Fostering a passion for the arts from a formative age, Diane Davis-Deckard first pursued a formal education at Indiana University, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in fine arts in 1973. After receiving a teaching certification in 1979 and a teacher’s license in 1980, she began serving as an art teacher at several schools across Indiana, including Lakeview Elementary School, Spencer/Owen Community Schools, Poston Road Elementary School, Centerton Elementary School and Clear Creek Elementary School, among many others. From 1984 to 1989, she also excelled as an art teacher for Batchelor Middle School in Bloomington, Indiana, while studying toward her graduate degree.
Ms. Davis-Deckard received a Master of Science in art education from Indiana University in 1985 and went on to serve Grandview Elementary School as an art teacher in 1991 and Broadview Elementary School as an art teacher from 1984 to 2000. From 1992 until her retirement in 2018, she thrived as a visual arts teacher at Bloomington High School North, where she also helped create department crests and aided in the project, “An Evening of Mexico,” from 1994 to 1995. During her tenure at Bloomington High School North, Ms. Davis-Deckard also served as the fundraising coordinator for the visual arts department.
Dedicated to civic advocacy, as well, Ms. Davis-Deckard coordinated the Evening of the Arts between 1995 and 2018, as well as the Jiffy Treat Mural Project from 2005 to 2008. Likewise, she participated in the Bloomington Hospital Landscape Painting Project and the 100th anniversary celebration of Bloomington Hospital in 2005. Ms. Davis-Deckard is a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Bloomington, and in her spare time, she enjoys drawing, painting, stained glass projects, quilting, cross-stitching and photography, among other avocational activities.
As a testament to her resounding success in the field, Ms. Davis-Deckard was honored for outstanding leadership by the executive committee of the International Women’s Leadership Association in 2017. She also earned the Star of Excellence Award for Outstanding Service and Dedication from the Monroe County Community School Corporation in 2015 and three Scholastic Art and Writing awards in 2013, 2014 and 2015. Earlier in her career, she was named Monroe County Educator of the Year by the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce in 2005.