Executive Team
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Amana is a leader in the field of community arts and a well-respected advocate for the arts in K-12 education. As an artist and a teacher she has devoted her career to making the arts accessible to the voiceless, the marginalized and the forgotten. A visionary activist, artist and educator, she founded and oversees arts education and community arts for ArtEsteem. Drawing on 27 years of teaching art to children, youth and adults, Amana wrote Self as Super Hero: Handbook on the Creation of the Life-Size Self Portrait, an arts integrated curriculum guide. She also teaches Art in the Public Interest at California College of the Arts.
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Phyllis has an extensive background in educational administration. Formerly, she was an instructor at Bay Area Community Resources, teaching general wellness and nutrition. From 2013-2016 she was the family and community site coordinator at Westlake Middle School. Phyllis coordinates the increasingly large number of individuals and organizations connected to ArtEsteem. As Associate Director, she is the lead organizer for all sites, and the primary liaison between school staff and our teaching artists, providing key partnership building with our school sites and support to youth and families.
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Jim comes to ArtEsteem from the small business sector. He graduated from Boston University with a BS in Aerospace and Aeronautical Engineering in 1990, quickly became a bicycle messenger, and never looked back. That 25-year career included co-founding the first and longest-lasting worker-owned messenger company in San Francisco, the Cupid Courier Collective. It was there that Jim learned the basis of his bookkeeping and finance knowledge. Upon 'retirement' in 2015, he began freelance work as a bookkeeper and eventually gained ArtEsteem as a client. In 2022, he was hired as an employee. The lessons learned and talents honed as a small business owner work extremely well at a great non-profit: attend to the details, be a good representative, be versatile, be a good teammate, and love what you do.
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Adam is a design strategist, artist, educator, and program director whose projects focus on catalyzing learning and building community. During his 12 years working at Autodesk, he created and led global programs in sustainable design, education, and community for Autodesk’s customer base of engineers and architects. Prior to that he was a design strategy consultant at Jump Associates. He is also a co-founder and president of the board of Greenermind, a community-led non-profit that focuses on personal and collective growth, healing, and transformation. He has a mechanical engineering degree and an MBA from Vanderbilt University. He loves photography and is at home in the redwoods.
Managerial & Associate Teams
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Etty is a visual artist and educator who brings a deep commitment to the power of art in uplifting and educating youth. She leads ArtEsteem’s teaching artist cohort as a safe, supporting gathering space for sharing and learning while training teachers in creative ways to develop skills in integrating art with Attitudinal Healing, environmental issues, and core academic subjects.
Etty has extensive experience teaching art both online and in person, and leads ArtEsteem’s site-based arts and environmental awareness programming for youth. Etty has taught art at several schools in San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley, and aims to inspire youth to explore mindfulness, activism, and sustainable multidisciplinary art practices.
A transnational artist of color and a graduate of the 2019 New York Foundation of Arts Immigrant mentorship program in Oakland, she creates artwork that is influenced by the immigrant experience across various countries. She is the founder of Más Arte, a free summer camp that provided art kits, lesson plans and free classes to families in San Antonio, Chicago, Saint Paul, and Minneapolis.
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Alexa teaches Visual Arts at Hoover Elementary. She is a visionary body art curator specializing in tattoos, henna, and body paint, creating unique, nature-inspired designs since 2015. A professional photographer as well, Alexa views the world as a canvas, finding art in every element of life. Drawing inspiration from the beauty and power of Mother Nature, Alexa believes that art exists in everything and that everyone holds the potential to be an artist. Whether through intricate body art or expressive photography, Alexa transforms ordinary moments into extraordinary pieces of living art.
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Munirah is a West Oakland native and graduate of UC Berkeley’s College of Natural Resources. Munirah connected with ArtEsteem as a student, and is now the organization’s Operations and Development Associate, leading communications and administrative support.
They also co-taught the 2020-21 and 2021-22 cohorts of the Oakland Legacy Project, bringing environmental and creative experience. Harris finds joy in small creeks, bark beetles, and watercolors. During Munirah’s undergraduate studies, they majored in Conservation and Resource Studies, focusing on forestry, geographic information systems, and data science.
Through their work with ArtEsteem, Munirah hopes to contribute to a sustainable world which eliminates capitalism and detrimental resource extraction as drivers for humanity’s progress.
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Athena Sabaria has been a part of the ArtEsteem team since 2021 as Workforce Development Coordinator, Office Associate, and now as the Oakland Legacy Project Coordinator integrating environmental concepts into arts curriculum. They continue to support data systems, community engagement, and program operations.
Prior to working in education, Athena was involved in environmental labs, building skills in data analysis and research development of the natural sciences. After the pandemic hit, they decided to refocus their efforts towards community empowerment and education with Bay Area BIPOC youth, providing compassionate and culturally relevant leadership. Through professional and personal growth, their approach to environmental justice has been centered around interspecies ecologies, indigenous knowledge, and intersectional solidarity.
Although they have been doing visual arts since they were a kid, only recently have they been sharing their animist art publicly. Their art has been featured at SOMArts, Bindlestiff Studios, and other queer Filipino gallery exhibitions across the US.
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Jedia-El is a Christian animator and visual artist. She earned my BFA in Animation from California College of the Arts, and her work primarily focuses on mixed media materials and 2D animation.
Her overall goal is to create culturally diverse animated films that embody Christian values while connecting with audiences of all backgrounds, regardless of belief or religion. She draws inspiration from the Bible, Pixar’s emotionally rich storytelling, DreamWorks’ The Prince of Egypt, and the timeless allegorical works of C.S. Lewis’s Narnia series.
Originally from Syracuse, New York, and raised in Tennessee, Jedia-El comes from a Pentecostal background with deep roots in the Church of God in Christ (C.O.G.I.C.). Her relationship with Christ and this foundation continue to inspire the themes, values, and narratives that shape her artistic practice.
Teaching Artist & Program Support Teams
Ái Lien Le (they/them) - Visual Arts Instructor | Ái is a queer non-binary artist currently teaching Visual Arts at Community School for Creative Education and Elmhurst United Middle School. They practice illustration and calligraphy as their main art forms but also enjoys exploring all types of art mediums. Their teaching approach is deeply influenced by their family’s Việt heritage and refugee experience. Hoping to break down any hesitations students may have around making art, Ái encourages them to take risks when exploring their imagination and creativity. They believe that art is a tool for ongoing opportunities of connection and care, bringing us closer to our communities.
Cristina Delgado (she/they) - Visual Arts Instructor | Cristina graduated from UC Berkeley with a B.A in Film and Media Studies and an Education Minor. They are a self taught artist with an interest in mixed media and multi media art. Cristina works with all ages from toddlers to adults, however she primarily teaches TK-8th grade students. Cristina is inspired by her cultural heritage and using art as a healing tool. She specializes in portraiture and loves to use watercolor, oils pastels, and collage art techniques, but is open to exploring and experimenting with new art mediums and styles. In recent years, Cristina has developed skills in sculptural art and hopes to continue her artistic development in various art forms like printmaking and mural design.
Darius Varize (he/him) - Visual Arts Instructor | Darius teaches Visual Arts at Community School for Creative Education and provides art instruction with the ArtEsteem ArtMobile, engaging schools all through the Bay Area in creative expression. He shares his knowledge of painting, drawing, and screenprinting with all grades, but primarily 3rd through 5th. His work has taught students how to better render their imagination and the power of making art for yourself. Darius was born and raised in the Bay Area and has been practicing art most of his life. Coming from a multicultural background, much of his work blends culture and identity through painting and drawing. He studied fine arts at CCA, has shown work in multiple galleries, and is now sharing this knowledge with youth in his community.
Demahjiae Bibbens (he/him) - Visual Arts Instructor | BIO COMING SOON
Eunice Chae (she/her) - Visual Arts Instructor | Eunice Chae is an interdisciplinary artist that grew up in the South Bay Area and now lives in Oakland. She received her BA in Studio Art from California State University of Long Beach in 2021 and spent seven years living in Long Beach. She specializes in painting, drawing, and printmaking. Her work explores themes of identity, family, diaspora, colonialism, relationship to land, girlhood, body image, and interpersonal relationships. Eunice is also fascinated by self narratives and is exploring the ways in which humans construct their reality. She is highly influenced by previous professors Kimiko Miyoshi, Roxanne Sexauer, and Fran Siegel.
JD Mathieu (he/him) - CSCE Site Coordinator & Digital Media Instructor | JD’s specialty is digital media. He teaches students to capture high-quality images using various resources, from disposable film and instant-print cameras to smartphone and mirrorless devices. JD was born and raised in Oakland and has lived here his entire life. For about 15 years, he toured as a performing artist. This not only created a necessity to take photos and videos for documentation purposes, but also helped re-establish his love and passion for capturing the moments. By definition, he is self-taught, as he has very little formal education in photography. However, he has studied and learned from hundreds (if not thousands) of photographers of the past, as well as some modern-day masters of the art. The common thread/lesson JD has observed is that, “you can study all the books and all of the videos...but the only way to actually improve is to go out and snap, snap, snap!!!”
Lee West (he/him) - Student Transportation & ArtMobile Driver | BIO COMING SOON
Malik Stills (he/him) - Visual Arts Instructor | Malik is a multidisciplinary teaching artist from Oakland, California with deep cultural roots in Louisiana, where he lived while attending college. His work spans textiles, fashion, graphic design, merchandising, and digital marketing, combining hands-on techniques with strategic thinking and innovative graphics to create both functional and expressive art. He holds a degree in Apparel Merchandising and Textiles with a minor in Marketing from Southern University, and his artistic foundation was built through programs like the Fashion Academy at Oakland Technical High School, Oakland Fine Arts Summer School, and ArtEsteem Youth Leadership, where he first connected art with his personal development.
Mar Stevens (she/her) - Cultural Arts Instructor | Mar is an African drummer who has walked with the power of the drum for over 22 years. Mar was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and grew up in San Francisco, California. She connected with her inner rhythms as a child drumming on her grade school desk. Mar teaches and loves sharing the rhythms of West Africa with the community. She performs and is the leader of the ensemble, Sistahs of the Drum, a Bay Area group of Women drummers of African descent. The group’s mission is to heal, transform, and witness through the power of the drum. Her love of teaching children blossomed as she witnessed the transformation, excitement, and growth they experienced. She began her drum journey with Master Drummer Afia Walking Tree of Spirit Drumz, and continued her study of West African rhythms by attending the Fore-Fote drum camp in Guinea, West Africa. She studied with Master Drummers and Dancers on the Island of Roume, learning songs, dances, and rhythms.
Sharifah Ihsan-Wilson (she/her) - CSCE Extended Day Liaison | Sharifah has served ArtEsteem for over 30 years as a founding board member, Attitudinal Healing Consultant, 100 Families Artist, Good Neighbor Program Coordinator, and Volunteer Coordinator. Sharifah is presently representing ArtEsteem at Community School for Creative Education as the Extended Day Program Liaison. She shares support services, maintains the community garden, and holds the vision of building peaceful and sustainable families and communities. Sharifah lives between the Bay Area and Jamaica. She is a member of the Jamaican Agricultural TaskForce, where she has adopted a woman owned Apiary, and the Jamaican Educational Taskforce, where she supports local schools.