Instructor

JP (they/them) is the program coordinator for the Media Arts Studio and aspires to grow the animation community on Bainbridge and greater Kitsap County. JP earned a bachelor's degree in animation from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, with a focus in pre-production design, production management, and 2D animation production. The first official screening of their thesis, the animated short film Afternoon Snack, was at the Bainbridge Island Film Festival in November 2024. It continued its festival run at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in February 2025. JP is a multi-disabled, autistic, and openly queer artist dedicated to creating safe and accessible spaces within the art industry. Throughout their time in university, JP developed an accessibility branch and code of conduct as president of the Student Animation Organization, completed an in-depth study of autism representation in film and television, and was a contract research specialist to help an arts organization revise curriculum for autistic adults. In 2023, they worked as a teaching artist and intern for Fringe Benefits Theatre and taught workshops on art therapy strategies for college art students. They’ve also worked with a domestic violence shelter in Orange County, Calif., to help teens process dating and domestic violence through film-making projects and community talks from 2017-2019. JP centers their teaching around fostering environments where artists feel safe to create with rich authenticity and challenge the status quo while developing their crafts and passions.