Introducing Andrea Brown

From the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities:

Introducing Andrea Brown

I’m the Arts Learning Coordinator for the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. I’m new to the Agency, having started in my role this past April. I’ve always known I wanted to be an Artist. My earliest memories as a child were of my father drawing things he saw around the house, in the newspaper, and in nature. Even now, there are stacks of his illustrations in sketch books around my childhood home that I can vividly remember him leisurely drawing with such skill and grace. My aunt (his sister) would sew clothing and make beautiful dolls, varying in scale, and material. I was always in awe seeing her create things out of what started out as ordinary piles of fabric. 

By middle school I decided that I wanted to receive formal training in the visual arts and auditioned for a special admission Visual and Performing Arts high school. There, I majored in darkroom photography and commercial illustration which I’d say was the beginning of my ever-evolving journey of artmaking.  

I attended Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland where I majored in Fibers. I would go on to sew themed fashion collections each spring with a cohort of my peers that would culminate into MICA’s annual Spring Fashion show, contributions from ticket sales supported need-based scholarships for incoming minority students.   

Shortly after undergraduate school, I relocated from the DMV to Philadelphia where I worked as a Teaching Artist through a collaborative program via University of the Arts and the School District of Philadelphia called, Philadelphia Arts Education Partnerships (PAEP). Working in the K-8 setting, through the means of arts education was my way of “giving back” and paying the gift of arts education forward. I particularly enjoyed teaching art through the lens of common core standards which I found quickly grasp students’ attention. When the arts are coupled with imaginative creativity, anywhere you are, if done right, becomes a safe space.  

Before re-locating back to the DMV, I served as the Director of Children and Youth services for a Non-profit organization geared toward STEAM education in Greater Philadelphia for youth in grades K-12. It was an amazing experience that I’ll not soon forget. I’m so excited to be back in DC where my passion for art, artistic expression, and arts education began.