This is an after-school program for at-risk latino kids that attend Poughkeepsie High School and Middle School. We are an art based program that inspires kids to stay in school and to build and art based career with which they can go to college or start a business. Photography is a huge component of what we do!
Position:
artistic director
Needs:
We would LOVE to have digital cameras for all the kids. That's 15! cameras, which is a lot, but they would be so well used. We could also use software to edit and print our photos for local exhibits and portfolios.
My Philosophy:
It's so important to inspire kids that have been through some incredible and often very difficult experiences coming to America. Their lives have been uprooted and changed dramatically. We offer a great environment for latino kids to be in after-school and to speak spanish and learn art skills that will inspire them to express all they've been through. For many of these kids our program is the only thing that keeps them off the streets and in a place that nurtures who they are and what they have to say. We've had great success with many of our past students, some of who have gone on to nursing school, art school and one who is on her way to becoming an amazing professional photographer with a scholarship we were able to give her to the Art Institute here in Poughkeepsie. Teach diversity, learn patience, speak tolerance and change lives through the arts!!
Personal Information:
About Me:
I'm a sculptor by profession but have worked as a teacher and mentor for at-risk latino kids in Poughkeepsie, NY. Our program Habilidad (ABLE in english) has been really successful in keeping kids in school through and after-school art based program. I love helping these kids become something they never thought possible! artists, nurses, mechanics, etc.. it's wonderful.
College and Degrees:
BFA - Boston University - Sculpture
MA -Harvard Unoversity - Art History
Activities:
Avid rock climber and distance runner.
Favorite Books:
The Illiad
Collectedpoems of Pablo Neruda
Favorite Quotes:
Labor Omna Vincit
Interests:
Photography, reading, knitting, writing children's books in spanish for my daughter, cooking.....this list would be too long : )
Employment History:
Studio EIS, NYC - making life-size historical figures for museums and outdoor spaces.
Polich Art Works - Enlarging sculptures for bronze casting.
WeldingInstructor- SUNY New Paltz
Mill Street Loft - Artistic Director of HABILIDAD
Whiskey Hill Studio - Run my own bronze casting foundry with my husband.
Why Do I Teach?:
I teach because I've been blessed with so much in my life it only seems right to pas it on and help inspire kids to reach for the stars. My mother is Hispanic and I feel that there is really a need to make sure latino kids have opportunities to use their culture in America for the better and to learn discipline through art so they can find a profession that will serve both themselves and the community. I just love watching a child grow in vision and see that there is a door opening that can take them down a road they never even knew existed but that is now available to them!