Join us on Thursday, Nov 21, at 3 PM for our first iteration of BIPOC Space for Museum Educators! ✨ This members-only virtual gathering is a supportive and inclusive space for connecting, sharing experiences, and uplifting one another.
Date: Saturday, Oct 12
Time: 10 AM - 12 PM
Tickets: Members $10, Non-Members $20 REGISTER HERE
Location: La Plaza De Cultura Y Artes 501 N Main St, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Join us at LA Plaza's PST ART Community Hub for a behind-the-scenes tour, conversation, and a culinary workshop with the Garden School Foundation.
Join us for an afternoon of fun, networking, and good vibes on Sunday, September 29, at 2 PM at Everson Royce Bar.
Come together with fellow educators in this unique one-day event where MESC highlights outstanding people in the field of museum education and provides a community for educators. Hear keynotes and join breakout rooms centered around diverse voices and shaping equity within the field of museum education.
Admission includes breakfast, lunch, and access to keynotes, breakout rooms, and museum exhibits.
You don’t want to miss all that the 2024 Annual Institute has in store!
9 AM: Doors Open
9 AM - 10 AM: Breakfast & Networking
10 AM - 10:30 AM: Land Acknowledgement & Welcome
10:30 AM - 11:30 AM: Keynote Panel
11:35 AM - 11:45 AM: Bio Break
11:45 AM - 12:15 PM: Keynote Debrief Sessions
12:30 PM - 2 PM: Lunch, Activities & Open Galleries
2 PM - 3 PM: Breakout Sessions
3 PM - 3:15 PM: Goodbye
3:30 PM: Open Galleries
4 PM: Happy Hour
Join Chelo Montoya (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) and Helen Alonzo Hurtado (Las Fotos Project) as they reflect on the equity and advocacy work they’ve done in museum education and arts nonprofits. They will discuss internal initiatives addressing equity for staff, external goals in creating welcoming spaces for visitors, and the pivotal role of centering diverse voices in nurturing an inclusive field.
Queer Latinx interdisciplinary artist and educator Danila Cervantes is based in Los Angeles, CA. They grew up on the border bouncing between Calexico and Mexicali in Baja California, Mexico. Its vast desert and mixed cultural landscape have always inspired their artwork. Personal myths and Mexican folk tales spark colorful imagery that they translate into illustrations and animations of tender creatures adapting to natures cycles of life, death, and rebirth. They graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design where they studied film and animation. Their creative background and experience in visual arts inform their approach to education, fostering curiosity and love for creativity. With a deep belief in the power of art to heal and transform, they strive to create meaningful experiences that empower individuals to explore their artistic potential and embrace joy through self-expression. They work as a teaching artist with various nonprofit arts organizations across LA such as Barnsdall Junior Art Center, Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA) and Craft Contemporary.
RESERVE YOUR SPOT! or APPLY TO VOLUNTEER!
JOIN! Take advantage of Early Bird Member Pricing and join or renew today!
ANNUAL SPONSOR Want to support MESC and be reach this diverse audience of Museum Educators? Considering becoming an Annual Sponsor
#MESC Morning Network
Monday, April 22, 2024 | 10:00 - 11:30 AM | Online
Are you interested in acquiring or strengthening your skills in engaging English Language Learners in museum galleries and beyond? If so, join us as Dr. Veronica Alvarez shares tips & strategies for inclusive teaching!
Born in Michoacán, Mexico, Dr. Veronica Alvarez is an educator, historian, and arts advocate. Veronica has worked with students of all ages, teaching subjects such as Spanish, ancient Greek and Roman history, and inclusive pedagogy. Currently, she is the Wallis Annenberg Executive Director of Community Arts Partnership with a special appointment in the Critical Studies Department at CalArts. Prior to CalArts, she was in the museum field for over 20 years, working at the Getty and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Veronica has served as an education consultant for other entities such as the UCLA’s Fowler Museum and Chicano Studies Research Center, LMU's Family of Schools, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and the LA County Office of Education, where she led arts integration and ELL professional development for teachers from 70 school districts. Veronica has served in the US Department of State as an English Specialist in Serbia and the State Department of Cultural Affairs in Chiapas, Mexico. Veronica received her doctorate from LMU’s Educational Leadership for Social Justice Program. Her dissertation focused on the use of art for English acquisition.
Not a Member? To Become a Member Register Here.
Visit our MESC Shop for exclusive SWAG and supplies before this event!
Attendance of a MESC event is consent to photography/recording and its release, publication, exhibition, or reproduction.
Saturday, March 9, 2024, 10:00AM to 1:00PM
Where: LA Union Station, 800 N Alameda St, Los Angeles CA 90012
Cost: $10 Members | $20 Non-Members
Not a Member? To Become a Member Register Here.
Visit our MESC Shop for exclusive SWAG and supplies before this event!
Join us on a special walking public art tour with Wayne Perry, an artist and conservator with Metro LA Art. We will explore multiple Metro Red Line public art installations, and engage in a conversation about community public art, teaching artists, and the conservation of art in public spaces.
#MESCommunity events are for MESC Members Only. To become a member register here.
Where: Virtual REGISTER HERE!
When: December 12th, 12-1pm
Cost: Free for Members
Join us for a virtual book club on December 12th at 12pm. This month’s books are Your Brain on Art by Susan Magasmen and The Story of Art Without Men by Katy Hessel.
MESCommunity’s Book Club is first and foremost a chance to socialize with other members around our love of art - so, don’t worry if you haven’t finished the books!
Visit our MESC Shop for exclusive SWAG and supplies before this event!
When: Thursday, November 30, 2023, 5 – 7 pm
Where: Craft Contemporary, 5814 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036
Cost: $10 Member | $20 Non-Member REGISTER HERE!
Not a Member? To Become a Member Register Here.
Join Billie Rae Vinson, Director of School and Family Programs at Craft Contemporary, for a mock school tour including gallery activities and a crafting experience in our workshop. Participants will explore the ways that artists Carolyn Castaño and Linda Sibio use their art to speak out about social and environmental issues that are important to them. In the workshop, we’ll create appliqued protest banners, discuss teaching strategies, and share ideas about how to engage students with museum exhibitions and works on view.
The ticket price includes museum entry and light refreshments.
Check out Craft Contemporary’s Visit page for information on parking and accessibility. Head to the School Programs page to learn more about school visits at the museum
Join The Museum of Contemporary Art, The California Art Education Association, and The Museum Educators of Southern California for an Open House on October 12th from 4:30-6:30pm at MOCA Grand.
Enter into community with teachers and educators from across SoCal! Learn more about Prop 28, network with museum reps from all over the LA area, explore the galleries, and win prizes. Enjoy free parking and 20% off at the MOCA Store while you’re there!
This program is FREE, but RSVP is required.
If you are interested in representing your institution by tabling at this event, please reach out to akoehler@mesconline.org. Spots are limited!
Are you looking to fill your calendar with fun and engaging events for the Fall? Or do you have a fun and engaging event you would like to share with fellow MESC members? Join us Monday, October 2 from 12:30-1:30pm as we connect and share over zoom. Bring your lunch and your programs!
Link to Register for Members Coming Soon!
If you have an event you would like to share at this lunchtime show and tell, don’t forget key information to share with us all: date, time, location, & website (if applicable).
Join us at the 2023 MESC Annual Institute as we explore ways to address this lack of institutional support and ways of building more empathy and compassion within the workplace.
Educators have pivoted in the face of the pandemic and social justice issues to offer more inclusive and equitable programming, yet many museum educators continue to feel burnt out and unsupported by their institutions.
TICKETS: https://museumeducatorsofsoutherncalifornia38.wildapricot.org/event-5185243
Join MESC in highlighting the innovative work of LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes as they discuss their unique volunteer docent program, Les Navegantes. This in-person event will feature a conversation with Alondra Virrey, Public Engagement Manager, as well as time for docent and volunteer managers to network while sharing the challenges and successes of their own institutions. Tour of LA Plaza and optional happy hour near historic Olvera Street to follow!
April 14, 2023
1:30-3:30pm
Free for MESC members
$20 for non-members
Register here
Join past and present MESC board members for our spring Sip and Share!
Learn about open board positions and get the answers to all of your burning MESC questions. Led by Digital board member Belize Wilheim and MESC President Alice Bebbington.
#MESCFeatures: Playing with Pay
February 3rd, 2023 | 3pm-4:20pm PST
Zoom
$10 Members | $20 Non-Members
#MESCFeatures: Playing with Pay is a session that will cover topics regarding limiting beliefs, and the urgency of pay transparency. In this workshop, facilitated by Onyx Montes, attendees will use practical examples to become familiarized with strategies to negotiate and become better advocates for themselves. Participants will become better acquainted with resources to learn about a healthy relationship with money including pay transparency. Join us for this relevant and personalized workshop, ending with a Q&A in which participants can bring their specific examples to the learning community.
Onyx Montes is a museum worker, social media manager, and pay transparency advocate based in Chicago. Onyx moved by herself to the U.S. from Mexico, at the age of 17 and studied art history at the University of Washington in Seattle. She's the first person in her family to graduate from college. She has a Masters degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago's Museum and Exhibition Studies program, and is part of the inaugural Arts & Culture Leaders of Color Fellowship of Americans For The Arts and part of the 2022 NALAC Leadership Institute.
Onyx has worked as a museum educator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Contemporary Art of Chicago. She has taught art history workshops for incarcerated women at two penitentiaries in Mexico. She recently collaborated with the nonprofit GirlForward, teaching workshops on women in art history and creative expression through zine-making. Onyx was also a video co-producer for the 2021 Frida Kahlo: Timeless exhibition at the Cleve Carney Museum of Art. In 2021 Onyx launched a state-wide collaboration with public libraries in the state of Illinois giving pay transparency and negotiation workshops.
Community Check-Ins
November 29 | 3:00PM–4:15PM PT
Online (Zoom)
Cost: FREE, register here!
To register, please input the email you use to log into the membership database.
Build your community of practice and connect with like-minded folks who are eager to build coalitions and strategize together. Exclusive for MESC members, this community check-in, discussion-based program will allow for intimate breakout discussions for a variety of professional affiliations.
Tap into your MESC network to crowdsource resources, share opportunities, generate questions, suggest answers, and build community.
Are you a K-12 programmer who is curious about how others are conducting field trips in this stage of the pandemic? Are you a Part-Time Educator eager to connect with others? Do you design Public Programs or manage Docent Programs and would like to build best practices with colleagues? We will create space for discussions centering around these topics:
K-12 and Youth/ Family Programming
Public Programs
Docent Management
Teen Programmers
Part-Time and/or Emerging Educators
You'll let us know which group you'd like to join on the RSVP form.
This program is FREE, but is only available for current MESC members. Become a member here!
Cost: FREE!
Join MESC, The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) and The California Arts Educators Association (CAEA) for Fall for Teachers: Teacher Open House, a chance for K-12 teachers to enter into community and conversation with educators from across Southern California. Free MOCA tours, gallery explorations of The Geffen Contemporary, snacks, conversational meeting spaces, and free parking! Museum educators are invited to bring information regarding their institutions’ education programs to share with interested teachers starting at 2:30pm. Keep the community-building going in Little Tokyo for a no-host happy hour after the event.
Send any questions to info@mesconline.org by October 14.
Location: Zoom
Cost: FREE!
Join us for the first virtual Museum Studies Program Fair focused on museum-related undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs in the Southern California region.
The Museum Educators of Southern California and the Vincent Price Art Museum collaborated to present Museum Studies Program Fair with virtual sessions, including: academic program informational sessions, a panel discussion with local museum professionals, and personal statement writing workshop. Learn about museum-related college and university programs, such as: East Los Angeles College Museum Studies Certificate Program, University of Santa Barbara Museum Studies Program, UCLA Visual and Performing Arts Education Program, USC Curatorial Practices and the Public Sphere Masters Program, and more. Prospective and current college students are invited to join one or all sessions.
This event is made possible with the generous support of the Museum Educators of Southern California, the Vincent Price Art Museum at East Los Angeles College, the Vincent Price Art Museum Foundation, and the Bank of America Foundation.
Live video captions will be available. Please email info@mesconline.org with additional accommodation requests no later than Tuesday, October 4th. For more information about this event, please visit: mesconline.org.
Location: In Person, Behind the Resnick Gallery at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
Cost: Free for MESC members | $20 non-members
Join us for a morning of networking and art exploration at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Hear from LACMA’s Director of Youth and Family Programs, Rebecca Horta, as she discusses her career journey. Then connect with colleagues in an intimate outdoor setting. Stay afterward to enjoy the museum!
This program includes refreshments, free admission to LACMA, and free parking at the Pritzker Parking Garage! Limited capacity. Click here for more information about visiting LACMA, including directions and current COVID policies.
Rebecca Horta
In April 2022, Rebecca Horta joined LACMA as the Director of Youth & Family Programs. As a former Getty Marrow intern, her passion lies in accessibility and inclusion, career mentorship, and supporting women of color in the arts. Most recently she was an Arts Manager with the City of Los Angeles and held positions at the Ontario Museum of History & Art and the Museum of Latin American Art, where she oversaw programming for all ages, school tours and workshops, and the development of community festivals. Rebecca received her MA in Museum Studies from John F. Kennedy University and a BA in Art History from Occidental College.
#MESCommunity (Members Only)
Explore Crossroads at the USC Pacific Asia Museum
August 12 | 10:00AM – 11:30AM PT
In person
USC Pacific Asia Museum, 46 N. Los Robles Ave.,
Pasadena, CA 91101
Cost: FREE, Register Here (to register, please input the email you use to log into the membership database)
Join USC Pacific Asia Museum's Education and Engagement Manager, Valentina Quezada, for an intimate look at the museum’s interactive gallery about the Silk Road. Together with museum curator, Rebecca Hall, PhD., she will discuss the interdepartmental collaboration involved in bringing the project to life. Enjoy light refreshments and free admission to the museum!
This program is FREE, but is only available for current MESC members. Space is limited to 20 participants. Free parking available.
After the Annual Institute, we invite you to unwind and reflect on the day’s programs with us at our poast-AI Sip and Share!
The Pub @ Golden Road
5410 W San Fernando Rd.
Los Angeles, CA 90039
All are welcome!
How do we use the revelations from the past few years to propel us into the new frontier of museum education? How do we transform, dismantle, and change the system to not only support educators today but also the next generation? How do we embrace our power and advocate for ourselves at our institutions by using our recent impact as leverage? How do we do this while facing burnout? In this Annual Institute, we will discuss and explore ways to move forward as a community to continue transforming our institutions, creative spaces, and the field at large.
Museums and libraries have long held the overlapping goal to collect and preserve stories, histories, and knowledge for the purpose of sharing them with their communities. Join the Los Angeles Public Library and the Museum Educators of Southern California for a moderated discussion between a panel of museum educators and librarians on how their organizations have worked together to create programming and opportunities for their visitors, and what the future of collaboration might look like.
FREE, Register Here
Have you applied to countless museum jobs but can never land an interview? Learn how to improve your skills from managers in the field of museum education.
What makes some candidates stand out from a crowd of applications? Join MESC and a panel of Museum Educators who make hiring decisions as they share insights on what they look for in candidates. Find out what mistakes to avoid and how to navigate the field to finally land that dream museum job! In addition, MESC members will have the opportunity to schedule a one-on-one coaching session for a later date with a MESC board member to help design their path forward.
Unsure about your MESC membership status? Email mescbiz@gmail.com. Not yet a member or need to renew your membership? Join/Renew MESC today and receive a year of no/low cost professional development for $35.
The Center for Business & Management of the Arts at Claremont Graduate University invites you to join us on Friday, February 18 from 11:00am – 12:00pm PST for our next alumni panel! Laura Zucker will be joined by four Arts Management alumni who are leading forward-thinking arts education programs in Southern California. Find out how they chose this essential career path and where the field is headed.
Speakers:
Alma Catalán, (MA Arts Management 2019), Program Manager - Community Arts Partnership, California Institute of the Arts
Michael Fritzen, (MA Arts Management 2016), Program Manager - PJ Library/The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles
Jamie Jauregui, (MA Arts Management 2014), Director of Arts - Inner City Education Foundation
Kai Monet (Flores-Emnace), (MA Arts Management 2013), Visual Thinking Strategies
Moderator:
Laura Zucker – Director, Center for Business & Management of the Arts, Claremont Graduate University
Register here: https://admissions.cgu.edu/register/artseduca
For the past year and a half, MESC has hosted the series, The Future of K-12 Field Trips (2020-2021), programs that brought together museum educators and K-12 administrators to discuss concerns and brainstorm strategies for how museums can best serve K-12 audiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. As we move through the new school year, MESC invites the community to continue the conversation and share strategies, resources, or questions that museum educators are carrying with them as they reimagine their school programs. Join MESC for the third iteration of this conversation designed as an educator-led, participatory discussion. Participants will be divided into breakout groups for specific topic discussion in order to build a shared collection of resources. Captioning available upon request. If you would like captioning, please email mescbiz@gmail.com by October 18th.
Send any questions or topics of interest you wish to discuss during the event to mescbiz@gmail.com by Monday, October 25.
September sessions: bringing politics & activism into exhibitions
SESSION 2 : Awareness Isn't Enough: Bringing Activism into Exhibitions in Meaningful Ways
WHEN : Wednesday, September 29, 2021, 1 - 2 pm (recording available to ticket holders)
ABOUT : Building upon Session 1, this session will explore how exhibitions incorporate calls to action into their exhibition narratives and consider the efficacy of these endeavors.
About Muse Series: An online educational series to help you up your exhibits game, spark some inspiration, and challenge you to reimagine your future exhibitions in light of the past year. Each session is designed to be a combination of inspiration and application, leaving attendees motivated and confident in incorporating session topics into their exhibition practice.
Each online session will last 1 hour. Attendees are encouraged to participate during the live session, although session recordings will be available to ticket holders.
About the creator and host: Emma Thorne-Christy is an exhibition designer and community organizer based in Los Angeles, California. She works with museums, libraries, and cultural centers to design imaginative learning environments that challenge and inspire visitors. While working towards her M.F.A. in Museum Exhibition Design, her research focused on the intersection of museum exhibitions and community organizing. She is one of the brains behind Free the Museum Project, an initiative to activate the “museum experience” in the world around us. Her article for Museum Next in May of 2020, "In Defense of the Physical Exhibition: A plea not to 'move' exhibitions online," went viral in the wake of the closing of museums throughout the world in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
September sessions: bringing politics & activism into exhibitions
SESSION 1 : Exhibiting Politics: Addressing Political Subjects in the Gallery
WHEN : Monday, September 13, 2021, 1 - 2 pm (recording available to ticket holders)
ABOUT : This session will focus on 4 different exhibitions that tackle the same political subject (the U.S. incarceration system) and explore the best practices shared between them.
About Muse Series: An online educational series to help you up your exhibits game, spark some inspiration, and challenge you to reimagine your future exhibitions in light of the past year. Each session is designed to be a combination of inspiration and application, leaving attendees motivated and confident in incorporating session topics into their exhibition practice.
Each online session will last 1 hour. Attendees are encouraged to participate during the live session, although session recordings will be available to ticket holders.
About the creator and host: Emma Thorne-Christy is an exhibition designer and community organizer based in Los Angeles, California. She works with museums, libraries, and cultural centers to design imaginative learning environments that challenge and inspire visitors. While working towards her M.F.A. in Museum Exhibition Design, her research focused on the intersection of museum exhibitions and community organizing. She is one of the brains behind Free the Museum Project, an initiative to activate the “museum experience” in the world around us. Her article for Museum Next in May of 2020, "In Defense of the Physical Exhibition: A plea not to 'move' exhibitions online," went viral in the wake of the closing of museums throughout the world in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2021 MESC Annual Institute looks at the ongoing evolution of accessibility in museum education and institutions. How have we shifted to provide remote access to our programs and collections during the pandemic and how can we continue these practices after reopening? How can we provide authentic space and support for communities that have historically felt unwelcome in our galleries? How can we adopt more inclusive teaching practices and center multiple languages in programs and didactics? Accessibility can and should be a central goal of museum educators and our institutions. Join us as we share ongoing accessibility work, engage in reflective dialogue, and collectively imagine how museums can better prioritize access for the diverse communities they serve.
Keynote Speakers
Leah Van der Mei (she/her), Director of Public Operations and Access, California Academy of Sciences and Founder of Museums4Inclusion
Madison Zalopany (she/her), Director of Community Programs and Engagement, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Breakout Session Facilitators
Keidra Chaney (she/her), Writer and Digital Strategist
Holly M. Crawford (they/them), Director of Education, ESMoA
Annie Roos (she/her), Accessibility Educator and Museum Educator, MOCA
Bernardo Velez Rico (he/him), Manager of Off-site School Programs, Dallas Museum of Art
Schedule
Wednesday, May 26 1:00 - 3:00 PM (PDT)
1:00 PM- 2:15 PM Keynote Conversation and Q + A
2:15 - 2:30 PM Break
2:30 - 3:00 PM Lightning Talks
Thursday, May 27 1:00 - 3:00 PM (PDT)
1:00 - 2:00 PM Breakout Sessions
2:00 - 2:15 PM Break
2:15 - 2:50 PM Discussion Groups
2:50 - 3:00 PM MESC Announcements
Accessibility:
MESC is committed to providing opportunities for all of our members and the larger community to participate in our programs and engage with one another.
MESC will provide live captioning, ASL interpretation, and a Spanish interpreter on May 26. If you would like to request any of these accessibility services for May 27 please contact mescbiz@gmail.com by May 20.
Ticket Pricing is based on a sliding scale (according to means)
Pay What You Can (Suggested Sliding Scale $10-$20)
If you are a MESC member, we suggest paying $10-$15 for your ticket, according to your means. If you are not a MESC member, we suggest paying $15-$20 for your ticket, according to your means. *Note: No one turned away for lack of funds!
Ticket + MESC Essentials Swag Bundle ($35)
Donate $35 and receive ticket admission and our MESC Essentials Swag Bundle - which includes a MESC pen, gaiter, and notebook (Please provide your preferred shipping address)
Ticket + Community Builder Swag Bundle ($45)
Donate $45 and receive ticket admission and our MESC Community Builder Bundle - which includes a MESC pen, sticker, gaiter, notebook, and tote. (Please provide your preferred shipping address.)
Ticket + MESC Changemaker ($60) Swag Bundle
Donate $65 and receive ticket admission and our MESC Changemaker Bundle - which includes a MESC pen, sticker, gaiter, notebook, and tote AND a MESC membership - you will save $15 on a membership! (Please provide your preferred shipping address.)
How can arts institutions welcome teen audiences, provide them with real opportunities, and center their ideas?
Join programmers and teens from Las Fotos Project, Center Theater Group, and MOCA for a conversation about best practices for authentic teen programming. High school students who are interested in learning more about teen opportunities in Los Angeles are encouraged to join the conversation!
Panelists:
Alanna Araujo, Community Engagement Coordinator, Las Fotos Project
Celeste Umana, Las Fotos Project Student Rep
Felipe M. Sanchez, Program Manager, Emerging Artists & Arts Professionals, Center Theater Group
Ariana Magana, Center Theater Group Student Ambassador Program Alum
Michelle Antonisse, Manager of School and Teen Programs, MOCA
Siena Taylor, MOCA Teen Program Participant
In the absence of in-person networking throughout the past year, Emerging Arts Leaders/Los Angeles and Museum Educators of Southern California invite you to join us for Creative Conversations bringing together arts professionals and emerging arts leaders for intimate discussions around the power of intentional connections and building a professional community. Attendees will have the opportunity to engage in small group conversations with established leaders in the field and more.
SCHEDULE
10:00 - 10:15 am Welcome & Land Acknowledgement
10:15 - 10:25 am Breathing Activity with Jimmy Cabrera Jr
10:25 - 10:55 am Keynote by Gustavo Herrera
10:55 - 11:25 am Roundtable 1
11:25 - 11:30 am Break
11:30 - 12:00 pm Roundtable 2
12:00 - 12:15 pm Open Networking
Jimmy Cabrera Jr is a licensed psychotherapist and Reiki Master in private practice. He's also worked extensively with severely mentally ill and chronically homeless people, leading individual and group mindful awareness practices at various agencies. He worked at the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services in the Twin Towers Correctional Facility for 5 years, conducting 1:1 mental health assessments for inmate patients.
Tonantzin Carmelo is a SAG award nominated American actress, cast as a lead and supporting actress for feature films, television, video games and theater. Most recent on-screen work includes guest stars on Undone (where she also was the choreographer and cultural consultant) Animal Kingdom, and the Son. She has voiced lead characters in six major Video Games including this year’s Cyber Punk. Most recently on stage she was cast in the Native Voices production of Pure Native and created the choreography for the opera Sweetland by the Industry. Carmelo forged a performing path though native dances and music touring with cultural groups throughout North America, while also developing as a technically trained dancer and performing modern dance. She recorded 3 albums with Canyon records as a percussionist and singer while earning her degree from UC Irvine in Environmental Studies and Dance. She is a documented descendent of the Tongva and Kumeyaaay of Southern California, as well as of New Mexican and Mexican heritage.
Gustavo was appointed as Arts for LA’s Executive Director in December 2018.
Most recently, Gustavo served as the Western Regional Director for Young Invincibles (YI), where he set strategic direction and advanced YI’s policy priorities on health care, higher education, jobs, and civic engagement for the region. Prior to his policy advocacy role, Gustavo was the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes (LAPCA), overseeing the day-to-day operation of a county museum, including the oversight of a master plan committee responsible for developing three acres of additional museum campus. From 2010-2012, Gustavo led the Maestro Foundation, a classical music and performance arts foundation. Between 2007-2010, he assessed and recommended business growth strategies in the US marketplace for the global Fortune 500 Company, American Honda Motors, Co.
Gustavo holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from American Jewish University and a dual Bachelor of Arts in Global Studies with an emphasis in socio-politics and economics and Art History from the University of California Santa Barbara. Gustavo serves on the Board of Directors of California Forward, Mt. San Antonio College Foundation and Californians for the Arts. He is an Advisory Board Member for the California Physician’s Alliance and the American Jewish University MBA Program.
Eric V. Ibarra is a social entrepreneur and a visionary leader who brings greater resources to nonprofit and for-profit social impact spaces. Through community-based programs and collaborations, Eric aims to prepare youth of color for creative careers resulting in their self-empowerment and life-long economic success. Founder of Las Fotos Project, a mentoring organization that provides free photography classes to teenage girls, Eric executed strategic initiatives, developed branding and marketing campaigns, and designed culturally-relevant programming in his role of Executive Director. His innovative foresight as a leader has bridged together a collaborative, team-building culture that has introduced youth to creative entrepreneurship and economic independence. Eric’s latest social impact venture, The Euclid Company, works with nonprofit organizations to build sustainable creative social enterprise programs that offer transitional-employment and full-time employment opportunities for Black, Indigenous, and Youth of Color (BIYOC).
Esperanza Sanchez is the Associate Curator at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes. She holds a Master of Arts in History with a focus on public history and a Bachelor of Arts in History with an emphasis on US, Europe, and Latin America foreign relations, and a minor in sociology, both from California State University, Northridge. She previously held archival, curatorial, and educational positions at the Autry Museum of the American West, the Museum of Latin American Art, and California State University, Northridge.
She has co-curated Linda Vallejo: Brown Belongings, ¡Ya Basta! The East LA Walkouts and the Power of Protest and Artists Assemble! Empowerment and Inspiration in Contemporary Comics. She is working on a new upcoming exhibition, Patriotism In Conflict: Fighting for Country and Comunidad.
Her museum work has received mention in The LA Times, KCET Artbound, KPPC, Huffington Post, and many others.
LA-native Justen Leroy is a sound artist and curator with a focus on uplifting Black narratives and creating access to contemporary art in inner-city communities. Through his work with The Underground Museum, BLKNWS and his network SON., he has helped bring provoking exhibitions and public programming to Los Angeles that challenge communities to reimagine how they see the many worlds around them. Recently, he produced LEAVE A MESSAGE, a community-driven, interactive soundscape, as part of the Hammer Museum’s Made In LA 2020 Biennial.
Kirsten Schaffer is the Executive Director of Women In Film, Los Angeles, the preeminent organization that advocates for women in the screen industries – to achieve parity and transform culture. She has been instrumental in launching ReFrame, an industry-wide initiative to advance inclusivity and gender equity, as well as starting a variety of programs at Women In Film to increase the skill set and opportunity for film and TV makers. Previously she was the Director of Programming and then Executive Director of Outfest. She is widely credited as having grown Outfest into the leading LGBT media arts organization that it is. During Schaffer’s tenure at Outfest, she shepherded three new programs for the organization: The Outfest UCLA Legacy Project, the Fusion LGBT People of Color Film Festival and OutSet, the Young Filmmakers Project. Kirsten has extensive experience in film programming, small business management and arts administration. She is a graduate of the National Arts Strategies Chief Executive Program, AIM (Arts Innovation and Management), and the Wells Fargo New Executive Director Institute. Kirsten was named one of POWER UP’s “Top 10 Women in Show Business,” and was the recipient of a “Women in Business” Award from Senator Liu. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Maren Dougherty is the Director, Marketing & Communications at the San Diego Convention Center. In ordinary times, she leads public relations and branding activity for the waterfront facility. During the pandemic, she is managing the organization's communications regarding COVID-19 and the use of the building as an emergency homeless shelter. Prior to this role, she was the Executive Vice President of Communications and Visitor Experience at the Autry Museum of the American West. During her six years there, her responsibilities expanded to include oversight of visitor services, public and educational programming, government relations, membership, store, and cafe. She has also served as the Director of External Affairs for the Balboa Park Online Collaborative, a museum technology project serving more than 20 cultural institutions. A graduate of Northwestern University, Maren has written for publications such as Fodor’s San Diego, San Diego Union-Tribune, and National Geographic Adventure.
Rebekah Harding has many talents, but her superpower is being able to solve problems quickly and efficiently. As the CEO of Clover Strategic Consulting, she helps transform museums and nonprofits into inclusive and equitable spaces, centering work on valuing people. Rebekah applies a systems-thinking approach, prioritizing how policies and processes interconnect from leadership down to ground level. Rebekah values transparency, curiosity, empathy, and action. Prior to consulting, Rebekah spent 10 years working in museum education and civic engagement in Los Angeles, CA. She currently holds leadership positions with the American Alliance of Museum’s Education Committee and the Museum Educators of Southern California. When Rebekah is not in a museum, she travels the world with her family, exploring new places and culture. She also enjoys debate and passionately believes that raisins do not belong in baked goods.
