Alicia has years of experience working as an artist/educator with youth from a variety of environments and backgrounds. She has always been drawn to working with students in need of alternative educational options. Alicia spent nearly a decade working at The Met High School in Providence, RI, a progressive student-centered high school that focuses on real-world learning through hands-on projects and internships. During her time at the Met, Alicia developed an arts advisory in which her classroom was hosted out in the community at the Avenue Concept, an organization that brings public art (murals and sculptures) to downtown Providence. Alicia believes strongly that the community is our best “classroom”, and the most powerful learning happens through experience. Alicia developed a passion for creative maker spaces through her volunteer work as an Artist mentor at New Urban Arts, an organization that empowers youth to develop creative practices that allow them to become more imaginative and active community members. Throughout the years in Providence, Alicia designed and taught courses for the RISD Continuing Education program with the focus on art as activism, once again working to empower youth to become active voices in their communities.
Since moving to Maine, Alicia has been a teaching artist for SideXSide in Portland and Lewiston, an organization that connects the Arts to the English, Science, and Math curriculum in the elementary classroom to engage learners. Alicia has also spent the past five years as the visual arts instructor at the Maine Virtual Academy. Her ultimate objective in the classroom is to unlock students’ curiosity, playfulness, and passion for learning while encouraging them to develop a creative practice they can sustain throughout their lives.