Carrie Wing is an arts educator and artist who is currently based in San Francisco. Carrie has been a public school arts educator for 8 years and has experience teaching a range of ages from K-12. She is originally from the rural midwest, where she grew up and went to school. Carrie graduated from Purdue University in 2011 with a double major in arts education and fine art with a concentration in printmaking and painting. For her personal art practice, Carrie likes to work in many different mediums and is constantly learning new skills. While she mainly works in painting, drawing, and printmaking, she also works in ceramics and textiles. Carrie has been a member of a local Coop Art Gallery in the Mission District, City Art Gallery, since 2018. There you can see her current series of illustrations based on themes of mindfulness and yoga.

As a born and raised Bay Area local and frequent traveller, ChiChai interprets the world around her with visual art and fashion. Her artwork and fashion design has been featured throughout the Bay Area, cross-country and in the Philippines and Korea. She founded the streetwear clothing brand Empire in the Air which uses apparel and community events to inspire others to build their empires. Not only does she serve SF youth as YAX’s Fashion Design Instructor, she is also the Filipinx-American Teaching Artist at Root Division where she teaches art projects that aim to celebrate Filipinx and Fil-Am history and cultures. ChiChai earned her MA in International Studies at the University of San Francisco and BA in Global Studies and Journalism at San Jose State University.

Eduardo Daza Taylor IV aka ET IV is a DJ, photographer, visual artist, and educator born and raised in the Bay Area, whose ancestors are from the Philippines. He developed a love and appreciation for music and the arts at an early age, citing his parents as his first influences. Eduardo's work comes from a Hip Hop/DIY mentality—sampling bits and pieces, both sonically and visually, in order to create a new narrative—making something out of nothing.

My name is Ethan Chen, and I am looking forward to teaching spoken word and theater at Summer Bridge. I believe in the power of collaboration, especially when it comes to creating art. I taught with Youth Art Exchange last year, and I am excited to return as a teaching artist again this summer. In my free time, I love writing, reading, and running out in nature.

Havel Weidner grew up in San Francisco, where the built environment had a great impact on his upbringing and perception of the world. He received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from CalPoly SLO, and now works as an architectural designer on residential projects in the city. Having dabbled as a gardener, a blacksmith, a potter, and a woodshop assistant, Havel likes to think things through with his hands, and incorporates the physical act of making throughout the design process. He believes that design thinking and problem solving are invaluable skills for the next generation to master, and are vital to solving the growing environmental and social challenges we face as a community.

Haya Tawatao holds a BA in Communications with a minor in Visual Arts/Media from UC San Diego. She worked for several years in television and animation production in Los Angeles and New York (MTV Animation). While her children attended SFUSD’s Jefferson Elementary, she worked as the art coordinator, providing art enrichment programs to classrooms and leading community-based art installation projects. Most recently, Haya served as a teaching artist for Green Art Workshop where she facilitated a wide variety of workshops throughout the Bay Area with an emphasis on upcycled art. She also enjoys crafting Halloween decorations and costumes.

Liam Mcstravick is a hip-hop producer and DJ born and raised in San Francisco. With his father from Ireland and his mother from Los Angeles, he was inspired at a young age from an eclectic background of different types of music. He grew up listening to their large collection of vinyl with genres ranging from reggae, blues, jazz, hip-hop, house, and punk. He quickly developed an obsession for music, picked up trumpet and tried out several instruments throughout his school years. At San Diego State, he hosted his first radio show where he played vinyl records he would find in the dollar section of a local record store. It wasn’t until he took a break from education and returned to San Francisco when he started buying samplers and producing hip-hop songs for his friends that it clicked that music could be something he could pursue a career in. He later returned to college at SF State, where he received his degree in Broadcasting and Electronic Communication Arts with an emphasis in Music Production. Currently he is producing and recording various artists and rappers in the San Francisco hip-hop scene.

Nadya Voynovskaya (shey/they) is a Russian-American multidisciplinary teaching artist whose work primarily focuses on painting, muralism and sculpture. She has worked on over thirty murals in Berkeley and Oakland, CA; Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and Bronx, NY; Atlanta, GA; Miami, FL; and Akumal, Mexico. Her mural work is made in collaboration with students and community members and seeks to visually represent the cultural richness and social justice themes relevant to the specific area. Outside of muralism her paintings explore queer immigrant identity and Russian folk art. She is very excited to join the YAX team.

Natasha Loewy is an artist based in Oakland, CA and primarily focuses on sculpture. Loewy received a BFA from The San Francisco Art Institute in 2008 and an MFA in Art Practice from San Francisco State University in 2022. She has a single subject teaching credential in art from Mills College and has taught art in elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as within youth art programs throughout the Bay Area.

Nico Corona. He/Him. Born in Pomona, CA. First Generation Latinx Artist and Designer. Studied Art History and Photography in CC. Moved to SF, received a B.S. in Visual Communication Design. Worked in advertising as a Designer/Art Director. Currently focusing on sculpture and metal work.