Interview by Julia Aguillon
Article by Jackie Velez

Writer, artist and performer, Joyous Windrider Jimenez, plays a vital role in the San Antonio community as a teaching artist, a unique occupation that helps young artists thrive creatively.
Before helping San Antonio artists, Jimenez needed to find her path to this important role. To do that, Jimenez left San Antonio for a while, and upon her return, began searching for a way to utilize her creativity around town.
“I was at poetry events and I was just doing different things around town, and then, it was time for me to get a job,” Jimenez said.
Jimenez waited tables for a short while, but soon after, decided that she needed to find another way to make ends meet for her and her child, so she attended “Dress for Success,” a non-profit organization dedicated to helping low-income women search for job opportunities. It was there that Jimenez was able to hone in on her talents and skills for job placement.
“Through that, I knew I needed to be in a creative place,” Jimenez said.
It was a position as a theater instructor at the local non-profit organization, Say Si, that jump-started Jimenez’s role as a teaching artist in the community.
As a teaching artist, Jimenez, through the arts, mentors and empowers a wide range of people to organize, plan and present their artistic ideas to the community.
“It’s really important to me to see others have that opportunity to be heard, to be seen, and then, to feel empowered to express and use their own artistic language,” said Jimenez.
Jimenez continues to empower young artists throughout San Antonio and shines a spotlight on important issues. She works with students on visual arts projects. As a teaching artist, she spends her time at the Bexar County Correctional Juvenile Facilities where she helps young women who suffer from mental health issues. She’s created educational videos for the San Antonio Museum of Arts and is creating video poems with refugee students for World Refugee Day coming up in June.
For this artist, it’s full speed ahead because empowering the San Antonio community and highlighting important issues are what matters most.
Contact Joyous Windrider Jimenez at joyouswindrider@gmail.com
Watch the full video here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CPHIMdBrFX5/