Stacey Mancuso: Artist, Educator

A native of New York, DR. STACEY MANCUSO relocated to Miami in 1987 to make her mark in the field of art, design and education in Miami-Dade County. Concluding her seventeenth year as Principal of Design and Architecture Senior High School (DASH), the premiere design high school in the country, she provided a select group of 500 top-notch students with specialized programs in Architecture/Interior Design, Industrial Design, Film and Entertainment, Graphic Design, Fashion Design and Fine Art. Students from the entire county pass a rigorous audition process for entry, academically ranked as #2 in Florida, where 99% continue at the best design colleges and universities in the world. “It is my ultimate goal to move them to a higher place” states Mancuso, and in her last year, her 122 seniors attended the finest art and design schools in the world with $19.6 million in scholarships

Mancuso is an accomplished studio artist who has exhibited in prestigious galleries and museums throughout the world. A versatile painter, sculptor and installation artist, she taught sculpture to her DASH seniors for 9 years. “My students keep me in tune with the pulse of the school and make me conscious of their dreams and ambitions.” she states, “Otherwise, it’s just an exercise.”

Mancuso earned a BFA at Syracuse University, a MFA at Ohio State University and another at the Cranbrook Academy of Art and an Ed.D. at Nova Southeastern University. Prior to coming to Miami, she taught studio art and art history in New York and designed promotional publicity for renowned classical musicians. Before entering the administrative ranks in Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Mancuso taught studio art at Florida International University. “I will always be a teacher as well as an administrator, and I will always be an artist as well as a teacher.” She follows her own philosophy with 20 art students in Provence where she taught painting and drawing for five years in the vicinity where the great Impressionists emerged.

The arts are a family tradition in Mancuso’s household. Her late husband, Tom Wyroba, was a founding visual arts faculty member at the New World School of the Arts. Her daughter, Alexandra, a graduate of Maryland Institute College of Art, is a photo producer and set designer in New York and Miami. Her daughter Elizabeth, an accomplished dancer and a graduate of University of Florida teaches English in Abu Dhabi.

Mancuso, a winner of the Council for Educational Change Leonard Miller Award and the Magnet Schools of America Principal of the Year, is devoted to art, education and her legacy in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. As Principal of DASH, she is a pioneer in educational innovation as published in the U.S. Department of Education Successful Magnet High Schools. Under her leadership, DASH has placed 5th, 15th, and 9th of 52,000 high schools nationwide by US News and World Report.

Currently Mancuso, who has consulted with art and design schools throughout the country, has established her own office, Small Schools by Design, Inc., and plans to continue her work in redefining arts curriculum throughout the country and beyond at all levels. She has reopened her studio and maintained her philanthropic efforts for art students and emerging artists in Miami and New York.

Most recently, Mancuso consulted at Florida International University developing MFA 15 a groundbreaking program for graduate fine art students. Currently, she teaches Thesis Research and Writing at various art graduate art schools throughout the country. She guides her MFA students to bring their degree to a close and present their work to the universal art world.

The videos below were recorded via Zoom, are organized by Success Factor, and run between 30 seconds and 8 minutes. Click on any video. You must be connected to the Internet to view the videos.