Maia Palmer’s world is filled with art and education. The art teacher spends her days at Cab Calloway School of the Arts and her evenings and weekends working on her own art projects. If a picture is worth a thousand words, Palmer has shared countless thousand-word stories about human subjects from around the world—from friends shopping in a market in Japan to street vendors in Bangkok to folks here in Delaware.
Her current inspiration: Hispanic educators across the First State.
The portrait series is about sharing stories. Inspired by the aesthetics of a chalkboard, each portrait is painted on a black background and surrounded by the subject’s own handwriting. On her website, Palmer includes audio files that allow the viewer to hear the subject’s stories in their own words. The visual, audio, and written elements work together to provide a brief but impactful look at the essence of each subject.
Personal Connections
Palmer once taught English as a second language to adults in Orlando. Throughout her time there, she learned the stories of her students and formed a connection to their cultures and experiences. Once she was back in traditional classrooms as an art teacher, Palmer noticed a wide divide between the diversity in student populations and that of the educators.
“I will play Latin music and my kids are like ‘Miss Palmer, thank you so much. Most of the other teachers won’t play anything but music in English and, when we ask them to, they’ll only play one or two songs.'”
Palmer started to see how even small actions can mean a lot to a diverse student population that doesn’t always feel represented. With today’s turbulent political climate, children in schools are a vulnerable and often overlooked party in conversations about race and identity.
“Having lived abroad, I think it does make you think more deeply about the world and your place in it when you have been removed from your place,” Palmer explains. “I think that most Americans—when you haven’t experienced that—can’t understand it.”
Through the power of multimedia art, Palmer hopes to foster understanding while uplifting the powerful voices that often aren’t at the forefront.
Stories Worth Sharing
“We have all these stereotypes of ‘what does it mean to be Hispanic?'” Palmer says. “It can mean so many different things.”
For her first subject in the series, Jose, it means empowering himself and his students through pride in his culture. He wears his sarape to work and in his portrait. “We never ‘arrived’ here,” Jose wrote on the painting. “My family had lived on this continent for hundreds of years.” For generations, his family has traveled back and forth between what is now Mexico and the United States. “I learned to adapt to Western life in these United States, but I miss living in collective cultures,” he adds. “America has always seemed isolating to me. The idea of what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is yours has always made me fear the worst, even for my children.”
Meanwhile, portrait subject Claudio (the piano teacher at Cab Calloway) explains that his Latino identity doesn’t enter much into his teaching. Originally from Chile, Claudio moved to the United States to study piano in college. When discussing how he’s perceived by others, he simply hopes to be seen as “passionate rather than dogmatic, friendly rather than mean, goofy rather than serious, and compassionate.” Claudio considers himself “first and foremost, a musician.” His portrait in the series serves that purpose, portraying him gleefully playing piano.
“We have all these stereotypes of ‘what does it mean to be Hispanic?’ It can mean so many different things.”
—Maia Palmer
Alejandra, another portrait subject, is also portrayed doing something she loves—gymnastics and aerials. For Alejandra, memories of moving to the United States in her sixth grade year are characterized by fear and anxiety. “The number of ‘what did you say?’s eventually shamed any accent out of me,” she says. The sport of gymnastics and her relationship with her coach helped her connect with parts of herself she had lost. “In my early years of teaching Spanish, I was also a flying trapeze instructor,” she shares. “Little did I know that I would need to use similar fear de-escalation techniques in school settings.” Through her experiences, she’s learned to embrace fear. She passes that mentality down to her students to help them grow—especially those struggling with the same anxieties she experienced as a student.
When Maria moved to the United States, she was just five years old. Her parents taught her the value of getting an education, and she always loved school. She knew she wanted to be an educator, but the path was extremely difficult. As an undocumented high school graduate, it was hard to apply for and get into college. She navigated the complex system and earned her bachelor’s degree from Wilmington University in 2010. Thanks to DACA, Maria was eventually able to get a job as a paraeducator. “I am one of the very few people that speak Spanish in my school,” she says. “I love to translate for both students and families.” Maria has encountered students and parents who don’t speak any English, and having a teacher that could effectively communicate with them made a world of difference for their education.
“I am one of the very few people that speak Spanish in my school. I love to translate for both students and families.”
Connecting Art, Education, and Community
The portrait project is ongoing, and Palmer is always seeking new subjects to feature. “For me, the most satisfaction comes from saying ‘I want to hear your story,'” she says.
Her hope is to bring the artwork to the public outside of a gallery or museum context. “I would love to have the exhibit travel to various schools, because I really want the kids to see it—to see these role models.” As the project grows and more local educators participate, Palmer remains focused on her original goal for the project—making everyday people’s stories accessible, and framing them in a beautiful way.
“These aren’t numbers, these aren’t figures, these aren’t statistics. They’re real people,” she says. “There is no one story or one situation. We have amazing Hispanic and Latino educators here in Delaware. Let’s celebrate them.”
Do you know an inspiring Hispanic/Latino educator in Delaware? Are you a Hispanic educator yourself? Fill out this form to contact the artist about participating in this ongoing project.
Related: “Coming of Ages” Is an Intergenerational Art Collaboration in Wilmington
