Tiffany L. Jones

Tiffany L. Jones


EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
Tiffany L. Jones is an Art Teacher and Advisor at City-As-School. Sanokofa, a Ghanaian Asante Adinkra Symbol, is her guiding principle to living, teaching and learning. The Sankofa symbolizes “one taking from the past what is good and bringing it into the present in order to make positive progress through the benevolent use of knowledge.” As an educator it is her goal to foster a learning environment that acknowledges the past, promotes the awareness of present and provides students with the skills needed to critically evaluate the political and social challenges within society and their communities. Tiffany is dedicated to nurturing the curiosity needed to continue their learning outside of the classroom. Although it has been said many times, knowledge is truly powerful. An informed individual is enabled to revolutionize their reality thereby contributing to the progression towards a fair and equal global community.
Art reveals the most beautiful, hopeful, traumatic and destructive components of the human experience. Art is her voice. With her voice she communicates her dedication for social change. As an art educator it is her strives to create learning opportunities in which students can find their voice, loudly and proudly. She believes art provides a space in which the interconnectivity of our experiences becomes transparent. Thereby fostering opportunities for dialogue, which could lead to understanding, relating and collaboration. She values the experience gifted to us by the act of collaborating. Through collaboration we connect to each other humanity. As her elder would say “ I see myself in you, therefore I care for you.”
She is forever gracious for the journey that has led her to City-As-School. Here she is empowered to connect with students in a meaningful and everlasting way. She is proud of being apart of a community welcomes all as they are and who they will become. As Rachel says being a member of this community is truly “living the dream”.

COURSES/INTERNSHIPS
I Honor You!
Every line means something – Jean Michel Basquiat
I Honor You! explores the meaning and action of giving honor. In this course students will discuss and examine the symbolism of the iconic “crown” in the artwork of Jean Michel Basquiat, a former student of City As. Students will explore the social, economical, and political influences of Basquiat. Thereby creating a space in which we can reflect on how our individual experiences can become the narratives/concepts that inform our art making. In the process students will be prompted daily to reflect on someone who has impacted their lives in a positive way. These daily reflections, drawn or written, will support the creative process of the final project.
The final project each student will be asked to “crown” someone in his or her life. Who would you crown as a king or queen in your life? Students will employ the style and techniques of Basquiat to create a mixed media painting on a found canvas. Students will be assessed on their artistic process, final artwork, artist statements and rubrics. This work will be presented a school wide exhibition.

ACT UP! positions students as Artivist (art activist).

In this a course we identify the social issues that impact your life and the lives of those in our City-As-School community. We will then explore these social issues through interviews, surveys and research of artists who dedicate their art making to social justice. In-class time will be spent studying master artwork, peer revising and critiquing proposals and project drafts, working with visiting master artists and creating their piece.

The final project will have a group component. Each group will create a multi-media art project on a social justice issue they’ve researched. Students will illuminate/explore how to best communicate their message through an interactive art form. With the help of the instructor, students will structure their project using a workplan to set up independent deadlines and scaffold the revision process of their art piece.

This work will be presented a school wide exhibition. In the final exhibition, student artists ask viewers to participate in contributing to creating a better world via petition, donation, pledges and other forms of activism.

BIOGRAPHY
Tiffany is an artist, teacher and designer. She is Southern feed and New York City breed. She loves colors, beads, laughter, fabric, paint, oddities, fashion, sharing, cooking, creating, dancing and learning. She loves music, any kind of music. She is known for having many hairstyles and a collection of eyewear. She adores her family.
She is storyteller, a skill learned from her parents. She is committed to unearthing the intersections of our stories to provide opportunities for growth and healing. She believes everyone has a story to tell and to learn from.

At the tender age of 15 she was accepted into a Kraft Foods summer internship program for high school students called Operation Opportunity. She interned in various departments, conducted research projects, monitored product developments and developed her own line of drinks targeted to the teen market. She became a marketing wiz kid by 18. Her learning there influenced her to attend Baruch College as a marketing major. However she soon discovered the creative and design aspect of marketing is what truly excited her. Therefore she switched her major, studied graphic design and received a BA in Graphic Communications.

Although she values the importance of a formal education, Tiffany never limited her learning to a classroom. As a college student she interned and volunteered to diversify her learning experiences. She could be found styling magazine shots, making welcoming guest to Bad Boy records, manning the door at early Afropunk concerts, teaching art classes at Macy’s and guest speaking at a 5th grade graduation. Ask her anytime about working at Sean John/Bad Boy and meeting P. Diddy at the copier.

However her life changed when she became the apprentice/assistant to the late doll and textile artist Adrienne McDonald. Adrienne taught Tiffany the art of cloth doll making, a skill that dates back to slavery. Tiffany was committed to learning this skill to honor the legacy of her late grandmother, who created a line of dolls called Mama Love. With the love and encouragement of her family, friends and Adrienne, Tiffany began Love, Mama dolls in 2001. Today she continues to create and teach doll making in honor of her grandmother, mentor and ancestors.

With her passion for teaching, social change and art making Tiffany pursued a Master’s degree in Art Education from New York University. In 2010 she became an Art Educator and Urban Arts Partnership site coordinator at Facing History High School. During her tenure as the Art Team Facilitator, she founded the school’s Art Club, Art Crew, co-founded the young women’s club, Unity, and led the schools art events such as Choosing to Participate, the senior social justice art exhibit. In 2012 she was an invited guest speaker at Columbia University, where she led a presentation & discussion about the role of art in facilitating curriculum to populations who are descendants of genocide. Throughout her career she has developed and led several professional developments that help teachers bring the language and love of art to their own classrooms.

Currently she is an Art Teacher and Advisor at City As School. She is also an Art Education Department adjunct professor at City College. She can be found advising art organizations, creating art and advocating for Art Education in the lives of young people in NYC. You may also find her dancing with friends to house music, enjoying the breeze, reading a book, working on multi-media project dedicated to the life of her student Raphael Sadonte Ward or cooing over cute babies.