I am a teaching artist.

Through nonprofits like Creative Art Works, ProjectArt, and Thrive Collective, I make art with school kids and communities. NYC is the creative capital of the world. Yet hundreds of our public schools don’t have art programs, which is shameful. Art trains us to observe and think creatively. In math and science answers are definitively right or wrong, but art teaches us the nuances of judgement. Expression is a fundamental part of human nature. We are visual beings. We are communicators. We are made for art.

With my older students (ages 13-25), I engage as a muralist. You can see some of the walls we have painted together here in my mural section.

With younger students I explore a variety of mediums. We do watercolor experiments, where students explore color mixing and create textures using salt, or toothbrushes, straws, crayons. They use resulting swatches to make collages or dioramas. Puppets are the most popular project. Clay and painting are not far behind. Not to mention printmaking. I often introduce concepts—themes or techniques—with picture books. Art is both expression and play. It is meant to be fun. Pleasure keeps us open to new ideas and new ideas keep us growing.