District Arts Office Artist In Residence - Charlie Ciali - Artistic Process & Skills Program 2018 - 2021

Charlie Ciali has a B.F.A. degree in Ceramics from Daemen College in Buffalo N.Y and has done graduate studies at Edinboro University in Edinboro, PA. He has served as a Public Arts Commissioner for the City of Palm Springs, President of the Palm Springs High School Arts Institute and President of the Artist Council for the Palm Springs Arts Museum in additional to holding board and leadership roles in many arts organizations.

Charlie has won numerous awards, including, “Best of Show” at the Palm Springs Art Museum and has been featured in many publications. He is a certified Instructor for AKUA Inks by SpeedBall and Enkausikos, a leading supplier of encaustic art supplies. His work has been shown in several galleries and is currently represented by Janssen Art Space in Palm Springs.

In addition to creating a second grade arts program for PSUSD, he taught for three years at several grade schools, and has taught printmaking for PSUSD High School students as an artist in residence. Currently, he teaches art at Landau Elementary and Desert Learning Academy. During Covid he created 34 short art instructional videos for PSUSD. He has taught numerous adult workshops for the Palm Springs Art Museum, Idyllwild Arts, Riverside Museum of Art, as well as workshops for Speedball Inks in printmaking.

“I love to teach”! “There is nothing more rewarding than seeing a child or adult have the moment where “they get it” and art all comes together for them. I believe the key to teaching is learning at the same time. The creation of art is never a one-way experience, it is an exchange of ideas, whether it be a septuagenarian, a sixth grader or a 6 year old. Currently, teaching K-12 is both rewarding and exhilarating as an artist. My goal is to teach young people not necessarily how to make art but how to “see”. To open their eyes to the possibilities that the creation and appreciation of art hold.