A Bit About Me

 Hello!

My name is Abigail Link and I teach High School Art in Woonsocket, RI!

My first art show of student work!

This is my first year teaching full time, but teaching has been part of my life to different degrees ever since I was 12 years old and teaching at youth camps.

A friend's birthday party on a rooftop in DJ

When I was 19, I got a job working in a non-profit in a tiny African country called Djibouti. I absolutely loved going all around the country sharing a mobile library and ecology projects with people, encouraging a love of reading and nature while connecting with different communities. I learned so much from these communities and the amazing people who welcomed me as a guest in their country! I also had the opportunity to travel widely for my job and have visited four out of seven continents. 

Graduating with my cohort!

Working in Djibouti, I wrestled with how to make a lasting difference when I was surrounded by so many different needs. I researched how different countries and communities developed strategies to deal with cycles of poverty and learned that art education was often a defining factor in whether or not a community was able to develop a creative approach to their individual situation. It is a powerful vehicle to come alongside communities while they own their development, whatever development means to them. While I was not an "artist" at that point, I committed myself to learning and attained Bachelor's degrees at Rhode Island College in Art Education and Ceramics with a minor in International Non-Governmental Organizations.

My current experiment: Sourdough Bagels

When not pursuing degrees, teaching, or doing non-profit work, I love to cook, to paint, to create ceramic luminary vessels, and to take walks in nature! While I've been struggling to find the time, I also love to read and enjoy a wide variety of books. While I live on my own now, I am also the third of ten siblings in a blended family of biological siblings and siblings adopted through the RI foster system. My parents have won awards for their amazing parenting capabilities, especially as the majority of my adopted siblings came to our family with severe medical needs ranging from childhood cancer to epilepsy. While it hasn't always been easy, it has made us close as a family and now my siblings and I are launching careers that work towards making the world a better place.