Vanessa Lopez, The Purpose of School

Vanessa López is the twenty-fourth grandchild of Tulia Vasquez López, the onlydaughter of Rosa Digna López, big little sister to Ramon Reynoldo Vargas and proud mother of Aszana LilaRosa López-Bell. She was born and bred on the streets of New York City back when White folks didn't ride the A train past 59th Street. Vanessa has papers from Purchase College, State University of New York and the Maryland Institute College of Art. She contemplates and writes about race, urban education, the body and art. Vanessa’s musings can be found in the pages of Moleskin journals, Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture, and Society, Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy and the Art Education Journal.She makes things that grow and die.