Nela Steric shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Hi Nela, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your story, experiences and insights with our readers. Let’s jump right in with an interesting one: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
I love cats. Domestic, stray (community) cats or even feral cats, ,After getting a city license, my greatest joy outside work is helping community cats. I find those needing care, tame them, and build their trust. I trap them and take them to a clinic for free sterilization, flea treatment, and antibiotics. Then, I return them to their community, where I feed and befriend them daily. This keeps the cat population in check and letting them live happily while not additionally overwhelming the city shelters.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m a visual artist and art educator, passionate about creating and teaching. I’ve worked in both private and public high schools, shaping young minds while building my own art career. As a long-term legal immigrant, I learned to navigate the challenges of adding more education and classroom teaching experience while growing my art portfolio. I have participated in numerous juried group exhibitions and had two solo shows. My work is a vibrant mix of semi-realistic personal expression and cultural storytelling. I’m excited to keep pushing my creative boundaries with new projects and exhibitions
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What was your earliest memory of feeling powerful?
My earliest memory of feeling powerful was discovering my artistic talent as a child. I realized my ability to create visually was a unique strength, a superpower that let me express myself and tackle life’s challenges with creativity and confidence.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
There was a time I nearly threw in the towel–when I hit a wall in my late forties, Getting laid off from my long-term private school job due to “strategy changes” and “After-COVID enrollment issues”on top of artificial problems the school admin would not allow me to fix -felt like a gut punch. Handing over my role to a younger colleague and facing uncertainty, was tough. The place felt like family, claimed us as family, but it showed its cold corporate nature as soon as the new admin stepped in it. Ageism for women in the workplace is real; it’s like an unspoken rule in many corporate spaces, and private schools as well.
The societal changes regarding ageism and even micro (or macro) racisms towards professionals that are also more or less recent immigrants to the US are moving at glacier speed. In the meantime, I had to figure out my life.
I had to reframe my mindset that “it’s all over”for me because “I am over forty” and “I am an immigrant”,
I stopped seeing myself as a victim and started asking, What’s next? I looked at what kept me happy in my old job-problem-solving, mentoring-and what drained me, like endless admin tasks. That clarity helped me spot transferable skills, like strategic thinking, that could work in new fields. So, I leaned into that, took my experience, and pivoted to completely new teaching strategies. Technology became my ally in job search. It’s about seeing the setback as a door to an adventure, not a dead end.
I had to rely on friend’s support and “pastoral presence” in order to build new types of resiliency-navigating those new challenges. I could not afford losing everything I built. The added layer of self-doubt as being an immigrant made this forcible transition and the job hunting afterwards even harder. But i didn’t let that stop me – I couldn’t let that stop me – I was still support my son as he was going through tough time in his life. I applied everywhere, from San Francisco to San Diego, and landed a job up north. That commute was brutal, and lasted two years. Then I miraculously got an art teaching job in a rural high school in the Mojave desert.
Even though the school was a hour and a bit away from Los Angeles, it is whole new world. I had to reframe my teaching approach to meet the needs of those talented but low literacy student population. Changing my entire art teaching routine to embrace their unpredictability and unique strengths- was actually inspiring to me and my art. I turned a setback into an adventure by leaning into the challenge.
That passion for my job and the survival instincts not just for me but for my family and finally, my own art shined through. I channeled that creative energy into creating the teachable environment for my students creating my own art. The circumstances of all this could drain me, but I found adaptation and change invigorating. Tapping into my artist’s mindset to approach teaching in such a dynamic way felt so rewarding.
I poured my heart into giving back to the desert high school that took me in. Transforming a large wood shop filled with machinery into an art factory; Opening up the new ways to teach art in a desert high school became the coolest thing an artist can do. I have built this vibrant space where my students’ creativity and different learning styles and abilities can happen and are valued. The unpredictability of a rural desert community but also my students’ creative moments are my new normal and I am thriving in my new place.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
The art industry often tells itself it’s a bastion of inclusivity and diversity, but that’s one of its biggest lies. Despite claims of progress, microaggressions and prejudicial treatment toward immigrants-whether non-skilled or highly skilled-persist, woven into hiring practices, exhibition selections, and cultural narratives, with no real end in sight unless systemic change is prioritized. Another lie is the myth of meritocracy; connections and privilege often trump talent, keeping underrepresented voices on the margins.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
I’m not sure, probably would not stop anything.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://teachergallery.com/
- Instagram: @nvsart
Image Credits
Image credit: HFW Photography
