Art making is a valuable act that has been proven to promote creative problem-solving skills in other areas of life, both inside and outside of the classroom. In my studio classrooms, I’m committed to facilitating the development of each young artist’s voice as a growing creative in a shifting world. I build curriculum that supports socio-emotional development and meets each child where they are developmentally and artistically. These studio classrooms are calming, thoughtful spaces, supportive and inclusive, that encourage play as a joyful conduit for curiosity and discovery.
I believe it is vital for arts educators to actively move art history, making, and educating away from models of eurocentrism and towards liberation for students and teachers alike.
Kiara Womack was born in California, but spent her adolescence on Big Island. She received her BFA in Studio Art, as well as a BA in English, at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Her personal art practice includes intaglio printmaking, drawing, watercolor, poetry, and sound. With raw materials at hand, she seeks to explore, uncover, and heal. She resides in Honolulu.
Most of Womack’s arts education and art making has been done in the ahupuaʻa of Waikīkī. Of mestizo, Pueblo, and European ancestry, she is a settler in the illegally overthrown Hawaiian Kingdom, on land that belongs to Kānaka Maoli.
The Artistic Teaching Partners (ATP) Roster is an adjudicated directory of Hawai‘i professional teaching artists qualified to conduct in-depth residencies in educational settings. Each artist or arts organization has a page in the directory with contact information, a short bio, and an artist statement. The State Foundation on Culture and the Arts draws from this roster for arts education programs including Art Bento at the Hawaiʻi State Art Museum and Artists in the Schools.
