Huntington Teacher Publishes 15th Article for SchoolArts Magazine

Kasmira Mohanty is well-known throughout the art community for her talents as a teacher and artist. The Huntington High School digital art teacher recently published her 15th article for Davis Publishing’s SchoolArts Magazine. The story is titled “Design and Stitch.”

While SchoolArts went all digital, Ms. Mohanty will be getting hard copies because the article within the issue will be distributed at the National Art Education Association conference in March with Huntington students on the cover.

“For several years, I hoped to launch a cross-disciplinary project that would highlight the talents of my Advanced Digital Design and Illustration students, particularly their skill in creating seamless repeating patterns, while partnering with the Advanced Fashion Design students and benefitting from their expertise in garment construction,” wrote Ms. Mohanty in the article. “The goal was to unite two artistic disciplines to create one-of-a-kind, wearable works of art.” Department colleague Kim Valerio teaches the fashion design course.

Ms. Mohanty has been a writer and contributing editor for SchoolArts magazine since 2017. She was offered the editor-in-chief position, but had to decline because she was her mother's caregiver during her battle with cancer.

“Equally important was providing my students with an authentic, real-world experience: learning to present themselves professionally as designers, collaborate with a client, and adapt their creative vision to meet someone else’s needs,” continued Ms. Mohanty in the story. “In turn, the Fashion Design students would gain experience articulating their unique style and vision and directing the creation of a custom fabric for an original garment. That moment finally arrived last year, following a carefully engineered test run of the project I titled Design and Stitch.”

Ms. Mohanty said the project kicked off with her students creating personalized introductions using a Google Slides template that she provided. “Slide one included a photo, name, list of past and current art classes, and a short personal greeting. Slides two and three showcased artwork that reflected each studentʼs individual strengths in digital design. Once the slides were complete, I shared them with Mrs. Valerio, so her students could review the digital designers’ mini CVs. Based on these presentations, each Fashion Design student selected a partner they wanted to collaborate with. From there, the Fashion Design students filled out their own template prompts to introduce themselves, outlining their design style and approach. These exchanges allowed both groups to get to know each other before their scheduled in-person project meeting.”

To read more about the project, here is a link to the story: https://magazine.davisart.com/articles/high-school-art-lesson-textiles-126?utm_source=sugar&utm_medium=email&utm_content=january_february_2026&utm_campaign=schoolarts

Here is a link to Ms. Mohanty’s professional website, which featuring artwork and publications that you can click on to view if you’re curious: https://www.kasmiramohanty.com/about

In addition to her articles, Ms. Mohanty’s digital arts expertise was featured in Davis Publishing’s first ever book collections: “CONTEMPORARYart,” a SchoolArts Collection Book in 2021 and more notably “MEDIAarts,” a SchoolArts Collection Book in 2019.

The longtime Huntington faculty member has also served in various additional roles for Davis Publishing, including hosting a podcast.

Ms. Mohanty serves on the executive boards of the Suffolk County Art Leaders Association and the Huntington Arts Council. She was recently appointed to the Heckscher Museum of Art’s Education and Visitor Committee.

Ms. Mohanty holds degrees in Photography, Fine Arts and Education from The Fashion Institute of Technology, Purchase College and Dowling College.