My Creative History

SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY  1992-1996

I had a clear vision leaving high school that I was meant to pursue an artistic path, but I kept my mind open to the many channels art could lead me through as I began my education and career choices. The teachers I connected with did not put strict definitions on career titles such as illustrator, graphic designer, creative director or fine artist. I chose Illustration as a major because I am driven to tell other people’s stories of invention, struggle, discovery, humor, music and entertainment through multi-media drawings, collage and other mediums. Working with a team under a deadline to illustrate a compelling story excites and inspires me.

WEST COAST ADVENTURES  1996-2000

I moved to Seattle after receiving my BFA and scored a full-time job hand-drawing illustrations for six publications all day, every day. Along with quickly learning the fundamentals of creating art for publishing in a corporate workspace, I also learned to control the visual presentation of my art with graphic design and typography. I continued to illustrate my own side projects and eventually moved on to a full-time graphic design job at a hip weekly newspaper called The Stranger. I thrived in this editorial community of people who were charged with telling stories visually with a daring, risky and alternative twist.

NEW YORK CITY PUBLISHING 2000-2017

Moving to New York City after five years of designing on the West Coast, I was thrilled with the faster-paced momentum and cut-throat attitude of the publishing world. Landing my first design job at Time Inc., I pushed up the ladder and became an advertising design director for a team of eight people in my mid-20s. The pressure was intense—the industry demanded long hours of brainstorming, pitching, selling, designing, managing, delegating, negotiation, photoshoots, travel and art directing. Producing artful and effective design was of equal importance to me as managing my team. I created an open studio workspace where the creativity could flow and we could bounce ideas off of each other in real time. I learned the importance of maintaining an environment where the team felt invested and there was focused attention on each team member’s personal development.

I continued on this career path for the next 15 years as a creative director for multiple fashion and home magazines such as Details, Glamour, ELLE and Architectural Digest. The tangible satisfaction I felt each month holding a magazine containing my work always renewed my ambition to produce the next issue. A few indispensable female mentors pushed me to adapt, transition and perform better with each challenge. I changed my tools and approaches as the industry morphed into a mainly digital platform. I continued to use a ‘hands-on’, fine art approach to graphic solutions while implementing integrated print and digital programs to suit the new needs of visual communication between clients and consumers. When Condé Nast stopped printing magazines and promotional event materials and instead moved towards mostly digital content, I knew I wanted a career change. I also realized that everything I was putting my energy and passion towards a surface level product motivated by a client’s money. I felt like I was shaping visual culture in the fashion industry in a way that would have negative repercussions on young people. I wanted to keep making things everyday but direct my passion encircling art and design to help shape kids’ ideas and self image in a positive and meaningful way, hopefully resonating with some permanently.

FAMOUS SWAN, LLC & CHILDREN’S BOOKS 2013

In 2013, I started a design and illustration studio in Brooklyn, freelancing for publishing clients while also creating my personal art and participating in local fine art shows. Having my own child ignited a passion in me for children’s books and I have created two of my own, one that has been published and distributed widely. Developing a strong passion for visual language and communication, I began studying American Sign Language and learning about the Deaf community.

MASTERS DEGREE AT CCNY & ART EDUCATION CERTIFICATION 2017-2019

I decided to pursue an Art Education Masters Degree at City College New York in 2017— balancing being a mom, freelance designing at ApartmentTherapy.com and Kitchn.com part time while going to night school was a challenge I juggled for two and a half years. In the winter of 2018 I finished my thesis that focused on relationships between art education, ASL and Deaf/HOH students using art as a form of communication at PS. 47 The American Sign Language And English School in NYC. In the spring of 2019, I ‘student taught’ for 6 months at Brooklyn Arbor Elementary School, implementing an art curriculum based on ‘Teaching For Artistic Behaviors’. I also student taught at the Automotive High School in Williamsburg, where I taught Adobe Photoshop to students looking to get certified, along with other fine arts, digital photography and fashion illustration. 

PS.110 THE MONITOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 2019-2021

My first job out of school I was hired as a full-time art educator on staff, in-person at PS110 The Monitor Elementary school in Brooklyn. This was my first years teaching as a public school, certified art educator and well, these two years did not give way to your ‘average’ teaching experience to say the least! In September of 2019, after completely renovating the physical space and organization of the art room, I created a custom art curriculum for grades pre-k through 5th, basing the framework around Blueprint for the Arts and The Studio Habits of Mind. It is important to me that the art lessons I teach scaffold a wide variety of artistic skills while promoting creative problem solving. The art projects implemented in my curriculum explore the diverse cultural aspects of this local Brooklyn community by bringing student insight and perspective to light through discussion, art making and by guiding empathetic peer assessment. As a first year art teacher, I was finally in my element– my students were engaged in making relevant, innovative, and dimensional work– inspired by period artists along with the fury of popular culture. I could see a creative community building in our school and I worked hard to cultivate a safe space in the art room that considered inclusivity for kids with various learning and social challenges, along with ELLs.

In March 2020, PS110 went remote. I independently created and promoted to school families an extensive google classroom for each grade with weekly detailed, flexible and accessible art explorations for all remote students. I designed each lesson to consist of a ‘kid-friendly’ instruction sheet that was differentiated for experience level, with step-by-step visual references and myself in a demo/discussion video. I also taught live Zoom art classes to all grades, each week collaborating with individual classroom teachers and navigating complex scheduling. My remote art curriculum considered the socio-emotional needs of the students during the pandemic. It was important to me to review each piece of submitted artwork with personal comments to encourage and motivate students to persevere through tough times by making art.

In spring of September 2020 to Sept 2021, I was in-person pushing into the classrooms. I did lose my art room but I built a deluxe, customized art cart! (Check out @mscascinosartroom on Instagram) I have continued to post my in-person lessons with video instructions on google classroom for 100% remote students. For 3 months I also taught academic ELA and math remote classes (!) for second and third grade in the mornings due to lack of available teachers, along with four in-person art classes in the afternoon. Then, my family made a big move from Brooklyn to Cornwall, NY, where my husband (who is the youngest of 10 kids) grew up in Cornwall Central Schools!

GOSHEN SCOTCHTOWN ELEMENTARY/GHS 2021-2022
then full time at GOSHEN HIGH SCHOOL 2023-PRESENT

In 2021, I was hired in a split position in the Goshen School District teaching two high school art classes in the morning every day, then driving down to Scotchtown Elementary to teach 4-5 elementary classes each afternoon. I organized the first big art show for the elementary for the second grade moving up ceremony. I painted a mural in SAS’s lobby inspired by the ‘Choose Love’ movement. In 2022-2023 I was asked to go full time at the high school. We developed a new graphic design lab to expand our digital arts program. In 2025, I am teaching 6 classes a day - Studio 1, and multiple levels of Ceramics, Sculpture, Graphic Design, and Graphic Arts & Media. My students are bringing home top awards in digital art competitions such as Scholastic Arts, the ADAC poster contest and the Leonard Bus poster competition. In 2023, I started a ceramics program and we are now up to 60 pottery students a year with a new ‘level two’ class this semester! I have chaperoned many field trips– the Met in NYC, Pratt college tours, plein air painting in Goshen’s botanical gardens, Minowaska Lake, and the most fun – our third year of the super successful 4 day, 3 night Art Road Trip where we travel together, see art, and get inspired by the world around us! At the moment, I am excited to apply for tenure in the Goshen School District to solidify my dedication to growing and improving the art department for years to come.