Luis Camnitzer

Statement

Art, and its subsequent community, has played an integral part in my personal growth. The daughter of an artist, I grew up in a creative household surrounded by opportunities to access the arts in my hometown. This exposure to the arts is a privilege that I feel deep gratitude for, as it opened up the opportunity to think about the world expressively and creatively. During my middle school years, I had an art teacher that was one of my inspirations for my future work as an arts educator. Not only did she teach us technical skills and encourage us creatively, but she taught us how to look at the context of an artwork, to ask questions of what was going on in the world at the time, and to consider the significance of who created it. While I didn't understand it then, I realize that my teacher was encouraging us as students to make connections in the world, and as Luis Camnitzer said, "to look around art, rather than through art." Through the implementation of a Critical Race Theory lens, I aspire to be an arts educator that encourages students to look critically at the world; to not only question why things are the way they are, but to be able to identify the cultural and historical context in which they exist. I hope to encourage my students to make connections across time and place, and to share their own stories, cultivating a community of empathy and social justice. Through these explorations, I hope to empower students to imagine a better future.