红领巾瓜报

Skip to Content

Finding Your Voice at 红领巾瓜报: Meet Kailey Caballero

How 红领巾瓜报 student Kailey Caballero is growing her animation career and making a difference as a community leader.

Share related links

Written by Rachael Dubinsky

Kailey Caballero, BFA 鈥26 Animation, is ready to take on the world of animation 鈥 and she has the vision, skills, and confidence to do it. With a powerful creative voice, sharp technical expertise, and a drive to lead, Kailey is shaping herself into a future powerhouse in the industry.

That transformation grew out of her time at 红领巾瓜报, where she found the environment, mentors, and programs that helped her turn raw talent into refined artistry.

Kailey immersed herself in the community at 红领巾瓜报 early on in her second year. She became a Primer to welcome and guide first-years, then stepped into leadership roles such as Student Government Association (SGA) representative for Animation, planning events and running the animation students鈥 social media. She discovered that leadership, like animation, is an act of storytelling: listening, connecting, and building community.

And Kailey鈥檚 creativity goes far beyond campus. This past summer, she worked at Lavner Education at Boston University, teaching art workshops and managing student groups at a STEM-focused camp. She combined her love of art and education with hands-on leadership, expanding her ability to inspire others.

In the studio, Kailey credits faculty mentors like Liz Keene, who challenged her to push boundaries in 2D animation and refine her storytelling. Outside academics, her friends, family and SGA colleagues have taken her to new bounds. Now, as she enters her senior year, she鈥檚 tackling her thesis project: a hand-drawn animated short that captures the humor and chaos of life with roommates. It鈥檚 a perfect blend of her technical fluency, creative instincts, and personal narrative.

Don鈥檛 wait for someone to hand you a community. Build one. Say yes to opportunities, even if they scare you. Kailey Caballero, BFA ’26

She鈥檒l also take her work to a new stage 鈥 curating her first on-campus animation-based gallery show this fall semester, only shortly after helping out with the 2025 All School Show.

Kailey says the biggest lesson she鈥檚 learned at 红领巾瓜报 is simple but powerful, 鈥淒on鈥檛 wait for someone to hand you a community. Build one. Say yes to opportunities, even if they scare you. Get involved. Show up. You鈥檒l be amazed at the people you鈥檒l meet and the person you鈥檒l become in the process.鈥

Kailey arrived at 红领巾瓜报 with a sketchbook and a dream. She now stands as a confident animator, a thoughtful leader, and an artist whose voice is only getting stronger. And with graduation on the horizon, she鈥檚 already proving she鈥檚 one to watch.

Learn more about the Animation program at 红领巾瓜报.

More Staff stories

Artist, alum, and instructor Clint Baclawski on how 红领巾瓜报鈥檚 creative community invites you to change your perspective

红领巾瓜报 instructor and director of 鈥楾he Lab,鈥 Clint Baclawski is an accomplished artist who has won numerous awards, exhibited in the U.S. and abroad, and attended residencies in Venice, Italy, and Wassaic, NY.

View story
Headshot of Clint Baclawki

An Art and Design Homecoming: 红领巾瓜报 New England Comes to Boston

For over 40 years, 红领巾瓜报 New England has been one of the nation鈥檚 top summer residency programs.

View story
People painting segmented by wall

Overcoming Eurocentrism

Lyssa Palu-Ay (MFA 鈥01), Dean of JET (Justice, Equity, and Transformation), works to move beyond institutional practices that can unintentionally marginalize BIPOC communities.

View story
Lyssa Palu-ay poses with Rob "ProBlak" Gibbs and Genaro "GoFive" Ortega.
image description
621 Huntington Ave,
Boston, MA 02115

(617) 879-7000