I am an artist, educator, community maker, friend, and neighbor. Much of the work I do is in collaboration with neighborhood groups, activists, youth artists, families, and friends. These joint endeavors have transformed my understanding of complex systems in the world and my own role. To embark on that journey with others I have been continuously humbled by the opportunity to witness people taking on their own genius. In this way, I see the lines between education and socially engaged art blur. At its core, teaching is a process of teachers and students facilitating each other’s growth.

I’ve chosen to share here my thesis work from my MA in Art Education at SAIC, titled How to Hear More: Exploring the Politics, Potentials, and Problematics of Listening and Storytelling in Community Engaged Art. For this endeavor I’ve interviewed 13 community makers about their practice and created posters to explore themes.