services
trainings/Teaching
I am available for one-on-one trainings, group trainings, and online workshops and lecturing. My offerings are on topics specific to the tattoo industry, including good consent practices, shaping trauma-informed and justice-centered tattooing practices, structuring safety in tattoo shop and private studio environments, and self-care and burnout prevention.
Portfolio Review
Drawing on more than fifteen years of studio production, critique experience, and professional studio visits, we’ll survey the work you bring to the session and discuss practical suggestions to bring you closer to your artistic and technical goals. Particularly helpful if you’ve been working solo and are looking for feedback and dialogue with others!
project collaboration
I’m open to creative and project collaborations and love to exchange ideas with others. I am especially interested in connecting with practitioners in other fields like medicine, social work, personal care and more to compare approaches and understand industry similarities and overlap.
“Heard about these through Instagram, and was blown away after taking in both the Trauma Informed Tattooing and Compassion Fatigue, Boundaries & Burnout presentations. Professionally, this gave me a lot of new understanding for experiences I've had throughout my career. The format was very informative, casual, and professional. I texted the weblink to everyone that works with me and haven't stopped thinking about it all week. Thanks for putting these together, especially at such a critical time!” -Brooke Michael Engelhart, Evoke Tattoos
“These two workshops, "Trauma-Informed Tattooing" and "Compassion Fatigue, Boundaries, and Burnout", are hugely informative. They serve as an inviting way to talk about trauma and secondary exposure in the realm of tattooing. Tamara takes a high level of care in offering resources, and opening a dialogue around these topics which have been disregarded for too long. Both workshops ask us in-depth questions about ourselves and our clients’ needs, and offer strategies to become more professional and better informed. I see these videos as essential to all tattooers, new and old, traditional or DIY, as we all begin to redefine industry standards and reevaluate what training is needed.” -Arielle Coupe, True Hand Society
“Tamara’s workshops, writing and group facilitation have completely expanded my understanding of my practice as both a tattooer and client. Tamara shares their perspective of working in the industry for over 10 years in a way that is both completely accessible and revolutionary. I see their work and leadership opening up doors for future generations of tattooing while deepening our respect for ourselves as tattooers, for our craft and our clients. The lens of trauma awareness is one that everyone who works with people can benefit from. And the workshop on compassion fatigue is a necessity for the sustainability of our work. Tamara is onto something huge - don’t sleep on what they’re offering!” -Nassim Dayoub, Time Being Tattoo
Since June of 2020 I have had the great privilege of participating in Tamara Santibañez's online discussion group dedicated to racial justice in tattooing. Comprised of tattooists from a wide variety of backgrounds, this group analyzes and engages racial inequities within the field, and endeavors to counteract them through critical dialogue, honest exchange, deep accountability, and mutual support. Santibañez's clarity and rigorous approach to social justice has had a profound influence on my practice as a tattooer. Challenging and encouraging, the group has been essential to my work in addressing bias and dismantling acculturated habits of mind in pursuit of an end to white supremacy. -Dan Gilsdorf, Atlas Tattoo
Past Projects and Engagements Include:
I heard it before I ever saw it, oral history project on tattooing and the US prison system - 2021- 2022
Tattooing as Liberation Work - presentation at CSU Fullerton 2021 Feminist Symposium: Reimagining Feminism
Systems-Thinking and Body Mod Magic - virtual training for Wish Me Luck Tattoo, Chicago IL - 2020
Monday Night Tattoo Futures - weekly virtual QTBIPOC tattooer discussion group - 2020-present
Panelist, A Mark of Health: Medical Duty in Treating Forced Tattoos, Freedom Network USA virtual conference - 2020
Zine making workshops, Museum of Arts and Design, NYC - 2019
Expert guest participant - Design Futuring Workshop at the Convening for Contemporary Art, Education, and Social Justice,
New Museum, New York - 2019
Workshop leader - No Longer Empty & Young Exhibition Makers, New York -2019
Panelist, Axis Mundo: Queer Chicano Networks in L.A., Hunter College Art Galleries, New York - 2018
Sexiness: Rituals, Revisions, and Reconstructions release and panel, Museum of Sex, New York City -2018
Arts workshop leader, Wide Rainbow, New York City -2018
Panel moderator, Vice Creators Project x Museum of Sex “Female Gaze”, New York - 2018
Guest Lecturer on Fine Line Black & Grey tattooing, School of Visual Arts, NYC - 2016