05/30/2020
Born into a large, close-knit family, Cleaster Cotton was lovingly raised by parents - from the Carolinas - in the heart of Brooklyn, New York. She is an Indigenous Aboriginal Native American with African Ancestors spanning the diaspora. To quote Aristotle, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” Cleaster has had the habit of Black Excellence since she was a youth. She has resided in Asheville for over a decade. Join Asheville In Black in lifting her up! Cleaster's alma maters are Fordham University (New York City), San Diego City College (San Diego, California) & Interboro Business School (New York City).
During early adolescence under the tutelage of national leaders who initiated key, innovative, & unprecedented policy in American education & community involvement, Cleaster was an activist in the vanguard of the Civil Rights Movement. At Junior High School 271, as President of Students, she served her community at the epicenter of the historic Ocean Hill-Brownsville Fight for Community Control that led to the 1968-69 Teachers’ Strike of New York. The strike caused over a million students to be out of school for over seven school weeks. As twelve-year-old, Cleaster joined a team of New York based educators & researchers that travelled internationally where they studied the innovative ‘Open Classroom Education System.’ The research data was brought back to America for implementation. Charter schools & Schools Without Walls came to be from seeds of the team's research. Hired by Youth In Action & enrolled in the Youth Leadership Training Institute, Educational Remediation, & Cultural Arts Work Study programs at Pratt Institute & Long Island University, Cleaster was among the first students to learn the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa & was taught how to live them. The program also taught youth skills needed to be professional artists. Under the tutelage of leaders in the Black Nationalists Movement, she had a role in the advancements, shifts & innovations in American culture, art, & education. Working in corporate America over twenty years, Cleaster spent that period sharpening tools necessary for success in her creative career & work in community. Since 1998 as a Master Teaching Artist & Arts Education Facilitator, Cleaster has taught thousands of children & facilitated art-based professional development workshops for hundreds of teachers, community members & business professionals across the country & internationally.
“We are all artists at birth. I love the powerful healing qualities of art... the way it embraces and joins people across the planet like global glue. My first trip abroad took me away from the daily perils of my childhood, a neighborhood, which claimed the lives of many of my family and friends. Travel, learning my heritage and world cultures influences how I view, create and teach art.” – by Cleaster Cotton
In Asheville she has taught arts education & communication independently & through local arts & education partners including Asheville City Schools Foundation (TAPAS Roster Artist); Buncombe County Schools (Master Teaching Artist); LEAF Community Arts (Master Teaching Artist & Board Member); UNC Asheville (Master Teaching Artist); Word on the Street (Master Teaching Artist), & Southside Rising (Steering Committee). Partnering with educators & administrators, Cleaster teaches students her coined curriculum, "Self-Empowerment Through Self-Expression" (SETSE) – started by her in 1975 as a response to the unmet needs of community children after school. In 1999, with the goals of providing equity in education & creating fun while learning, Cleaster invented the ALNUGE Codes ["al-new-gee"] (ALphabets NUmbers GEometrics) known as the Modern Day Hieroglyphics. ALNUGE is an Evidence-Based Visual Language & STEAM Curriculum that fosters arts education, literacy, creativity, cognition, innovation, brain health, & fun while learning. As Lead Instructor, Cleaster uses the ALNUGE Coding System to teach the K12+ population. Dr. Olajide Williams, Chief of Staff of Neurology at Columbia University Medical Center in New York ALNUGE researched & certified her invention.
Always cognizant of what saved her life & the lives of many of her friends from the perils of inner-city Brooklyn, Cleaster empowers Asheville youth by consistently communicating to them that they are valuable, loved, capable, appreciated & seen. The practical skills she exposes youth to on field trips to local arts & culture related businesses enable them to be self-realized individuals who serve their local communities & equips them to compete in & meet the challenges of the global community.
Cleaster is the Founder & Lead Instructor of Youth Artists Empowered (YAE), a community arts & education program. Classes are held at the Arthur R. Edington Education & Career Center, hosted by the Housing Authority City of Asheville. YAE fosters education, self-esteem, & self-empowerment through arts & culture, visual, verbal, & written self-expression. Curriculum includes drawing, painting, mixed media art, visual art terminology, & the study of national & international artists, verbal presentation, & communication skills with fieldtrips to galleries & museums that reinforce the curriculum. Cleaster curated a local art exhibit for her students in a prestigious art gallery in the River Arts District – there the students greeted guests, gave artist talks, & sold & profited financially from their artistic creations. YAE also serves as an economic engine hiring local artists to teach students specialty classes.
In Asheville's food desert, Cleaster, known as the Urban Appalachian Gardener, helped build, maintain, & grow an organic vegetable & fruit raised bed community garden. Not satisfied to just garden, she facilitated food preparation demos, food tastings, & provided natural nutrition information to community members.
During the pandemic, Cleaster's Public Service Art Mission is: “Use art as an educational vehicle to bring awareness, assist in saving lives, maintaining mental health and ending the suffering.” This public service also serves as a tribute to her family & friends who serve in the frontline as New York health care providers.
Cleaster's service to boards, governmental agencies & community organizations nationally & internationally include: the Westchester Arts Council, Georgia Council of the Arts, Museum Design of Atlanta, High Museum of Arts, Young Audiences of Atlanta, Boys Clubs & Girl’s Clubs of America, US Navy, Atlanta Bureau of Cultural Affairs, Decatur Department of Parks & Recreation, Yonkers and Mount Vernon Police Departments, & Boards of Education. Give Cleaster some LOVE y'all!!!
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