SAN ANTONIO, TX.- Blue Star Contemporary introduces artist and educator Asaiah Puente as the organization’s new Education manager.

In this role, Puente will oversee the organization’s multiple education initiatives including the artist resource center; creative classrooms, a program that sites professional artists in K-8 classroom with a goal to increase access to arts education; MOSAIC, an after school student artist program, and public programming such as Family Saturdays, lectures, and tours.

Puente is an artist, arts activist, and scholar with four years of successful experience in the nonprofit and higher education sectors. She comes to BSC after spending three years in higher education, most recently with Yale University where she has held the role of Assistant Director of Student Engagement, a philanthropy education program directed for students.

Asaiah was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. Prior to her development experience, she worked with the Institute of Texan Cultures where she developed free Second Sunday programs for educators, students, and visitors. Her favorite Second Sunday was a collaboration with the Mystical Arts of Tibet exhibition for which she designed a community mandala.

She was a Diversity and Inclusion intern with American for the Arts in 2017 and is a graduate of the SAY Sí media arts program where she also worked as an after-school art teacher. Asaiah has focused her education on nonprofit management and holds a BPA from UTSA, an MS from OLLU, and is currently working on an EdD from Baylor University focused in Learning and Organizational Change.

Asaiah's connection to arts education and arts access runs deep. She believes that it was through art education that she is the person she is today. It is her personal mission to bring more arts access opportunities to the San Antonio community. In her free time, Asaiah enjoys thrifting and antiquing, particularly to fill her house with authentic mid-century home decor and using her artistic talents to design artwork for her home; she loves a good DIY project!