TEACHING
I teach to ignite change, not just deliver content.

For me, teaching is a form of care—and a form of activism. Whether I’m leading a printmaking workshop, mentoring emerging designers, or guiding people through creative discovery, I help students reclaim their voice and see their work as part of something larger.

I believe in classrooms without shame, critique without cruelty, and learning that sticks because it’s lived. My approach blends rigor and compassion, craft and context. I design curriculum to equip people with not just tools, but confidence—and the power to use creativity in service of justice, healing, and joy.



Skills

    • Curriculum design for studio art, printmaking, and design fundamentals
    • College-level teaching (15+ years experience across multiple institutions)
    • Community-based workshop facilitation (activist art, protest posters, design for justice)
    • Inclusive pedagogy and trauma-informed critique practices
    • Youth engagement through arts-based learning

    • One-on-one coaching and portfolio development
    • Digital and analog instruction (hybrid and virtual environments)
    • Learning management systems (Blackboard, Canvas, Moodle, Google Classroom)
    • Public speaking and lecture presentations (academic + community venues)
    • Art as ministry and creative vocational discernment



    Teaching Philosophy

    2005-Present
    Outreach Instructor
    New York, New Jersey

    2020–2024
    Adjunct Instructor
    Seton Hall University
    South Orange, New Jersey

    Saint Elizabeth University
    Morristown, New Jersey

    2011-Present
    Adjunct Instructor
    New York University SPS
    New York, New York

    2021–2023
    Part-time Instructor
    Beyond the Bell
    SoMA School District Maplewood, New Jersey

    2018-2022
    Adjunct Instructor
    Middlesex County College
    Edison, New Jersey

    Adjunct Instructor
    Raritan Valley Community College
    Branchburg, New Jersey

    Adjunct Instructor
    Union County College
    Cranford, New Jersey

    2015-2017
    Instructor
    Brooklyn Brainery
    Brooklyn, New York

    2011-2016
    Assistant Professor
    New York City College of Technology
    Brooklyn, New York

    2012-2018
    Part-Time Faculty
    Parsons, The New School
    New York, New York

    2010-2012
    Adjunct Instructor
    Fashion Institute of Technology
    New York, New York

    2008-2011
    Adjunct Professor
    New York City College of Technology
    Brooklyn, New York

    1999
    Part Time Instructor
    Center for Creative Studies
    Detroit, Michigan

    Art Instructor
    Summer Arts Program
    Paint Creek Center For the Arts
    Rochester, Michigan

    1995-1996
    Assistant
    Lexington Montessori School
    Lexington, Virginia

    No matter the context, I see teaching as a way to sharpen my own practice, renew my engagement, and build the world I want to leave for the next generation.

    I start every course with a simple statement:
    "You are my future peers. You just don’t know it yet."

    Every year, the students seem to shine a little brighter—whether because they’re growing, or because I’ve learned to see their brilliance better, I don’t know. Either way, my goal is the same: I welcome every student fully into the work of art and design, training them to surpass me. Setting that expectation on day one changes everything—it creates a collaborative, demanding environment where we aim for true mastery, not just compliance.

    To find excellence in art or design, students must find internal rigor: a line they will not cross, a commitment to caring. I call it Give A Damn. I demand that students care about their effort first—because genuine engagement will get them to mastery far faster than trying to please me.

    I’m not interested in training students to follow a curriculum. I’m interested in developing creative citizens of the world.

    The essential tool for lifelong creativity is fearless, rigorous play. Risk fuels innovation. Letting go of the familiar makes conceptual leaps possible. Learning to be bad at something—long enough to get good—is the heart of unstoppable growth.

    During the long quarantine, fearless play saved my teaching. I failed publicly and openly until I found new ways to create a living classroom across screens of faceless boxes. My students played, too: we made art in kitchens, on driveways, using whatever was at hand. I shifted to complete/incomplete grading to center curiosity and effort over points. I demanded care, and they responded with thoughtfulness, reflection, and disarming honesty.

    Teaching is my activism.
    It’s how I build the world and industry I want to leave behind.

    I work to make my classes reliable, respectful places where students learn and challenge the structures around them. We deconstruct frameworks, redesign portions of the class together, and build the project management skills they’ll need to bring ideas to life. I instill rigor through connection—because that’s where true quality comes from.

    In advanced classes, I model and demand the criticality and work ethic that a delving practice demands. My critiques are exacting in content but effervescent in tone: tough on ideas, generous with people. I expect advanced students to have their Give A Damn firmly in place. I don't accept excuses. I applaud strategy, iteration, and resilience.

    From the start, I make no promises of fame or fortune. I offer something better:
    The tools to build a creative life with integrity—and the perspective to endure the constant change that life demands.

    I see the next generation coming.
    And I’m here for them.



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