Why were you interested in becoming a Teaching Artist?

My first job coming to New York City was Teaching Artist work—I was placed at a transfer high school for overaged and under-credited students to collaborate on student-led documentary projects—and I just fell in love with the process. You get to work with incredible young people on subjects that they genuinely care about and each day is a new set of exciting questions. Most importantly, students are able to point to something and say, “Look, I made this. I created something that has changed the way I look at the world and will change the way others do too.”

How would you describe your artistic practice?

My artistic practice is very varied—writing, filmmaking/photography, and teaching—but it is always centered around research and sustained inquiry. As I continue to practice, I hope to make work that takes a creative approach to communicating the lived realities, challenges, and excitements of our world!

What is a project you’re working on now that you’re excited to reveal soon?

I have an article coming out in Science for the People in a few weeks on the problems of technologically directed caregiving!

How has collaborating with CUP impacted your work moving forward?

I think that collaborating with CUP has made clear to me the political power of the creative process. I think that the film that the young people at RHCJC will make will certainly hold civic lessons, but working with CUP’s curriculum in and of itself—talking to stakeholders, engaging the community, researching and creating—has been an exciting form of political action in its own right.

What is your secret skill that has nothing to do with your art and educator work?

I spend a lot of time playing pick-up basketball. I’m not sure I’d call it a skill but I’m proud of my commitment to getting out there in spite of my lack of, well, skill.