Toni-Lee Sangastiano, PhD, MFA, is an internationally exhibiting multimedia artist and painter, scholar of the carnivalesque, professor of the practice, studio art and digital media, and digital media specialist at the Department of Art and Art History. Before coming to Georgetown, she was a professor at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont for over 16 years.
As a scholar of art theory, history and aesthetics, she questions the construction of notions of normality, its origin, evolution and how it has influenced our current moment; considering that things that were acceptable previously are no longer acceptable now and and things that are acceptable to us now are probably going to fall into the same category a few decades from now. Sangastiano is also interested in sideshow performers’ self-agency, and how they use it as a platform to confront stigma and stereotypes, and advocate for rights, in terms of race, ability, gender, equality and equity in society in an entertaining traditional form of sideshow.
She has a holistic view of the body, healing, and care of the self that she brings to her scholarship, artistic work and teaching, incorporating calm and meditation to her classroom through music, imagery and livestream videos that increase student creativity and focus. She has also been a guest lecturer in the Methods in the Medical Humanities course, where she led a discussion on the use of the body, rituals and death in art history, while inviting students to look at anatomical sketches and historical lithographs, and sketch skeletons.
Her art has been presented in different national and international venues, in solo and group exhibits and sideshows, and is part of the Robert A. Facchina Italian American Museum of Washington DC (IAMDC) the permanent collection. More information on her work and her writing can be found on her personal website.
Insider/Outsider: The Anatomy of Identity Exhibition
December 4th, 2023
Professor Langley and Professor Sangastiano’s students in their class Insider/Outsider: The Anatomy of Identity hung their work on Thursday evening in the Ellipsis Gallery (Walsh Building 2nd…
Dr. Toni-Lee Sangastiano’s Carnivalesque Exhibit was Presented at the Spagnuolo Gallery
May 23rd, 2022
Dr. Toni-Lee Sangastiano’s Carnivalesque exhibit was on display in the Walsh building Suite 102 between August 25, 2021 and May 23, 2022. Her work is inspired by sideshows, freak shows, circuses, and the beach boardwalks, from Coney Island to the Jersey shore.…
Public Dialogue around Toni-Lee Sangastiano’s Carnivalesque
April 7th, 2022
On April 7, 2022, the Department of Art and Art History and Georgetown College hosted a public dialogue around Toni-Lee Sangastiano’s Carnivalesque.…
Dr. Toni-Lee Sangastiano’s Paintings on Display in the Permanent Collection Gallery of the Robert A. Facchina Italian American Museum of Washington DC (IAMDC)
September 25th, 2021
On September 25, 2021, The Robert A. Facchina Italian American Museum of Washington DC (IAMDC) hosted a reception for IAMDC artists. Dr. Toni-Lee Sangastiano’s paintings are on display in the permanent collection gallery of the museum and this collection celebrates the contributions of Italian and Italian-American artists throughout DC from the birth of our nation’s capital into the present.…
Toni-Lee Sangastiano’s Work Featured in The Parade Is Coming Exhibit, at the Studio Place Arts Gallery
August 19th, 2021
Dr. Toni-Lee Sangastiano’s work was on display in The Parade is Coming exhibit, which was hosted by the Studio Place Arts Gallery between July 7 and August 19, 2021.…
Toni-Lee Sangastiano’s Work Featured in Brooklyn Waterfront Artist Coalition’s The Art of Coney Island
August 15th, 2021
Toni-Lee Sangastiano’s work was featured in The Art of Coney Island, a show celebrating the 100 artists and performers with over 300 works of art spread across the spacious galleries of Brooklyn Waterfront Artist Coalition.…
Words: Sideshow, Freak Show, Circus
July 27th, 2021
In this short silent film, Toni-Lee Sangastiano presents media headlines that employ the words “freak show, sideshow, and circus” as negative metaphors in politics and business, based on selected data from daily Google Alerts for those keywords, between 2016 and 2021.…
Toni-Lee Sangastiano Presented her Work at the Popular Culture Association’s 2021 Conference
June 5th, 2021
On June 3, 2021, Toni-Lee Sangastiano presented her talk titled “Coney Island as a Perpetual Heterotopia”, at the 2021 Popular Culture Association’s Annual Conference.…
Toni-Lee Sangastiano Was Featured in Coney Island USA’s Ask the Experts
April 14th, 2021
Toni-Lee Sangastiano was featured in Coney Island USA’s Ask the Experts lecture series, on a session held via Zoom on April 14, 2021.…
Toni-Lee Sangastiano Chaired the “The Freak Show in Contemporary Culture and Aesthetics” Virtual Panel at the 109th College Art Association of America Conference
February 13th, 2021
This panel, chaired by Toni-Lee Sangastiano, brought together artists, performance artists, and artist philosophers to add a more nuanced perspective about the freak show and its relevance.…
Toni-Lee Sangastiano’s Perspective on “Circus 2021: Adaptations and Possibilities amid COVID-19”
January 16th, 2021
Toni-Lee Sangastiano was one of the artists invited by the Circus and its Others (CaiO) project, to present her perspective on how the COVID-19 pandemic has impact circus around the world. In this video, Toni-Lee Sangastiano invites viewers to Washington. Her contribution was framed in the Circus 2021: Adaptations and Possibilities amid COVID-19 event, which took place on January 16, 2021.…
