Art Teacher, designer, and Commercial Photographer. Offering cross-functional competencies in art instruction, event organizing/promotion, and program management. Skilled in teaching Advanced Placement Studio Art, in 2D, 3D, and drawing. Accustomed to working under fast-paced, academic, deadline-oriented, and time-sensitive conditions with short notice and little or no instruction while managing multiple responsibilities simultaneously. Superior process mapping, troubleshooting, critical thinking, and complex problem-solving skills in addition to strong written, oral, and technical aptitude.
Signature Skills & Capabilities Certified Professional Photographer with publications that include “Americano design\" and \"Black, white & color.\" Exemplary work on individual projects captured in an extensive portfolio online collection that depicts a high level of artistic creativity. Skilled in a variety of functions, including foundation-level Design Professor, Artist/Photographer, Landscape Photographer, School Lead Art Liaison Coordinator, and bilingual Spanish/English communicator. Experienced motivating, developing, and satisfying the thirst for art in students. Successful at turning around lackluster performance and disengagement among the students into award-winning artistry Took the initiative to direct several different creative photographs based on vision, styles, and objectives. Empowered students to create photographic stories and prove their accomplishments on the College Board Studio Art reading commission.
Professional Qualifications and Distinctions: Multiple awards, including NatGeo.com \"Photo of the Day” Masters of Hasselblad, 2008 semifinalist. 2017 finalist Teacher of the Year, Illinois Network of Charters Schools
Additional Skills: Full-Color/B & W Work, Design Planning/Execution, Project Management/Leadership, Photo Correction/Manipulation, Client Relations/Support, Graphics/Image Creation & Editing, Custom/Digital Illustration, Photograph/Color Editing, Typeface Production/Typography, Document/Page Layout, Proposals & Presentations
Professional Experience:
AP STUDIO ART, ART TEACHER, AND SCHOOL ART LIAISON – Aspira Early College High School, Chicago, IL 2014 - Present As the Advanced Placement Studio Art Teacher, utilize creative acumen and organizational principles to develop, inspire, and promote the love of art among students, improve student engagement, and improve the quality of education. Challenged to turn around a class that had little to no interest in art and substantial behavioral issues Created innovative strategies to teach these students courses in photography, drawing, painting, and 3D/sculpture. Reinvigorated the desire and love of art through art making, exhibitions, creative discussions, visiting museums and exhibitions, participation in competitions dealing with the arts, and working on community commissions Motivate and empower students to go above and beyond to achieve the following accomplishments Winning citywide competitions, including the Congressional Art contest sponsored by Congressman Luis Gutierrez representing the 4th District of Illinois for three years consecutive Participating in essential exhibitions organized by the CPS Art department and the Art Institute of Chicago, such as the Senior\'s Portfolio and the All City exhibition. Participating in the \'Around the Corner\' art exhibition organized by the Northwest Arts Connection and the Hairpin Center in Chicago. Achievements led the school’s art program to receive a certification of \"Strong” by the “5 essential survey”; Received recognition from Walgreens for inspiring such greatness in the student participants in their art contest. Upon opening the AP Studio Art class in the academic 2016-2017 school year, accomplished the following: Submitted portfolios achieved an average of 4 points, above the National average, and 90% of passing scores for students.
FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER – Own
1999 - 2014 Optimized and supported campaigns by capturing images to tell compelling stories. Leveraged exceptional qualitative, quantitative, customer service, and technical acumen to identify project scope/specifications and work to develop a concept. Captured and processed images while consistently improving image quality through effective editing techniques. Arrange objects, scenes, lighting, and background in adherence to specifications. Achieved the status of Semifinalist in the Master of Hasselblad contest, the hardest international photographic competition. Created a workflow where photographers could work with multiple settings using a support team to drive efficiency improvements in the in-house studio and reduce costs. Generated a 300%+ increase in efficiency and created an efficient in-house photo studio reducing to zero the dependency on outside vendors. Additional History
Lead Arts Liaison, Chicago Charters schools, 2017-2018 Advisory Team Member, Till School, 2016-2018 Freelance Photographer, Demand Media, 2013-2015 Marketing Coordinator, Bernie from Gurnee State Farm, 2013-2014 Photographer, LTD Commodities, 2004-2012 Education Master of Arts in Teaching, North Park University, Chicago. (Expected Spring 2020) Professional Photography, New York Institute of Photography Graphic Design, Industrial Design Superior Institute, Havana Cuba, Painting and Graphic Design, Moscow State University of Printing Arts, Russian Federation Design and Applied Arts, Moscow State University of Printing Arts (MGUP) 3-Years Scholarship, Bachelor of Arts, Graphic Design, Instituto Politecnico de Diseno Industrial, Havana Cuba
Awards & Recognition
Finalist Teacher of the year 2017-18 of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools Top 20 of the day, Week, and Month by Pixoto natgeo.com \"Photo of the Day\" on April 6th, 2013 natgeo.com, 10 best of October, 2012