Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Lopez.
Hi Amanda, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I didn’t grow up thinking I’d work in the arts, but I did have an early experience that definitely shaped how I think about creativity. When I was a teenager, a friend’s mom gave us tickets to visit SFMOMA. I fully expected it to be boring, but instead it became a core memory.
I remember standing in front of what looked like a simple brown square on the wall. Reading about the artist’s process, which involved using every crayon in the box to build color and texture, shifted how I understood what I was looking at. To this day, despite many Google searches, I haven’t been able to track down the piece, but the impact stuck. It was my first real realization that art could be experimental, process-driven, and unexpectedly freeing. That experience didn’t immediately shape my career path, but it stayed with me.
I fell into communications and marketing by accident after taking on an unpaid internship at a nonprofit. With limited resources and a lot to do, I learned quickly how important clarity, storytelling, and creativity are when you’re trying to make an impact. That experience taught me how to be resourceful and how to do more with less, which is part of the foundation of my professional work.
Over time, I found myself drawn more intentionally toward mission-driven organizations, particularly in the arts. When I joined The New Children’s Museum, my skills and interests aligned in a way that felt natural. As Director of Communications and Marketing, I get to support a space where creativity is treated as essential and where families are invited to engage with art in ways that feel open, welcoming, and accessible.
I’ve also maintained my own art practice along the way. I began painting in 2018 and leaned into it more deeply during the early days of COVID, when creating became a way to process uncertainty and stay grounded. Today, my art practice is a core part of my life. It’s where I experiment, reset, and reconnect, and it continues to inform how I think about creativity and the role art plays in our everyday lives.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. Working in the arts and nonprofit space has always meant navigating limited resources, uncertainty, and constant adaptation. That part isn’t new. But more recently, funding cuts and shifts in funding priorities have made those challenges more visible, asking organizations to stretch even further while still showing up fully for their communities.
What’s hard is that the need for art doesn’t disappear when resources shrink. If anything, it becomes more urgent. I’ve seen firsthand how creative spaces help people of all ages process what’s happening around them, especially during times of stress or instability. Art gives people language when they don’t have the words. It offers space to pause, reflect, and feel less alone.
Along the way, I’ve also had to learn how to take care of myself within the work. Passion matters, but it isn’t always sustainable. Learning when to push, when to pause, and when to reset has been essential. Those lessons have shaped how I lead, how I collaborate, and how I stay connected to why this work matters to me in the first place.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
At its core, my work sits at the intersection of creativity, communication, and community. As Director of Communications and Marketing at The New Children’s Museum, my role is to uplift the work of our teams, whether that’s a new exhibition space, program, or community offering, and help share it in a way that feels clear, joyful, and inviting. I care deeply about how we show up for families and about making sure we’re known as a place for fun and play, something we all need more of, especially when the world around us feels heavy.
I focus on helping people understand not just what we offer, but why it matters. One of the things I’m most proud of is supporting the opening of the Museum’s new art space, Artopia: NCM Creative Studios. Watching that space grow into a true hub of creativity and joy for kids and families has been incredibly rewarding. It’s a place where experimentation is encouraged, where creativity feels accessible, and where people are invited to make, explore, and spend time together.
Alongside my professional work, I serve on the board of ArtReach San Diego, which brings visual arts education to students in Title 1 schools and engages the community through public murals and workshops. That work reinforces my belief that access to art is essential.
I’m also a practicing artist, and that experience informs how I approach my work. My art practice is intentionally color-forward, using bright, saturated palettes to create visual interest and invite people to slow down and look longer. I approach my work with a sense of openness, valuing joy and experimentation over perfection. I work with pattern, abstraction, faces and figures, often returning to the same subject again and again and allowing each version to evolve differently. That perspective influences how I lead, how I collaborate, and how I think about the role art plays in people’s lives.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
I’ve always understood the value of community, but its importance became even clearer as I moved further into my career. Join groups that align with your interests or skill set, whether that’s a networking group, a creative collective, or something more informal. Meeting people, building relationships, and learning alongside others has shaped my path in ways I couldn’t have planned on my own.
It’s also worth taking time to ask yourself what draws you to the work in the first place. That clarity gives you something to come back to when things feel uncertain or challenging.
And lastly, for anyone who feels hesitant about creativity or thinks of themselves as “not creative,” I’d encourage you to try anyway. Not everyone needs to be an artist to benefit from making something. Especially now, when so much of our time is spent behind screens, creative activities can be a way to slow down, reconnect, and engage your mind and hands in a different way.
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