“There are some things one can only achieve by a deliberate leap in the opposite direction.” —Franz Kafka
Helayne was born in the Bronx and is a lifelong New Yorker. She is a ceramic artist, printmaker and graphic designer. Art has always been an important part of Helayne’s life, first exploring drawing on her own and then attending the High School of Music and Art, and later earning a BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Always curious to learn, Helayne has participated in ceramic art and printmaking workshops across the U.S. and spent a wonderful month traveling through China as part of an artist residency at the Sanbao Art Institute in Jingdezhen. As an artist member of the Clay Art Center in Port Chester, New York, Helayne is working with both functional and decorative ceramic forms and is currently exploring the raku firing process and incorporating printmaking techniques into her ceramic work.
Since first having the opportunity to teach art workshops at a local community art center, Helayne has discovered a new passion and has been pursuing avenues to learn more about being a teaching artist and exploring new teaching opportunities. In 2017 she participated in a Professional Teacher Development Training at the Clay Art Center, in 2019 she began working with the Family Arts Project at Wave Hill, in 2020 she completed a certificate program in Arts Administration at NYU, and also received her RYT200 yoga instructor certification, and in 2021—TAP. Helayne now looks forward to exploring new teaching paths and continuing to spend as much time as possible in her ceramic studio.
TAP Work:
“Being very new to the teaching artist field I knew I wanted to do this work but was unsure of myself and how to proceed. Participating in TAP has really answered a lot of my questions, given me clarity on next steps, and most importantly given me the confidence to move forward as a teaching artist.”
Most Memorable TAP Moment:
“Participating in TAP has been a wonderful journey, everyone has been so generous and encouraging, which makes it very hard to narrow it down to just one memorable moment. Getting to meet and share and play with a (zoom) room full of artists was amazing all by itself, but if I have to narrow it down, I would have to say my eye-opening moment was getting so absorbed in creating my teaching path and lesson plan that I never realized how many hours had gone by as I researched, wrote, and rewrote my plan. I also LOVED being in a 1st grade classroom and experiencing the energy and enthusiasm of the children and the other teaching artists.”
Find out more about Helayne here:
