Youth in Arts is thrilled to welcome Kylee Ortiz to our board. Kylee, has always been creative, and she had great support from her family when it came to pursuing her passion. Although she had access to visual art and music in school, much of her arts education was self-led. She explains, “I was lucky enough to have visual art in the classroom regularly although…I was not taught technique or guided to connect to the source of my creativity. Using my intuition, I did those things on my own, in school and out.” Her motivation to pursue the arts ultimately led her to get a Masters in Transformative Arts from John F. Kennedy University. It was there that she realized how omnipresent creativity can, and should be in education. “It wasn’t until I was at JFK that I realized everyone has a creative source, we’re all creators in our own right. Creativity is messy and sometimes dark and that’s ok.”
Kylee recognizes just how important arts education is to developing well-rounded, and confident leaders, “I recognize the transformational power of art and know that when young people are provided a safe space for art making and guidance accessing their creative source, their potential is limitless. With that belief, five years ago, my husband and I conspired a semester long, after-school pilot program. We facilitated transformational research-based art making, non-judgmental dialogue, and exhibited their art in a local gallery. Proceeds benefited a local non-profit.”
Kylee, is a Manager System Administrator at Kaiser Permanante by day, and a renegade prose and multi-media visual artist by night. She lives in San Geronimo with her husband and three children.
We are very thankful to have Kylee’s wonderful energy, compassion and creativity on our board. Thank you, Kylee!