Elise Schaffer serves as the Coordinator of Museum Experience and Accessibility at Lehigh University Art Galleries (LUAG) and is the co-host and creator of the Lehigh Valley Arts Podcast and the Lehigh Valley Artist Meetup. Outside of professional roles, Elise enjoys making art ranging from embroidery and collage to found-object assemblage and papier-mâché.
In 2024, Elise received the LEAD Award for Emerging Leadership from The Kennedy Center, followed in 2025 by a Tribute to the Arts Award from the Bethlehem Fine Arts Commission.
At the core of Elise’s practice is a commitment to accessibility and representation in arts and cultural spaces, with a focus on community-based education and the integration of emerging and assistive technologies.
Prior to working with Lehigh University Art Galleries, Elise Schaffer served as the Program Administrator for the Lehigh Valley Arts Council’s Arts & Access Always Program. Previously she has worked with the Ronald K DeLong Gallery, the Spotted Lanternfly: Zones of Syncopation Community Arts Project, the Virtual Education Department at Penn State, and as a resident at the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History. Her presentations and workshops on virtual tools for arts organizations has been featured by Arts Project Online, the Virginia Association of Museums, AR|VR Journey Magazine, and WDIY Arts Salon. Schaffer is a graduate of Penn State Lehigh Valley’s Arts Administration program where her undergraduate research focused on virtual resources for arts and cultural organizations as well as accessibility adaptations for arts spaces.