BIO
I am an artist, educator, arts advocate, and project consultant. My work has been in both visual and performing arts with students of all ages.
My background in the arts as a director of education and arts programming for youth spans 15 years on the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i. Five of these years were spent with the Hawai'i Children's Theatre as a drama coach, director, and program administrator. Other key appointments have been as the Program Director for the Kaua'i Academy of Creative Arts;.and at the Kaua'i Museum, as the Education Coordinator and Contemporary Art Gallery Curator.
I hold a teaching license in the State of Hawai'i where I am employed by the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education as a classroom teacher. In addition, my passion for Hawaiian history and culture is put to good use working as an Education Consultant and Resource Developer at the Grove Farm Homestead Museum, where I create standards-based curriculum and publications for school tours. My work has been to explore the legacy of cultural diversity in the Hawaiian Islands while contributing to the educational development of students in and through the arts.
My pursuit of higher education and study began with fashion design at the San Francisco Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. This was followed by theater arts and graphic design at San Francisco State University. Later, I received my BA in Education from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (2009) and my MA degree in Art Education from the University of Florida (20013). For my graduate research and capstone project I developed my practice in the cultural art form of Hawaiian kapa. Other subjects of my study at the graduate level were art aesthetics and criticism, public and community art such as murals, and migration as a departure point for exploring family origins and personal identity. Since 2006, I have been mining my own Hawaiian roots for cultural themes and practices. This has led me to pursue my passions for Hawaiian language and ethno-botanical gardens.
My background in the arts as a director of education and arts programming for youth spans 15 years on the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i. Five of these years were spent with the Hawai'i Children's Theatre as a drama coach, director, and program administrator. Other key appointments have been as the Program Director for the Kaua'i Academy of Creative Arts;.and at the Kaua'i Museum, as the Education Coordinator and Contemporary Art Gallery Curator.
I hold a teaching license in the State of Hawai'i where I am employed by the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education as a classroom teacher. In addition, my passion for Hawaiian history and culture is put to good use working as an Education Consultant and Resource Developer at the Grove Farm Homestead Museum, where I create standards-based curriculum and publications for school tours. My work has been to explore the legacy of cultural diversity in the Hawaiian Islands while contributing to the educational development of students in and through the arts.
My pursuit of higher education and study began with fashion design at the San Francisco Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. This was followed by theater arts and graphic design at San Francisco State University. Later, I received my BA in Education from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (2009) and my MA degree in Art Education from the University of Florida (20013). For my graduate research and capstone project I developed my practice in the cultural art form of Hawaiian kapa. Other subjects of my study at the graduate level were art aesthetics and criticism, public and community art such as murals, and migration as a departure point for exploring family origins and personal identity. Since 2006, I have been mining my own Hawaiian roots for cultural themes and practices. This has led me to pursue my passions for Hawaiian language and ethno-botanical gardens.