BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Amy Shimshon-Santo is a writer, teacher, and culture maker who believes that creativity is a powerful tool for personal and social transformation. She was born on Tovaangar land in current day Los Angeles, and has immediate family in the Southwest, the Middle East, and South America. Her art and community work nourish inclusive cultural ecologies for planetary justice.
Committed to translocal arts and culture, Amy has been a guest artist with UNESCO in Mexico, UNEB in Brazil, the PaGya! Literary Festival in Ghana, and the Lagos International Poetry Festival in Nigeria. She has also performed and/or taught throughout the U.S., Latin America, West Africa, and Singapore.
Amy is the author of Random Experiments in Bioluminescence (Flowersong Press, 2024), Catastrophic Molting (Flowersong Press, 2022), Even the Milky Way is Undocumented (Unsolicited Press, 2020), and the limited edition chapbook Endless Bowls of Sky (Placeholder Press, 2020). Her essays have appeared in numerous academic journals including Urban Education, Geo Humanities, and Education, Citizenship, and Social Justice. Keep an eye out for her forthcoming ecopoetics collection Random Experiments in Bioluminescence (Flowersong Press, 2024), and Radical Piecework: Ethnographies of Place (Unsolicited Press, 2025). She has been nominated for an Emmy Award, three Pushcart Prizes in poetry and creative nonfiction, a Rainbow Reads Award, Best of the Net in Poetry, and was a finalist for the Nightboat Book Poetry Prize.
She has edited or co-edited various anthologies including: Corpos, gêneros e literatura de autoria feminina with Ana Rita Santiago and Tatiana Pequeno (Revista de Crítica Cultura, 2023); Et Al.: New Voices in Arts Management with Genevieve Kaplan (IOPN, 2020); and Arts = Education (UC Press, 2010). Amy co-lead led the equity policy work group for California’s Blueprint for Creative Schools and co-wrote the section of the report on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion with Dr. Mary Stone Hanley.
Her creative life began in dance and capoeira and somatic practice continues to invigorate her creative practice. She has performed extensively in the U.S. through the Southwest, Northwest, New York, Alaska, and the Hawaiian Islands at venues including the Kennedy Center for the Arts, St. Marks Church in the Bowery, and the Mondavi Center for the Arts. Internationally, she has performed in Singapore, Senegal, Mexico, Nicaragua, Brazil, South Africa, Nigeria, and Ghana.
Amy co-founded the Brasil Brasil Cultural Center, and went on to teach and direct arts programs at UCLA (ArtsBridge Program) and Claremont Graduate University (Arts Management Program). For 30+ years, she has taught in universities, K-12 schools, community centers, and spaces of incarceration. Amy was recognized on the National Honor Roll for Service Learning for her contributions to Arts Education.
She earned a Ph.D. and M.A. in Urban Planning from UCLA, an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Antioch, and a B.A. in Latin American Studies from UC Santa Cruz.
CURRICULUM VITAE
Education
Doctor of Philosophy (2003)
Department of Urban Planning
Emphasis: Arts, Culture, and Community
UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs
Master of Fine Arts (2017)
Creative Writing Emphasis: Nonfiction and Poetry
Antioch University, Los Angeles
Master of Arts (1991)
Emphasis: Culture and the Environment
UCLA Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Planning
Bachelor of Arts in Latin American Studies (1988)
University of California, Santa Cruz
Study Abroad at UNAM, Mexico City, 1987
Certifications:
Professora de Capoeira, Capoeira Batuque, Mentor: Mestre Amen Santo
RYS Yoga Alliance RYS 200, Mentor: Annie Carpenter
Awards & Honors
Emmy Award Nomination, 2022
Night Boat Poetry Prize Finalist, 2022
Pushcart Prize Nomination, Poetry, 2020
Best of the Net Nomination, Poetry, 2018
Pushcart Prize Nomination, Creative Nonfiction, 2017
Library Research Award, Antioch University, 2017
Leadership LA Fellow, LA Chamber of Commerce, 2015
James P. Shannon Leadership Institute Fellow, Wilder Foundation, 2013
Award of Recognition, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, 2012
Team California Member, Education Leadership Institute, National Endowment for the Arts, 2011
Governor’s Commendation, State of California, 2009
Presidential Honor Roll in Service Learning, United States Government, 2007
Grant Review Committee Service: U.S. National Endowment for the Arts, LA County Arts Department, City of LA Cultural Affairs Department, and the Irvine Foundation.
PUBLICATIONS
Books: Poetry
Random Experiments in Bioluminescence, Poetry Collection, Flowersong Press, forthcoming 2024
Catastrophic Molting, Poetry Collection, Flowersong Press, 2022.
Even the Milky Ways is Undocumented, Poetry Collection, Unsolicited Press, 2020.
Endless Bowls of Sky, Poetry Chapbook (Limited Edition), Placeholder Press, 2020.
Books: Creative Nonfiction
Radical Piecework, Unsolicited Press (forthcoming 2025).
Books: Edited Anthologies
Corpos, Gêneros e Literatura de Autoria Feminina, Co-edited with Ana Rita Santiago and Tatiana Pequeno, Revista Crítica Cultura, 2023.
Et Al: New Voices, Co-edited with Genevieve Kaplan, Illinois Open Publishing Network, 2022.
The Ocean Between Us with A’bena Awuku Larbi, Writers Project Ghana, 2022.
Arts = Education, University of California Press, 2011.
Essays
“Safe,” Tikkun, 2023.
“Good Troublemakers: Freedom School Servant Leaders as Change Makers,” Urban Education, 2023.
“Objects Tell Stories: Rosenbaum’s Mizrah Across Six Generations,” The Jewish Museum, 2023.
“Repatriation of Language, Culture, & Community” with Mamle Wolo, Sabata Mokae, Ana Rita Santiago, Nii Ayikwei Parkes, Michaela Shirley, Journal of Writers Project Ghana, 2022.
“How to Become Erasure Proof, ” GeoHumanities, 2021
“Born in Los Angeles on Los Angeles Street,” ASAP/J, 2020
“Do Our Lives Matter? : Art and Political Education in Los Angeles,” Education, Citizenship, and Social Justice, Fall 2018
“Creative Justice: Arts Education and the City,” Public! Journal of Imagining America, NY: Syracuse University, Spring 2017.
“My Grandma Was a Radical,” Tiferet Journal, Spring 2017
“American Innovation: preserving and providing access to 80 years of industrial design history,” Amy Shimshon-Santo and Robert Dirig, National Endowment for the Humanities, 2014.
“Connecting the Dots: Linking Schools and Universities Through the Arts” in VIVA! Community Arts and Popular Education in the Americas,” New York: SUNY Press, 2011.
“Uniendo los puntos: Asociaciones en educación artística,” in VIVA! El Arte Comunitário y la Educación Popular en las Américas, Puerto Cabezas: Universidad de las Regiones Autónomas de la Costa Caribe Nicaragüense, 2010.
“Arts Impact: Lessons from ArtsBridge,” Journal for Learning through the Arts: A Research Journal on Arts Integration in Schools and Communities, Spring 2010.
Individual Poems
“She Opened Her Mind, Calculations, Random Experiments,” Anthology of Non-Conformism: Rebel Women’s Words and Ways, DIO Press, 2023.
“I Was Someone’s They and They Were Mine,” Tikkun, 2023. Selected for Tikkun 2023 Highlights.
“Witness,” New Verse News, October 2023.
“thesaurus,”Reformatting the Pain Scale, 2023.
“considering war,” New Verse News, March 2022.
“cemetery / cemíterio / cementerio;” “Villanelle For Yemanja / Villanelle Para Yemanja;” Black Woman of Sound / Mujer Negra de Sonido / Mulher Negra, Sonora” in Everything Connected: Land, Body, Cosmos, Self Help Graphics, fall 2021. The exhibition is archived on Google Arts & Culture.
“art + work / arte + labor,” Tilt West, Fall 2021.
“bounty,” in Written Here and There, Community of Writers, 2021.
“stop a war” New Verse News, May 2021
Performance of “born in LA on LA street” with Nancy Sanchez, and Las Colibri, May 2021
“the future of music” Prairie Schooner, winter 2021.
“whereas” and “waiting for the president to be impeached” Gnashing Teeth Publishing, forthcoming winter 2021.
“white supremacy’s identity crisis as a slow-motion-crash” and “shades of white” BOOM California, winter 2021.
“born in los angeles on los angeles street,” ASAP/J, fall 2020.
“tree of lemon” commissioned poem for Invertigo Dance Theatre, fall 2020.
“and still we are trying — to dream,” ArtPlace America, 2020.
“endless bowls of sky” long poem selection in Special Isolation Edition of Capsule Stories, 2020. Order Capsule Stories Special Isolation Edition here.
“sweet moon” Honey and Smoke, 2020.
“single motherhood is a party, ”Poetica: Inner Circle Poetry Group Writer’s Anthology of Poetry 2019, Clarendon House Books, United Kingdom.
“evacuation” and “arma virumque cano”, Yes Poetry (June 2019)
“all the things (he never said),” “piñata (effigy),” and “what’s time anyway?” Anti-Heroin Chic (May 2019)
“grace” and “ambidextrous” in Rag Queen Periodicals (March 2019)
“cabelo” Anti Heroin Chic (January 2019)
“mantra para votar / mantra to vote,” PCC Inscape Magazine (2018)
“mandala to unravel deception” and “attention,” Full Blede, Issue Six: The Parapraxis (2018)
“ontology of feeling” and “wishbone,” Awkward Mermaid Lit Mag (2018)
“hopscotch,” Yes Poetry (2018)
“good fuck poem (a definition)”, Rose Quartz Journal (2018).
“borderless” Lady Liberty Lit (2018). Nominated for 2018 Best of the Net.
“the descendent” Zocalo Public Square (2017).
“naked congress” Lady Liberty Lit (2017).
“(of course) we are in the same room,” Spectrum 3 (2016).
Book Reviews
Review of Ocean Vuong’s Night Sky With Exit Wounds, Lunch Ticket Magazine, May 2017.
“Pursuing Quality Education Through the Arts: Lessons From Asia,” Teaching Artist Journal, 4(3), Chicago: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2006: 201- 205.
"Content in Context: Community Building Through Arts Education", Journal for Learning through the Arts: A Research Journal on Arts Integration in Schools and Communities, Vol. 3: No. 1, Article 5.
Interviews
“Entrevista com a professora Amy Shimshon-Santo” com Ana Rita SantiagoTatiana Pequeno; Corpos, gêneros e literatura de autoria feminina, Pontos de Interrogação, Revista de Crítica Cultural, 2023.
“Poetry is a Small Vessel, But it Can be a Freedom Vessel” Libretto Magazine, Nigeria, 2023.
Book Review: “A Mother’s Resistance Poetry: A Review of Catastrophic Molting by Diane Gottlieb for Literary Mama, 2022.
Interview with Àkpà Árinzèchukwu of Muqabalal and A’bena Awuku Larbi about The Ocean Between Us, 2022.
Interview by Janet Rodriguez of The Rumpus, 2022.
Interview by Cindy Huser of Book Woman, 2022.
Book Review with Washington Independent Book Review by Angela Maria Spring, 2022.
Write On Radio Interview, 2022.
Interview with IOPN
Interview with ShoutOutLA
Interview with Unsolicited Press, 2020.
Interview with Capsule Stories, 2020.
Digital Book Tour with Frontier Poetry: New Books by Gigi Bella and Amy Shimshon-Santo, 2020.
Notes on the power of poetry, The Poetry Question
Interview with Wombwell
Interview with LunchTicket. LitDish: Adrian Cepeda, Amy Shimshon-Santo, Mireya Vela interviewed by Andrea Auten.
Presentations
Poetry Reading with Briana Muñoz and Ivy Raff, Libros Schmibros, March 2024.
Poetry Reading, Habitat Contemporary, Association of Writers & Writing Programs, Kansas City, February 2024.
Essentially Poetics Reading Series, Poetry reading with Ayokunle Falomo, Sara Bawany, and Genevieve Betts, Flowersong Press, 2023.
Poetry Reading, Open Mic Project, Ghana, 2023.
Writing Our Own Histories, Poetry with Jenise Miller, Angelina Saenz, Luivette REsto, and Sara Rafael Garcia, Lit Fest in the Dena, 2023.
Poetry Reading of Catastrophic Molting, Village Well, Culver City, 2023.
Poetry Reading of Catastrophic Molting, University of Maryland, 2023.
Poetry Reading at AWP Author’s Stage and with Women Who Submit, 2023.
Relatos, Poetry Reading with Angelina Saenz, Luivette Resto, Jenise Miller, Chewube Danladi, Lena Cole Dennise, Zaynab Riba Dabup, Carribean Fragoza, Karen Llagas, Jireh Deng, Onyi Love, Brasil Brasil Cultural Center, 2023.
Poetry Reading with Jessica Abughattas, Ladies of Courage, City of West Hollywood, 2023.
Hosted International Women’s Day reading with Writers Project Ghana authors and LA Public Library, 2023.
Poetry Reading, Second Saturdays with Brendan Constantine, 2023.
Vamos Nos Organizar Para Desorganizar, Poetry reading for II Congresso Internacional, UNEB, Brasil, 2022.
Poetry performances at Babel: Lagos International Poetry Festival, readings with Rudy Francisco, Joel Francois, Chekwube Danladi, Aja Monet, 2022.
Poetry performances at Pa Gya! Lit Fest of Writers Project Ghana, 2022.
Poetry reading, Book launch of Catastrophic Molting, Brasil Brasil Cultural Center, 2022.
Poetry reading, UNESCO, Foro de Diversidad Cultural y Libertad Creativa, Secretaria de Cultura, Mexico, 2022.
Poetry reading at A Day of Poetry in Los Angeles: A Celebration of Poetry and Community curated by LA Poet Laureate Lynne Thompson, LA Public Library, 2022.
Everything Connected: Land, Body, Cosmos, Self Help Graphics & Art, Los Angeles. (This exhibition has been archived on Google Arts & Culture), 2021.
Poetry reading with Jenise Miller, Santa Maria Public Library, 2022.
Family Album, Poetry performances and workshop with Jenise Miller, LACMA, 2022.
Poetry Reading with Adrian Ernesto Cepeda, Tongo Eisen-Martin, Jean-Pierre Rueda, Monique Quintana, Ellen Webre, and Aruni Wijesinghe at Sims Library of Poetry, 2022.
Poetry reading of Even the Milky Way is Undocumented at AWP, 2022.
Tibi Tire, Poetry reading with performances of Reva Santo, Amen Santo, and Ashley Miller, Brasil Brasil Cultural Center, 2022.
Panelist, “What is Being Taught in Schools,” Atlanta Global Innovation Hub, 2022.
Besos y Versos, Metro Arts with Autry Museum, LA Union Station, Poetry performance with Nancy Sanchez, 2021.
We Must Look and Reflect to Make Change Happen Cary Arts Center Gallery & Principal’s Hall, 2021.
“Repatriation Language, Culture, and Community” with Mamle Wolo, Ni Ayikwei Parkes, Sabata Mokae, Ana Rita Santiago, and Michaela Shirley, Pa Gya! Lit Fest, Writers Project Ghana, 2021.
“From Twi to Mazateco” withNana Asasse, Gloria Carrera, and Margarita Leon, Pa Gya! Lit Fest, Writers Project Ghana, 2021.
Mapping Grietas, Poetry reading with Leonora Simonovis, 2020.
Poetry Reading at Mo Issa Writing Workshops, Writers Project Ghana, 2020.
Autry Museum Poetry Performance, 2020.
Power Treaties Pasadena LitFest, 2019.
LA Festival of Books, 2019.
Breaking in Two, Getty Pacific Standard Time “Mother Artist” and “Pranayama” letterpress broadsides, 2012.
“Using Podcasts to Enhance Student Learning,” Association of Arts Administration Educators, May 2020.
“Lessons from the Global South: Transforming Arts Management Curriculum Through Inclusion and Collaboration,” The Future of Arts Administration Education: Evolution, Reinvention, and Transformation, Association of Arts Administration Educators, Madison WI, May 2019
“Arts and (R)Evolution,” Curated and moderated panel discussion with Amir Whitaker (So Cal ACLU), Stephania Ramirez (California Community Foundation), Rudy Espinoza (Leadership for Urban Renewal Network), and Jamal Jones (Empowerment Congress), LA as Lab, Claremont, CA, May 2019
“Artist Driven Practice” presentations, curated and coordinated multidisciplinary artist panel for LA as Lab, Claremont, CA, May 2019
“Writers on Community Organizing,” moderated panel with Poet Laureate Luis Rodriguez (Tia Chiuchas), Lawrence Minh Bui Davis (Smithsonian APA), Tracy Kato-Kiriyama (Tuesday Night Project) Kayami, Hiram Sims (World Stage Press), Association of Writers and Writing Programs, Portland, Oregon, April 2019
Poetry Reading in Power Treaties, Pasadena Lit Fest, May 2019 Poetry Reading, LA Festival of Books, April 2019
“Understanding Arts Management,” Center for Theater, Dance, & Performance Studies, University of Cape Town, April 2019
“The Arts, Banishment, and Community Organizing: How to Become Erasure Proof” Association of Arts Administration Educators in Houston, and the National Association of American Geographers Conference in New Orleans, 2018.
“Do Our Lives Matter? : Art Making for Urban Transformation,” Association of American Geographers national conference, Boston, April 2017.
Poetry reading of “An Assault in Seven Parts,” AWP National Conference, Florida 2018.
Performance of “Noetic Gestures,” Carol McDowell, Highways, 18th Street Arts Complex, January 2017.
Poetry readings at #Future Arts Forward, Center for Cultural Innovation, San Jose, January 2017; Self Help Graphics, Los Angeles, February 2017; Beyond Baroque, Spring/Summer/Fall, 2015-2016
Guest Speaker, “Creative Conversations: Arts and Advocacy,” Emerging Arts Leaders, Los Angeles, Fall 2016.
“Creative Justice: Arts Education for the City,” Association of American Geographers national conference, San Francisco, April 2016.
“Up from the Ashes: Remembering the Inner City Cultural Center,” Nate Holden Performing Arts Center, Los Angeles, November 2015.
“The Arts and Community Development: New Horizons” Casa de las Americas, Havana, Cuba, April 2015. “Catalyst Panel,” Arts for LA, Los Angeles, November 2014.
“Mobility and the Future of Transportation in Los Angeles,” Office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, #techLA Technology and Innovation Conference, Los Angeles, May 2014.
“Understanding the Value of Arts and Design Education,” Plenary Panelist and Facilitator, Association of Independent Schools of the Arts and Design, National Conference, Pasadena, April 2014.
Keynote Speaker, Georgia Arts Network Conference, Hudgens Center for the Arts, Atlanta, 2013.
“California Creates,” Plenary Panel organizer and panelist at Arts Education Partnership National Forum, San Francisco, 2011. Additional panelists: Malissa Feruzzi-Shriver (Board Chair of the California Arts Council), Craig Cheslog (Principal Advisor to Tom Torlakson, Chief Superintendent of Schools), and Larry Powell (Superintendent of Fresno Schools),
“The Arts and Dilemmas in the U.S. Constitution” with Judge David B. Finkel (Ret.), Arts Institute of California, Santa Monica, 2011.
“Arts = Education,” Inside Edge, University of California Irvine, 2011.
“Mobilizing Californians for Creativity in Education,” Courageous Creativity Conference, Education Leadership Institute Panel, Anaheim, 2011.
“Myths, Realities, and Possibilities: Tools for Creative Educators,” Community Arts Panel,
Educating for Social Justice Conference, UCLA Center X, Graduate School of Education and Information Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, 2011.
“Connecting the Dots: Community Partnerships for Educational Access,” VIVA! Project Conference, Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, 2010.
“10 Distillations: Community Building as Creative Practice,” Show Up! Art, Community Engagement, and Social Change, Cal Arts Community Arts Partnerships, REDCAT Theater, 2008.
“Elections 2008: What Do Hillary and Obama Tell Us About Race and Gender in the 21st Century?” UCLA Academic Advancement Program panelist, 2008.
“Arts Education Partnerships as Service Learning,” Los Angeles Regional Service Learning Network: Partnerships Between Higher Education and K-12, UCLA Center for Community Learning, Downtown Labor Center, 2008.
“Creating Partnerships That Work,” California League of Middle Schools Conference, Sacramento, 2008.
“Capoeira: Bringing Cultural and Historical Content into Dance Education,” California Dance Educators Association Conference, Sherman Oaks, 2007.
“The VIVA! Project: Transnational Research in Community Arts and Popular Education,” and “Community Based Research Methodologies,” Latin American Association Conference (LASA), Montreal Canada, 2007.
Women Artists of Southern California: Then and Now, Discussant for panel with June Wayne, Barbara Carrasco, Lita Albuquerque, Track 16 Gallery, Bergamot Station Art Center, 2007.
Our Challenge: Voices for Peace, Partnerships, and Renewal, 58th Annual DPI/NGO Conference United Nations, Arts Center College of Design Delegation, New York, 2005.
“Creating and AIDS Media Campaign,” World AIDS Day Teach-In, UCLA, 2004.
"Successful Media Literacy Implementation – A Panel Discussion on Media in Early Childhood Education," National Association for the Education of Young Children Conference, Anaheim Convention Center, 2004.
“Making the Case for Folk and Traditional Arts: An Advocacy Forum,” Association of Californian Traditional Artists, Biennial Artist Gathering, Los Angeles, 2003.
“Cultural Work and Social Movements,” Arts for Action Youth Conference, Keynote Speaker, Ventura, 2003.
“Art and Community,” Arts Marketing Institute, California Arts Council, Sacramento, June 30 - 2003. “Artists in the Schools,” Los Angeles Folk Arts Forum, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Carson, 2003.
“Community Art and Cultural Citizenship in Los Angeles.” Paper delivered at the Ph.D. Research Forum, Department of Urban Planning, University of California, Los Angeles, 2002.
“Community Art and Cultural Citizenship in Los Angeles.” Paper delivered at the Association of Collegiate Schools in Planning Conference, Cleveland, 2001.
“Locating Gender: Key Ideas and Places,” Paper delivered at Thinking Gender Conference, UCLA Center for the Study of Women, 2000.
“Multiculturalism: Then and Now.” Conference honoring C. Bernard Jackson, Los Angeles Theater Center, Los Angeles, 2000.
“Historicizing Cultural Planning in the United States.” Paper delivered at the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning Conference, Chicago, 1999.
“Publicizing Under-Served Performing Groups,” Asilomar Conference, California Arts Council, Monterey, 2001.
“Kinesthetic Learning and Multiculturalism,” Cultural Studies in Dance Conference, UCLA Dept. of World Arts and Cultures, 1998.
“The Cultural Politics of Touring,” Western Arts Alliance Conference, Utah 1998.
“Community Development Networks,” Asilomar Conference, CA Arts Council, Monterey, 1997.
Numerous live professional dance and capoeira performances through the U.S., Mexico, Nicaragua, Brazil, Senegal, and Singapore (1988-2003).
LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE
Guest Artist: Writer-in-Residence
UC Santa Cruz, Department of Performance and Play, Fall 2023; University of Maryland, Creative Placemaking Program, Winter 2023.
Founder, CREO Changemakers
CREO (Founded 2015) is a nonprofit organization committed to promoting a just society by developing diverse leadership, catalyzing community-based knowledge, and amplifying great ideas in action. CREO has served individuals and organizations including: Self Help Graphics & Art, Chicano Park Museum, Autry Museum, Metro Art, PBS SOCAL / KCET, Honey and Smoke, Latinos in Cultural Heritage, Film Independent, Arts for LA, Community Partners, and Kaiser Permanente.
Associate Professor & Program Director, Claremont Graduate University
Associate Professor; Director of Arts Management Program; Associate Director of Center for Business and Management of the Arts. I served the university community from 2015-2022 in multiple roles from lecturer to program director (Program Director 2017-2020; Lecturer: 2015-2017, 2020-2022).
Assistant Director, Foundation & Government Relations, Art Center College of Design
Lead grant writer and government relations representative for the university to philanthropic institutions and government agencies. I was recruited for this role after serving the learning community on grant review panels, and co-teaching project based learning courses with the United Nations’ UNIFEM and UNFPA programs. AD of Foundation & Government Relations (2012-2014); Faculty for Global Impact Projects: “Curbing AIDS in Latin American and the Caribbean” (UNIFEM, 2005) and “Advancing the Millennium Development Goals” (UNFPA, 2004).
Fellow, University of California, Irvine
Policy Fellow with the Center for Learning Through the Arts, Sciences, and Sustainability (2011-2012). Lecturer in Education teaching Arts Education Methods.
ArtsBridge Director, University of California Los Angeles
Program Director of ArtsBridge mentored novice arts educators and cultivated mutual partnerships with the Los Angeles, Lynwood, Compton, and Santa Monica Unified Schools Districts; Representative of UCLA Arts to the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, the UCLA chapter of UC Office of the President’s efforts to increase access to higher education, Coach for Center X, and faculty with the Department of World Arts and Cultures (2003-2009) teaching Arts Activism, Arts in the Community, and Feminist Research Methods.
Co-Founder / Choreographer, Brasil Brasil Cultural Center
Co-founded a transnational community arts and cultural space offering educational programming and a professional performing arts ensemble that toured nationally and globally. The ensemble was recognized on the State of California’s Performing Arts Roster, the Music Center Education Division Teaching and Performance Roster, and toured widely throughout the U.S. (including Alaska and the Hawaiian Islands) and abroad in Senegal, Brazil, and Singapore. Our work was presented in mainstage theaters including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Arts in Washington DC and the CA Center for the Arts, and many more.
Fellowships
Community of Writers Scholarship in Poetry, 2023.
Community of Writers Scholarship in Poetry, 2020.
Dissertation Year Fellowship, UCLA Graduate Division, 2002-2003
Dissertation Year Travel Grant, UCLA Graduate Division, 2003
Mentorship Travel Grant, UCLA Graduate Division, 2001
Research Mentorship Fellow, UCLA Graduate Division, 2000-2001
Pass with Distinction, Ph.D. Major Field Examination, 2000
Title VI Fellowship, UCLA International Studies Opportunity Program, 1999
CORO Fellow, Multicultural Arts CAC Fellow, CORO Foundation, 1996