Joy Sanchez is an educator and artist of Igorot heritage based in Oˋahu, Hawaiˋi. She splits her time teaching, making art and crushing it at the climbing gym. Sanchez’s work focuses on play as a mean of self discovery, using themes of mental health, cultural identity and self actualization. She uses her art and education practice as a quiet defiance of life’s constant pressure to perform.

Sanchez has an Associate in Liberal Arts from Leeward Community College and a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa with a concentration in ceramics. While at UHM, they were a recipient of the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, as well as a two-time recipient of the Jean Charlot Foundation Scholarship. Her work can be found in domestic spaces and the collections of the Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.

She is currently obsessed with her bicycle, and can be found zipping around Honolulu. Don’t forget to check the bike lane—you might miss her!