K.Page Stuart Valdes

I'm a New York-based filmmaker, writer, musician and educator. At a young age I saw the beauty of diversity when my Jewish American father opened a blues bar in New Hampshire where African American and white musicians performed and hung out. My national work in the fields of social emotional learning, culturally responsive teaching, and arts education has taken me from urban schools where over 53 home languages were spoken to Native American reservations. And, my Colombian American extended family expands my world, and language skills, regularly. My personal and professional commitment to living a diverse and integrated life influences my film, writing, and music which explores the intersection of culture, conflict, and connection in the diverse landscape of the US. 

My short, We Got This, was one of only two shorts from the US in competition at the Martha's Vineyard International Film Festival, won the audience award for Best Narrative Short at the Virginia Film Festival, and received 2nd place in the New York Women in Film and Television online festival. My short, Full Service, premiered at the African Diaspora Film Festival at Columbia University and won Best Short at the Katra Film Festival in NYC. My short,Talking Piece, premiered at Detroit's Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, earned honorable mention at the San Francisco Black Film Festival, and won the Complex Cultural Currents Award from Stories by the River Festival.

My feature screenplay, Borderline ‘73, was an Academy Award Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship semi-finalist. My screenplay, Psychotropia, won Best Screenplay at the California Women’s Film Festival, second place at the LA Underground Film Festival screenplay competition. My TV pilot Son of a Mother was semi-finalist in the Filmmatic TV Pilot Awards.

I have written articles for the the Huffington Post, Edutopia, Imagination Matters, and Morningside Center. My book Humanizing the Classroom, was published by Rowman and Littlefield in 2019.

My music has been presented by Brooklyn Academy of Music, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Atlantic Center for the Arts, and in countless smaller clubs in and around NYC. My music-theater pieces have been presented at the Obie award winning Ice Factory Festival and HERE Arts Center. In addition, I have published articles and a book on arts in education. I have received fellowships and commissions from Yaddo, Atlantic Center for the Arts, and the Jerome Foundation.

I am a NY state certified court arbitrator, was certified in trauma informed care by FEMA, and am a subject matter expert in social and emotional learning. I holds a BFA in Acting from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and an MFA from their Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program where I wrote both words and music.