Short Bio

Elizabeth MT Unpingco is a Teaching Artist, close to official credentialing in secondary, single-subject art education (Fall 2021). Formerly an Art Museum Educator both in-house and outreach in schools, she earned her M.Ed. in Integrated Teaching Through the Arts from Lesley University (Cambridge, MA) and is Integrated Learning Specialist certified through Alameda County Office of Education. Additionally, she has a BS in graphic design w/concentration in illustration from San Jose State University.

Statement

As for myself, once I managed to make it out of high school, survive two tumultuous gap years of partying and puking, and enter community college, I began to authentically value and connect the effort of studying with learning and accomplishment. I was priviledged to gain the freedom of enrolling in those subjects I was inclined toward (art, dance, Native American Indian Literature, etc.). Weaving new experience from within the "safety nest" of the educational world egged me on to becoming the deep-thinking, visionary/dreamer/storyteller I am today.

So, when contemporary scholars of art education conclude "true understanding" as something one does rather than has, I fully concur. They chatter on about a student's capacity to use what is learned "flexibly" in response to the novel, unanticipated circumstances we find ourselves in today. And in my case, at my age - understanding builds upon the sedimentation and striation of layers (think Grand Canyon) that strengthen foundation. Foundation to continue to make my own art and guide other learners in establishig their own connections and understandings through creative exploration, engagement, expression, and execution.