Shannon Mirabelli-Lopez grew up in the East Bay punk scene of the ’80s and ’90s. Starting off managing local bands, she handled distribution for Primus and worked on music videos for Green Day and INXS. That background, along with degrees in Anthropology and Visual Culture: Costume Studies, led her to two decades among elite New York City art institutions, where she moved from a junior role into a 12-year tenure at the Costume Institute at the Met, followed by leadership positions at Pratt and Parsons.
In this conversation, Shannon traces her journey from punk shows and music videos to the Met, shares her reasons for leaving the "rarefied" air of New York City and returning home to the Bay Area, and explains why schools like Cilker are crucial in changing the landscape of art and design.
As Dean of the Cilker School of Art and Design at West Valley College, Shannon is focused on democratizing arts education, from state-of-the-art makerspaces to tuition-free access. 2026 marks the 10th anniversary of the Cilker School’s founding and the 5th year of the Cilker Art + Design EXPO.
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