Art Tutoring Now Available From Creative Kid College Coach
Personalized Art Instructor Mara Ramirez
Creative Kid College Coach is delighted to share that we are adding a new service to our practice through art instructor Mara Ramirez. Personalized art instruction, beginning as early as possible, long before a college application, has been started can help the student not only articulate their mission for their undergraduate experience but also discover confidence in choosing the right program. While students often attend summer pre-college programs or high school art classes to build their portfolios, Mara’s addition to our complement of services means that our students can now gain personalized art instruction and bespoke curation of their college portfolio submissions.
Mara centers art making as a mode of nurturance, self-expression, and emotional processing of the world. Whether you are looking to strengthen and diversify your portfolio or learn new techniques and materials, Mara can set you up for not only success with college applications but for a grounded and passionate lifelong art practice.
Trained in the Reggio Emilia approach of exploration-based learning (founded on collegial and relations-based pedagogy), Mara has worked with people of all ages and skill levels to create age-appropriate, challenging, and engaging, personalized ongoing artistic relationships.
Mara’s portfolio-building curriculum is tailored to each individual student and includes as much critique, advice, and assignments as needed. Priority is given to learning comprehension of many different mediums and styles while maintaining the unity of concept, craftsmanship, and technical skill. Through the implementation of practice and focus on the conceptual framework, students will find their own unique voice and confidence. It is Mara’s goal to help students develop passionate lifelong studio practices.
Our students who have worked with Mara describe the experience as a personalized learning environment. With the confidence of an expanded visual arts practice, students are equipped to show colleges their passion and ability to solve problems creatively.
Mara’s track record in supporting our students includes several who gained admission this past year to Early Decision programs at very competitive schools.
Student Testimonials:
When I first met Mara at an art camp in ninth grade, I came away from the experience with my whole conception of art changed. I had created endless mental roadblocks for myself when it came to my art practice, to the point that I almost never fully finished a piece or explored outside my comfort zone. Mara taught me how to get out of my own way and make the art my soul wanted to. Working with them two years later to create my college arts portfolio, I still feel the same way.
I strongly believe that without Mara’s guidance, I would not have been admitted to schools such as Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design. They helped me ideate, supported me through my creative process, and encouraged me to explore the world of art in ways I was always scared to do. I now have at least five more mediums under my belt, a thirst for wild mix-media creations, and the solid technical foundation to execute any piece I could dream up. Most importantly, Mara helped me discover more of myself through this journey, opening up little flowers in my mind and cultivating an art practice that will flourish long into the future. And what’s more—all over Zoom!”
- Anisha, Brown University
“I’m fairly certain Mara’s the reason I got into RISD. Throughout the portfolio process, I felt like we were partners in crime. They adapted to my weird, weird, learning style and kept me not just productive but truly excited about my work. I really felt heard and supported. Apart from art, I learned about life at art school and different ways to harness my creativity to find what suited me. They made me love art without sacrificing the rigor of technical skill.”
- Mel, USC Animation
Working with Mara not only helped me to create my best portfolio for admissions but provided me with skills that will carry me into my future practice as an artist. With their guidance, Mara set me up for success through conversations aimed toward self-discovery. Before working with them, I struggled to find my artistic voice, making tons of work without any particular message or intention. Through our collaboration, Mara and I began to piece together the messages and themes I already had in order to set up a foundation for the narrative of my final portfolio. We truly worked together as a team to flesh out my work and my concepts. They are a great person to bounce off of, an incredible listener, and great at constructive criticism, my conversations with Mara inspired me to create strong and meaningful work throughout our time together. It's clear that Mara cares deeply about the success of their students and is passionate about their practice as a teacher and artist, which is what I value most in an educator. In the end, I came away confident in my work, proud of my final portfolio, and more aware of myself as an artist.
- Sunny, the University of Illinois at Chicago, Class of 2027
You can find out more about Mara at our About page.
If you’d like to contact us about art tutorials or portfolio development, use the form below.