Visual Art – Los Angeles
My name is Jennifer Fuentes and I am a writer, self taught artist and teacher. I am also the co-founder of The Transit Center Art and Production Gallery where we mentor youth to become working artists.
I was born and raised in Los Angeles to El Salvadorian parents. I spent most of my childhood reading the back of cereal boxes, playing the violin writing and drawing. At the time, I had no doubt I wanted to be an artist.
But, when I got to San Diego State, I was told artists don\'t make any money and so I started working towards a bachelors degree in Comparative Literature and Spanish with the intention of becoming a teacher. I then attended UCLA and earned a teacher credential and Masters in Education and taught high school English for five years.
Naturally, something was missing in my life. I decided to do some creative writing and pursued a Masters in Fine Arts at Cal Arts. I wrote a collection of short stories in English and Spanish for my thesis and soon thereafter the inspiration started coming my way.
With a few materials at hand, I started painting. At first, my only intention was the simple joy of it, until I decided it was just as important to share my work.
This is also when I also decided to take part in The Transit Center\'s vision to help mentor at risk youth achieve their dreams of becoming working artists.