This is Katie’s second year coordinating Get Up Get Down, after having worked with the program as a volunteer during two previous mural projects at Food for Thought Books and in Amherst Regional High School.
She lives on a farm in Hadley, where she gets to enjoy lots of yummy produce and great community. Katie studied art and music at Hampshire College and completed her Masters in Education at UMass.
In addition to her running her own business making glass and metal art, she is a teacher extraordinaire – Katie has taught or is teaching glasswork, welding, ESL, and Spanish at many different levels. Katie also sings in a local a cappella group and is on the board of Artisans of WMASS, a non-profit that supports the local artists and artisans and advocates for the creative economy of Western Mass.
Katie is inspired by the youth-led nature of the AfC programs, because it empowers young people to claim their voices and develop the confidence to use them! She’s also excited to continue working with metal in GUGD this year, because it offers youth an opportunity to approach their creativity through an exciting material that is so rarely offered to them. Finally, she is passionate about the program’s focus on social justice, and is excited to join youth on the long journey towards justice and equity.
413-253.2158, ext.3 ~ katie@youthactioncoalition.org
