Agnes Chavez, Founder/Director
Agnes Chavez is a new media artist, educator and creative producer whose work merges art, science and technology to create data visualized light-sound experiences. In 2009 she founded the STEMarts Lab which designs sci-art installations for art/science organizations and festivals and develops STEAM programming that empowers youth and prepares them for the 21st century workplace. In 2014 she co-founded The PASEO Festival where she served as co-director/youth program director until 2019. She is founder of the Sube Language Curriculum since 1996. Agnes collaborates with educators, artists, scientists and interdisciplinary experts to create participatory sci-art installations such as Space Messengers, whose mission is to ignite scientific curiosity and wonder, visualizing thought-provoking reflections on the universe and encouraging participants to contemplate their role within it.
Go to WebsiteDania Loya, Learning Experience Designer
As a learning experience designer in STEMarts Lab, Dania collaborates with the creative team on different methods to deliver immersive content. Having an instructional design background, Dania brings in top industry knowledge on educational content delivery and interactivity for all ages. Dania Loya attended UNM and received her BS in Instructional Technology and Training. She is a multi-media artist primarily focusing on projection mapping installations displaying natural technology and Sacred Geometry. She is a STEMarts Alumni and currently joined the tech crew of the Projecting Particles Collective. She is also a STEMarts Ambassador for the International Space Messengers project. In her current job in Cleveland, she is working on curating a project for a permanent projection mapping installation. As a STEMarts alumni, she has worked on STEMarts projects since high school at Taos Academy in 2012 where she participated in the Corpus Electric presentation for the ISEA2012 festival in Albuquerque and co-created the jellyfish dress in collaboration with her team and Patricia Michaels as mentor. Since 2014, she has served as a PASEO Festival volunteer working with cutting edge new media artists. She also participated and showcased her collaborated work with BARTKRESA Studios in Denver, CO and Las Vegas, NV.
Shaylee Mirabal, Director Assistant Apprentice
Hello! My name is Shaylee Mirabal. I am 17 years old and am from Taos Pueblo. I am a recent graduate from Taos High school, and I am planning on attending the University of New Mexico this coming school year. I plan on pursuing a bachelor’s degree in nursing. For as long as I can remember, I have always been interested in all things science and art related. Because of this I believe being a STEMarts ambassador program will be a great learning experience and that I will greatly benefit from participating in it.
Alyson Martinez, STEMarts instructor/mentor
Alyson Shannon Martinez joined the STEMarts Lab team in 2022 as a Director’s Assistant Apprentice, funded through the Taos Pueblo Education and Training Division Apprenticeship program. She is now serving as STEMarts instructor and mentor to new ambassadors joining the program. “Coming from Taos, New Mexico, I am half Native American and half Spanish. Growing up in this beautiful town surrounded by not only a family of artists, but a town of creative and imaginative minds, I learned the value of art and how much power it holds. I graduated from an online high school called Pecos Cyber Academy. I will be attending a couple years in the Taos branch of UNM and transferring to Highlands in Las Vegas, New Mexico to pursue counseling, psychology, and art therapy. As an artist I look for new ways to help youth understand their mind in order to help better themselves and their community.”
STEMarts Lab: Board of Directors
Juniper Manley, Board Chair
Juniper Manley joins STEMarts Lab as a non-profit management professional with 26 years of experience in arts and environmental organizations. Focusing on fundraising and executive management, she has helped organizations raise millions of dollars and implemented large-scale, mission driven programs that take these institutions to a new level. Growing up in Peñasco and attending Taos High School, Juniper holds a Masters in Arts Management from the Carnegie Mellon Heinz School of Public Policy and Management, and a BA in Anthropology from Reed College. She serves on the Board of the New Mexico Humanities Council and the MAE Private Foundation.
Bettina Sandoval, Vice Chair
Bettina is from Taos Pueblo and has always had a passion for education. She has 10 years of progressive experience in the education field and is Director of the Taos Pueblo Education & Training Division. In the past two years she has successfully grown and maintained the programs she oversees; building relationships with schools, alternative educators, and all stakeholders involved in education, employment, and training. Bettina is also a curriculum advisor and shares her knowledge in Educational Perspectives.
Erin Dayl, Secretary
Erin leads the collaboration development for Native energy projects with Seneca Solar. She previously worked on sustainable economic development and renewable energy in New Mexico for twenty years, including five years as the Business and Organization Development Manager at Kit Carson Electric Cooperative (KCEC). She co-founded Collaborative Green, a sustainability consulting firm focused on sustainable development strategies and regenerative business practices. Erin has also held positions at Intel, the Taos Community Foundation, the Taos Green Chamber of Commerce, and other organizations. She has a BA in International Conflict Resolution and Organization Development and is working on a Masters in Transdisciplinary Practice.
Learn MorePhyllis Kennedy, Board Member
Phyllis Kennedy is a photographer, arts education advocate, visual art teacher, and arts administrator with 38 years’ experience in New Mexico’s arts education ecosystem. She believes in the importance of expanding arts education opportunities that can be sustained in New Mexico’s rural districts and sustaining equitable arts education programming in our urban districts. Her degrees include a BFA from Rochester Institute of Technology and an MA from New York University. She holds a New Mexico elementary teaching license with K-8 visual art endorsement and a Montessori Early Childhood credential. Her photos of southwestern urban landscapes have been purchased by the New Mexico Museum of Art, the Albuquerque International Sunport, and the City of Albuquerque Public Art Collection.
Shaylee Mirabal, Youth Board Member
Shaylee Mirabal joined the STEMarts Lab team as a Director’s Assistant Apprentice, funded through the Taos Pueblo Education and Training Division Apprenticeship program. She has been a STEMarts Directors Assistant since 2023 and is now attending the University of New Mexico studying nursing.
Learn MoreCurriculum Advisors
Henrietta Gomez, Tribal elder/speaker
Henrietta is a living treasure in Taos serving as a cultural specialist for so many organizations and projects. She has a unique gift of sharing traditional knowledge while seeking new ways to create intercultural bridges of understanding and communication. Henrietta is a speaker for the BioSTEAM Youth Program and shares her personal experience and knowledge in our INTERview series.
Dr. Greg Cajete, author, native science advisor
Greg is an educator dedicated to honoring the foundations of indigenous knowledge in education. Dr. Cajete is a Tewa Indian from Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico. He has served as a New Mexico Humanities scholar in ethno botany of Northern New Mexico and as a member of the New Mexico Arts Commission. Dr. Cajete has authored five books including “Native Science: Natural Laws of Interdependence”. Greg is a speaker and shares his expertise about native science in our INTERview series.
Steve Tamayo
Steve draws upon his family history as a member of the Sicangu Lakota tribe. His fine arts education (BFA from Singe Gleska University), along with his cultural upbringing, have shaped him as an artist, historian, storyteller and dancer. Steve provides activities during his residencies that include art and regalia making, drumming, powwow dance demonstrations and lectures on the history, symbolism, and meaning behind the Native customs and traditions. Steve leads our youth workshops as a Lakota Cultural specialist.
Dr. Andrea Albert
Dr. Andrea Albert is devoted to scientific outreach and is excited to be a part of the STEMarts team! She is an astrophysicist at Los Alamos National Lab and specializes in searching for gamma rays from dark matter interactions in space. She received her PhD from The Ohio State University in 2013. Dr. Albert is committed to sharing her love of astrophysics with everyone and has spoken with all kinds from kindergarten classrooms to US Congressional offices. In her spare time Andrea enjoys Zumba, playing video games with her husband Dylan, and snuggling with her two cats Ben and Marty.
Dr.Nicole Lloyd-Ronning, Astrophysicist, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Nicole is an astrophysicist at Los Alamos National Lab, where she studies the black holes created in the deaths of massive stars, and leads the outreach efforts on behalf of the Center for Theoretical Astrophysics. She is also on the faculty of the University of New Mexico, Los Alamos where she teaches physics. She is a science advisor and guest instructor in STEMarts projects.
Dr. Steven Goldfarb, physicist, ATLAS Experiment at CERN.
Steve is an experimental particle physicist working for the University of Melbourne on the ATLAS Experiment at CERN. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, coordinates University of Michigan undergraduate research programs at CERN, serves as an ATLAS Diversity & Inclusion Contact, and fronts the world renowned Canettes Blues Band. Steven has been an advisor for STEMarts Lab since 2013 and a key collaborator for the Projecting Particles project.
Dr. Johan Sebastian Bonilla, CERN physicist, Postdoctoral at University of California, Davis
Johan is a first-generation college graduate raised by an immigrant Costa Rican family in their hometown of Hialeah, Florida. Johan started pursuing particle physics research during their undergraduate years at Stanford. They then earned their PhD at the University of Oregon for research with the ATLAS experiment, and they are now a postdoctoral scholar for University of California, Davis working with the CMS experiment at CERN. Johan is co-designer for the Fluidic Data installation at the CERN Data Center and serves as science advisor.
Shane Wood, QuarkNet National Staff
Shane Wood is a member of the QuarkNet national staff, and is a science/STEAM coach in the Mounds View Public Schools near Minneapolis, MN. With QuarkNet, he works with teachers and scientists around the country and around the world to provide opportunities for students to learn about science and the world around them through the analysis of real data, including particle physics data. In his role at Mounds View, Shane works with teachers and administrators to align science and STEAM curricula district-wide. Shane also has over 15 years of classroom experience as a teacher of physics and physical sciences at the high school level and leads the STEMarts physics activities.
Frank Tavares,Affiliated Researcher, Space Enabled Research Group at the MIT Media Lab
Frank Tavares is a science writer joining the MIT Space Enabled Research Group as an Affiliated Researcher, where they are thrilled to conduct research exploring an anti-colonial approach to space exploration, particularly in how to approach interactions with other planetary bodies. They have experience in science communications, astronomy, interactive and prose fiction, playwriting, and more. As a communicator, they have written on topics ranging from astrobiology to quantum computing, aiming to contextualize complex information into human terms. Working with an interdisciplinary group of scholars, they also were the lead author of “Ethical Exploration and the Role of Planetary Protection in Disrupting Colonial Practices,” a submission to the 2023-2032 Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey. They are also a collaborator with the Immersive Realities Lab for the Humanities, where they work on digital projects with a focus on interactive narrative. Frank grew up in San Diego, CA and graduated from Amherst College in 2018 with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Astronomy.
Dr. Catarina Pombo Nabais
Dr. Catarina Pombo Nabais is a Scientific Researcher at the Dept. of History and Philosophy of Science, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, Science and the founder of the SAP(Science- Art-Philosophy) Lab at the CFCUL. She was the Art&Science Curator for the International Science Festival in Oeiras, Portugal that hosted Space Messengers in 2021 and 2022. Catarina is part of the creative team as curriculum advisor, Portugal liaison and guest instructor for the student workshops.