Cassie Lynn Smith is a doctoral student in the Department of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico (UNM). She investigates Mexican American community-based art education in Austin, Texas and her areas of interest include US-Mexico borderlands art and critical race theory in education.  Ms. Smith is a Teaching Assistant for UNM’s Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies and a Teaching Artist with the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center in Austin. Ms. Smith obtained a Master of Arts degree in Latin American Studies and Art Education from The University of Texas as well as certificates in Nonprofit Studies and Mexican American Studies respectively.