Introduction
She didn’t just crumple my artwork — she crushed my voice and tossed it in the trash. She silenced me forever. Or so she thought.
I was in first grade, newly arrived from Mexico at the age of four, turning five. I didn’t speak English, and because there was no room in the kindergarten classroom at my local Chicago Public School, I was placed directly into first grade—a decision that still baffles me.
Drawing was my language. It was how I made sense of the world and how I tried to express what I couldn’t yet say. But my drawings—filled with fantastical creatures and bold imagination—were not celebrated. Instead, my teacher dismissed them. In one of the few Spanish phrases she knew, she told me, “Muy mal. NO.” Then she crumpled my artwork and threw it away.
She didn’t understand me, and worse—she didn’t try to. I was told to sit quietly in the coat closet, isolated from the rest of the class. I was afraid to go to school. I hid my drawings, afraid they’d be destroyed. Secretly I would hide my work, I did not know I was creating fantastical creatures. My love for art was hidden but not taken!
I never forgot that feeling. And now, I teach visual arts to make sure no child ever feels that way again.
This unit is for the students who see the world through creative ideas filled with color and stories. It is for the artists whose voices may not yet be heard clearly in words, but who speak powerfully through images. In this unit, students will be encouraged to imagine boldly, to create freely, and to tell stories that matter—because their creativity deserves to be nurtured, not silenced. Moreover, I want my students to understand our vibrant culture and learn about the amazing Folk art of Alebrijes. An Alebrije is a spirit animal composed of various creatures, reflecing the identity and spirit of its creator. It turns out that in my early drawings, I was creating a form of Alebrijes without knowing.
Their voices, their visions, and their experiences are not just welcome in the classroom—they are the heart of it.
In my role as a visual arts educator in a culturally rich yet economically underserved community, I have consistently sought to make art education meaningful, interdisciplinary, and culturally relevant. My curriculum unit, "Alebrijes: where Science Meets Art," challenges students to observe and think like scientists—specifically, like zoologists—while embracing their identity as artists and storytellers. This unit fuses the disciplines of zoology and visual art to deepen students’ understanding of biodiversity and animal anatomy, while also empowering them to express personal and cultural identities—particularly those rooted in Mexican heritage.
Middle school students will explore the tradition of Alebrijes—fantastical, hybrid creatures born from the imagination of Mexican artist Pedro Linares—while also engaging with scientific concepts related to animal classification, ecosystems, and human impact on wildlife. Students will select and research two to three animals—one each from the categories of mammals, reptiles, and birds—making connections between form, function, and environment. This research will include observational studies during a field trip to a local zoo, where students will record video, take notes, and create detailed sketches based on life observation. These drawings and studies will form the foundation of their final Alebrije design.
Throughout the unit, students will learn to combine features from their selected animals to invent a mythical creature that tells a personal, cultural, and ecological story. They will reflect on how their animal choices and hybrid combinations symbolize identity, environment, and imagination.
Students will engage with the works of key artists including Jacques-Laurent Agasse, John James Audubon, Georges Stubbs, Pedro Linares, and contemporary artist Lori Hogin. The unit emphasizes the contrasting yet complementary approaches of Linares and Hogin. While Linares’ Alebrijes honor cultural tradition and personal vision, Hogin’s surreal and biologically impossible but visually persuasive animals serve as critiques of consumerism, ecological destruction, and genetic manipulation. Students will “read” these works as primary sources using four key components of visual analysis: description, analysis, interpretation, and judgment.
The unit culminates in the creation of a sculptural or painted Alebrije that synthesizes students’ research, artistic choices, and cultural reflection. Their final work becomes a personal statement—rooted in science, shaped by culture, and inspired by the power of imaginative resistance. Through this project, students not only build artistic and scientific literacy, but also develop the tools to envision a more thoughtful, sustainable, and inclusive world.
Francisco Liam Nuno “Cruzando un Sueño de un Niño Sin Sombra,” created in 1990, - color pencils on paper. This work, based on m spirit animal comprised of three animals: Crow, Komodo Dragon, and Wolf, - is my pride. It won the Chicago Teachers Union art contest. This is one when I gained my confidence as an artist. This image has made it possible for me to do what I love. My love for art got stronger as teachers, friends, and institutions accepted my work and celebrated. I was born in Jalisco, Mexico, and at the age of four, my family and I crossed the U.S.-Mexico border undocumented. In this image, my personal Alebrije represents that journey—an imaginative rendering of our crossing of the Rio Grande. Layered in clothing to guard against the cold night, we moved like wolves—silent, alert, and guided only by the light of the moon. My Alebrije carries the memory of that night: the instincts of a wolf, the wings of a creature fueled by hope, and the fire of a dragon that sensed something new on the horizon—the taste of the so-called “American Dream.”
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