is owner and lead artist at HoppArt, located in her home art studio about 15 minutes from Floresville and La Vernia, Texas and 30 mins south of San Antonio, Texas. She is passionate about arts-based education and integration at all levels of learning. Rebecca grew up in rural Minnesota. She began graphic design and advertising courses at South Dakota State University,, earned a bachelor’s in advertising photography at the University of Memphis, served as a graphic designer at Baker Donelson (Memphis, TN) law firm, and completed a terminal Master of Fine Arts degree in studio art/photography from Texas Tech University.

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At Texas Tech, Rebecca was Director of the SRO Gallery of Photography, a fine art photography Instructor of Record, and a Teaching Effectiveness and Career Advancement Fellow (TEACH). A graduate school summer internship with Ogallala Commons, lead Rebecca to teach photography to rural Great Plains students, exploring the importance of community and agriculture.  In 2014, Rebecca was named a Houston Holocaust Museum Warren Fellow for Future Teachers and in 2017 she traveled to Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya to teach photography in coordination with FotoFest and FilmAid. 

 

For over 15 years, Rebecca has engaged in community art education and outreach at Houston Center for Photography, Literacy Through Photography FotoFest (Houston, TX), Theatre Under the Stars (Houston, TX), and San Antonio Museum of Art. In Rebecca's roles as manager and teaching artist, she has collaborated with school administration, teachers and community organizations to bring visual literacy and arts integration to the classroom. Rebecca has designed and led teacher training workshops, developed curriculum, led gallery tours and activities, created exhibition guides for both educators and families, and served as an artist in residence in several schools. 

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Rebecca has taught all ages, backgrounds, and abilities, witnessing first-hand the power of the Arts to engage students in understanding themselves and the world around them.