Rachel Meissner

Rachel is proud to be a Meridian IB Art educator who is dedicated to guiding students to experience the power of change through creation and innovation. She has taught K-12 students in public and private schools in both Art and Design and served as the Fine Arts Department Chair at AESA Prep Academy prior to joining Meridian. In 2019, Rachel received a grant from the Texas Art Education Foundation to present at the Texas Art Education Association's annual conference about the Art of Lyon, France, where she spent a summer learning about the mural, silk-weaving and puppetry traditions of the city. An art educator since 2001, Rachel also began her freelance graphic design business upon moving to Austin in 2006, specializing in creating print and digital materials for the entertainment, restaurant, and real estate industries. Prior to moving to Austin, she was a product developer for the Bradford Group, where she designed ornaments and music boxes. She hails from the Midwest, where she received a Master's in Art Education from Indiana University and a Bachelor's in Theatre and Writing from Northwestern University. During her time at Northwestern, she enjoyed studio courses in sculpture, painting, and costume design; in grad school, her studio work centered on public art installations, ceramics, and textiles. Favorite post-grad experiences include studying drawing and ceramics at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago's OxBow School of Art, co-producing and directing theatre for Paper Moon Repertory, and spending summers creating art and embarking on adventures with husband, Dave and daughter (and Meridian Lion), Quinn.