Education Team
Amy Johnson is a local maker and mother of four who believes in the power of handmade, secondhand, and eco-friendly living. With an undergraduate degree in English from the Univerity of Texas at San Antonio, she began her career as a program director for the local literary arts nonprofit, Gemini Ink. She is the founder and creative behind the blog Maker Mama, and she works as a freelance social media manager and consultant. Her favorite craft store is the thrift store, and she loves how Spare Parts inspires a respect for our limited resources while nourishing children’s creativity.
Amy Jones is an artist and educator who has been living in San Antonio with her family for the past 20 years. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Jones attended Oregon State University and University of Oregon, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Art for Visual Design. Growing up in a large family in the 1970’s and 1980’s, thriftiness and imagination was inspired by the likes of Jim Henson, Shel Silverstein and her family. A self taught fiber artist, she is so happy to have found Spare Parts, whose educational goals parallel her mission of creative reuse and art for all.
Audrya Flores is an educator, artist and mother from Brownsville, Texas. She earned her BA in Education from the University of Texas at San Antonio and her Montessori certification through North American Montessori Center. For the last decade, Flores has encouraged elementary students to explore core subjects through the arts as well as recognize themselves as stewards of nature.
As an artist, she repurposes discarded items and organic material for her assemblage work and installations. In her free time, Flores can be found exploring the magic of nature with her son in their garden or browsing tacky vintage clothing at thrift shops. Flores loves being part of the Spare Parts team! It gives her the opportunity to facilitate creative expression in children while promoting awareness of our responsibility to the planet.
Daniel Flores is a true Texan and has been an art educator for over eight years. Flores attended the University of Texas San Antonio and received a Bachelors of Fine Arts Degree with a concentration in drawing. Flores preferred mediums are drawing and paintings to include portraits, landscapes and costume or personal pieces. He enjoys attending and being a part of the art scene around San Antonio including volunteering and exhibiting artwork. He joined the Spare Parts team in 2017 because he believes in its mission and values of connecting with the community to provide education of creative reuse.
A teaching artist, Gabbe Grodin lives and works in San Antonio. With a BFA from Indiana University and MFA from Rutgers in New Jersey, a nomadic spirit has landed Grodin back in Texas after many years. “I love to share what I have learned about art-making, especially where it overlaps with ethical behaviors in the environment.”
Juan Flores grew up and currently lives in the south east side of San Antonio. He went to Connecticut College to receive a BA in Art and a certificate from the Ammerman Center for Arts and Technology. After graduating he received the Mortimer Hays-Brandeis Fellowship which provided a stipend to support a year long residency centered around sound art and experimental new media in Mexico City. This opportunity reinforced his child-like curiosity to open things up and to see how they work. Flores is now committed to continue contributing to the large conversation in electronic DIY projects and open source software. Because he wishes he had access to these kinds of workshops when he was a kid, it is important to him to teach low income aspiring artists or anyone who wishes to be creative how to use these newer technologies in a way that is not scary or intimidating, but easy, accessible and cheap.
Kara Salinas is an educator and emerging artist from San Antonio, who prior to teaching worked in the field of Architecture. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Texas at San Antonio, and a Master of Arts in Art Education from Boston University. It is from her education and work experience in Architecture where she develops ideas for installation art or sculpture. She seeks to exhibit art in surprising locations, to truly make art public, and accessible beyond the gallery or museum walls.
Kim Bishop is a practicing, exhibiting artist with thirty years of art education experience in the public school system. She holds a BFA from Southwest Texas State University in Commercial Art and Advertising, five lifetime teaching certifications with a Texas State Gifted and Talented Education Endorsement, and a Master of Arts in Curriculum & Instruction from Texas State University. During her time as a studio art and AP Art History instructor Bishop maintained a fine arts career by having an extensive solo and group show prospectus. She is co-founder of Art To The Third Power, a community arts based artist collective that focuses on building and archiving cultural capital for San Antonio. Her mission to create, educate and build a legacy of arts and art history is rooted in her philosophy that it is through the arts that we are a humane civilization. This is why she believes that working as an educator with Spare Parts is a perfect fit for her - because “Actions ‘do’ have Consequences.” To learn more about Kim Bishop visit kimvbishopart.com and arttothethirdpower.com.
Laurel Bodinus has been an artist and art educator around San Antonio for almost three decades. She has been teaching in the Young Artist Programs of the Southwest School of Art for 22 years and has been involved with Spare Parts since its inception. She loves encouraging kids of all ages to let their imaginations lead them into artsy adventures.
Bodinus has raised two “reasonable humans,” lives in the southeast side of San Antonio, likes to bake fancy sculpted cakes and play records for her friends. Sometimes she drags her records out and DJs at art openings. Two years ago she built a 26-foot long dragon puppet for a local production of “Shrek.”
Her time as a theater costumer taught her how to make cool stuff out of almost nothing with not much budget…and she loves working with Spare Parts because “their reuse/recycle philosophy helps bring MORE art to MORE kids all over our city!”
Michelle Garza Treviño was born and raised in San Antonio. Treviño has been interested in art since she was a child growing up on the south side of town. Upon graduating high school she married and started a family. Her husband was active duty military and through their travels she was fortunate enough to visit many museums and galleries across the United States. When her husband was given an honorable discharge from active duty they returned to San Antonio, with their two sons, where she began studying art full time. She studied fine arts at the University of Texas at San Antonio and graduated in 2013 with a teacher certification and summa cum laude honors. Since graduating she has been teaching elementary art and is always happy to see the excitement on her students’ faces when they see their finished artwork. Michelle values reuse education through art because not only is she an advocate for underprivileged children but also for the environment. Treviño attributes her success and happiness to the support she has received from her husband, two sons and close family.
