Yanina Cambareri
Outreach Program Coordinator
Yanina Cambareri was born in Argentina and has traveled extensively in Europe and South America. She now lives in Encinitas, California with her husband and two daughters. Although Yanina graduated from the University of Buenos Aires as a software engineer, she has always been interested in the fine arts. The daughter of well-known Argentinean artist Pascual Cambareri, Yanina studied Fine Arts at Mesa College, concentrating in black and white photography as well as pencil and charcoal drawing. Her favorite medium is now watercolor, she finds excitement in the transparency of the medium and the bold use of color. Her paintings often reflect local and European landscapes and convey her love for nature. She is currently an art teacher in the Encinitas and Rancho Santa Fe School Districts as well as a member of the La Jolla Arts Association and the San Dieguito Art Guild. In addition to teaching classes at the ARTS Center, Yanina is the Outreach Program Coordinator managing ARTS off-site partners and volunteers.

Hulya D'Arrigo
Volunteer Coordinator
Hulya D'Arrigo holds a BA in Psychology and a Masters in Social Work from San Diego State University, and an art degree from Istanbul, Turkey. Previously, she worked at San Diego Hospice as a Pediatric Social Worker.
She worked with terminally ill children and their families. She has trainings in art and play therapy. Prior to hospice, Hulya was a supervisor at an after-school program for emotionally and physically challenged youth and children. In her free time, Hulya likes to swim, run, read, and go to the movies and dinner. She also loves painting and sculpting and enjoys spending time with her 8 month old son, 3 year old daughter, and husband.

Matt D'Arrigo
Executive Director
Matt D'Arrigo was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1972, graduated from Portsmouth Abbey School in 1990 and went on to study Fine Art from Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama, graduating in 1995. His concentration was in oil paints and realism.

After his freshman year at Spring Hill, his mother and sister were both diagnosed with cancer within months of each other. Matt took the next year off from school and helped care for them. During that year, Matt relied heavily on his art and love of music to get him through the tough times. It was so healing and therapeutic to him, that he vowed to one day start an organization that would provide free art programs to children facing challenges in life.

Matt moved to San Diego in 1998 and landed a job managing a scene shop for Pacific Event Productions. He spent three years gaining valuable business and management experience before he decided to make the leap and start his organization. In 2001, with $5,000 and a book on how to start a non-profit, he began the journey to start ARTS (A Reason To Survive).

Matt and ARTS have been featured in over 45 media stories both locally and nationally. Matt has been recognized as "One of San Diego's brightest leaders under the age of 40" by San Diego Metropolitan Magazine with their "Forty Under 40" Award. Most recently, Matt was featured in San Diego Magazine's "50 People to Watch in 2008" issue and received the 2008 Safeco Insurance Community Hero Award. He was also profiled in the recently published book by Darius Graham "Being the Difference: True Stories of Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things to Change the World."

Always seeking to better himself as a leader, Matt has also been extensively involved with the Fieldstone Foundation's leadership training program for several years. He has participated as both a coachee and now coach in their Leadership Network Coaching Program which provides mentorship and guidance from a peer non-profit coach. He also graduated from their Executive Leadership course last fall, and is now a leadership coach himself, giving back by coaching an up-and-coming non-profit leader. In addition, Matt was most recently one of two San Diego Executive Directors chosen for a full scholarship to the prestigious Harvard Business School's "Strategic Perspectives in Non-Profit Management" course during the summer of 2008.

Matt currently lives in Point Loma with his wife, Hulya, 3 year old daughter, Tessa, and 8 month old son, Andrew.

Adriana Escobar
Program Manager
Adriana Escobar joined ARTS in December of 2007, after attending a summer art course at Studio Art Center International (SACI) in Florence, Italy. Ms. Escobar graduated from the University of San Diego with a Bachelors of Arts in Communication Studies and a minor in Visual Arts. Though Adriana was born in Bogota, Colombia she has lived in the United Stated for ten years were she has been involved in the non-profit sector. She worked as a volunteer at Give to Colombia, a US based non profit that channels grants and donations to non-profit projects and organizations in Colombia. In addition, she volunteered as the administrative assistant at the Eyes of Haiti (EOH), a non-profit organization whose mission is to increase the quality of life of Hatian children. As Program Manager, Ms. Escobar supervises "Van-Go!", coordinates trips to arts and cultural events in the community and teaches mixed media classes at the Pat D'Arrigo ARTS Center.

Arathi Menon
Development Manager
Arathi Menon graduated from the University of California, San Diego with a BA in Communications and a minor in Art History. Most recently as Assistant to the Director at the New Children's Museum, Arathi was an integral part of the team that launched the museum’s new state of the art facility in downtown San Diego. Prior to her time with NCM, Arathi worked at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego as an Education Fellow and Curatorial Assistant. As Development Manager, Arathi is responsible for overseeing ARTS events, marketing and fundraising efforts. In her free time, she enjoys art, music, and writing fiction.

Jackie Hwang
Development Associate
Jackie Hwang brings to ARTS a variety of experiences in education, library/archives, and membership with positions at the Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego Museum of Art, and the Coronado Historical Association. Jackie graduated with a BA in Art History/Criticism from the University of California, San Diego, where she developed and taught a series of art-historical based lesson plans to a Title I classroom in Oceanside, CA through ArtsBridge America. Since then, she has been committed to bring art—its actions, feelings and creations—into greater significance and understanding to the world. In addition to her duties in the Development department, Jackie also teaches visual arts classes at the ARTS Center.

Rob Tobin
Creative Director
From early childhood, Rob showed a great passion and talent for the visual arts. By the time he was in elementary school, he was already assisting his art instructors with their younger students. Rob went on to study art at Southern Connecticut State University. He has worked as a scenic artist with Pacific Event Productions since 1998. Rob also owns his own business performing extreme makeovers on store fronts in the Mission and Pacific Beach areas. Rob joined the ARTS team as one of its first volunteers in 2001, and over the years has become involved in many capacities. His shared vision and passion for A Reason To Survive makes him a valuable addition to our staff.