Young Writers and Artists Curator · NYU Abu Dhabi · Achrakat El Fitory

Hi, I’m Achrakat El Fitory, Young Writers and Artists Curator/Community Organizer celebrating the creative and educational community of the Middle East. I’m from Libya, Egypt, and Morocco, and I’m studying at New York University, Abu Dhabi. I am majoring in Philosophy and Legal Studies, with a minor in Music. Having lived in Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco, France, and now the UAE. I am excited to share what the Middle-Eastern/North-African region has to offer on the artistic and cultural scenes. I am particularly interested in Arab and African arts as a form of revolt, especially poetry, education in post-war countries, transitional justice, human rights, and Sufism.
I am a painter, who particularly enjoys using charcoal, and plays Celtic harp. As a biracial person, I am also very passionate about race, racism, and identity issues, and aim to highlight African-Arab artists’ response/reaction to these topics, using various materials/platforms. I am honored to be part of The Creative Process and am looking forward to collaborating on celebrating the art of teaching, community/arts programs, and creative expression in the Middle East and North Africa.

Collaborating Curator · Stanford University · Sheldon Ouma Otieno

Art forms the backbone of human history and inventions. As the divinity of human existence becomes more complex, so does the evolution of art, and this drives our access to understand, own and create more art. That is why I am intrigued by how technology meets art and the possible paths this sort of microcosm may lead to.

When I saw The Creative Process, I was interested in how my passion for tech could meet creativity. The topic of creativity has long been an interest for me. What is the source of creativity? I am looking forward to doing a creative project that celebrates art, science, design, and how this converges with technology.

Let me tell you a story. I like music. I think being an introvert, someone who was battling self-esteem, I turned to music for fighting negative thoughts. However, I always believed I could sing, so I wrote songs and I did spoken word, too. But my parents were like, “No, you should go back to your studies. You need to get something valuable to do with your life.” So, I understand the process of creating art, and how important music really is.

I’m doing a program at Stanford called Structural Liberal Education where we interact with art a lot, in terms of writing, so that sparked my interest. When I came across The Creative Process, I was like why not? How would it be to reconnect with my old creative self, but this time from a different perspective.

Young Writers and Artists Curator & Podcaster · NYU · Olivia Ottaviano

When I was in second grade I was such an anxious kid. I cared so much about how others perceived me and, most notably, what they thought of my writing and my grades. My second-grade teacher would ask for volunteers to read their works out loud, but if I was not picked first I would automatically begin to compare my work to every student that stepped up to read there's. I could never get over my own insecurity to raise my hand. My teacher began to notice my growing fear and hesitation, so what he would do is instead of letting students volunteer he would just choose randomly, forcing me to step out of my comfort zone and be confident in my work and abilities. While that is now over 10 years ago, it had a lasting effect on how I view my own work. I should not compare my work to others because I am not them and they are not me; it is unique and personal. I enjoy writing poetry and am currently pursuing a Creative Writing minor in conjunction with my Anthropology major. Some of my recent fieldwork projects were in a tea shop in the West Village, and engaging with circus performers and exploring the art form through members of the community in the New York area.

Associate Podcast Producer & Interviewer · Syracuse University · Yuki Jiang

I'm from Shenyang, China and majoring in Broadcasting, Digital Journalism and IT at Syracuse University. Storytelling and creativity is so important. Your inner thoughts are a measure of your own creativity, so be brave to express them, and don’t be afraid whether they will be understood or accepted by others because there will always be someone who appreciates your distinctive thoughts. By collaborating with The Creative Process, I am taking part in interviews with a focus on notable creative thinkers from Syracuse University and NY State, as well as engaging with participants in different parts of the world and obtaining insights from notable international figures. This allows me to build upon my academic background in cross-media news and multimedia storytelling. I have developed and honed strong writing and moment-catching skills through articles and video blogging in the last four years. I have worked on many projects, the most current being a Marijuana Project for the Campus & Culture Team, of which I am a member. I have also followed a local foundation going to the countryside near Shenyang and reporting on current events in the Chinese countryside. It is rare to find opportunities to do real interviews as a reporter in well-known TV stations, however, I have been fortunate enough to find several such experiences. The most notable of my experiences is that I collaborated with 4 reporters working as a trainee reporter who interviewed people including athletes, edited videos and created a TV program about Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, 2020. As part of the team, I have interviewed people on the street and collaborated on various aspects of video editing. This experience allows me to get in touch with different people and tell their stories. I'm looking forward to collaborating, learning how entertainment stars become famous, and discovering more about PR teams behind the scenes with The Creative Process.

Collaborating Curator (Gender, Sexuality & Activism) · Boston University · Kara Louise Webb

Collaborating with The Creative Process on curation, I am helping to celebrate the educational and creative community of Boston University with a special focus on gender, sexuality, and activism. I have served as the President of BU's Center for Gender, Sexuality and Activism, the only student-run facility on campus. As President, I have built programs, managed external events, and organized workshops to cross-train members of the community and reach out effectively to those in need. The Center has over four-hundred student volunteers and alumni, and so it's a great opportunity to celebrate their voices and creative works as part of exhibitions traveling to other universities and communities. I am also looking forward to taking part in podcasts and sharing my poetry alongside the work of other writers, artists, and activists.

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In high school, our school was lucky enough to have funding for a student-run literary magazine. Being a poet, I was curious about contributing, but after attending the wrong meeting one day, I found that I was also extremely interested in curating art pieces from students for the magazine, as well as learning Adobe InDesign and actually building the magazine. I worked with our student magazine (zephyr) for two years, both as the layout editor and the editor-in-chief. It was a really moving experience because I got to see more sides of a creative process that I could've otherwise taken for granted. Now, I am so much more open to learning about all of what it takes to put together a collaborative piece, whether it be a showcase or publication. Along with this, having the responsibility of editor-in-chief during my senior year taught me that I crave roles in which I can exceed expectations and teach others so they may be successful as well. I have always been interested in writing as the core from which other creative disciplines stem. I've been expanding my writing to be more self-involved and reflective, pushing myself to write more pieces about my experience with race and gender and the intersection of POC and sexuality. I'm currently in the second draft stage of a book of poems I hope to release in February.

Associate Podcast Producer · University of Washington · Yi Chen Wang

As a literature fan, I enjoy talking about the human condition and how it is portrayed in various literary works. It is interesting getting to know the artists behind creative pieces, what their purpose and values are, as well as what drives them to create these pieces of work. I'd love to take on an independent video project featuring authors, artists, and other creatives. The purpose of the film is to celebrate their contributions and getting to know them as people. 

I have worked with the student government at the UW on a film to raise awareness of sexual assault. I interviewed 5 survivors and made their stories into an art film showcased across the school's multiple social media platforms. Currently, I am working on another film on Asian American identity for my Mandarin column in Singapore's national newspaper. 

In the future, I'm hoping to get into more podcast/video productions. I'd love to do more of interviewing creatives and curating content for Seattle and Singapore (my hometown).

Associate Podcast Producer & Interviewer · Northwestern · Allison Clare Theveny

Through collaboration with The Creative Process, I am exploring how writers and filmmakers specifically create, asking what artists and artistic and academic institutions in general believe about the impact and purpose of their creations, and learning how to engage individuals in deeper, more meaningful conversations with the ideas and art that drive our world. 

Before beginning to collaborate with The Creative Process, I was struck by how the specificity of the questions inspired answers that spoke to the creative process and creative power on a more universal scale. In other words, I noticed how deep engagement with the art or work itself revealed greater truth than more general questions might. I am very interested in such conversations and also learning how to craft these kinds of questions. Similarly, in reading about how TCP tailors the exhibition to each community and region and encourages creative responses and educational initiatives in each location, I realized there might be an opportunity for me to observe and support the call-and-response between art and individuals and institutions. 

I have had experiences that have peaked my interest in how to inspire meaningful conversation with important thinkers like Dr. Alan Greenspan; how to connect individuals to the treasures of cultural institutions like the Folger Shakespeare Library; and, ultimately, why engagement with the humanities matters, as someone who has always engaged with the arts. In collaborating with The Creative Process, however, I am weaving these separate, but related threads into a greater tapestry of understanding.

Recent Projects & Plans for the Future 

I supported the writing and publication of the former Chair of the Federal Reserve Dr. Alan Greenspan and Economist editor and columnist Dr. Adrian Wooldridge’s book, Capitalism in America, from its inception in 2015 through its publication on October 16, 2018. This support included historical research, editorial assistance, and a variety of logistical and practical responsibilities that required me to liaison with the publishing team, the press, and various educational and cultural institutions. This experience, coupled with work I did as an undergraduate that focused on the relationship between narrative and ideological power, deepened my fascination with the role storytelling plays in defining our world; in shaping the political and societal beliefs that, in turn, inspire real-world action.

I was a member of the team that launched the Folger Shakespeare Library’s Wonder of Will Campaign, which, through an innovative building project, seeks to protect and enhance the public’s ability to access the library’s unparalleled collection and, therefore, engage with Shakespeare and his world in the present day. As the assistant in the Executive Offices, I helped translate the overarching vision for the campaign into the smaller scale, concrete details that needed attention prior to and in the months after our official launch at our 2019 Gala. This work exposed me to the importance of crafting a tangible and tactile experience of the humanities and consequently made me intensely curious about how this is done not only for Shakespeare and the early modern world, but also for art in all its forms.

For the past three years, I have served as a screener/reviewer for the DC Shorts International Film Festival. In this capacity, I have had the opportunity to watch, review, and recommend short films and screenplays created by filmmakers from all over the world, which has at once disrupted and reinforced my understanding of what defines compelling storytelling and has demonstrated the importance of engaging with diverse voices. Some of the works I recommended received wider critical acclaim and distribution (i.e., Period. End of Sentence, a short documentary about the impact a sanitary pad machine has on a community of Indian women, won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject at the 91st Academy Awards and is now available on Netflix), while others I recommended were not selected for our festival and nonetheless remain imprinted upon my consciousness. 

I am now pursuing my Master of Fine Arts in Writing for the Screen and Stage at Northwestern University alongside eleven other MFA candidates. While living in Chicago, I also intend to build upon my experience in the DC improv comedy community by auditioning for Second City’s Conservatory. As a student of scene-work/theatre and as an aspiring dramatic writer in general, I not only wish to strengthen my own voice, but also to dig more deeply into and ultimately challenge my ideas about the definition, construction, and impact of storytelling. In fact, I have chosen to pursue a MFA, a less direct route to a creative career, because I care deeply about examining the how, why, and to what effect of storytelling. Via a MFA and at Northwestern—which requires theory-based courses—in particular, I can pursue and wed the academic and the creative. This is also why I wish to continue improvising because improv, as an art form, zeros in upon the scene and asks both artists and the audiences to build upon each scene throughout the course of an ephemeral, never-to-be-seen-again show. In other words, improv celebrates and interrogates the process of creating, which is what I ultimately hope my future studies and career will likewise do.

Young Writers & Artists Curators & Community Organizer · University of Washington · Iris Thatcher

During my sophomore year of high school, I remember getting back my first argumentative paper. It was an analysis on Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. When I looked at the grade, I was immediately disappointed. The grade was dismal. There was a short, but decisive comment: “This paper is basically just a summary.” At the time, I didn’t understand what that meant. However, I decided to talk to Mr. Kiehn about how I could improve. He was so warm and welcoming that it was easy to have a frank and productive discussion. From then on, I went to him for writing advice and techniques that I could try to implement in my papers. I learned more about sentence variation, literary devices and using a thesaurus. Being able to ask for his help allowed me to consistently advance my writing style.

As a political science student at the University of Washington (UW), I have to write at least one ten-page paper per quarter. These topics have varied from political theory, literary analyses and historical comparison essays. On each assignment, I have been challenged. However, I now have effective methods for approaching each paper head-on. By knowing how to research, outline and execute the various stages of drafting, I have been able to tackle any topic thoughtfully. Moreover, my experience with Mr. Kiehn made me more assured in asking my TAs and professors for help when I an unsure about something. I now have more confidence when I write for any assignment. Without the extra help and dedication Mr. Kiehn provided in high school, I don’t think I could have been the successful writer and student that I am today.

Future plan & current projects:

As for current projects, I’m working on altering my senior capstone so that I can submit it to the Association for the Advancement of Scandinavian Studies in Canada (AASSC) undergraduate publication award. This 25-page paper (soon to be 10-15 in order to fit the requirements for this award) is about radical right-wing parties in Europe, particularly in Finland. The paper is a proud achievement of mine. I was able to utilize my Finnish comprehension and scrutinize the political concepts that I had learned about during my time at UW.

At UW, I majored in Finnish Language and Political Economy. This is a niche focus that I really enjoyed, so I am now applying to MA programs in either international political economy with a focus in Europe or European politics with a focus in international political economy. I also applied to do a Fulbright in Finland. So, at the moment, my future is completely up in the air. All I know is that in Fall 2020, I will be in a completely different place. However, for right now, I am happy just being in Seattle and working on whatever projects that might come my way.

Associate Podcast Producer & Interviewer at UC Berkeley

My name is Jo Alvarado, and I am an associate podcast producer and interviewer from UC Berkeley. I’m originally from the Philippines but am currently in Berkeley, CA. I’m double majoring in English and Comparative Literature, with French as my second language. I am so honored to be able to be apart of The Creative Process, and I am looking forward to sharing the art and stories of the incredible people around me. 

I think that my entire childhood was a journey of me falling in love with art and literature. I would lose myself in stories, but most of the time, I could never find myself in the pages of the books I was reading. I felt as though my passion for these things would fall to obscurity. When I entered my first semester at UC Berkeley and having come from a predominantly white suburb in the Central Valley, I was daunted by the prospect of being with such a large community of Filipinxs; I didn’t feel like I would belong. Then, I discovered {m}aganda Magazine, the longest-running Filipinx publication in the country. It aimed to foster critical dialogue within and across our communities through arts, literature, and education. It was a space that celebrated the heritage of Pilipino/American artists, writers, and cultural historians but that also extended their hands and voices to any and all who own truths that need to be spoken. And so, I took their hand. 

At their Open Mic Night at the beginning of the school year, I sat and listened to other artists brave the stage. Being able to see, to experience other people’s art is such a magical feeling. I felt so empowered by and so connected to all these artists that I didn’t even know. See? That’s the power of art. That’s the power of community. That’s the power of {m}aganda–to connect us all, to uplift us all. Then, other members of {m}aganda pushed me to perform one of my old spoken word poems. Those words always existed in my mind, in my mouth, and in the pages of my journal, but they never flowed freely out into the ears of others. Fraught with anxiety and cursed with shaky hands, I stood up in front of the whole room and spoke my truth. Finally. It felt kind of like flying; it was liberating, adrenaline-rushing, inspiring. Before, I was a writer to myself but never to others. But, in that moment, I stepped across that boundary. People thanked me for my words, for words that they understood but never had strung together, for words that they couldn’t find. If not for {m}, those people would have never found comfort in those words, and my narrative would still be locked behind my closed soul. This organization has given me the opportunity to be the person I never was but always wanted to be. 

Some of my recent and forthcoming projects include {m} issue 32: Indak, {m} issue 33: Babae(x): the moon and her phases, ongoing work for Gia Magazine celebrating QTPOC representation in film/tv and LGBT+ Filipinx students, and Students of Color Emerging in English: Community Zine. These are some of the underrepresented voices I am excited to share with The Creative Process community. I'm also looking forward to the opportunity to learn from and engage with international artists participating in the project.

Collaborating Curator · University of Washington · Meagan Skolnick

I feel the importance of the arts is its impact. Animated movies like Inside Out from Pixar helped me cope with my own struggle with moving states the same year as the movie's release. Music evokes a wide range of emotions and connects people together. Connections of varying degrees can be made from artwork and creativity. From writing and illustrating a story with a friend, to having an amazing mentor in new media art as a Ph.D. student, the opportunities are endless. Art is all around us. It makes people wonder, push their limits, and think outside the box. For instance, my installation art proposal relating to emotions, colors, and audience engagement is in part a result of my own wonder as to, "What if I made my idea a reality? How would that look realistically? And, what would I want the audience's interaction with the piece, as well as the impact on them to look like?"

Art can be as simple or complex as the audience chooses to make it. I have a hard time deciding whether I like artwork that is open to interpretation, or artwork that is to-the-point. Artwork that is open to interpretation allows the audience to explore their thoughts and emotions from an artwork. One can sit and stare and compare analysis as long as they wish, but the conclusion they do or do not come to is up to them. On the other hand, Artwork that has a clear message, can make the audience more aware of something, or bring more understanding to a topic at hand. An example of this is Angry Earth on Instagram. Although simple cartoons, the works posted online raise awareness and call people to act on the crisis at hand.

Creativity is important because it allows one to learn in pursuit of your goals. Creativity leads to ideas, which leads to making those ideas into realities. In doing so, one goes through trial and error; people figure out where they went wrong on a given project, and with the help of creativity, brainstorm new ways to continue in place of where they failed. Creativity inspires art to be manifested. It even inspires others' creativity. For example, discussing with a friend the different ways they could both developed their art pieces: things to add, ways it could evolve, what if it was approached from a different perspective, channeling a specific art style, or listening to a certain genre to keep the creativity and determination flowing.

Artwork by Meagan Skolnick

The Art of Teaching - Young Writers & Artists Curator & Community Organizer Mariana Pérez-Ruiz

I’m Mariana Pérez Ruiz, Young Writers and Artists Curator & Community Organizer from University of Washington. I’m from Seattle and majoring in Political Science & Spanish. I’m collaborating with The Creative Process on celebrating the art of teaching, with projects in both America and Spain (where I am currently studying and engaging with local schools).

I am a political science major with an emphasis in political economy. With my special interest I am not only interested in systems trying to operate at their maximum potential but rather I care about how this potential is “achieved”. I am interested in the govern mental systems acting as the pareto frontier and how decisions are made to achieve this and the effects those decisions have on human rights, societal issues, and the design of institutions.

Associate Podcast Producer & Collaborating Curator · Paris · Sophia Millman

Associate Podcast Producer and Collaborating Curator in Paris. I’m a recent NYU grad, and am passionate about literature and all things French. The opportunity to work on interviews with artists is really exciting to me, and I'm especially looking forward to meeting students and learning about what inspires them. I am collaborating on celebrating the art of teaching with The Creative Process and am involved in interviews and other initiatives. I enjoy teaching and have designed courses and taught at  Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut, Lycée Léonard de Vinci in Bordeaux, George Watson’s College in  Edinburgh, and  Hamilton College Writing Center in New York.

I also find conversations about books and the inspiration for works of art fascinating, so it’s exciting to take part in interviews, podcasts, and learn directly from the artists I admire.

Tell us about a teacher or librarian who made a difference in your life and helped you become the reader you are today.

When I was in eighth grade, I began volunteering in a program for young readers at my local library. Every Saturday morning, I would sort through stacks of picture books at the library, rediscovering my favorite childhood stories and deciding which I most wanted to share with my audience of kindergarteners. I would then go over my book choices with the children’s librarian, Ms. Bonnie, who showed me how to properly hold books open so that I could easily turn the pages without hiding the pictures nor disrupting the flow of the story. She also taught me to pause before each page turn in order to create a feeling of suspense. “Make sure the children have time to comment on the story,” she explained, “Interruptions are the best sign that your audience is paying attention.” 

What I loved most about these read-aloud Saturdays were my feelings of excitement and anticipation before I began reading: Would the children react as I had to the story? What questions would they ask me about it? How would their interpretations change my own understanding of the story? 

Reading becomes an increasingly solitary activity as you grow older. You no longer ask your parents or another adult to read to you, and, by the time you begin college, you’re rarely asked to read aloud to your classmates. But for me, reading has always been about sharing a story: getting to know the thoughts of a writer and then wanting to talk about those thoughts with other people. I majored in English so that I could continue discussing stories and learning about other people’s reading experiences. Reading aloud to children taught me that you often learn the most about someone by watching them react to a story. Now, having finished my degree, I hope to find new ways to share moments of literary epiphany with others. 

How have you continued your studies of French literature and culture now that you have moved to Paris?
This summer, I wrote a research paper about Simone de Beauvoir’s political activism and the way she influenced her readers’ politics during the Algerian War. I spent six weeks in the Bibliothèque nationale de France’s Beauvoir archive, where I was able to read thousands of letters that she received from readers over the course of her life. I plan to continue working on this project next year, ultimately crafting a piece of fiction inspired by these letters. 

The Art of Teaching - Young Writers & Artists Curator & Community Organizer Nikki Garcia

I’m Nikki Alejandra Garcia and I am a proud Venezuelan-American student from Miami, Florida. I am currently studying Sociology and French at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland where I serve on the executive board of the Multicultural Leadership Council, the MOSAIC Media team, and dance for Temps d’Afrique, the African dance team on campus. I am also a writer/poet. I'm delighted to be collaborating with The Creative Process on highlighting artists, education initiatives, and teachers in the Hopkins and Baltimore communities to celebrate the fine arts and the invisible art of teaching.

In my sophomore year of high school, I became an active member of the Quill & Scroll Society at my school. On Tuesdays we met in the school courtyard to workshop our creative writing and on Thursdays we walked across the street to the middle school to lead a creative writing club with some students who expressed interest and/or talent in such an activity. This after school program meant a lot to me for two reasons. First, it made me wish I had had the opportunity to learn about poetry and short stories outside of instructional time when I was in middle school. It made me wonder what it would have been like if my middle school had a literary magazine. The second reason this program meant so much to me is the experience I had as a teacher in this space. Raiders Write, as the creative writing club at the middle school was called, was an opportunity for me to hone my leadership and teaching skills as well as an opportunity to impart creative passion on very unique and intelligent students. I learned so much from their imaginations and their work.

As well as The Creative Process, I am involved with various media projects, including a podcast and video project at  Johns Hopkins University through the Office of Multicultural Affairs where I am a host. I also do outreach into the Hopkins and Baltimore community to find interesting students and community members of color who are willing to share their stories with us.

In the future, I envision myself as a high school English or Spanish teacher at a school where I also serve as a dance coach or dance class instructor in the styles of Salsa, Merengue, Bachata, or Jazz. I want to be part of the creative process in everything I do.

Associate Podcast Producer & Interviewer · NYU & École Suisse · Mica Yamaguchi

Having grown up in sunny Los Angeles, California, where the film and media corporations govern almost every aspect of society, I was introduced to the complexities of this industry from a young age. My high school, located in the center of Culver City, a town within the walls of Los Angeles County known for housing Sony Pictures and MGM Studios back in the 1970s, was lucky enough to have a partnership with the powerhouse Sony Studios in order to provide young students with camera gear, lighting equipment, and university level courses for furthering their interest in the film industry. Also known as the Academy of Visual and Performing Arts, this program attached to my high school was a vital point in the development of my interest in film and cinema, and through this program I was able to take classes in pre-production, production, and post-production processes, documentary making, scriptwriting, and more. My teacher, Ms. Butler, guided me through this definitive time in my life by supporting my love for film even when I didn’t necessarily have the knowledge, and encouraged me even when I felt as if the program was too difficult for me. My first application to join the program was denied the beginning of my sophomore year of high school due to the large amount of applicants juxtaposed with my lack of film experience; although I was unable to officially be a part of the program that year, Ms. Butler allowed me to audit the after school production courses, and by my junior year, I was able to join the program full-on, again with her aide and support throughout. Without the perseverance and encouragement that Ms. Butler provided, I’m unsure if I would be as passionate about film and cinema as I am today, let alone understand the industry and production process as well as I do thanks to the hours and hours I spent with Ms. Butler in the editing room of Culver City High School’s film room. I have had many inspiring and important teachers and professors in my life, but I will say Ms. Butler was one of the most formative in shaping my interests and knowledge in the field I inspire to be a part of in the coming years.

I am currently working on a photo project in Paris, France, focusing on the idea of friendship, love, and relationships in a city that is easy to lose yourself in. I am also furthering my French studies by attending École Suisse in Paris. I am hoping to continue my journey here in Paris or New York in the coming year, and hope to have more photo and video projects in the next few months.

International Digital Curator · University of Washington · Helen Chang

I hope through the experience of curating, I can open my eyes to all the other kinds of art and creativity in the world and how they are being presented. Being an international student my whole life, I consider myself as a traveler who enjoys explorations and diverse culture. Immersing myself in surroundings like The Creative Process with international connections, I can exchange and absorb a wide variety of cultural information. Cultures seep through art, and I hope by curating, I can understand deeper into the variety of cultures in art. Moreover, I hope this could drive me as an artist to produce more innovative work. In this age of time, presentations are also evolving with technology. The possibility for new art is infinite. I want to ride on the new wave and incorporate all that I can learn into my potential artwork.

I am a senior pursuing a double degree in Arts, majoring in Photo/media, and Science, majoring in Psychology at the University of Washington. I aim to graduate at June 2021. As I enter the fourth year of studying, I am putting these skills I have learned so far into use. Through the classes I took from both of fields, I gained a much more extensive and well-rounded perspective of the people, the society and the meaning and aesthetic of science and art. The

philosophies underlying the two fields do indeed overlap. They both require the spirit of exploration, curiosity and determinism. It is constantly discovering something new and intriguing based on existing knowledge. Hence through both fields, I am able to stretch my thinking both critically and creatively.

Through my Photomedia major, I made photography work based on the theme intuition and video project on time fragmentation. The photography series is an expression on my intuition and emotions on movements in serendipitous moments, hinting the contrast of interior versus exterior and staged versus natural. In the video project, I incorporated stop motion animations and short clips to express the fragmentation of time. By slicing time and audio, I dissociate that timeline from the one we have in our

reality. I also played with color and a lot of detailed editing to construct such effects and notions.

My other experiences include being one of the designers and the main photographer at the Taiwanese Overseas Student Association (TOSA) at University of Washington for 2 years. One of the biggest

accomplishments was designing the poster, banner and decorations for TOSA’s largest annual event Timeless Taiwan, and consecutively being the lead photographer for the event for 2 years. I was also in

charge of photographing marketing profile photos for individual officers of the club. All of which strengthened my photography skills and use of photoshop and lightroom. I was able to better understand the concept of visual communication through this experience as well. Moreover, I had the opportunity to enrich my skills for coordinating, time management and interpersonal communication.

I am currently the mentor of the International Student Mentorship Program, in which I used to be a mentee. Through this, I had opportunities to really learn by experience the meanings and effects of diversity. Fellow mentors and mentees are constantly inspiring me to respect cultural differences and push myself to become a more achieving person, but not at the cost of self-care.

Through their stories, I found more clarity in my path. Hence, I believe the power of exchanging experiences is a strong source of support and inspiration.

I hope through the experience of curating, I can open my eyes to all the other kinds of art and creativity in the world and how they are being exhibited. Being an international student my whole life, I consider myself as a traveler who enjoys explorations and diverse culture. Immersing myself in surroundings like The Creative Process with international connections, I can exchange and absorb a wide variety of cultural information. Cultures seep through art, and I hope by curating, I can understand deeper into the variety of cultures in art. Moreover, I hope this could drive me as an artist to produce more innovative work. In this age of time, presentations are also evolving with technology. The possibility for new art is

infinite. I want to ride on the new wave and incorporate all that I can learn into my potential artwork.

Collaborating Curator & Associate Podcast Producer · UCLA · Ally Chou

I have just recently graduated from UCLA with a major in Art History and a minor in Digital Humanities. I am deeply interested in writing, creative thinking and also curating. With The Creative Process, I am gaining more insight into art and educational initiatives at universities, museums or galleries around the world involved with the project. So far, I anchored podcasts with the curators and directors at the New Museum and Guild Hall Museum in New York.

I have experience with curating an art exhibition at the Powell Library in UCLA, and really enjoyed it, and so I’m enjoying developing this practice this skill with The Creative Process and to gain more hands-on experiences about curatorial projects. 

I like it that the project takes in not just art, but also law and politics and entrepreneurs and shows how backgrounds in those disciplines are part of the creative process. I love to talk about how other people started their own self-made careers. Likewise, I am humbled to be able to talk to other young artists and explore the difficulties they had to go through to become successful, which is knowledge I could potentially bring into my future career in law to help better protect small artists legally.

My recent project was for my Digital Humanities minor, which was a research on Broadway Theaters in Los Angeles. As the project leader, I dug up archives of blueprints, and design material on the theater signs. We also investigated legal and business changes by conducting interviews with several experts on neon design and theater signage in LA. Our final project was a digital reconstructed augmented reality model of the LA Metropolitan Theater and the LA Theater.

I'm also very proud of my Art History Honors Thesis that I wrote in my senior year. This was a 40 page research paper where I discussed the legal implications for artists who create intangible artworks that are digitized, and artists who use volunteers during their artistic production. I specifically focused on the famous Chinese contemporary artist, Cai Guo-Qiang.

I plan on pursuing art law with a focus on institutional education programs, which I why I am very interested in The Creative Process, as it helps me learn more about people in the arts and education industry!

Collaborating Curator · Bard College · Ella Rose Marion

I’m Ella Rose Marion, Collaborating Curator from Bard College. I’m from New York City and majoring in Art History with a focus on Curatorial Studies. I’m collaborating on curating art empowering the female form with The Creative Process. My main focus of study is outsider art but all surrealist feminist genres are of interest to me.

Collaborating on curation and other initiatives like podcasting is exciting because it’s a deep kind of mentorship that helps me experience different activities in the art world and connect me with international figures. It also helps me forge deeper connections with the art community at Bard and alumni. Right now I’m anchoring an interview with the Dutch singer songwriter Kovacs, a powerful empowering artist who experienced hardship early in life. For me, it all adds to the beauty of her music. These individuals who are part of The Creative Process I find very inspiring.

Associate Podcast Producer · Boston University · Maria Jimenez Moya

As a journalist, storytelling is a fundamental part of the job. Storytelling is captivating and keeps us connected. However, in order to communicate your message to a larger audience, you must be creative. With creativity, a story can go from dull to intricate. Stories are moving and remind us of our humanity. I hope to have a meaningful experience that help me as a storyteller. With The Creative Process, I am learning to expand the way in which I communicate as well as priding myself in having a different perspective and talking about subjects that are either hard to talk about, are not talked about enough, or are challenging. 

Right now I am working to have my own podcast and blog for my student organization called United Against Discrimination. I am also writing my own column and have my own photography and documentary blog that I would like to continue to expand. I have included the links of those works here. My plan for the future is to keep making conversation about racial issues minorities face and also take it to the international level. For now, I focus on racial issues in America, and have dabbled into Mexico, but want to talk about racial issues in different countries and make my content international.

–MARIA JIMENEZ MOYA

Associate Podcast Producer, Interviewer & Digital Media Coordinator · U of Iowa · Camille Montilino

I'm Camille Montilino, Associate Podcast Producer and Digital Media Coordinator from the University of Iowa. I'm from St. Paul, Minnesota, and I'm majoring in English and creative writing with an education interest. I'm collaborating on interviews and digital media with The Creative Process.

Tell us about a teacher who made a difference in your life and helped you become the student you are today. 

In my junior year of high school, I took AP English Language and Composition. My teacher was a young man named Mr. Shipman. He was a very mellow, calm, and humorous teacher whose energy managed to make his classroom a safe space in a school full of chaos. He assigned a lot of essays but made an effort to connect with each and every student. We would talk about each essay and he would help plan the flow of the essay. Remembering how Mr. Shipman made me feel as a stressed junior made me want to become a teacher. Now that I'm studying education, I want to become just like him.

You are also a writer. What are your current projects?

I am currently working on two fantasy novels. I have completed the first draft of one of them and have compiled the second draft into a single document. I am taking a break from it to work on my new project. The completed novel is about elemental magic and the rise of an evil goddess. My new project is about a faerie girl searching for her brother.