2025: A Year of Art and Community

It’s been a meaningful year, full of growth, creativity, and connection. Here are some highlights and lessons from the past year.

Photo: Mindy Young

​Growing into the Role: Community Engagement with RAAC

Photo: Kevin Haas/Rock River Current

• In May 2024, I officially started as Community Engagement Officer for the Rockford Area Arts Council.
• Since then, I’ve been deeply involved in managing youth arts programs and helping guide the Rockford Region Cultural Plan.
• I continue to advocate for elevating arts access in Rockford. Part of my job is to build relationships with local creatives and community partners.
• In this role, I help support our grant programs. I’ve encouraged local artists and organizations to apply, helping to elevate emerging voices in the Rockford Region.
  

Supporting Art Educators

• On my blog, I continue to reflect on my previous experience and support other educators with creative ways to teach art. In a recent post, I wrote about pairing ancient and contemporary art in my curriculum. Rather than studying ancient civilizations in isolation, I connected those units with modern artists from the same regions — giving students cross-cultural perspectives.
  
• I also described a metal tooling foil project I used to teach my 6th-grade classes. The foil adds a shiny surface that engaged my students’ work on symbols inspired by Mayan glyphs.
  
• Art educators are often assigned an activity at school wide events like Field Day or holiday parties. I shared a puzzle activity I designed, creating wooden “artist cubes” decorated with mini artworks by artists like Frida Kahlo, Keith Haring, and Kehinde Wiley. I'd ask two teams of students to begin assembling them. The first team to successfully put their puzzle together, won! The activity was fun and educational.
  

Recommitment to the Creative Process

• Over the summer, I began a print series inspired by Rockford, centered on a concept I originally pitched for a city utility box. Though my design wasn't selected, I turned it into a personal creative project titled, "My 815." 
• Since then, I've been working on a series of prints inspired by my favorite childhood bedtime story, "Tiger's Bedtime." I've challenged myself to work bigger, and in more detail with this series. 
• I have ideas and sketches for the next project, and I'm excited to continue challenging myself, but most importantly keep creating each week. Whether its only sketches, carving a block, or inking and pulling a finished print, my goal each week is to create something. I've done a pretty good job at holding myself accountable in 2025, and I hope to continue this in 2026!

​Why This Year Mattered

Photo: Nathan Taylor

• This year reinforced something I already believed: art builds bridges. Whether it’s in a classroom, a community grant, or a public space, art has the power to connect people in powerful ways.
  
• My role with the Rockford Area Arts Council has strengthened my belief that arts for everyone isn’t just a slogan, it’s a mission. In fact its been a part of my personal mission statement as an educator, long before I changed career paths. Every decision I make, whether curricular or programmatic, is rooted in inclusivity and access.
  
• Through my website and social media pages, I’ve kept sharing ideas about curriculum, reflections from experience, and new artwork! I’ve been grateful for the conversations and feedback from teachers, students, and community members.
  

​As I head into 2026, I'm excited for what’s ahead: reaching more youth with meaningful arts programming, new public art projects, and fresh ways to make art more accessible to everyone. 
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Here’s to creating, connecting, and growing in the new year!