Riana Casas is a printmaker, water color artist, and fiber artist working in Denver. She moved here from Miami, has a lot of experience as a contracted teaching artist through the museum network there. She graduated from the College of Saint Rose in Albany, NY with a BFA in Studio Art minoring in Psychology and Art History. ““Images take me apart; images put me back together again, new, enlarged, with breathing room.”- Pat Allen, Art is the way of Knowing. For me, art making is a therapeutic process that provides an outlet for us all, even those of us who believe we do not have the right amount of talent. Therefore, the objective of my art workshops is typically to create an environment, activity, and provide teaching through inquiry, and self critique. Using these ingredients, as an art instructor, I hope to create the type of therapeutic and cathartic experience for others as image making does for myself. Often, I find it beneficial to provide inspiration using alternate art forms from poetry, books, music, etc. This allows each student to relate to their own image making with perspective. Another teaching philosophy implemented in my work is that of collaboration. Often breaking groups into more nuclear groups to relate to one another, trust each other intuitions, release the control over our needs for perfection, and create a sense of community identity.