AGES 16-19

Valder has worked with four different Snow City Arts teaching artists over the course of three years. His main interest is photography and he was awarded the Snow City Arts Miguel Sandoval Scholarship in 2019 to pursue this interest beyond his work with the organization. His interest in photography derives from his first couple interactions with teaching artist Jess Leonard and he grew to love how photography. It’s not something he can forget, “it’s something [he] can come back and look at it, it’s a permanent memory.” For Valder, photography has been an inspiration that has allowed “[him] to experience and observe the world differently resulting in a greater appreciation of [his] life.” According to teaching artist Eric Elshtain, Valder “is a consummate experimenter, always willing to push his own boundaries, like an artistic expeditionary, seeing how far he can take his artistic vision.”