Amplify Teaching Residency
“A collaboration between Blue Sky Center and Amplify Arts Project, this residency is an opportunity for a visiting artist of any discipline to support creative community development in the Cuyama Valley. ”
Photo by Arna Behar
About the Amplify Teaching Residency
The Cuyama Valley Teaching Artist-in-Residency is a program that began in 2022. The selected artist engages regularly with ~180 Cuyama Joint Unified School District students via resident-designed and directed art workshops. The fellow teaches their art form (any art form is considered, with music/multimedia emphasis a plus) to K–12 students in Cuyama Valley, while collaboratively working on a community-engaged art project during a 3-week stay hosted by Blue Sky Center.
Artists spend ~40 hours each week connecting with the larger community, teaching students, and working on proposed projects. Artists must self-identify as female or non-binary and have some prior teaching experience.
Selected artists receive a stipend along with a travel allowance and materials/expense fund, along with some family-style meals and free lodging on Blue Sky’s campus.
““So more than anything, I am looking forward to being open and curious to the inspiration that will reveal itself in the Cuyama Valley.” ”
Recent Artist Fellows
Al Oard
October 2025
Al Oard is a multimedia artist focusing on the creation of music, analog instruments and recording arts. They intertwine different facets of the music world in order to bridge the gap between DIY artistry and professional industry.
For three weeks in October, Al worked almost daily with Cuyama Valley High School students, teaching them music fundamentals and electrical wiring for DIY mics and musical equipment. Al shared their work process in the form of a DIY recording booth for attendees in support of Blue Sky Center’s 10th annual Día de los Muertos event.
Arna Behar
October 2024
Arna Behar was born in Bosnia. When her family escaped the war in 1992, one of the few things they took with them was her father’s 35mm Pentax. She is a graduate of the renowned Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara, California with a B.A. in Photography. Arna has nearly two decades of experience working as a photographer and creative guide for individuals and businesses.
Arna spent three weeks engaging with Cuyama Joint Unified School District students, as well as community residents, on a project that mixed photography and storytelling. She guided Cuyama Valley High School students on photography, resulting in zine of their work that students took home. She also created a portrait booth for attendees at Blue Sky Center’s 9th annual Día de los Muertos event.
Majestic “Magic” Sumter
October 2023
In our second year collaborating with Amplify, Blue Sky Center hosted Majestic "Magic" Sumter. Magic hosted a variety of fiber arts workshops for local students and residents of all ages. Workshops included knitting, crochet, and yarn dying.
Magic fostered the creation of a Granny Square Community Quilt by Cuyama student artists and residents, who created pieces for the quilt. She knitted with the community at Blue Sky Center’s 8th annual Dia de los Muertos event. We loved sharing the magic of the Cuyama Valley with Magic and seeing the engagement in her work.
Vanessa DeCouto
October 2022
Blue Sky Center first partnered with Amplify in 2022 and Vanessa DeCouto was selected from a pool of applicants limited to Amplify alumni and participants. Blue Sky Center and the Cuyama Valley school district hosted Vanessa for three weeks in October and November.
Vanessa worked with Cuyama's youth writing songs, collaging vision boards, and even making mixtapes! She made impromptu recordings at the Peddlers Fair and painted faces during the 7th annual Día de los Muertos celebration. To close her time in Cuyama, Vanessa hosted a free event at the Buckhorn showcasing student and community work art and music made during her fellowship, with a community open mic!
