As a recent graduate, Xan has had a lifelong appreciation of music education and has studied fine arts across the globe. Her experience as a teaching assistant for Zambezi Marimba Band and as an art instructor has fostered a deep love of arts education and working with youth. Through performing at the Zimbabwean Music Festival in Oregon and studying the arts in Costa Rica, Spain, and Chile, she has dedicated herself to promoting the importance of cultural exchange in arts education and making access to it more equitable and pervasive.
Prior to working with Rocky Ridge, she has worked in digital marketing and community outreach for The Gaudino Fund and for a local art gallery in Boulder, and in fundraising and development for a political campaign. After teaching in arts education in Boulder and Massachusetts for private schools, public schools, and summer programs, Xan is proud to be part of an innovative and creative organization that has done substantial and tangible work to create a more diverse fine arts community.
Xan is from Boulder, Colorado, and grew up attending the Colorado Music Festival, learning piano, and painting. She started clarinet at Flatirons Elementary, and began playing Zimbabwean marimba while living in South Africa then continued in Boulder. In high school, she participated in band, orchestra, drumline, and also attended Interlochen Center for the Arts. She has studied at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Hamilton College in Spain, and graduated from Williams College with degrees in Comparative Literature and Studio Art, and a minor in Spanish.