Ilaria Ortensi, Visual Artist

Ilaria Ortensi is an artist and art educator with an interest in architecture, urban landscape and the representation of contemporary spaces. Most recent art residency programs that she participated in include More Art - Housing Justice, 2016, where she collaborated with Eviction Intervention Service to teach an art class to people with hoarding disorder and ProjectArt, 2017-18, where she taught a yearly after-school art class at the Flatbush Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. Ilaria has also completed the Teaching Artist Fellowship, 2018-19, at the Center for Urban Pedagogy where she also taught a City Study at ICHS in the Bronx. She is currently an Adjunct Professor in Photography at Lesley University in Boston, and she recently completed the Teaching Artist Project training program at Community-Word Project. Born in Italy, she received her MFA from Columbia University in 2015 and is currently part of the Hercules Art/Studio Program in Long Island City, NY.

TAP Work:

Ilaria has been interning in a 5th grade classroom at PS 17, in Alex Velozo and Maria Schrimer's visual arts residency. In addition, she is also interning for Wingspan at PS 267 in a pre-K after-school Recycled Art class lead by Gianna Cioffi.

Most Memorable TAP Moment:

"I can’t recall one single memorable TAP moment as there were more than one. At each seminar, I felt like receiving an important lesson on how to improve teaching techniques but more importantly how to create the ideal environment for a mutual learning experience between students and educators. Taking part in the internship at PS17 has been so far an incredible way of learning how to combine efficient class management with compassionate and creative teaching. I’m excited to employ what I’ve been learning in my future art classes."

See some of Ilaria's artwork here: