What is your background in art and in teaching, and what's your educational background?

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Even if you already know me, I think you'll learn something new by reading this. I have been teaching in NM private and public schools since 1994. I hold a BS degree in Art with a Psychology minor from James Madison University, and I hold a MA degree in Educational Thought and Sociocultural Studies from UNM. My New Mexico Tier 3 Master Teaching Licenses include: Early Childhood, Elementary (with Visual Arts and TESOL Endorsements), and a Montessori certification. As you can see, I have ten years of college education wrapped up in college degrees, certifications and endorsements. This shows that I love educating and being educated!

 

When did your teaching experiences begin? 

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I started teaching in the arts when I was 12 years old (when my cello teacher began sending me beginning cello students), and then I began teaching visual arts when I started undergraduate studies. I studied cello performance through undergraduate and graduate schools. I first started teaching visual art in 1991, at ArtPark, which is a NY State Park for the visual and performing arts (the only state park in the nation with that focus). I grew up there, and the avant-garde art experiences with a community outreach focus that I had growing up, helped form the way that I think, the skills that I have developed, and the way that I interact with the world conceptually and manifestly.

 

What was your teaching experience after you received your formal education?

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I enjoy teaching all ages, and I have taught from early childhood, through undergraduate and graduate level courses/classes. While I have taught visual arts programs in Montessori private and public schools, from 1995-2005, 2016-17, and I've been a Fine Arts Coordinator. I also have my own private art and cello studio. I have been teaching at Desert Willow Family School since 2002, and in this learning community, I have developed gifted curriculum and assessments, where I teach all subject areas, while integrating the curriculum areas. I teach an art and music intensive each year, in an integrative way.

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How would you describe your involvement in the arts?

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I'm a visual artist (macrophotography, ceramics, drawing, painting, and textiles) and performing artist (cellist, composer, and interdisciplinary artist, as Celloquacious with Delphi Project, and I continue with independent collaborations). I have a foundation in installation art, performance art, and putting on productions that integrate my story, music compositions, visuals and collaborative work with dancers. Due to my intensive and extensive art and music background, I’m an interdisciplinary artist that sees the world as a canvas. I experience art as being unified with life, as an integral part of it. I execute art while integrating research, and combining multiple disciplines. I am excited to continue to work and teach in community with others, utilizing art as a medium of expression and communication. In January of 2022, I was awarded the UETF Resilencey Residency, through the City of Albuquerque in conjunction with Fusion Theatre. Part of my residency is offering classes and workshops to the public, especially classes on Macrophotography. I invite you to be part of my creative community!

 

What do you like to do for fun?

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Doing art and music is fun, but it's also a lot of discipline and work. In my down time, I'm a mom of a teen, and we're outdoor adventurers together (skiers, sailors, swimmers, hikers, and travelers). I practice yoga asana regularly as a form of moving meditation. I'm involved in peace education, climate justice work, and I'm also "mom" to four fur and feather babies!