Beranger LeFranc
Beranger LeFranc, she/her
Artsmatter Teaching Arist
Beranger LeFranc is a Teaching Artist with LA Promise Fund. She leads arts-based instruction in classrooms to promote creative and academic advancements in students. Teaching Artists also provide one-on-one coaching of teachers to support their ability to gain the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to deliver and design new media arts lesson plans. The goal is to build teachers’ confidence in using media arts-based strategies across the Media ArtsMatter curriculum.
Beranger joined LA Promise Fund in August 2023. Prior to joining LAPF, she worked as a secondary art teacher for 7 years at Title I schools in Austin, Texas, and Richmond, Virginia; she was also selected for the role of Lead Secondary Art Teacher in her district for four years. Before teaching, Beranger worked for several nonprofit youth development organizations, coordinating summer camps, after-school programming, and outdoor education.
Beranger holds a B.F.A. in Sculpture + Extended Media from Virginia Commonwealth University, an M.A. in Community-based Art Education from The University of Texas at Austin, and teacher certification in EC-12 Art Education. Throughout her career, Beranger has always strived to be an active member of her local community. She collaborates with and supports like-minded individuals and local organizations that work in youth development, arts education, and visual art. Alongside her work as a teaching artist, she maintains a personal art practice in drawing, painting, and performance art. She draws inspiration from femininity, activism, and spirituality through the lens of a queer Jewish woman.
Beranger’s favorite books are The Red Tent, Me Talk Pretty One Day, and The Lovely Bones. Her hobbies include visiting museums, traveling to new cities, thrifting for vintage, making art, and spending time in nature. Her work in education has been largely influenced by the work of Paolo Freire, whose radical ideas taught her how education and social justice are inextricably linked. He said, “There is no such thing as a neutral education. Education either functions as an instrument to bring about conformity or freedom… The educator has the duty of not being neutral.”
