Community Spotlight: Lupe Campos

 

Lupe Campos is an interdisciplinary artist who teaches youth visual art and woodworking at our Summer Program for Children and in our School & Community Partnerships. They just completed their second summer teaching at our Summer Program for Children and are about to begin their fourth school year teaching in our School & Community Partnership Program.

We sat down with Lupe for this month’s Community Spotlight to learn more about their experiences teaching young artists through different Eliot School programs. 

See our upcoming youth programs and classes here. 

 

 

Transcript 

Lupe: My name is Lupe. I'm a teacher and a TA at the Eliot School. I work with the Schoolhouse, as well as the Partnership Program.

What is your favorite artistic medium? 

Lupe: That's hard. I guess I'm an interdisciplinary artist, so I do a little bit of everything.

What initially brought you to the Eliot School? 

Lupe: I guess I was just really tired of the art world and wanted to feel like I was providing a service to my community.   

What has kept you involved with the Eliot School? 

Lupe: I think the relationship with the students. I was working with the same schools for a long time, so I was only seeing one lead teacher. But it's been really nice being here for the summer. This is my second summer here, and you just get really close to the other teachers. Plus, I get to see the same students over and over again. They're so goofy.

How would you say working in the School Partnerships is different from working at Summer Program for Children? 

Lupe: It feels like at the Summer Program, you can be more relaxed about what students can and can't do. You know, every school has its own rules and expectations, but I think because it is the summer, everyone is in more of a laid-back kind of feeling. So, students don't have to feel the pressure of meeting deadlines, like it's okay if you don't finish before the showcase, this is something you can continue when you go home. It's nice to give them, and I guess us, the freedom of being able to do whatever the students like.

Do you have a favorite subject or age group to teach? 

Lupe: I think maybe I had a preference before for the small students, but now it's fun making lessons for the older students. They are much more independent and make their own path toward what they want to do. So, it's more about teaching them technique rather than creativity, because they already have the creativity. They just want to get good at shading or color theory and stuff like that.

What are your hopes for the future of the Eliot School or your future at the Eliot School? 

Lupe: I'd love to teach a character creation class. I've been doing a little bit of it during the Summer Program. But I don’t know, I’d love for the Eliot School to continue being a place where people can come to do art. Nonprofits definitely change as time goes by, but it seems like it's continued to be very focused on supporting local artists who teach local young artists, you know?