Academy Community,
We are pleased to welcome
Gregory Navarro Pickens to our Academy family as our Arts Instructor. Mr. P comes to the Academy as a passionate artist and arts educator of 30 years. He is the co-founder of two Long Beach non-profit arts agencies – Artists Reaching Kids (ARK) and The Art Exchange, and has taught all grade levels from Kindergarten to College. He has produced over 150 murals locally involving youth participants of all ages. Greg earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Kutztown University in Pennsylvania, and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Texas, San Antonio. He presently consults as an Arts Integration Specialist.
“I chose to teach at the Academy because I was very inspired by the concept of the Intellectual Virtues being the school’s guiding principle. I was excited to see “Creativity” listed at the top of these virtues which is something I hadn’t encountered in a school before. The opportunity to help create a meaningful arts integrated curriculum in such a supportive, friendly environment was very compelling, and I happily joined the team.”
