When artist Eyenga Bokamba last exhibited her work in Italy, she was overjoyed to bring her colorful, multidimensional painted cubes to a floating art gallery on Lake Iseo in Lombardy.
She was also anxious about the 2024 exhibition, so she designed and printed mini sculptural cubes on cardstock and gave them to gallery visitors who seemed most moved by her show. The joy of creation through the simple process of cutting and folding allowed Bokamba to feel centered and inspired.
“Art can play a restorative role by allowing for a reset,” Bokamba said. “The physical and physiological reset of the deepening of breath, the focus on hand-eye coordination – I find in my own art that it’s very soothing to create.”
When she’s not exhibiting her creations around the world, the artist champions the restorative power of art in her role as director of the Minnesota Institute for Trauma-Informed Education (MITIE) at the University of St. Thomas. A partnership between the School of Education and the Morrison Family College of Health, the institute works with current and future educators to adopt trauma-informed practices.
With Bokamba at the helm, MITIE has experienced a creative infusion.
“As an artist, I feel like I have a responsibility to bring that creativity into fields that touch the arts, and education is certainly one of them,” said Bokamba, who earned an MEd in Arts and Education at Harvard University.
Recently, the visual artist invited a group of St. Thomas student teachers into her northeast Minneapolis art studio, and the do-it-yourself sculptural cubes were back. Part of a studio session meant to encourage the budding educators to incorporate restorative techniques into their classrooms, the cubes were a hit alongside reflective writing activities and the chance to bind their own journals.
“This kind of work really teaches our students about the art of resiliency,” said Dr. Elena Contreras Gullickson, a faculty member who covers teacher education and special education at St. Thomas.
It was a powerful lesson to close a trying week. The student teachers were learning how to best support their pupils, as well as themselves, after a middle school student in one of their districts died by suicide.
“Eyenga is able to illustrate so many important ideas, including that you must care for yourself so that you can best care for your students,” Contreras Gullickson said.
From canvas to the classroom
A self-described “writer who paints who wants to be a sculptor,” Bokamba has built her artistic identity around multimedia abstraction, mixing layers of acrylic paint, watercolor and calligraphy ink. Her work, which explores themes of possibility across different realms and dimensions, has appeared in dozens of galleries, including the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the Duluth Art Institute. Her colorfully layered pieces also have been spotted in Los Angeles, New York City and across Europe.
“I have the right to create something every single day and that just fuels me,” Bokamba said.
While she’s spent much of her life in an art studio, this artist educator has never been far from a classroom. And often, they are one and the same.
Before taking the helm at MITIE, Bokamba was the director of Menlo Park Academy in Minneapolis, a trauma-informed alternative high school focused on experiential, multidisciplinary studies. She served for over a decade in the Hopkins School District as a classroom teacher and later, as the department leader within the Hopkins Alternative Center. And she directed Sprockets, a citywide network for advancing quality after-school programs in St. Paul.
“I’m dedicated to exploring that intersection of the arts and education because they both feed different parts of myself,” Bokamba said. “My artistry feeds my impulse to create a better world, and by better, I mean more playful, more joyful, more colorful. And when I think about my work as director of MITIE, I’m also interested in creating a better world where people feel more connected to each other.”
The art of teaching resilience
MITIE was launched in 2021 to help educators build more authentic, empathetic and resilient relationships with their students. That connection in the classroom often plays a vital role in supporting youth who have experienced a traumatic life event.
A growing epidemic, more than two-thirds of youth report experiencing at least one traumatic event by age 16. Those experiences can include neglect, school violence, natural disasters or food and housing insecurity, among others.
By embracing trauma-informed strategies in the classroom, Bokamba believes educators can have a positive impact on a student’s well-being, as well as break down barriers to learning.
“Trauma-informed education really is just another aspect of forming respectful, caring relationships between students and teachers, between teachers and principals and administrators, and creating a community of belonging,” Bokamba said.
In just her first two years leading MITIE, Bokamba has made significant progress spreading trauma-informed practices across the state. She’s greatly expanded the Minnesota Trauma-Informed School Network, which comprises schools that fulfill standards and adopt trauma-informed approaches.
Much of her work has focused on an expansion of practitioner development, which is an area she continues to champion. For established professionals, she’s created a growing web of community-based cohorts who share tools and resources. And at St. Thomas, she’s a regular face in the classroom (and in her art studio), sharing best practices with the teachers of tomorrow.
“Eyenga is one of my favorite people in the world. She just brings this magic and collaboration that leads to exponential results,” said Dr. Jayne Sommers, chair of the Department of Educational Leadership at St. Thomas and program director of the Leadership in Student Affairs programs. “Yes, she is an amazing artist, but she’s also a curator of amazing, connected communities.”
Art that heals
Bokamba reserves Fridays to paint in her airy, plant-filled northeast Minneapolis studio. Over the years, it’s become a popular gathering place as she’s welcomed other artists and community groups to explore the complexities of life through creation and conversation.
“I love sharing my studio with others,” Bokamba said. “Very few people feel that they have a right to be creative, especially outside of the arts field. I hope that I can give them that opportunity.”
For elementary education major and student-athlete Jade Hill ’25, who visited the studio in March with her fellow student teachers, it was a transformative experience.
“I really enjoyed the opportunity to journal and just live in this creative space,” Hill said, reflecting on the studio session. “It’ll be something I can embrace in my own classroom.”
And for Bokamba, that’s the whole point.
“When we learn to create and engage in trauma-informed work, it means we are being more human,” Bokamba said. “When a student can look at their teacher, and they say, ‘Gosh, I think that person understands me,’ it makes all the difference.”
