OUR STAFF

Our staff is responsible for the mission fulfillment, programs and operations of Harwood Art Center, the multifaceted community outreach program of Escuela del Sol Montessori.

As a single organization, Harwood and Escuela share a Board of Trustees who guide our vision and philosophy. Harwood also looks to several advisory committees and to our fantastic volunteer corps for inspiration, input and support. We are particularly thankful to our facilities and maintenance team and our 75+ teaching artists and apprentices for their invaluable contributions to our programs.

Staff

Our team is experienced in building dynamic programs that pivot to meet the changing needs of our communities. Each draws upon broad experience in art and social impact with deep understanding of the communities we serve. Our 5 core staff work closely to assess and integrate programs into multi-faceted service to youth and adults representative of Albuquerque’s rich diversity. We practice collaborative leadership amongst our staff honoring the unique wisdom of each. We celebrate whole-person development, integrating various experiences and viewpoints in an inclusive approach to program development.

Jen DePaolo

Jen DePaolo

Director of Outreach

Jen is a socially engaged artist and community organizer working toward a more just and loving world. Jen earned an MFA at the University of New Mexico where she also studied race, class and gender in American culture. She participated in UNM’s Land Arts of the American West program as a Teaching Assistant and maintains a strong ecological focus in her work. Jen is a nationally exhibiting artist and published author with works appearing in Ceramics: Art and Perception, Ceramics Monthly, Pottery Illustrated, and Edible Magazine. Jen works with teams of artists, growers, chefs and organizers toward experiential art events designed to strengthen and celebrate social networks.

In 2008, Jen held her MFA exhibition, Home Economics, at the Harwood Art Center where she currently serves as Director of Outreach. In this role, Jen develops and directs community outreach programs and Social Practice projects that engage youth and adults in hands-on learning and collaborative art making. Jen is the project director for Harwood’s paid summer Apprenticeship in Art & Social Justice. Jen manages teams of apprentices, artists and a network of contractors, city officials and community partners toward the creation of community-driven public artworks. She builds strong coalitions to sustain these projects and foster greater economic and professional growth for students and apprentices. Jen develops and manages Harwood’s Grant program, writing, administering and accounting contracts and awards that sustain programs across the organization.

Ruby Rodriguez

Ruby Rodriguez

Arts Education Coordinator

Ruby Rodriguez is a dedicated professional with a diverse professional background which includes child care, retail buying, non-profit administration, event management, and program coordination. Ruby’s passion for creative expression is what has motivated her exploration and support for Albuquerque’s rich creative community. In addition to her work with Warehouse 508 by NMX Sports Ruby has also developed working relationships with a variety of local creators who inspire her own creative development as a seamstress and designer

Jordyn Bernicke

Jordyn Bernicke

Associate Director of Engagement

Jordyn is an artist born and raised in Albuquerque, NM. Holding a BA of Studio Art from the University of New Mexico with a minor in Arts Management, she is a ceramicist, painter, mosaic artist, and a mother who believes that art is a form of therapy and works to provide creative opportunities to those in need. 

She is a co-founder of Plates Against Patriarchy, a female organized pottery project that celebrates the resilience of women and gives a voice to our patriarchal horror stories. She has led numerous public mosaic artworks around the city: including mosaics installed at the Albuquerque Convention Center, Juan Tabo Library, University of New Mexico, Martineztown and with UNM Hospital Children’s Cancer Center’s “Erin’s Place”. As the Associate Director of Engagement at the Harwood Art Center she co-coordinates the Galleries & Exhibition program, co-directs Art Camp, and designs and manages all public communications. 

Hallee Nguyen

Hallee Nguyen

Advancement

Hallee Nguyen is a marketing professional and visual artist living with her husband John, son Liam, two corgis Oliver and Olivia and their backyard turtle Eugene. She is Partner and Design Director of Matchbox Marketing, a boutique marketing firm in Albuquerque which she founded with her business partner Denise Nava Wyrick in 2019.

Her passions include typography and illustration, photography, music, yoga, fine-tipped pens and puns. She has fifteen years of experience in graphic design and marketing consultation across private, public and nonprofit sectors. 

Helen Juliet Atkins

Helen Juliet Atkins

Associate Director of Opportunity

Helen Juliet Atkins is an artist and curator from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her studio practice, public installations, and organizing work is human focused and often socially engaged. She began her work with Harwood as an Apprentice in 2012, and in 2020 she joined Harwood core staff as the Associate Director of Opportunity, and Co-Lead Artist of the Arts & Social Justice Apprenticeship. Atkins has created public murals, mosaics, and sculptures in Albuquerque that honor everyday people. She also collaborates with her husband Will Geusz on public works and installations across the country. While working on collaborative projects, she is building a body of work that explores notions of gender, beauty and identity; this work has been shown in galleries locally and internationally in Berlin, Germany.

 

Her work as an artist informs her work at Harwood. She is committed to organizing opportunities for her peers, celebrating her fellow creatives, and nourishing the creative ecosystem of New Mexico.

Chandler Wigton

Chandler Wigton

Building & Facilities Manager

Chandler is an artist and educator who was born and raised in Durango, CO but moved to Albuquerque in late 2016 and is happy to be part of the community here.  He holds a BA in Studio Art from Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO with a minor in history, and an MFA in painting from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, PA.  He started teaching in the art department at Central New Mexico Community College in 2018 where he still currently teaches courses in Drawing, 2D Design, Art Practices, Portraiture, and Life Drawing.  He believes that art and education are for everyone, and that art is a powerful tool to help us expand our thinking into new and potentially unknown realms, as well as interact with our world in a multitude of different ways.    

As an artist, Chandler tries to maintain a studio practice that is always changing, and is subject to the ebbs and flows of life.  Broadly speaking, he is interested in abstraction, drawing, collage, printmaking, and bookbinding.  He has exhibited work in Colorado, New Mexico, Rome, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Peru, and has been featured in New American Paintings twice: in the 2015 West issue and the 2013 MFA issue. 

Prior to joining the team at Harwood, Chandler worked for the Albuquerque Museum in collections, and did freelance art handling for UNM Art Museum, as well as other private and public institutions. 

Julia Mandeville

Julia Mandeville

Chief Programs Officer

Julia is a writer, curator, and arts organizer who exists to love and springs of the belief that all people deserve security, dignity, and belonging as our primary experiences of being. Illuminated by Albuquerque’s creative community, Julia found home in New Mexico, and she is dedicated to building opportunity and contributing to quality of life in the place that so magnified them for her.

Julia has served an array of local cultural, economic, and municipal resource development efforts through volunteer, board, and or leadership service. Across her involvements, Julia champions and invests in the amplification of diverse voices. She has collaborated with thousands of artists across hundreds of platforms, including largescale sitespecific art commissions, immersive exhibition and installation programs, and community celebrations from closeknit circles to twentyfivethousand citizen spectacles. Her arts writing has appeared in local, regional, and international publications, and she has moderated public dialogues from artist talks to citywide summits to mayoral forums. For these efforts, Julia’s peers named her New Mexico’s outstanding young nonprofit professional of the year for the national philanthropy day awards.

In 2012, Julia joined Harwood with an invitation to grow our offerings in greater service to Greater Albuquerque. With the mentorship of visionary women and the model of exemplary co-creators, Julia rooted her approach in cooperative leadership, responsive program design, holistic strategic planning, and resilient mission stewardship. Working across all of Harwood’s offerings towards highest cohesion, inclusivity, impact, sustainability, and nurturance in the lives of those we serve, Julia’s most central responsibility is as support, guide, and strategic partner to Harwood’s family of core staff, artists, and collaborators.

Currently, Julia’s authoring practice is focused on daily reflection and personal storytelling, and she is further galvanized by the recognition of lifelong learning, self awareness, and personal expression as primary modes of civic action, collective healing, and peaceful (r)evolution.

Friedje vanGils

Friedje vanGils

Co-founder of Escuela Del Sol Montessori & Harwood Art Center

The driving force behind Friedje’s work with Escuela del Sol and Harwood Art Center is her passion for creating supportive and collaborative environments that provide access to both academia and the arts. Friedje has directed the organization for 30 years, taking the Montessori school from a small one-room preschool to one of Albuquerque’s preeminent early childhood and elementary schools, and making possible the creation of what has become one of our city’s leading arts organizations, Harwood Art Center.

Kate Chavez

Kate Chavez

Executive Director of Escuela del Sol Montessori & Harwood Art Center

Kate Chavez is an alumna of Escuela del Sol, one of the first students to attend Escuela through Elementary, and she was the first alumna to give a commencement address. She has worked and studied all over the world and brings a variety of experiences in the arts, education, non-profit management, and government. In Madrid, Kate’s experience included working with economists in the Spanish government and the executive director of the Spanish Olympic bid. Upon returning to New Mexico, Kate joined the Legislative Finance Committee as a Fiscal Analyst in Education where she assisted on the state’s education budget, analyzed the fiscal impact of proposed legislation, and wrote policy briefs. Kate is also an educator who, for the past five and a half years, has taught and done administrative work at the New Mexico School for the Arts. She holds a BA(Hons) and a MA from Brown University and has completed graduate studies at the London International School of Performing Arts.

Most importantly, Kate brings with her a passion for Escuela del Sol and its mission, as well as a commitment to use her talents, experience, and connections to be in service to our institution. Her years at Escuela give Kate insight and caring for this school. It also gives her a solid grounding in the Montessori pedagogy and mission of our institution.

Jimmy Griego

Jimmy Griego

Building Caretaker & Jack of All Trades

Jasper Bragg

Jasper Bragg

Programs Assistant

Jasper Bragg is an Art Studio major at the University of New Mexico, focusing on ceramics. They currently live with their partner and two kitties, Junebug and Mango. Jasper’s academic pursuit revolves around obtaining a BA in Art Studio, with the long-term goal of establishing their own pottery studio. Their artistic journey began with dance lessons at the age of three. They eventually discovered their profound passion for pottery at age sixteen. Since then, Jasper has dedicated themselves to hand-building and throwing with clay. They believe in the power of art as a medium for genuine human connection and love meeting fellow creative people in Albuquerque!