NAEA Open Studio Conversation: Educators, Museums, and an Artist Collaborate to Bring Contemporary Indigenous Art to Classrooms

Hana Layson is head of youth and educator programs at the Portland Art Museum and works to make the museum a welcoming, inclusive, and community-centered place. She manages professional development programs for educators across disciplines and grade levels (K–12 through college), leads arts education partnerships, oversees school tour and youth programs, and recently led the creation of a paid college guide program. Hana coleads the Educator Cohort Project in connection with MORE COLORS THAN THE EYE CAN SEE: An Education Initiative Inspired by the Art of Jeffrey Gibson, partnering with teachers, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, and SITE Santa Fe to develop resources on contemporary Native American art. Hana brings more than 2 decades of experience in arts and humanities education at museums, nonprofits, and universities in Portland and Chicago.

Catherine Hammer is an education product developer at the National Museum of the American Indian, where she creates educational resources for K–12 teachers and students. Previously, Catherine taught middle school social studies, English, civics, and thinking skills at both public and private schools in the United States and United Kingdom. She also worked as a program coordinator and research assistant at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Catherine has a BA in History from the University of Virginia and an MA in Secondary Social Studies Curriculum and Instruction from the College of William and Mary.

Born in Albuquerque, raised in Las Cruces, and with family in Laguna Pueblo, Margarita Paz-Pedro has ties across New Mexico. She is a ceramic artist, educator, organizer, and muralist. She received her BFA with an emphasis in Ceramics in 2003 from the University of Colorado-Boulder, an MA in Art Education in 2008 at the University of New Mexico, and an MFA in Studio Arts-Integrated Practice from the Institute of American Indian Arts in 2023. She has been able to travel, participate in artist residencies, and study under some fierce female artists. Since 2009, she has worked as a lead artist with the Apprenticeships for Leaders in Mosaic Arts (ALMA) Summer Institute, creating large-scale public art mosaic murals across New Mexico. She is currently an adjunct professor of ceramics. She is a partner to a fellow artist, and together they have a rowdy 12-year-old.