Creative Director, 3rd Floor Design
The University of Tulsa School of Art
Teresa Valero was born in Venezuela and moved to the U.S. to study art.“Growing up, we all sat around the table, had breakfast and read the paper together,” Teresa says. “My father was very interested in the rest of the world, and my mother was very socially conscious. She had me go through my first communion with the barrio kids, so I would see there was a larger community out there.”
“Six of us eight kids went to study outside the country. I have family in Brazil, Spain, France, Lebanon, Syria, France and Venezuela. Life here is so much easier to live. Americans, we strive for that comfortable life. We’re not always aware of everything else that’s happening.”
Teresa is a T.U. art professor, creative director and co-founder of 3rd Floor Design. The student-run studio provides design services for nonprofit organizations, free of charge.
“I tell my students, you have to be an active participant in your community. You can’t live your life in the Facebook vacuum,” she says. “Art education is about everything that surrounds us. I show them, the Tulsa World is where everything conglomerates. You can get everything without too many clicks. The World is my complete source for truthful, accurate information. And information is power.”
