Education: I established the visual arts program at Horace Mann Middle School in the Mission district of San Francisco, and have over a decade in education; designing learning experiences where my students could express their creativity and strengthen their community identity.
Art as a Catalyst for School wide Transformation
When I first started at Horace Mann, my seventh graders begged me not to hang their work up. They were scared it would be destroyed by others, but I persisted, creating an art gallery in the hallway. It was magic. Students stopped and looked, they commented, and shared their work with one another. Not one piece of art was destroyed. And as their artwork filled the building, the school environment changed and students were proud of what they had created.
Community Heroes Mural, community painting day
CREATING COMMUNITY
The Mission is known for its murals that celebrate the Latino community, and I continued that tradition at Horace Mann with our Community Heroes Project. Blending project based learning with the design process, students interviewed, synthesized insights, and wrote a biography on a selected hero from the community. The final phase of the project was to paint their hero on the school wall. Bringing together teachers, families, and neighbors over multiple weekends, they worked side-by-side with students to not only complete the three panels, but ultimately to share and learn from one another.
8th grade grads: life size portraits
Milagros project: hopes and dreams
Bookmaking: illustration & writing
Art Night: student gallery & performances showcase
Arts Experience
- Bookmaking, Illustration, Design and Storytelling
- Ceramics
- Color Theory
- Computer Design
- Drawing
- Digital Storytelling
- Explorations in Self
- Figure Sculpture
- Logo Design
- Mask making
- Metal Work
- Movie Making
- Murals
- Painting
- Plaster Sculpture
- Sewing Art
- Silk Screening
- Self Portraits
- Skateboard Design
- STEAM LED Lights Art
- Weaving
- Wire Sculpture