I traveled to Costa Rica in January of this year. A few photos.

Santa Ana, San Jose

Really wonderful hosts while I was in Heredia.

guapa, ilen!

I'll be moderating a panel discussion themed around a lot of the topics that 1.) brought me to the Bay Area in the first place, and 2.) I have been navigating the whole duration of my MFA program. Come out, you will be fed!

Merienda Moments: A Discussion on Academia, the White Box, and Community
Tuesday, April 26, 2016 | 12:10 PM - 01:00 PM

Location: Fine Arts Gallery, Fine Arts building
Phone: (415) 338-6535

“From then until now, through the practice of art, I became who I am”
Carlos Villa, (60 Forms of) ATANG

When I came to San Francisco State University in 2013, much like any other hopeful MFA student, I came in search for myself. I came in search for scholarship; Asian American history and Filipino Art history. I came in search for my place in the Fine Arts cannon. Most importantly, I came in search for community; a rooted community that could possibly foster my commitment to academia and art. Along the course of my program, I’ve engaged in all of these spheres, but still they seem to function separately. Now, as I am approaching the end of my MFA program, I am brought back to this search.


Carlos Villa, the most significant US-based visual artist of Filipino descent, seemed to have an answer to all of these questions. His legacy as an artist and educator did not only function within the realms of Fine Art and Academia, but also pushed the discourse and dialogue of these with the community at its center. It is because of his legacy that I came to San Francisco. As I reflect back on my MFA journey, I would like to reopen these questions.


How do we stimulate, reform and expand creative mindsets and artist paradigms that envision and develop art purpose for community and social change from inside?

Dara Katrina Del Rosario focuses on creative arts engagement and inclusivity for communities who have historically been denied access to Western institutional art spaces. She was born in Manila, Philippines, but immigrated to Los Angeles, California at the age of 3. Del Rosario’s experience with diaspora and survival has greatly informed her work—inspiring her to research the collision of contemporary art with cross cultural exchange, epistemology, and identity formation.
In December 2015, she was the recipient of the Next Gen Arts Leadership Grant from the Center for Cultural Innovation. Del Rosario is currently based in the Bay Area and is an Emerging Arts Professionals Fellow. ​

This week, I'm out in Half Moon Bay on teaching with the Boys & Girls Club at Cunha Intermediate School. In between & after classes, I've been able to walk around main street and the beach to explore.

Main Street has all of these beautiful alleyways covered in mosaics, murals, vines and flowers.

My love goes out to Setarra & Charles, whose wedding I was fortunate enough to photograph a little over a year ago in DC. 

I'm super excited! This is my first post from moving over to my new website. I don't like to make long posts (unless they're photo-heavy), so I'm just going to do a short list of what's going on so you get a quick intro to my life as a student-artist-educator.

1. TRAVELING TO THE PHILIPPINES FOR RESEARCH
With the support of 40+ donors, I crowdfunded to fly back to the Philippines to do research in my mom's province of Batangas. I'll be arriving in Manila on August 3rd, and traveling through Metro Manila, Batangas, Cavite, and Baguio. I'm super excited to get a short intro to the art world in Manila & Baguio, and especially to reconnect with my extended family whom I haven't seen in 4+ years. You'll see lots of updates on here and on my instagram [/kimbr] of my adventures. Make sure to check back periodically to see what I've been up to!

2. TEACHING IN HALF MOON BAY w/ CUNHA INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL
Next week, I'll be placed at Cunha Intermediate School in Half Moon Bay teaching a one week intensive storytelling & visual arts class with the awesome middle school students out there. Last week, my boss & I visited the campus and where I'll be staying for the week. I'm really looking forward to learning from my students and making some work in the short amount of time I'll be out there. I've been working on a pretty exciting lesson plan, so I hope the students get into it.

3. PREPARING FOR MY LAST YEAR OF MY MFA PROGRAM
Wow, It's really been two years of my program at SFSU so far. I'm nervous, anxious, excited, and ready to take on the challenges of producing a Thesis show this upcoming year. Bring it on, yo!

That's it for now. Shout outs to my breakfast buddy Shawn for helping me redirect my domain to my new site!