This year 275 students from 9 schools across San Bernardino and Riverside counties participated in the Storytelling Through Photography Workshop inspired by the exhibition Christina Fernandez: Multiple Exposures at UCR ARTS’ California Museum of Photography. In this workshop, students were inspired by the narrative photography of Los Angeles-based artist, Christina Fernandez, whose work explores themes of migration, labor, gender, and her Mexican-American heritage. Students strengthened their critical thinking and visual literacy skills, considered the many artistic decisions that photographers make when creating an image, and learned how to tell a story through photography. Finally, students created their own narrative photographs that tell their stories. These powerful works of art explore themes of coming of age, mental health, familial relationships, cultural heritage, migration, and more.

The Storytelling Through Photography Workshop Inspired by Christina Fernandez was taught by Steffanie Padilla. The exhibition was co-curated by Lindsey Hammel, Associate Director of Education and Public Programs, and Steffanie Padilla, teaching artist.

Artists:

Dalal Alzahrani, Riverside Virtual School
Sakha Arianto, Vista Murrieta High School
Chloe Briote-Johnson, Vista Murrieta High School
Riley Duval, Vista Heights Middle School
Andrea Gomez, Riverside Virtual School
Ryden Klure, Riverside Polytechnic High School
Alina Lopez, Vista Heights Middle School
Melody Macek, Frank Augustus Miller Middle School
Patrick Novak, Riverside Polytechnic High School
Emma Nunez, Riverside Virtual High School
Emanuel Pacheco, Valley View High School
Carlos Andrés Perez, Summit High School
Mia Quiroz, Vista Murrieta High School
Kalia Sabri, Vista Murrieta High School,
Noah Wilson, Riverside Virtual High School

Related Events
Public Reception at Family Day
Sunday, May 21, 2023 | 1-4 pm
Free and open to the public

Thank you to Christina Fernandez, artist; Joanna Szupinska, Senior Curator at UCR ARTS’ California Museum of Photography; Douglas McCulloh, UCR ARTS Interim Executive Director; and Samantha Canales, UCR ARTS Student Education Assistant. Docents: Anna Bekker, Taher Bhaijee, Andrea Cristobal, Christopher Kern, Leanna Gonzalez, and Ashley Peake. 

Thank you to our school partners:
Amanda Bates, Frank Augustus Miller Middle School; Sara Beckman, Riverside Polytechnic High School; Lisette Bourne, Riverside Virtual High School; Cheryl Conder, Vista Heights Middle School; Sandy F. De La Rosa, Summit High School; Annemarie Guzy, Riverside Unified School District Visual and Performing Arts Specialist; Lenore Hamel, Valley View High School; Louisa Higgins, Riverside County Office of Education Arts Specialist; Lindsay Ricketts, Vista Murrieta High School.

The Storytelling Through Photography Workshop Inspired by Christina Fernandez and the resulting student exhibition was made possible by grants from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. Programs at UCR ARTS are supported by the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at UCR and the City of Riverside.

Image: Ryden Klure, yunggins, 2023. Courtesy of the artist.