Printmaking Teaching Instruction
2014 – Present
Zygote Press / APE MADE Studio / Youth Outreach
Cleveland, Ohio
Since 2014, I have taught a variety of printmaking workshops, primarily focusing on screen printing. Held at both Zygote and at the APE MADE studio, as well as with local youth organizations, ages of students typically range from middle school to adult.
Creative Fusion Westside Boys and Girls Club and Esperanza Groups
Spring 2015
Cleveland Foundation / Zygote Press
Westside Boys and Girls Club and Esperanza – Cleveland, Ohio
I worked with Chilean visiting artist, Mauricio Cortés Fuentes, while he stayed in Cleveland for 3 months through the Cleveland Foundation’s Creative Fusion program. Creative Fusion is an artist residency program that partners international artists with local arts organizations with the goal of maximizing the cultural exchange between artists and the community.
While here, Mauricio provided workshops with the after-school Esperanza group and at the Westside Boys and Girls Club, conducting both engraving and enameling workshops.
ArtWorks Summer Program
Summer 2014
Center For Arts-Inspired Learning
Downtown – Cleveland, Ohio
I served as master teaching artist for a group of 11 teens over a full-time 6-week program, teaching the basics of printmaking, with an emphasis on screen printing. The course took two forms. First, students used their newly learned printmaking skills to create their own “mini-line” of products, which they then marketed and sold. I focused on teaching not only the technical skills needed for printing but honed in on real-world printmaking and business applications. Student apprentices received hands-on learning in all aspects of building a brand and merchandising: design, printing, production, packaging, branding, marketing, small business management, and sales.
The second component of our project was community based. Students became the teachers, leading in-person screen printing lessons with both other groups of students and in the general community. As a team, we developed a public art installation for the Gay Games – researching and illustrating designs for the AIDS Memorial Walk, focusing on the history and educational components surrounding the disease. We printed these designs onto balloons which were then installed at both the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland’s grand opening and at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the AIDS Memorial Walk during the Gay Games.
Creative Fusion Sisterhood Group
Fall 2013
Cleveland Foundation / Zygote Press
West Side Community House – Cleveland, Ohio
I worked with Senegalese visiting artist, Cheikhou Ba, while he stayed in Cleveland for 3 months through the Cleveland Foundation’s Creative Fusion program. Creative Fusion is an artist residency program that partners international artists with local arts organizations with the goal of maximizing the cultural exchange between artists and the community.
While here, Cheikhou provided workshops with the after-school Sisterhood girls’ group at the Westside Community House. These portraiture workshops explored issues of identity and self with the participants, and culminated in an art show featuring their work at the end.
Creative Fusion Stockyard Schools Workshops
Fall 2013
Art House / Cleveland Foundation / Zygote Press
Art House and Stockyard Schools – Cleveland, Ohio
In addition to the Sisterhood group (above), Cheikhou partnered with Art House and provided workshops to 6th graders at the Stockyard Community Elementary school. As with the Sisterhood group, these portraiture workshops explored issues of identity and self with the participants, and culminated in an art show featuring their work at the end.
El Salvador Mural Project
January 2013
Concern For Children
Hogar de Niños Adalberto Guirola – Santa Tecla, El Salvador
This mural was completed as the service project portion of the 2013 volunteer trip with Concern For Children based out of Kent, Ohio. The hogar where the mural was painted is a special needs orphanage. When not painting murals, our group performed medical evaluations on about 500 children throughout the country.
I extend a huge thank you to all the volunteers that helped this mural become a reality – we painted the whole thing in somewhere around 15 hours!
El Salvador Girls Painting Project
January 2013
Concern For Children
While on the 2013 volunteer trip with Concern For Children, we traveled to an orphanage for older girls. We only had a short time to spend there, so instead of a mural, I led a painting workshop where the girls each worked on one of three canvases (which would then be hung together to make a sort of “mini mural”).
Safe PATH Full Room Mural Project
May 2010
AmeriCorps
Family & Community Services Safe PATH Housing – Portage County, Ohio
This full room mural was completed at a transitional housing unit for victims of domestic violence. This room was the play room for children living there (where they would go while their parents were in group sessions) – we wanted to brighten it up. I was an working as a Program Manager for an AmeriCorps program and my AmeriCorps members helped complete the painting of this room.
Arts Alive! Youth Arts Group
2008 – 2012
Family & Community Services
Portage County, Ohio
I volunteered with the after-school and summer youth arts group, Arts Alive!, for many years – often providing printmaking workshops.
MLK Day Mural Project
January 2009
AmeriCorps VISTA
Family & Community Services Senior Center – Ravenna, Ohio
This mural was completed as an MLK Day service project while I was an AmeriCorps VISTA. The Senior Center at Family & Community Services had recently moved and requested a garden themed mural for their new space. Community members of all ages helped complete the painting of this mural.
