Today we’d like to introduce you to Bianca Moran.
Hi Bianca, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
After I graduated from college, I moved back down to LA and almost immediately began substitute teaching in the LAUSD. After about six months, I began teaching full-time as a Special Education teacher and I eventually got my credential and pursued an M.Ed from UCLA. During my time teaching, I also enrolled in Le Cordon Bleu to be trained in culinary arts. Food has been central to my personal development and it was such a beautiful outlet for me to explore that passion. It was a tremendous experience. I had for a very long time imagined myself staying in public education and being a lifelong educator in that capacity. After I had my daughter though, that all changed. Working in public education and particularly the LAUSD was terribly traumatic and toxic and so I made a decision after working for successive administrators who were really just abusive to leave the district. It was the best decision for my mental health as well as for the well-being of my daughter.
I wanted very much to continue the work I had started in culturally relevant and responsive pedagogy and transition that into another field. I applied to several institutions to work in Museum Education to no avail, mostly because I didn’t have any formal training in the arts (I come from a political science/ethnic studies background). I did some research and found myself drawn to a Master’s program in curatorial practice which I felt would really allow me to grow as an educator and really think more deeply about my own pedagogical practice. I graduated from USC with Master’s in Curatorial Practice just as the pandemic began. I met the Director of Active Cultures, Laura Fried, at a Current: LA program I was the curatorial assistant for, and Laura and I immediately hit it off. We both have a deep reverence for food and art and bonded both over that and our very similar work ethic and worldview. After some time, I came to work for AC and have become the Curator of Public Programs which is really my dream job.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There are always challenges. For me, sometimes those are struggles and other times opportunities. I am a single parent and that is always challenging (financially, emotionally, physically, etc.) but also really beautiful. I think for me, my choices are always really rooted in finding joy and maintaining a healthy sense of self. I am a Capricorn, so my nature is to be particularly goal-oriented and driven. So while being a single parent and going to graduate school while also working part-time was challenging, it was truly all fortifying and edifying. I am really blessed to have a tremendous support system of friends who are family in LA and a few really wonderful family members who helped along the way. To be clear though, it was hard and there were absolute moments of emotional and psychological exhaustion, and I had to really learn to allow myself to release that, to accept help when it was being offered, and to ask for help when I needed it.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I love my job, Truly. As Curator of Public Programs, I organize programs in collaborations with artists, chefs, scholars, writers, food practitioners, and those in between, both in public (now) and those featured on our website that aim to offer a critical lens with which to view the intersections and interconnectedness of foodways and art. For me, this particular position allows me to use my formal training in political science and ethnic studies, education, and curatorial practice, simultaneously. I think of public programs as mini-lessons and as inherently educational. With that, I infuse pubic programs with as much pedagogy as possible. I try to always employ an ethic deeply rooted in equity and integrity in all that I do. So for me, that means thinking very deeply about our collaborations and about how we as an organization and myself as a curator can be as culturally responsive as possible in the language we use, our discursive platforms and in how we engage with practitioners and our audiences. I rely so much on my time as an educator to organize programs because knowing how to engage people in actually meaningful ways and offer information and share knowledge is such a large part of my work. Having a background in Political Science and really Ethnic Studies has been a tremendous force in shaping my curatorial practice. I did not come to curating from a background in art at all. I came to it from a place of critique rooted in understanding historical processes and education, which I think is essential to any curatorial work. I still very much see myself as an educator.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I don’t know that there is anything surprising about me, I’m a pretty transparent person. I am very open in terms of my own path and certainly about my opinions and worldview. Again, I’m a Capricorn. I don’t do much beating around the bush 🙂
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.active-cultures.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/activeculturesla/
- Other: www.biancamoran.com
Image Credits:
Roadwork Studios Rusty Baldwin Ray Anthony Barrett Lucia Hierro Frankie Hamersma
