Jeanne Cantu
Vice President, Friends of Spare Parts
Jeanne Cantu is an educator retired from the public school system. She currently teaches Texas A&M University-San Antonio and works as a Writing Coach for Education Service Center-Region 20. Cantu grew up in an environment where reuse was an everyday expectation. As a classroom teacher, she had limited resources, but with the reusing habit, she was able to provide exciting learning opportunities and projects for students. She continues to be committed to reuse-a way to save energy, decrease overfilling landfills and conserve resources.
Laura Carter
President
San Antonio nonprofit aficionada Laura Carter believes in enabling the community to work from the heart, not just the wallet. She spent six years at the San Antonio Area Foundation and her blog “Beyond Paychecks” ran online bi-weekly at the San Antonio Current from 2010 to 2013. Carter is a communications professional working primarily with nonprofits. Her expertise is traditional and social media, public relations, event management and marketing. Having been involved with Spare Parts in several capacities, Carter currently serves as President of Friends of Spare Parts Board of Directors.
Chris Castillo
Vice President, Spare Parts Mini Art Museum
Chris Castillo helps make art happen. Born in San Antonio, Texas, Castillo studied Journalism and Photography at San Antonio College before completing a BA in Photography and Art History & Criticism at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Castillo is seeking a Master of Library Science degree at Texas Woman’s University. Currently the Residency & Archives Associate at Artpace, his previous work includes Bexar Bibliotech and the San Antonio Public Library. Castillo is a founding member of the artist collective The Lullwood Group, which curated Second Saturday exhibitions monthly 2012 through 2017. Castillo also interned for artist Adriana Lara and Perros Negros in Mexico City. Photo courtesy Josh Huskin. Castillo chairs Friends of Spare Parts’ Mini Art Museum’s Advisory Committee.
Jessica Jones Gonzales
Jessica Jones Gonzales is an art educator at Ronald Reagan High School in the North East Independent School District of San Antonio, Texas. A graduate of the University of Texas, Austin, she has served as an intern in the Picante Paper and Book Arts Studios at the Southwest School of Art and as a summer intern at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center for the “Make It New” exhibit. In addition to teaching in North East ISD, Gonzales has taught art to children of all ages at the Corpus Christi Fine Arts Council, Southwest School of Art and Duke University Talent Identification Program. She is a passionate art educator who loves nurturing young artists and believes in the transformative power of engaging, meaningful art experiences. Gonzales co-chairs Friends of Spare Parts’ Shop Committee.
Regina Villalobos-Perez
Secretary
Regina Villalobos-Perez works in the public information office at the San Antonio Public Library system. She is a native to south Texas, was raised in Poteet and now lives in San Antonio.
Villalobos-Perez has a long history of supporting and working for community-driven initiatives as a communications professional, including having worked in the non-profit sector for over a decade. She holds a MA in Media Management from Ohio University and a BA in Communication from the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Being an early adopter of local initiatives, Villalobos-Perez served as a founding committee member of TEDx San Antonio, a founding member of the San Antonio Cerveceros and was active in San Antonio’s first established co-working space, C4 Workspace.
Having spent the majority of her life as a reuser, she is thrilled to be a part of the Spare Parts movement. By promoting the arts and environmental sustainability through reuse education she sees this as a win-win-win for citizens, community and the environment.
Little known fact: Regina was crowned Little Miss Poteet while in elementary school.
Villalobos-Perez chairs Friends of Spare Parts’ Communications/PR Committee.
Joey Lopez, PhD
Emeritus
Lopez pursued his higher education, became an entrepreneur in Austin, Texas’ startup tech industry and helped run a high-end audio store-turned-exporting business from 2000 to 2010, concurrently with building his new media artist portfolio. From 2010 to 2017 he was a convergent media professor at the University of Incarnate Word (UIW) where there was a tenure track and obtained promotion to become an associate professor.
Joey Lopez, PhD’s work has been recognized publicly including faculty member of the year awards from the UIW’s student government, San Antonio Magazine’s 2013 “IT list” and San Antonio Current’s 20 most interesting people of 2015.
Currently, Lopez co-owns Dreamonoid’s HiFi in San Antonio, Texas. He is a media consultant, academic, entrepreneur, artist, cyclist, father, husband, community engager and advocator.