What Artists and Former Students Say
These testimonials come from former students, artists, and Residency participants who have engaged with my teaching and creative-process work across different contexts.
Cristhian Lucas
Cultural Producer, Art Educator, Visual Artist
Instagram: @cristhian__lucas
“I had the opportunity to be Desirée’s student during my first year of undergraduate studies, before she took leave to pursue her PhD. Although brief, her role was decisive: the classes she taught became fundamental pillars that I carry with me and apply throughout my professional journey.
After graduating, I collaborated with her on several projects—from exhibition setups to informal mentoring—and participated in multiple editions of the Artistic Residency she founded. The project is truly innovative: it created a space for experimentation and reflection marked by respect, creative strength, and constant encouragement.
Desirée is a competent, passionate, and creative cultural agent who leads her projects with sensitivity and clarity. She recognizes each artist’s unique potential and structures processes that strengthen them collectively. Her contribution goes beyond cultural production—she educates, connects, and inspires people to trust their creative paths.”
Bruna Cybulski
Artist and Former Student
Instagram: @brucybulski
“For me, the difference in the Art program before and after Professor Desirée is remarkable—both in the physical spaces and in the artistic production of the students. She is an inspiring and caring teacher, always encouraging us to pursue what we truly want and offering the support needed to bring ideas to life.
In the studio classes, I felt supported to create. She understood the concepts we were developing and contributed with her knowledge of multiple techniques and materials, helping us materialize our intentions. She was also an excellent bridge between our projects and the institution, enabling not only the making of artwork but also its exhibition.”
Patricia Giloni
Artist and Professor (UNICENTRO)
Instagram: @patriciagiloni
“One of the most important things I learned in the Artistic Residency was developing the self-confidence to express myself as an artist.
Discovering researchers like Charles Peirce helped me reflect on the creative process—its demands, anxieties, highs, and lows.
As a biologist whose work strongly influences my art, the Residency allowed me to face insecurities and experience the creative process collectively. Sharing fears, ideas, and curiosities with other artists was transformative.
Participating in the exhibitions was also meaningful: mounting the show allowed us to understand each other’s processes, growth, and the impact of our work on the community.
The Residency encourages reflection and helps us understand that there is no single formula. Our doubts are shared by many, and voicing them strengthens us. The experience has been enriching, empowering, and deeply formative.”
Andressa Rodrigues
Visual Artist, Cultural Manager, and Former Student
Instagram: @andressa.rds
“I began my Art degree during a period of intense conflict between educators and the state government. My first year was marked by a major strike.
I met Professor Desirée while she organized artistic protests denouncing the violence suffered by university staff. One of these was a multimedia installation using photos, videos, and sound from the confrontations. It taught me one of the most important lessons of my degree: art as resistance.
Later, she made us feel like Artists—with a capital A—by taking us to create an intervention at the Oscar Niemeyer Museum. Despite our insecurities and unpredictable challenges, her determination never wavered.
After graduating, I joined her Artistic Residency, where she followed our processes closely and encouraged every decision. Seeing the final exhibition, carefully curated to value each work, was unforgettable.
Today, as a visual artist and cultural manager at the same university where I studied, I carry these lessons into my work.”
Rafael Olze
Artist, Professor, and Former Colleague (UNICENTRO)
Instagram: @rafaelolze
“I love the sensitivity with which Desirée leads the meetings—there’s something of the philosophy of difference in the way she speaks and listens. I always feel welcomed.In one-on-one conversations, she offered insights I hadn’t imagined. We all felt genuinely supported.
As a colleague in the Department of Art, I was introduced—often through video calls—to Charles Peirce’s philosophy in the sensitive way Desirée articulates it with artistic processes.
Her Artistic Residency helped me return to my own artistic practice and adapt to a new city. What remains with me is the sense of ‘working among many’—as a collective we produced, talked, danced, and lived art inside and outside the university.”
John Taborda – Artist
Instagram: @john.tabord
“The Residency offers creative sparks that lead to personal discoveries and help me understand the artistic context I’m part of.
Watching how each process unfolds—sometimes aligned with the initial idea, sometimes completely different—reshapes my own relationship with making. It becomes a new lens through which to create and share.”
Loureni Parmigiani
Former Student
Instagram: @loureniparmigiani
“Returning to university after almost 25 years was intense. That was when I met Desirée Melo. Her receptiveness, warmth, and ability to connect showed the kind of professional she is. Desirée makes a difference wherever she goes; she works with heart and soul.”
Ana Clara Slompo
Artist, Cake Designer, and Former Student
Instagram: @anaclaraslompo
“I studied with Desirée throughout my entire Art-Education degree. Today I run a bakery specializing in artistic cakes, and I use the visual arts foundations she taught me every day.
Color theory is essential to my work—mixing, balancing, and neutralizing tones comes naturally thanks to those studies.
Through her research group on Art and Design, I understood that art goes beyond traditional languages. Everything can become artistic when made with intention. For me, a cake is not just food—it is a blank canvas.
When I realized clients sought me out for ‘my signature,’ I understood that my work went beyond decoration. I once feared I’d lose my connection to art when entering the culinary world, but I discovered the opposite: my artistic self is present in everything I do.”
Elisângela Zanedim
Artist, Teacher, and Former Student
Instagram: @lycordeiro
“Meeting Desirée as both a university professor and a mediator in the Residency transformed the way I view art and teaching. Her classes were a turning point, allowing me to recognize myself as a creator and understand my own process.
I learned that art is not just technique or results but construction, experimentation, and discovery. In a moment when I felt lost during the Residency, her words reminded me that mistakes are part of the journey and each attempt opens new pathways. I carry that lesson with me to this day.”
Aniely Mussoi
Artist-Researcher, Teacher and Former Student
Instagram: @aniely.mussoi
“One of the most valuable things I learned from her is looking at the creative process objectively, without relying on mystical explanations about artistic practice. A bit of magic exists, but seeing the process as an ongoing investigation—one that can be understood and systematized—makes us stronger.
She is inspiring precisely because she is both researcher and artist. For me, she is one of the best examples of how theory and practice can genuinely work together.”
Larissa Lorena
Artist, Professor, and Former Student
Instagram: @lah_lorena
“One of the greatest lessons I learned from Professor Desirée was valuing the creative process as a space for experimentation—paying attention to possibilities, challenges, and the unexpected. This horizontal way of creating, where each step signals the next, gave me the autonomy to take risks as an artist and teacher.
That attentive, curious gaze still guides me today and allows me to welcome transformation in both creation and learning.”
Aline Cristiane dos Santos
Artist, Teacher, and Former Student
Instagram: @alinecrfsantos
“In Professor Desirée’s classes, I learned that it’s always possible to evolve as an artist and teacher. If a student proposes a different solution that still stays within the concept, it is valid—and sometimes richer.
I learned to shift my own perspective and embrace what emerges in the process. I remember a piece I wanted to discard because it was damaged, but she helped me see that the ‘scar’ was part of its story. I highlighted it in gold, transforming what I saw as a flaw into strength. It was more than an art lesson—it was a life lesson.”
Ravi
Artist and Former Student
Instagram: @diabotrans_
“Working with clay was one of the most striking experiences I had in Professor Desirée’s classes. In a course called Special Topics, I created a sculpture that I recently exhibited at the largest UNE Biennial in Latin America. That inspired me so much that I’m now developing a whole sculpture series.
I’ve always been very anxious and often abandoned projects halfway. With her, I learned to stay with the process—and enjoy it. Clay has memory; the process must be lived. Showing a piece created in class in a large exhibition, in another state, was decisive for my artistic path.”
Avanice Krauze
Former Student and Cultural Secretary of Guarapuava
Instagram: @avamicekrauze
“Desirée Melo was fundamental in my trajectory. From the first day of class, she sparked a confidence in me that I didn’t know I had. Her passion for art and her attentive gaze taught me to value everything—from the simplest mark to the complexity of larger works.
She wasn’t only a professor; she became a mentor. Today, as Cultural Secretary of Guarapuava, I carry her lessons with me. They go far beyond the classroom.”
Érica Dias Gomes
Artist, Professor, and Former Colleague (UNICENTRO)
Instagram: @erato.errante
“Having dedicated time and space to create—while surrounded by others creating—helped me discipline my own process. My creative energy fluctuates from intense dives to paralysis, but the Residency became a place to reflect and move again.
The team strengthened our sense of belonging and supported us technically and organizationally.”
Jojo Souza Santos
Artist and Researcher
Instagram: @jojoszst
“The Residency offered a stimulating environment for my creative development. The mentorship was essential to explore new approaches and techniques, and the feedback helped refine my ideas.
The collaborative atmosphere and the interweaving of different projects enriched the entire experience.”
Maria Eduarda Roberti Artist and Psychologist
Instagram: @_dupixie
“For me, the Residency is both a surrender and a bet—a surrender to create, and a bet on building something larger to share with an audience.
Desirée’s mediation encourages individual and collective movement, generating new ways of doing, being, and seeing oneself as an artist. I truly love the experience.”
Helena de Júlio Photographer
Instagram: @helenildss
“The Residency was a turning point in my creative journey. It gave me technical development and artistic maturity that I’ll carry with me.
The collaborative environment pushed me toward new challenges and experimental projects, expanding my visual vocabulary. The mentorship provided steady and encouraging guidance.”
