The Art of Finding a Career at a Museum or Arts Non-Profits

Speakers

BETTY AVILA, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, SELF HELP GRAPHICS

Betty Avila is a native of Los Angeles, born and raised in Cypress Park. Her career has centered on the intersection of the arts and social justice, with particular focus on community building, public space, and youth empowerment. She has held positions with The Music Center, working on public participatory art programs, and Levitt Pavilion MacArthur Park as Community Relations Manager. She is the board chair of Multicultural Communities for Mobility, an organization that supports low-income cyclists, pedestrians and public transit users of color through advocacy and education. She received her B.A. in English and Spanish literature at Pitzer College, has an M.A. in Arts Management from Claremont Graduate University, and is a recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship to Korea.

DEBRA BROZ, MIXED MEDIA ARTIST AND INTERIM PROGRAM MANAGER — CENTER FOR CULTURAL INNOVATION

Debra Broz is a mixed media artist and the Interim Program Manager at the Center for Cultural Innovation. She discovered her love for the arts while growing up in rural central Missouri. After receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with honors from Maryville University – St. Louis she moved to Austin, Texas. There she worked as a mixed-media artist and ceramics restorer and began her involvement with non-profit arts. She was Gallery and Studio Director at a small non-profit, Pump Project Art Complex and Co-Director of a local non-profit art publication. In late 2013 she moved to Los Angeles where she has worked for the Community Arts Partnership at CalArts and continues to work as an artist, ceramics restorer, and arts advocate.

KABIR SINGH, ASSOCIATE EDUCATOR, FAMILY PROGRAMS — SKIRBALL CULTURAL CENTER

Kabir Singh is a museum educator, writer, and Los Angeles native. He recently joined the staff of the Skirball Cultural Center as Associate Educator, Family Programs. Kabir has been teaching in museums since 2008 and has worked in eight institutions across Los Angeles County with audiences of all ages, including teachers and fellow informal educators. He is dedicated to transforming museums into more inclusive and accessible spaces through high-quality gallery education experiences. Kabir is a Transition Committee Leader for Museum Educators of Southern California (MESC) and has previously served on its board. He holds an EdM in Arts in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a BA in Art History from Columbia University. Kabir began his career in the arts as a Getty Multicultural Undergraduate Intern.

THERESA SOTTO, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF ACADEMIC PROGRAM — HAMMER MUSEUM

Theresa Sotto is assistant director of Academic Programs, where she oversees educational programming for college, family, and K-12 school groups. Theresa has been working at the crossroads of education and the arts since 2001. Prior to joining the Hammer, she worked at the Getty Museum, the University of Arizona Poetry Center, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and has served as a consultant for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center. In 2015, she was the recipient of the National Art Education Association’s Pacific Region Museum Education Art Educator award. Two K-12 school programs under her purview—in 2012 and 2016, respectively—received the Superintendent’s Award for Excellence in Museum Education from the California Association of Museums  and the CA State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Theresa received her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Arizona and is also a published poet.

JOHN TAIN, ASSISTANT CURATOR OF MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART — GETTY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

John Tain is Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Getty Research Institute. He completed his PhD at the University of California, Berkeley and has been working at the Getty Research Institute for ten years.