I’m not one to make a huge deal about the change of years, but in late 2020 I felt my work for this site shifting. I was no longer satisfied with just sharing art I loved. As some may have seen, I have announced that I am seeking artists for a children’s book project. This book will feature black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) artists and specifically address how their work has been influenced by their cultural heritage.
I developed this idea when I was looking for books to use in my middle school art curriculum. I wanted something that could teach students about the visual language of a variety of cultures. These books weren’t easy to find, and almost none are developed with children in mind, so why not write it myself? Although I identify as white, I am of Filipino descent. My grandmother immigrated to the United States in her 20s and was confronted by racism in many forms. My experiences observing racism directed towards her was a profound influence on myself as a child. As the creator of the Curated for Kids Blog and an art teacher, I feel fortunate to be able to use my voice to normalize non-European art and help form connections between a diverse body artists and children in America.
As I am actively working on finding artists to feature in this book, I wanted to take the opportunity to quickly share some of the artists I’ve come across these last few weeks. I am hoping to keep up my weekly artist features from this point forward but have accepted that this may become more sporadic as I focus on writing my book. Thank you for your support as I started this blog a mere 9 months ago and move forward with this new vision and mission!
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