Workshops
My driving passion as an art educator and organizer is constructing intentional spaces and art programming that heal the cracks that drive our society apart.
What I Do
I develop and implement cutting-edge pedagogy that meets the ever-changing needs of a number of populations in Los Angeles, the Midwest and beyond. My programming prepares BIPOC youth to enter the creative industries with confidence, resilience and an entrepreneurial spirit. Whether my students are with me for a day or a year, our time together encourages them to strive towards their goals and develop the healthy habits that will take them towards success.
Why I Do It
I teach art workshops and hold space for youth because I know what it’s like to figure out a path as the ‘other’ in a culture very different from my own. I didn’t have any role models growing up and I got into a ton of trouble because nobody ever showed me what it looked like to be a successful young adult of color. Now I’m in a position where I can create opportunities for BIPOC youth and connect them with other potential mentors that can speed up their success and hopefully avoid some of the pitfalls I fell into. I was lucky to make it through my adolescence in one piece and out the other side, but I work hard to make sure that youth today don’t have to be so lucky.
Why It Matters
The burnout rate of youth and educators is at an all-time high. The combined strains of a global pandemic, climate change, economic uncertainty, and a fractured political system are eroding the mental health and quality of life of every member of our society. Our public education system was developed in the industrial revolution and isn’t preparing youth to meet the serious challenges of our time. We need contemporary solutions and approaches to contemporary problems. The stakes are too high to simply accept the systems that put us in this situation in the first place.
Some Metrics
Workshops
Since 2020, I've facilitated 450+ workshops, of which more than 240 were virtual and 210 were in person.
Students
Since 2020, I've served 1,000+ students, including incarcerated youth in several facilities in Wisconsin and Los Angeles.
Job Sites
I possess more than 10 years of professional teaching experience in both Spanish and English, working across 40+ job sites.
Below are workshops I’ve facilitated throughout my professional career as an arts organizer. I currently run the advanced students arts program for artworxLA, providing youth with professional opportunities, as well as organize panels and events. Costs considered and time permitting, I’m willing to travel for other professional engagements.
What I’ve Done
Make Something! Installation
Organizing in-person art workshops during COVID times is strange, but once in a while you still manage to catch a little bit of magic. On a sunny Saturday in February, 9 teenagers from every corner of Los Angeles County came together for a poster design/wheatpaste...
Hamilton Middle School STEAM Program
I’m going on five years living in Long Beach and the only opportunity I’ve ever had to work with the youth of the city was through this STEAM summer camp. The idea was to match working artists with experienced educators to create a dynamic learning environment where...
Clothing Design Bubbler Residency
Summer of 2021 I had the opportunity to fly back to Madison for my first in-person workshop series since the pandemic started. It was originally supposed to be two three-day experiences at the youth shelter and juvenile detention center, but there happened to be no...
Angel’s Gate
Angel’s Gate were the first folks that saw the potential in me when I was laid off and staring at a ceiling all day in the depths that were the winter of 2020. For that I’ll be forever grateful. They put me to work in February of 2021 with -nine- classrooms a week;...
South Gate Museum
South Gate Museum will always have a special place in my heart. In the depths of 2020 when I was laid off from both of my jobs and with no kind of job security in sight, they created opportunities for me to teach workshops and get back to business. I had recently...
‘So You Wanna Be an Ally’
Summer 2020. What a time, what a place. The only reason to be outdoors in the height of a pandemic was to fight against a broken correctional and policing system that’s cost too many lives to date. The street protests in Long Beach got extinguished quickly once the...
Laser-Cut Wood Plaques: artworxLA
In the winter of 2019-2020, I ran two classrooms at Camp Joseph Paige, a youth prison camp in the mountains east of LA. I also taught workshops at a Community Day School in Compton. We were severely limited in the kinds of materials we were allowed to use. I’ve taught...
Multi-Layer Spray Paint Stencils: ArtworxLA
As a community-based artist, working with kids inspires my art practice, and my art practice generates content that I can then share with the kids. For example, in the fall of 2019 I just so happened to make a 13ftx20ft mural featuring a repeating pattern of 5 layer...
National Library Association Presentation
Team Bubbler Forever! Even though it was just four months after I’d left them to move to Long Beach, the wonderful folks at Madison Public Library invited me to join them as part of their presentation at the National Library Association’s annual conference in...
Unless otherwise specified, artworks on this website are my own and shouldn't be reproduced without my - Carlos E. Garchaná's - written consent. Thank you!