Students in the Spring 2025 Arts Ed 20 course working on an in-class activity. Photo by VAPAE staff.

The Opening

VAPAE Program Coordinator Anjelica Zamora (left) and Program Assistant Emma Steiner (right) tabling at The Opening event. Photo by VAPAE staff.

Program Coordinator's Opening Reflection

Last week, VAPAE’s new Program Assistant Emma Steiner and I were able to welcome new and returning students at the School of Art and Architecture’s back to school celebration, The Opening. We were able to introduce students to what VAPAE has to offer this school year, including new classes to look forward to and the core of VAPAE, the Arts Education Teaching Sequence (AETS). We are excited to see new faces join the VAPAE community through our courses taught by our wonderful lecturers and see our existing students continue to learn what it means to be a teaching artist. 

AE 101: From Viewing to Engagement: A Teaching Artist’s Practice of Comics and Illustrations in the 
Photographic Archive

Marta Valier, new VAPAE lecturer. 
Photo by Marta Valier.

New VAPAE lecturer Marta Valier is a journalist, curator, and teaching artist who works at the crossroads of images, visual narratives, and text. This quarter, in Arts Ed 101, she is eager to guide students in reimagining archival images through comics, graphic narratives, and other creative practices. With a background that bridges documentary work and the visual arts, Marta looks forward to experimenting alongside the class, finding new ways to make art an active, accessible tool for visibility, connection, and transformation. 

AE 101: Strategies for Facilitation: Body & Voice Awareness for Teaching & Public Speaking

Students creating mosaics during VAPAE lecturer Christine Suarez's Creative Aging course last academic year. Photo by VAPAE staff.

VAPAE lecturer Christine Suarez is excited to return this Fall teaching Arts Ed 101: Strategies for Facilitation: Body & Voice Awareness for Teaching & Public Speaking. She's eager to jump into ways to more deeply access the expressivity of our voices and bodies. She looks forward to the collective exploration of what it means to be embodied and finding different entry points of connection to our individual ‘Voice.’ This course incorporates exercises to strengthen the voice, such as Pilates and the Alexander Technique, along with different approaches to find ease and efficiency in the body and mind. 

AE M102: Introduction to Arts Education for Multiple Publics: History, Theory & Practice   

VAPAE lecturer Robin Branch-Scott celebrating the culmination of her Arts Education Teaching Sequence cohort. Photo by VAPAE staff.

Returning VAPAE lecturer Robin Branch-Scott is so grateful for the lecturers of this course in the past, especially lecturer Joannza Lo, whose brilliant work has provided a strong foundational blueprint for this course. She looks forward to working along with her students to build a strong, dynamic community of creative warriors, where they can cultivate critical conversations that tap into the transformative power of the arts and education. Together, they will explore one’s self-expression, collaboration, and creativity through the lens of social justice, social emotional learning, and culturally relevant pedagogy.  

AE M192: Arts Education Teaching Practicum: Preparation, Observation, and Practice

VAPAE lecturer Dr. Lora Cawelti leading an activity in her AE M102 course during the Spring 2025 quarter. Photo by VAPAE staff.

Dr. Lora Cawelti is returning to teach AE M192, the second course in the three-quarter long arts education teaching sequence. This quarter, returning students will head out into the field, visiting school sites and arts classrooms in LAUSD, while continuing to unpack topics around arts pedagogy, working in school and community settings, and the creative process. She is looking forward to welcoming her students back and can't wait to hear how they unpack school site observations and continue to apply their creativity and artistry to creating lessons for local students. 

VAPAE Research & Evaluation Specialist Dr. Lindsey Kunisaki (left) presenting at the Arts for LA State of the Arts Summit in October 2024. Photo by Paul Ulukpo.

Looking Forward with VAPAE's Research & Evaluation Specialist Dr. Lindsey Kunisaki

This academic year, I’m excited for upcoming research projects that will investigate teaching artist career pathways, career resilience, and work satisfaction. I hope the findings will fuel VAPAE’s growth to meet the urgent need for nearly 5,500 more arts teachers statewide. Stay tuned for more updates to come!

VAPAE relies on and is grateful for any and all support to help us maintain our mission to train the next generation of teaching artists and provide quality arts education to Title I schools throughout Los Angeles. Any amount is appreciated to help our program thrive. Check out our Giving Page to learn more.