About Sam Mendoza-Fraiman

Samuel Mendoza (he/el) is a Mexican-American fashion designer and an educator at the Boston Arts Academy (BAA), the only public visual and performing arts high school in Boston. He was instrumental in the establishment and design of the Fashion Technology program, and currently serves as the chair of the Visual Arts and Design department.

Originally from Houston, Texas, Mendoza started his eponymous clothing brand of one-of-a-kind, handmade women’s evening wear in 2005. Along with numerous shows in Boston Fashion Week and Providence Style Week, his work has been featured in local and national press, with clients around the country. Since scaling down his fashion business to focus on teaching, he has led multiple school-based educational initiatives focused on equity.

Mendoza is a graduate of Boston University’s College of Communication, and is a candidate for a M.Ed. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He has served as co-chair of the Boston Ballet Young Partners and is currently a board member of Temple Beth Zion and Jewish Arts Collaborative. Mendoza and his husband live in Jamaica Plain.

Check out Sam’s work in Boston Fashion Week.

Sam’s Be the Change Piece

It’s Giving

The ongoing violence against and marginalization of Black, Indigious, Latinx, Arab, Asian American Pacific Islander and Jewish transgender people in America is a call to action for all of us to demand immediate aid and legislation that protects the most disenfranchised and at risk in our communities. As anti-trans bills roll out across the nation, we must secure the basic needs of all members of our community while crying out for justice.

Reimagining the material nature of tzedakah boxes, viewers will have the opportunity to support trans mutual aid initiatives by way of a fashioned sculpture. By scanning the QR codes that make up the pattern of this project, viewers can direct funds to provide support for food, safe housing, mental health, and healthcare needs of the most at-risk trans people in our communities.

This is a call for safety.

This is a call for justice.

Tzedek, tzedek tirdof / צֶ֥דֶקצֶ֖דֶקתִּרְדֹּ֑ף

Justice, Justice, You Shall Pursue.

Be The Change: Jewishly Inspired Public Art Movement

Be the Change is a 2022-2023 art and activism initiative that is inspired by the Jewish tenet of justice and drawing from the ritualistic Jewish Tzedakah box. Taking place in Boston, Cincinnati, L.A., and online, Be the Change will help viewers connect to issues of injustice and empower them to become agents of change.

View Series

Related Events & Content

City Talk | Be the Change

Trans Equality for BIPOC Youth & Domestic Violence | Be the Change

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