Art & Community

With a fierce love for helping others, Kristy Peloquin’s career has always gravitated towards public service. After earning her MFA in poetry and creative writing from Texas State University, she began a career teaching writing and composition that spanned nine years and included Texas State University, Austin Community College, and Huston-Tillotson University.

In addition to teaching, Kristy has nearly a decade of nonprofit experience and community service. She co-created a therapeutic creative writing program for a nonprofit serving those suffering through grief and loss. She went on to join Pop-Up Birthday, a nonprofit serving children in foster care, and became the organization’s inaugural executive director. She also engaged her love for storytelling and all things Texan by serving as development manager for a statewide historic preservation organization. In this role, she directed an impactful internship program that helped students from underrepresented cultural backgrounds access pivotal, career-enhancing internships. Today, Kristy serves on the board of directors for Learning Bridge, a nonprofit that provides specialized tutoring for children in foster care and unhoused youth.

In her role as executive director of ProjectART, Kristy draws upon her deep love for the arts and strong commitment to ensuring equitable access to education. She believes in the critical role the arts play in our lives to help us connect, advocate, express, and grow.

Lauren’s pillars of education are advocacy, access, and connection. With more than 15 years of experience in public education—as a classroom teacher in East Austin and as a Dyslexia Coordinator and Interventionist in Blanco—she brings both experience and heart to her role as Education Manager at projectArt. She holds a Master’s degree in Advanced Literacy Instruction and has spent her career supporting students with diverse learning needs, creating inclusive learning environments, and championing access to meaningful educational and artistic experiences for all children.

Lauren is especially passionate about the arts as a transformative space, particularly when academics or life circumstances feel limiting. She believes the arts can open doors, build confidence, foster belonging and connection, and help young people discover their voice through creative expression. As she often reminds her students: in art, there are no wrong answers.

When she’s not working with students and educators, Lauren surrounds herself with friends, family, animals, plants, books, travel, and laughter. Most days, you can find her and her husband raising their own artists on their flower farm—growing and arranging blooms and leading botanical workshops as another way she nurtures creativity, connection, and growth in her community.

Being of service to others has been a constant for Nazish. From volunteering in high school, through her career as a physical therapist, to owning a local business, she has been committed to serving her community and creating a sense of togetherness. This led her to the nonprofit sector, where she continues to connect with others and be of service to kids and creativity. 

Nazish lives in San Marcos and enjoys working out, baking, playing tennis, reading, sewing, and traveling with her husband and their two children.

Conner is a multi-instrumentalist, painter, and ceramics artist. He grew up in Wimberley and is a Senior at Katherine Anne Porter School. He has participated in projectMENTOR three times as a student, so when the opportunity to become a Summer Intern at projectART presented itself, he knew this was the place for him. He then became a Program Assistant where he continues his goal of helping kids experience the same opportunities projectART has given him.

In his free time, Conner enjoys working on his truck, training his dog, and performing with his band. He is the student head of his school’s lunch program and former manager of his school band. He is dedicated to ensuring our local children get the chance to experience the arts in their own creative and unique ways. 

Avery Herndon is originally from H-town and spent her last 5 years of public school in Boerne, Texas. She is currently a senior at Texas State University majoring in Studio Art and minoring in Art History. Avery has been in public school art classes since Kindergarten and has spent her youth learning painting at The Woodlands Academy of Art.

In her free time, Avery can be found riding her bike, swimming at the San Marcos River, or out-of-town traveling or hiking! After finishing her bachelor's degree, Avery expects to continue expanding her art skills in her free time or even in graduate school, and she ultimately plans on becoming a middle-school art teacher.