PROFESSIONAL PROFILE

Charlene Lutz is an artist, poet, and educator whose work bridges visual art, poetry, mindfulness, and nature-based practice. With extensive experience across public education, higher education, and community-based learning environments, her interdisciplinary practice centers on slowness, ancestral memory, healing, and attention to the natural world. Her work reflects a deep commitment to creativity as a means of preservation, reflection, and connection—honoring what is passed through experience rather than instruction.

Alongside an active studio and writing practice, Charlene brings decades of leadership in arts education, curriculum design, and facilitation. Her work is informed by a belief in art as both personal practice and communal offering, rooted in care, trust, and listening.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Los Lunas Public Schools — Art Educator

Raymond Gabaldon Elementary School | 2025–Present

Antioch University — Adjunct Faculty

STEAM & Process Arts–Connected Curriculum | 2024–Present

• Teach STEAM-connected, nature-based art methods and process-centered coursework for adult learners
  
  

• Support reflective practice, instructional design, and standards-aligned curriculum development
  
  

Self-Employed Artist & Educator | 2010–Present

• Maintain an active interdisciplinary art and writing practice
  
  

• Design and facilitate arts-based learning experiences for children and adults
  
  

• Lead workshops focused on creativity, mindfulness, healing, and wellness
  
  

• Co-lead a biannual, grant-funded Educator Renewal Retreat serving educators nationwide
  
  

School District of Philadelphia — Art Teacher | 2008–2022

• Taught in large urban public school settings serving diverse student populations
  
  

• Recipient, Teacher of the Year (2017)
  
  

• Collaborated with cultural institutions including the Philadelphia Museum of Art,
  
  The Barnes Foundation, and The Woodmere Art Museum
  
  

EDUCATION

Master of Education (M.Ed.), Educational Leadership — 2007

American Intercontinental University

Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) — 2002

Pratt Institute

Current Professional Learning

• New Mexico Indigenous Instructional Scope
  
  New Mexico Public Education Department
  
  

CERTIFICATIONS

• Educational Administration & Leadership — New Mexico
  
  

• Art Education (K–12)
  
  

  • Pennsylvania
    
    

  • New Jersey
    
    

  • New Mexico
    
    

PUBLICATIONS

• Layers of a Creative Life — Independent Publication (Substack)
  
  Creator & Author | Weekly, 2023–Present
  
  Arts-based reflective publication integrating visual art, poetry, and writing for adult audiences
  
  

• Fox’s Winter Journey — Author & Illustrator
  
  Maine Authors Publishing
  
  Children’s picture book focused on mindfulness and daily gratitude
  
  

• The Strength Source Project — Featured Artist / Contributor
  
  

EXHIBITIONS

Solo Exhibitions

• Through These Walls, Muse Gallery — Philadelphia, PA (2018)
  
  

• Muse Gallery — Philadelphia, PA (2018)
  
  

• Seven Stones Café — Media, PA (2016, 2017)
  
  

• Bittersweet Café — Media, PA (2019)
  
  

• The Coffee Beanery — Media, PA (2010)
  
  

Group Exhibitions

• Muse Gallery Member Exhibitions — Philadelphia, PA (2016–2018)
  
  

• The Impact of Art, Art Times Two — Princeton, NJ (2018)
  
  

• Muse at 40 and Muse at 39, Muse Gallery — Philadelphia, PA (2016–2017)
  
  

• Survivor Knights — Philadelphia, PA (2018)
  
  

• Absolutely Abstract, Art in City Hall, Newman Gallery, Dirty Frank’s — Philadelphia, PA (2010)
  
  

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

• Runner-Up, Creative Quarterly: The Journal of Art and Design (2011)
  
  

• Teacher of the Year, School District of Philadelphia (2017)
  
  

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

• Maine Authors Publishing Cooperative
  
  

• Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance
  
  

• Katahdin Children and Families Foundation