Educational Background/Training

• Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA): Studio Art, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg VA
• Coursework at Santa Repararta International School of Art, Florence Italy
• Master of Fine Arts (MFA): Painting, Academy of Art University, San Francisco CA
• COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) Fellow, Shenandoah University VA
• Social Emotional Arts Certificate and Beat the Odds® Facilitator Training certificate from Arts & Healing Initiative, Los Angeles CA
• Masterclass at Berlin Institute of Art, Berlin Germany

Abigail has taught community-based workshops and private classes for learners ages 2-92, in a variety of disciplines, including drawing, painting, and sculpture, for over 12 years. Her experience as a Pre-K through 12th grade art teacher, along with adult and multigenerational community-based training in multiple languages, has informed her style of teaching art with students of all ages.

One of Abigail’s favorite things to facilitate through visual art programing is international exchange opportunities.  She has found that students in the US and abroad are enriched exponentially through collaborative projects that use the arts to engage in concepts like global citizenship and sustainable development.

About the Artist/Ensemble

Abigail Gómez is a Latine visual artist, teaching artist, arts advocate, and owner & artist at Pretty Girl Painting. She earned a BFA from Virginia Tech in 2007, in found object sculpture and recycled art. She studied at Santa Reparata International School of Art in Florence, Italy in 2003. In December 2015 she received an MFA in painting from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco CA. Abigail is a SEA Facilitator trained in Social Emotional Arts and a Beat the Odds Facilitator, via the Arts & Healing Initiative. She is also in the process of earning a Trauma Informed Care Practitioner Certificate through the TIC Training Center.

Abigail teaches art in the community through Pretty Girl Painting and Arte Libre VA to audiences from ages 2 through 92. She is also a Professor of Art and Design at Shenandoah University. At SU she has developed a new BA program in Art & Design. She is a COIL Fellow, completing the Barzinji Institute’s Collaborative Online International Learning Fellowship program in 2023. She is also a Shenandoah Conversations Fellow, recipient of the 22/23 Faculty Development Grant, and leads arts & culture-based study abroad trips for students to countries in Latin America.

She received two Fellowships from NALAC in 2016 for the Advocacy Leadership Institute in Washington DC and the NALAC Leadership Institute in San Antonio TX. In 2024 she was chosen to represent Virginia in WESTAF’s National Leaders of Color Fellowship program. She has served as a panelist for state, regional, and national grant-making organizations since 2016. She has also been a presenter and panelist at state and national arts conferences. Recently, she has juried several regional and national visual art shows.

Abigail is the founder of Arte Libre VA, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organization that empowers Latine, Black, and Youth of the Global Majority through equitable access to quality arts education and programming, and uplifts communities through participatory public art projects. At ALVA, she serves as the Director and Chief Visionary, Maestra Principal. She facilitates and runs the visual arts-based programing offered through ALVA, which is tuition-free. She manages paid internships for Youth of the Global Majority, as well as managing and training Teaching Artists and Assistant Teaching Artists, all of whom are paid. Through ALVA, she has managed and facilitated over 30 collaborative and participatory public art projects and murals in the Northern Shenandoah Valley.

Abi’s personal art practice incorporates painting, collage, sculpture, and printmaking. Her most recent collection of abstract expressionistic compositions is presented as Universally Accessible, allowing broad access to visual arts experiences for everyone, even those with visual limitations. Her artwork is in a number of private collections around the United States and abroad. It has been featured in exhibitions in Northern Virginia, Richmond, & San Francisco, as well as in other group and solo shows in Virginia, New York, California, Italy and Cuba.

Educational Program Description

“Collaborative Mural Workshop”

This residency program can be applied to target learning groups that are elementary school age and older, to include adult or community based audiences.

This workshop series/ project can be completed in 10-18 hours, depending on the number of participants (for example, 18 hours can be broken down into 3 hour-long workshops per day, over 6 days).

This project can be executed anywhere, including interior and exterior spaces.

This residency is planned and executed through collaboration and communication with an entity (organization, class, school, group) that would like to create a collaborative mural, and needs help with the project. I work with the entity’s schedules and timeline to establish the times and dates for a series of workshops that will take place over three to six days (on average). I employ an Assistant Teaching Artist to help if the group is large, and also ask the organization to provide volunteers to help with facilitation during the art making process.

The intended goals and desired outcomes from this residency program include input from the participants at every stage of the creative process of developing a collaborative mural. From group brainstorming and sketching ideas, to discussions about collaboration and compromise as the imagery and options are narrowed down, to final concept design, and the actual drawing and painting of the mural, the participants will be involved in the art-making process. Participants will use knowledge of the elements and principles of art and design to create successful, representative compositions. They will apply knowledge of painting, color mixing, value, and using tints, shades, and tones to create monochromatic paintings with a discernible value range. Participants will also help outline the final mural image on the panels, and arrange the completed monochromatic square paintings within the outline to create the final mural image. Other learning outcomes for participants include understanding visual arts as a form of community engagement and be able to describe ways artists contribute to their communities and society through their work. These learning goals and outcomes are possible by creating an experiential and creative environment, where the art form (mural painting) is incorporated into the curriculum. Art making, specifically mural painting, becomes the vehicle for learning, understanding, and applying SOL goals dealing with community, communication, and collaboration.

This residency benefits learners within the Commonwealth by giving them agency and autonomy in the creation of a piece of public artwork. They are able to work and collaborate with a diverse group of creatives, whether in a peer or intergenerational setting, to create a piece of artwork that exemplifies a shared vision achieved through consensus. Participants are able to learn from each other and apply their knowledge to the task, while learning new skills in art making, leadership, community building, and collaboration. Collaboration and communication are essential skills for humans today, and the application of these skills is a great benefit to not only the Commonwealth of Virginia, but also to our society. This workshop is presented using a trauma-informed framework, to ensure there are points of access and opportunity for everyone.

Audiences

• All Ages
• College/University Students
• Adults