMart, sold steaks door-to-door, and puppeteered with a traveling children’s museum. Since 2000 she has worked in higher education as an instructor and program administrator, serving most recently as Assistant Director of the Graduate Writing Program at University of Kansas. She has taught interdisciplinary writing workshops for K-12 teachers, aspiring writers, and pediatric cancer patients. As a writer and digital artist, she has been awarded fellowships for her creative and critical work from the Houston Arts Alliance, the Sustainable Arts Foundation, the Kansas Arts Commission, Inprint, the Mitchell Center for the Arts, and Millay Colony for the Arts. She is the author of THE OTHER SIDE, forthcoming from Tin House Books (2014), and Trespasses: A Memoir (University of Iowa Press, 2012). She is co-artistic director of the forthcoming multimedia project [the invisible city].