Art and Leadership
Passionate educator and social justice advocate, specializing in community programming that blends creative expression, emotional awareness, and leadership development. Ale Uzarraga weaves together narrative therapy, art therapy, and ancestral wisdom to guide students on a journey of self-discovery, emotional resilience, and social integration through art. Her mindful and empathetic approach fosters a sense of community, trust, and compassion, empowering students to cultivate their identities, deepen their understanding of their surroundings, and develop essential life skills. Her unique pedagogy creates a brave and supportive space for students to grow, reflect, and thrive.
Outside The Lens
Through a series of workshops, young people explore their identities and passions through photography, while also cultivating crucial life skills such as problem-solving, collaboration, and public speaking. The curriculum encourages students to think critically about their communities and the issues that affect them. Through hands-on projects, field trips, and mentorship, students learn to use art as a tool for change, becoming socially engaged citizens and leaders who can drive positive impact in their communities and beyond..
RISE San Diego
Former fellow (2019) and current student mentor for RISE Urban Leadership Fellowship and On The Rise.
A series of workshops and discussions rooted in the same adaptive leadership development strategies core to all RISE programs. Through deep dialogues, students gain a higher level of self-awareness and an understanding of the relationship between their past and future. Both programs culminate with a community action project plan and a personal narrative exploring their story, leadership experience, and community issues.
Pedacito de Cielo
Providing photo-therapy workshops since October 2020 in Zona Norte for Pedacito de Cielo, a non-profit located in Tijuana dedicated to providing spaces free of violence through art, sports, educational and psychological programs.
For donations please visit:
SDCOE Juvenile Court Community Schools (JCCS)
Serving this community as a leading instructor of several diverse photo projects, including art installations, for different non-profits in San Diego, California since 2016.
This curriculum aims to make youth reflect on their own stories and experiences, strengthening them to reclaim their world through photography using different therapeutic methods with the intention to provide emotional awareness, critical thinking, and self-reflection.
It invites students to utilize creative art skills to explore all aspects of their identity. It also promotes critical thinking about issues that impacts them individually and in the communities they are part of. This curriculum brings social justice and social issues into group conversations by creating community through experience-based learning to encourage youth to develop leadership skills, grow self-esteem and create a social transformation.
Journey
Teaching artist at El Cajon Valley Middle School from 2017 to 2020.
This program works with the San Diego refugee community of El Cajon Valley Middle School. This curriculum uses photography and mixed media as a tool for self-reflection on identity, culture, self-expression, and integration to a new country and/or community. This process of collective self-exploration is designed to validate and empower the participants’ experience and provide an avenue for self-guided growth. The curriculum uses art therapy methodology to support students to grow their self-esteem, improve teamwork, and be leaders in the spaces they are in. All projects created in the program aims for participants to reflect and represent their identity, community, and culture.
For more information about the program and participant’s work visit:
www.ajaproject.org
Cyanotype, photo transfers, lenticular photos, pinhole cameras.
STEAM
This projects serves different communities in San Diego and Tijuana through workshops that focuses on building community, discovering new ways of taking photos + printing and creating short-term projects about their identities and the communities they belong.
Student’s work
