The NYC Arts in Education Roundtable’s New York State Teaching Artist Mentorship Program is a regrant opportunity seeking to proactively help mid-career Teaching Artists from across the state develop the networks, skills, and increased capacities necessary to support career advancement and sustainability. The program was originally seeded with funds from the New York State Council on the Arts.
To date, the Roundtable has hosted two cohorts, is currently running the third cohort, and has recently announced applications for the fourth! Meet the Teaching Artists that have been through the program and connect with them through their bios below.
In addition to the recipients of the grant highlighted below, the NYS Teaching Artist Mentorship Program has been fortunate enough to host over 50 mentors throughout the years. Mentors include:
Sami Abu Shumays
Holly Adams
Amanda Adams-Louis
Kimberly Bartosik
Asari Beale
Shirlene Blake
Courtney J. Boddie
Lauren Brandt Schloss
Paul Brewster McGinley
Maybe Burke
Sindy Castro
Funmilayo Chesney
Yolande Clark-Jackson
Durell Cooper
Dan Costello
Tatiana Desardouin
Stephane Duret
Christopher Emdin
Jojo Gonzales
Lisa Green
Kim Grier-Martinez
Sara Guerrero-Mostafa
Marissa Gutierrez-Vicario
Sophia Harrison
Filomena Jack
Molaundo Jones
Charlecia Joy
Sobha Kavanakudiyil
Gyasi Kirtley-Williams
Nancy Kleaver
Michele Kotler
Skip La Plante
Madaha Lamb
Daniel Levy
Alexandra López
Heather McCartney
James Miles
Traci Molloy
Beata Moon
Michael Morales
Paul Murphy
Adam Odsess Rubin
Gary Padmore
Rachel Kara Peréz
Sara Pruiksma
Annette Ramos
Laura Reeder
Sarah Scafidi
Sam Sellers
Ellen Sinopoli
Yamilee Toussaint Beach
Robyne Walker Murphy
Spica Wobbe
Eve Wolff
Calder Zwecky
Our founding Mentorship Coordinator was Monisha Bhayana who oversaw the 2022 and 2023 cohorts. Our current Mentorship Coordinator is Amanda Adams-Louis. For more information about the mentorship program, visit the 2025 program page here or contact us at mentorship@nycaieroundtable.org.
The NYC Arts in Education Roundtable’s New York Teaching Artist Mentorship Program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Additional support for this program is provided by the Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation.
Current 2024 Cohort
Antonia Badon
Antonia Badon is a former Co-segment Producer and Co-Celebrity Talent Coordinator for the late Great Chair-Emeritus, Percy E. Sutton’s Inner City Broadcasting Co., TV show “It’s Showtime At The Apollo,” a NAACP AWARD WINNER for the play ZORA!, a BEST ACTRESS AWARD WINNER of the Strawberry One-Act Festival, a WBLS/WLIB, Circle of Sisters COMMUNITY HONORS RECIPIENT, and a FIRST FRUIT AWARD RECIPIENT for her radio show. The HBCU graduate of Dillard University New Orleans-actress is a force to be reckoned with. Antonia came to the consciousness of the New York populous with her critically acclaimed one-woman play of the famous Zora Neale Hurston in, ZORA! written by Multi-Award Winner Laurence Holder. Antonia is a trailblazer in digital media, audio, and film editing. As an Edu-Tech Creator, she envisions a world where urban America is seen through a new lens, blending history and culture seamlessly. Her mission seeks to inspire young minds through culturally diverse content, making history enjoyable & accessible.
Inspired by urban-born artists like Duke and Zora, Antonia’s mission transcends conventional boundaries. Antonia harnessed her superpowers to build community awareness and appreciation for urban communities. Her transformative journey merges education seamlessly with inspiration. At the forefront of an edu-tech revolution, she builds bridges of awareness and combats violence by fostering community appreciation globally.
Antonia’s dedication extends to inspiring the next generation through cultural awareness. Her book “Harlem: The Black Mecca,” part of the “Harlem Renaissance Time Travel Girlz” landmark series for children aged 1 to 9, is featured on the shelf of the Schomburg Center Bookstore. This series blends historical exploration with storytelling to pave the way for a future devoid of violence.
Laura Brenneman
Laura Brenneman is a composer and educator based in Brooklyn, NY. Recent projects include music for Antipodes (Danspace, NYC) a commission from The Women’s Project (NYC) for Gurley, a new musical based on the life of Helen Gurley Brown, as well as arrangements and accompaniment for Martha Clarke’s The Threepenny Opera (Atlantic Theatre Company, NYC). As composer-lyricist and co-creator of the puppet theatre piece Fox vs the Kingdom, she is the recipient of two Jim Henson Foundation production grants.
As a teaching artist, Laura holds certification in Dalcroze Pedagogy from the Lucy Moses School (NYC). She has taught students in both public and private schools in NYC, including Berkeley Carroll, Talent Unlimited High School, and Packer Collegiate Institute. Laura is the recipient of a 2021 Knutson Grant for professional development in music education from the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. She is also a 2021 recipient of the NYC Arts in Education Roundtable’s ‘Empire State Creates’ grant for her curriculum project, “The Classroom Album: Fostering Collaborative Behavior through Group Composition”. She is currently writing a book entitled ‘All Over the Map,” about teaching music all over the world (remotely) during the Covid-19 pandemic. She garnered her undergraduate education in composition and piano at UCLA, and holds a Master of Arts in Music Education from Hunter College.
Cornell “Lord Judah” Carelock
Cornell “Lord Judah” Carelock is an accomplished Mindfulness Practitioner, Teaching Artist, and Creative Place Maker with over two decades of experience dedicated to educational and community settings. As the CEO of Judah Bless Ent and the Director of True He(ART) Academy, he has made significant strides in integrating arts into curricula, promoting community engagement, and leading innovative professional development initiatives.
Lord Judah’s work is deeply rooted in social justice and arts integration, and he is renowned for developing creative strategies that translate proactive messaging into his art and workshops. His approach uniquely combines digital arts training, mindfulness instruction, and social justice education to empower individuals, particularly youth and those with special needs, fostering resilience, creativity, and personal growth.
A certified mindfulness instructor and Hip Hop cultural specialist, Lord Judah has developed “True He(ART) Academy,” a self-healing instructional program that blends his extensive knowledge and skills to create transformative educational experiences. His work is guided by a mission to lead in the fields of mindfulness and arts integration, influencing others to understand how art, especially music, impacts mental health and well-being.
He has been honored with numerous awards and proclamations, including the prestigious recognition of “Cornell Carelock Day” in Westchester County, NY, and continues to be a vibrant leader and influencer in the arts community. His work not only enriches the lives of his students but also serves as a beacon of inspiration across generations.
Courtney Cochran
Courtney Renee Cochran is a NYC based freelance dancer, teacher, and choreographer. Born in Sacramento, CA, she received her training from Sacramento Ballet, Lines Ballet, Alvin Ailey, Ballet X, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and Crockett-Deane Ballet where she was selected as an emerging choreographer for Regional Dance America. Since moving to New York, Courtney’s work has been featured in programs such as Brooklyn Ballet’s First Look , Norte Maar’s Counter Pointe, Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Sunday Matinee, Thelma Hill’s Dance Festival and Works & Process’ Artists Virtual Commission Series where her piece entitled, From cage of teeth and jaw, was awarded “Best Solo Performance” in Earl Mosley’s Dance is Activism Film Festival. In 2019 she was nominated for Dance Lab New York’s first Female Choreographers of Color residency in collaboration with The Joyce Theatre where the culmination of her work was presented at Works & Process at the Guggenheim.
Courtney has 10+ years of freelance experience dancing with companies including Eglevsky Ballet, Brooklyn Ballet, The Black Iris Project, Collage Dance Collective, Columbia City Ballet, and Dance Theatre of Harlem; and has performed in ballets such as Swan Lake, La Bayadere, Les Sylphides, The Nutcracker, and starred as Puck in Sierra Nevada Ballet’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream.Courtney has taught at Brooklyn Ballet, The Billie Holiday Theatre, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Límon Dance, Harlem School of the Arts, and after completing her ABT NTC certification, joined the JKO School in the fall of 2021.
Jacob Cohen
Jacob Cohen is a Brooklyn-based experimental cellist, instrument maker, visual artist, and educator. He began playing the cello in 1995 and over the years has developed a unique improvisational style that grew out of his days as a street performer in New York City. Cohen’s music was featured in the 2014 film Foxcatcher which was nominated for 5 grammy awards. From 2014-2018 He ran a music program for youth incarcerated at Rikers Island Correctional Center. He brought his cello into the jail and played music with the youth, and also drew portraits of them. Over 500 of the portraits were exhibited at the Queens Museum in 2018 in a solo show titled “Dispatches from the Ghost Ship.” In 2020 he and a group of activists founded the Free Prakash Alliance with the goal of getting murder charges against Prakash Churaman dropped. At the age of 15 Churaman had been accused of a murder in Queens he did not commit and interrogated for hours before making a false confession with no lawyer present. All chargers against Churaman were dropped on June 8, 2022. Jacob is now running a music and art program at Crossroads Juvenile Center, an ACS-run secure detention facility in Brooklyn.
Maya Dwyer
Maya June Dwyer is an emerging interdisciplinary artist based in Syracuse, N.Y.. She is a teaching artist, performer, director, choreographer, movement director and music and theatre creator specialized in site-specific immersive art. She has trained and worked with companies including PUSH Physical Theatre, The Hofesh Shechter Company, Punchdrunk, Meredith Monk, and Pilobolus. She recently completed Big Bang, a contemporary dance training program in Montréal at Espace Ouvert, and in 2023, she was one of 12 choreographers in New York State to be awarded the NY State Dance Force Choreographer’s Initiative. Maya is a frequent guest artist at Le Moyne College, where she directs and choreographs movement-infused productions of plays and musicals and has taught courses since 2020. During COVID, she Previous directing and choreography credits include Orlando and Cabaret at Le Moyne College. At the heart of Maya’s teaching career is the goal of demystifying movement and working to dissolve the barriers to entry which exist in movement and theatre.
Danaya Esperanza
Danaya Esperanza (she/they // ella/elle) is a queer Afro-Cuban immigrant who spent much of her childhood in the Deep South. Based in the Bronx, they’ve performed on several of the most renowned stages in the country, including The Public Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, Theatre for a New Audience, The Signature Theatre, National Black Theatre, Soho Rep, Playwrights Horizons, Shakespeare Theatre Company (DC), Folger Theatre (DC), and the Goodman Theatre (Chicago). She recently played an artistic ancestor, Haydée Portuondo in BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB at Atlantic Theater Company, and this summer she revised her role as Adriana in THE COMEDY OF ERRORS/LA COMEDIA DE ERRORES at The Public. Danaya often works as a teaching artist with The Classical Theatre of Harlem and volunteers with The 52nd Street Project. As a writer, they are developing two plays honoring their two grandmothers. Danaya is a graduate of The Juilliard School where she adapted and directed KASSANDRA AND THE WOLF, based on the novel by Margarita Karapanou; and Columbia University where they completed a Thesis in Directing with Sarah Kane’s 4.48 PSYCHOSIS. Her callings are new works and adaptations, or a reimagining of classics, where they can bring something of their intersecting identities. Danaya is also a poet and songwriter, and collaborated with the Latin band, Última Nota on the song ESPUMAS as the lyricist and vocalist, which is available on all streaming platforms.
Bakary Fall
Bakary Fall is a dancer and choreographer of traditional and contemporary West African, Capoeira, and urban dances from Dakar, Senegal. Bakary launched his career at the Third World Festival of Black Arts in Dakar, originally established by Senegalese poet and president Leopold Sedar Senghor.
Bakary notably studied with Bessie award winning dancer Germaine Acogny.His dancing and choreography have been featured in several documentaries and music videos, including with Grammy award winning artists. He founded the annual Nun ak Yeen festival in Dakar in 2014 that is recognized throughout West Africa for uniting artists experimenting with the fusion of contemporary and traditional dance. He also founded a dance group, Sunu Percu Dance, in Senegal that works with traditional and contemporary West African cultures. In 2023 he took 20 members from Kofago Dance Ensemble, for whom he is a Choreographer, to Senegal for the Nun Ak Yeen Festival.
Since arriving to the United States in 2018, Bakary has danced in festivals and performances, including in New York: INSITU Dance Festival, a Youssou N’dour’s performance at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the International African Arts Festival: West Africa Dance Masters. He teaches classes and workshops at Alvin Ailey Extension currently weekly, Ripley Grier, Piel Canela Center for Latin Arts, Peridance Capezio Center, CUMBE: Center for African and Diaspora Dance, Queensborough Community College and NYC public/charter schools to all ages. He has also taught at schools and universities across the United States and has performed throughout Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, and Senegal.
Rosemarie Fiore
Rosemarie Fiore lives and works in Bronx, NY. She is a pyrotechnic painter, sculptor and performance artist that typically creates her own tools to harness Firework smoke using Fumage to create work.Fiore has received awards through National Endowment for the Arts, NYFA Artist Fellowship, Avery Foundation, NYC DCLA and Dieu Donne Paper Mill. The Bronx Council for the Arts has supported Fiore’s work with BRIO, AIE and Arts Fund Grants. She has attended residencies at Millay, Kohler A/I, Art Omi, Yaddo, Skowhegan, MacDowell, Walentas-Sharpe Studios, Wavehill, Roswell AIR, VCCA, Sculpture Space and Bronx Museum.
Her exhibitions and performances include: MOCA, Jacksonville, FL., Weatherspoon Museum, NC, The Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, NY, SCAD Museum, GA, Von Lintel Gallery, LA, VCUarts, Richmond, Grand Arts, Kansas City, Bronx Museum, Queens Museum, Socrates Sculpture Park, NYC, and Franklin Institute, Philadelphia.Her exhibitions have been reviewed by The New York Times, New York Magazine, Art in America, Artforum, Village Voice, NY Arts Magazine, FLAUNT Magazine, Art Papers Magazine, Art on Paper, Art and Cake and Art Ltd. Magazine.Fiore’s work is included in the following collections: Kohler Co., John Michael Kohler Art Center, US Art in Embassies, Colombo, Sri Lanka, UBS Art Collection, Fidelity Corporate Art Collection, Weatherspoon Museum, Cosmopolitan Hotel Las Vegas, Neuberger Berman, Aspen Collection, Texas A & M University, and The Franklin Institute of Science.She has served as a mentor in NYFA’s Immigrant Artist Program since 2010, is a teaching artist at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and MacDowell trustee.
Sherese Francis
Sherese Francis (she/they) describes themselves as an AlkyMist of the I-Magination, finding expression through poetry, interdisciplinary arts (collage, book and paper arts, sound and performance art, text art), workshop facilitation, editing, and literary curation. Her(e) work takes inspiration from her(e) Afro-Caribbean heritage (Barbados and Dominica), and studies in Afrofuturism and Black Speculative Arts, mythology and etymology. Some of their work has been published in Furious Flower, Obsidian, Rootwork Journal, The Caribbean Writer, The Operating System, Cosmonauts Avenue, No Dear, Apex Magazine, Bone Bouquet, African Voices, Newtown Literary, and Free Verse. Additionally, Sherese has published four chapbooks, Lucy’s Bone Scrolls (Three Legged Elephant, 2017), Variations on Sett/ling Seed/ling (Harlequin Creature, 2018), Recycling a Why That Rules Over My Sacred Sight (DoubleCross Press, 2021) and Lady Liberty Smashing Stones (THRASH Press, 2022), and edited a poetry anthology/guided journal, Baby Suggs and a Purple Butterfly (Get Fresh Books, 2024). Sherese has received grant awards from Queens Council on the Arts, NYFA and NYSCA, residencies from WorksonWater, LMCC, Akademie Schloss Solitude and SeaSalted Honey in Senegal, and fellowships from Voodoonauts and Baldwin for the Arts. Besides publications, Sherese has had her(e) work featured in various exhibitions and showcases from NY Live Arts, Queens Public Library, York College Arts Gallery, King Manor Museum, WorksOnWater, Flushing Town Hall, Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning, Bliss On Bliss, Maleza Proyectos, The Rubenstein Art Center, The Loomis Chaffee School Mercy Gallery, Flux Factory, and Ely Center for Contemporary Art.
Miranda Gescheit
Miranda (Randi) Gescheit, a true Brooklyn native, found their artistic calling meandering through Manhattan’s art scene after a day at Edward R Murrow High School. There they participated in any after school program they could find, including Theater Performances, workshops and talkbacks. These experiences lead them to study Theater Production/Hospitality and Tourism from Buffalo State University. Randi’s journey took a meaningful turn towards community engagement and arts education. From Theatre of Youth to Ujima Company Inc where they are a company member. Randi immersed themself in local theater, managing community partnerships and ensuring the show’s heartbeat as a Stage Manager. Randi’s passion spreads far and wide; they have been a Teaching Artist in Arlington, Virginia to Central New York, as a Road Manager at The Rev where they bring theater to rural corners of New York State. Randi has been inspired by Stacy Wolf’s book Beyond Broadway… to work with the next generation of theater goers and makers all over the US but most importantly in their home state of New York. Randi is thankful for their Public Education and the Teachers, Professors and Friends that got them to where they are today along with their hard work and passion.
Devin Joyner
Devin is an arts educator, choreographer and creative director from VA who performed and taught in Chicago five years before moving to NYS. She premiered in Sharon Cooks’ Black Girl Magic in Winter 2022 and Verbatim Performance Labs’, Whatever you are be a Good One Fall 2023. She/Her work has premiered on stages for companies such as the Black Ensemble Theater, Theater 47 and Steppenwolf Theater.
Though she is just getting started her most prized moments are when she gets to teach in detention centers and schools teaching youth how to express themselves through writing and dancing. Storytelling is the heart of her work so each piece she creates shares a piece of her with the audience. She believes there is a healing in expression through arts and wants to share it with whoever will watch/listen. She is honored to be apart of NYU Dance Education Program and grateful her leaders and professors who have done such an amazing job of continuing to mold her into the arts educator she is today. She is beyond excited to embark on this new journey with NYS Mentorship Program and can’t wait to connect with the cohort and her new mentor.
Gail Lewis
Gail Lewis is a retired preschool teacher and Day Care Provider of 45+ years. Art has always been a part of her practice but in recent years, she has become a Certified Zentangle Teacher. Gail has taken her passion for art as a form of relaxation and made it into a small business by teaching through grants or privately through local libraries. She has collaborated with the ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes to bring different forms of arts and crafts to rural areas in the region. Gail has also been seen on stage in local theater groups and sings with two choral groups. Gail has two daughters, a son-in-law, and two grandchildren who are the loves of her life. She loves warm weather and likes to keep busy and active, which includes jumping on trampolines with her granddaughter!
Fatima Logan-Alston
Fatima Logan-Alston, a native of Durham, NC is an interdisciplinary artist committed to engaging communities in culturally and historically thematic workshops, residencies, concerts, performances, and events connecting dance, live music, and visual arts into theatrically enriching experiences. Logan-Alston received her BFA in Dance and Choreography from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Masters in Liberal Studies from SUNY Old Westbury. She danced as a company member of the African-American Dance Ensemble and Forces of Nature Dance Theater. Her collaborators have included artists such as Bobby Sanabria, Valerie Capers, and Ntozake Shange, and she has performed at the Curtain Up Broadway Festival, Lincoln Center Outdoors, and in Adam Pendleton’s film, So We Moved: A Portrait of Jack Halberstam. Logan-Alston is currently the Artistic Director of Threads of Truth (formerly VashtiDance Theater), which she founded in 2011. Since that time, she has performed with Threads of Truth, at national and international venues including the Brooklyn Academy of Music (NY) The Sheen Center for Thought and Culture (NY), Durham Arts Council (NC), Powhatan Arts Council (VA), the International Association of Blacks in Dance (Ontario, Canada), and the International African Diaspora Dance Traditions Conference (Salvador, Brazil). Her residencies have included Hunter College (NY), Long Island University Post (NY), and Hostos Community College (NY) through the CUNY Dance Initiative. She has been a Guest Instructor at Queens College (NY), University of Iowa, Barnard College (NY), and is currently an Adjunct Instructor at SUNY Old Westbury and a Teaching Artist with Alvin Ailey Arts in Education and Community Programs. Logan-Alston is a recipient of the Disability. Dance. Artistry. Dance and Social Justice Fellowship from the Ford Foundation and was selected as a 2024 SU CASA artist by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.
Lorena Marin
Lorena is an interdisciplinary artist based in Brooklyn, NY, originally from Bogotá, Colombia. She has been involved in numerous theater and dance projects across Manhattan and Jersey City. Her credits include notable Shakespearean roles such as Isabella in “Measure for Measure” and Banquo in “Macbeth.”
Lorena has been an integral part of the Dance Company Katherine Pettit Creative as a principal dancer and the Something From Abroad Theater Company as an Actress, Director, and Producer. Among her recent works is her bilingual play based on Shakespearean monologues titled “Unspoken Garden/El jardín que calla.” Additionally, she orchestrates the Artistic Laboratory, a live performance where, as a dancer and director, she collaborates with other artists to explore their craft and create original works through improvisation.
She is also the Founder and artistic director of the Robus Dance Theater Ensemble, which has showcased commissioned works for the New York Foundation for the Arts, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, and the Queens Council on the Arts.
Kevin Toledo
Kevin Toledo aka Advice is a Bronx born and bred artist of Puerto Rican & Dominican descent. He is an independent hip hop artist, teacher, mental health advocate, and creative entrepreneur. Throughout his career Advice has provided mental health services across New York City and now works as a teaching artist and program manager for Thrive Collective’s R.H.Y.M.E. mentoring youth through hip-hop across NYC.
Kea Trevett
Kea Trevett (she/her) is a theater practitioner, filmmaker, and educator. As an actor, her NY stage credits include Roundabout, Classic Stage Company, Lincoln Center, Ars Nova, Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Sheen Center, New Georges, The Lark, Page 73, and Cherry Lane. Kea teaches playwriting and Shakespeare in performance for Theatre For A New Audience and Lincoln Center, and is a founding member and co-artistic director of Apocalyptic Artists, a theater company which provides free theater programming and professional productions to NYC schools. MFA: Columbia University. www.keatrevett.com
Jo-Ann Wilson
Jo-Ann Wilson earned a bachelor’s degree from New York University with a double major in Music and Journalism. She is a Licensed Master Social Worker, author, singer/songwriter, instrumentalist, playwright, actor, motivational speaker, and educator. Jo-Ann has written Black History Month coloring books on various topics including Traditions from Africa, Famous African-American Writers, and 101 Things Everyone Should Know About African American History. As a motivational speaker, she has performed at national conventions, mental health organizations, juvenile detention facilities, and nonprofit organizations. As the Founder of INSPIRED, her mission is to use the arts to improve individuals’ self-worth, confront misconceptions on a community level, and provide safe spaces for people from different cultures to have important conversations. Her programs are multi-generational/cultural and include a variety of artistic genres. Performers include professional artists and community members.
Miyabi Wright
Miyabi’s journey is deeply rooted in underground street dance and club culture. Born amidst the pioneers of Hip Hop and House dance, Miyabi’s formative years were steeped in rhythm, grooves, and soul. From her upbringing emerged a passion for artistic exploration, innovation, and community-building through Street dance. As a Black and Japanese street dance teaching artist, she empowers her students drawing upon her rich experiences. In an effort to educate the Japanese street dance community, her family opened Next Generation NYC Studios in Okayama, Japan. NXGN is a school that focuses on understanding the history and origins of street dance styles as well as their core foundations and grooves. Miyabi spent her early years learning how to build hip hop based programs curriculums, teaching methods and material, with the help of her street dance pioneer father, Terry (Cebo) Carr. In 2010, Miyabi joined the Ladies Of Hip Hop collective in New York where she continued to not only educate the youth and women all across the U.S. nation, but grow artistically as a street dance artist and performer.
Kangnan Zheng
Kangnan Zheng (Nan) is a drama teacher and member of Beijing “Trust” Playback Theatre. She led a startup education company and cooperated with 10+ organizations and schools in China, such as The China Soong Ching Ling Science & Culture Centre For Young People, and Beijing Chaoyang Foreign Language School, etc.
She received the “Excellence Award for Program Design” from Beijing Academy of Educational Sciences and “Excellent Teacher” in the Third Golden Thrush Children Drama in Education Showcase. With 10 years of acting and teaching experience, she worked internationally in China, Nepal, British, New Zealand, and the United States.
Nan graduated from The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute and holds an MA in Educational Theatre from New York University. She believes that the power of drama transcends the stage. Her goal is to popularize drama education and integrate drama with personal growth and community development.
2023 Cohort
Benjamin Berry
Benjamin Berry (they/them) is a teaching artist and performance artist based in Buffalo, NY who specializes in making creative movement accessible through a variety of prop-based circus arts. Their gateway into movement was sparked when they first picked up a hula hoop in 2013 and experienced the joy of improvisation for the first time. This led them to study dance at Alfred University from 2014-2016 and participate in the online video competition Hooping Idol. Ultimately, this earned them the title of Hooping.org’s Hooper of the Year in 2015, and allowed them to embark on multiple self-organized tours, teaching workshops in over 40 cities between 2015 and 2017. In 2017, Benjamin moved to Buffalo, NY, and shifted their focus towards partnering with local community-based organizations both independently and as a rostered artist through Arts for Learning WNY. Since 2019, Benjamin has expanded their pedagogy through multiple professional developments that have clarified and enriched their unique fusion of prop-based circus arts with creative dance. These modalities include Holistic Circus Therapy by Jill Maglio, Brain-Compatible Dance Education by Anne Green Gilbert, and Functional Juggling by Craig Quat. In July of 2021, Benjamin launched Accessible Circus Project, a fiscally sponsored project of the non-profit organization Accessible Festivals. This project aims to make creative movement accessible by providing free/subsidized instructional sessions and circus toys to individuals and organizations that lack the budget for recreational activities. In the first year of the project, over 600 individuals were impacted.
Anita Boyer
Anita Boyer has been studying dance since the age of 5, with a specialty in tap. She has studied dance at Opus II Dance Studio in Ashland, Ohio, Dance History at Ohio University, and has been studying under Aaron Tolson since 2015. She has taken classes with Michelle Dorrance, Dormeshia, Derick Grant, Jason Samuel Smith and Lady Diane Walker. She has been directing and choreographing shows since 2010 and created the theatre company Our Fabulous Variety Show (OFVS) with Kasia Klimiuk. With OFVS she choreographs for dance competitions, teaches dance and theatre curriculum during the year, and directs productions. Outside of OFVS, she is a freelance dance teacher bringing her joy of dance (tap especially!) to humans of all ages on the north and south forks. She has been the choreographer for Southold High School for 11 years, Shoreham Wading River for 5 and Southampton High School for 3. This year will also be her second year Assistant Directing and Choreographing at East Hampton High School.
Beth Brown
Beth Brown is a painter and has enjoyed being a teaching artist for over twelve years. She offers art lessons in drawing, painting, mixed media, and collage out of her studio. Her students attend classes either in person or online via Zoom. Originally from Rochester, Beth recently moved to the Capital Region and has opened a new studio in Delmar, NY. Beth studied drawing and painting at School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She has experience as a sign maker, graphic designer, and muralist. She founded two former artist cooperative galleries, one in Great Barrington, MA and one in Rochester, NY. As gallery director, Beth provided exhibit opportunities for hundreds of local and regional artists at these venues, in addition to showing her own work. She plans to form another gallery at her new location. Beth explores abstraction in her paintings, utilizing mixed media and collage elements within her acrylic compositions. Inspired by nature, birds have often been her focus as subject matter. She’s currently developing a new mixed media painting series depicting horses. The size of her work has increased to larger canvases up to 5 feet.
Katherine George
Katherine George is an Afro-Latina multi-hyphenate artist and educator from the Bronx, NY by way of the Dominican Republic. She received a BA in Theater from Brooklyn College and is currently getting her MFA in Acting at Columbia University. Recent acting credits include: Clybourne Park (Columbia University), The Cooking Project (NYTW), Locked Up B*tches (Flea Theater), and The Unusual Tale of Mary and Joseph’s Baby (NYC Fringe Festival). She co-stars in the film Crabs in Barrel which was the winner of HBO’s 2021 Latinx Short Film competition. As a spoken word poet, she represented New York in national and international competitions on the youth, collegiate, and professional adult levels. She was a proud member of the first-ever all-female slam team representing the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. As a vocalist, she has traveled around the country and most recently served as a background vocalist for Jennifer Lopez at her NBC Fourth of July performance and Live Spotify Studio Session. She has served communities around NYC for close to twenty years as an educator/or mentor. She is a proud member of the Dominican Artist Collective.
Omnia Hegazy
Omnia Hegazy is an independent musician and teaching artist based out of Staten Island, NY. She has released music as a solo singer/songwriter and most recently as a member of the indie soul/pop duo HEGAZY with her twin sister. She obtained her B.F.A from the prestigious Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in 2012, and performs frequently at venues and universities in the United States. Her music has been featured in Rolling Stone, Fox News, The Daily Beast, Pop Matters, pan-Arab newspaper Al Sharq Al Awsat, and many more. She teaches private music lessons on guitar, violin, and cello while working in multiple public schools teaching violin and choral music.
Clark Jackson
Clark Jackson has served thousands of New York City public school students as a teaching artist in the areas of theatre, movement, creative writing, and improvisation, in classes ranging from advanced students to the severely emotionally disabled in a variety of settings. He was honored for his commitment and expertise as a teaching artist as the 2019 recipient of the Lloyd Richards Teaching Fellowship by the National Alliance of Acting Teachers. Among other organizations, Clark has taught for Lincoln Center Theater (LCT), Elders Share The Arts (ESTA), Lifetime Arts, Children’s Museum of Manhattan, Queens Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Young Audiences New York (YANY), Community Works, Hospital Audiences Inc. (HAI), Arts Horizons, Plays For Living, Theatre Development Fund (TDF), Manhattan Class Company (MCC), Arts Genesis, and Theatre For A New Audience (TFANA). He has also taught at HB Studio, New York Film Academy, Hunter College, St. Francis College, as a private coach, and as a corporate facilitator for ImprovEdge working with Fortune 500 professionals. An award-winning actor, writer and producer, Clark has appeared on Broadway and starred in numerous TV series and films, most recently in the feature film “A Journal For Jordan” directed by Denzel Washington. He is a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and a proud company member of the Actors Center in NYC. Clark continues to expand the scope of his brand via a variety of projects as an educator, writer, director, and producer. To learn more, visit www.clarkjacksononline.com.
Aldo Kattón
Aldo Kattón is a Mexican artistic director, rehearsal director, choreographer, and former dancer with extensive professional experience. He has participated in the creation and production of numerous ballets and shows with companies and projects around Mexico, USA, and Guatemala. His expertise is not limited to the technical and artistic aspects of dance, but extends to collaboration and coordination of logistics, sound, set design, costume design and publicity aspects of small and large-scale theatrical productions. He is committed to excellence and the development of individual artists and artistic institutions. As a ballet teacher, he has taught all levels in dance education, from absolute beginners to seasoned professionals. Kattón is a member of the International Dance Council CID (The United Nations of Dance). Kattón’s choreography and pedagogical approach promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion as means to preserve the art of classical ballet by allowing it to evolve. Currently Aldo Kattón is Artistic Director and founder member of Central New York Ballet, and professor of dance for Syracuse University in the Drama department.
John Ling
John Ling is a musician who lives in Brooklyn.
Alberto Lopez Herrera
Alberto Lopez Herrera is a Choreographer, Costume Designer & Maker, and Teaching Artist with over 30 years of experience in Mexican Folklorico. Originally from San Antonio Chiltepec in Puebla, Mr. Lopez Herrera began his studies of Mexican folkloric dance at the age of 12 at the Centro Escolar Benito Juárez de Acatlán de Osorio. He completed the National Dance Institute’s intensive Teaching Artist training in New York. Mr. Lopez Herrera was a dancer and choreographer with several groups and companies working with distinguished choreographers Francisco Nevarez and Clarissa Marcovich. He continues to create traditional garments used in Mexican folkloric dance. With great attention to detail, he designs garments from across Mexico. His pivotal role in costuming can be seen throughout the company’s repertoire. Under his Artistic Direction, Calpulli Mexican Dance Company performed at noted venues including Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival (Inside/Out Series), Wortham Center (Houston, TX), Humboldt State University, the Kingdom of Bahrain, Penn State Erie, and Lincoln Center Out of Doors, where Dance Critic Brian Siebert hailed Calpulli a “terrific company” after its performance. Mr. Lopez Herrera was named “Star of Queens” by the Queens Courier for his artistic accomplishments and commitment to community arts programming. He was also featured by People en Español in the program “New American Voices” and is a Crain’s NY 2022 Notable Hispanic Leader. He was co-choreographer with Joshua Bergasse and dramaturg of the off-Broadway production “A Crossing.” Most recently, Mr. Lopez Herrera was commissioned by the Ft. Wayne Dance Collective in Indiana for contemporary and folkloric dances telling dia de muertos-inspired stories. He was Artistic Director of Calpulli Mexican Dance Company from 2003 to 2023 when he directed all of the company’s story-based productions including Monarcas, Dia de los Muertos, Navidad: A Mexican-American Christmas, Boda Mexicana, and Puebla: The Story of Cinco de Mayo.
MingLiang Lu
MingLiang Lu, “master 3-D paper portrait cutter”, was born in Shanghai, China where his artistic practice focused on stone sculpture and Chinese stone stamp-seal carving. Master Lu has practiced several ancient Chinese art forms, including teaching Chinese calligraphy, Chinese brush painting, and paper cutting at New York Chinese Cultural Center for over 20 years. Paper cutting dates to the Han dynasty and Master Lu started exploring paper-cutting art at the age of five with his father who encouraged him to learn fine art. His paper-cutting artwork has been exhibited in the American Museum of Natural History. MingLiang Lu has been featured in the New York Times, highlighting his 3-D paper portrait cutting – Making Faces in the Subway, Using Paper and Scissors. Lu has been conducting Chinese cultural programs and art workshops for Queens Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library, and New York Public Library in person and online since 2016. MingLiang Lu is New York City Artist Corps Grant Recipient of 2021 and Brooklyn Arts Council 2020, 2022 Grantee – SUCASA Teaching Artist. At present, he works as a consultant to teach Chinese Calligraphy, Chinese Brush Painting and Paper Cutting Art at JCCGCI SENIOR CENTER in Brooklyn, CBN COVELLO SENIOR CENTER in Manhattan and CPC NAN SHAN SENIOR CENTER in Queens, New York.
Brynne O’Rourke
Brynne O’Rourke (they/them) is a white, Transfemme director, multidisciplinary artist, teaching artist and costume designer dedicated to anti-oppressive practices and imaginings for a more just world. As a theatre practitioner, Brynne commits themself to stories which expand theatrical possibilities for the purpose of liberation. They are a member of the F.U.N. (FiercedUntamedNiñes) Collective, Pride Youth Theatre Alliance, Trans Asylum Seeker Support Network and Trans Writers Union. They co-founded and co-produced the first ever Gallatin Mental Health Arts Festival.
In 2023, they were a recipient of a fellowship with NYC Arts in Education Roundtable and EmergeNYC as well as an Artist Residency with Motive Brooklyn. They recently finished a micro-residency working on their project, Stitching Grief, with Loisaida Inc. Center. Their work as a director, playwright and performer has been showcased at Fiasco Theater Company, Dixon Place, WOW Cafe Theater, The Tank, The Brick, The Flea, The Kraine Theater, Teatro Latea, usagi gallery, Skidmore College, among others. Their poetry has been published with Jejune Magazine, Vocal, and in the recently released anthology of queer poetry called Queer Voices of the World.
As a teaching artist, Brynne works with Brooklyn Arts Council, Arts For All, Franklin Furnace Fund, NYCCT and Think Design. Brynne holds an MA in Applied Theatre from CUNY School of Professional Studies. www.brynneorourke.com IG: @ksbrennan1
Iviva Olenick
Iviva Olenick is a Brooklyn-born and based visual artist and educator using textile handcrafts as windows into social histories. In partnership with New York farms, and historic houses, Iviva grows textile and medicinal crops from seed and leads public dye- and fiber-making to acknowledge colonial histories and foundational enslaved labor, study and preserve intercultural textile and herbalism traditions, and collaborate closely with the natural world. Iviva’s artwork incorporates textile handicrafts – plant mono-prints and dyes, embroidery, crochet, appliqué, weaving – to convey plants’ social, cultural and medicinal histories, and to advocate for the well-being of people with wombs and the natural world. In addition to developing public arts education programs and physical artwork, Iviva is a Teaching Artist for the New Museum, Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC) and BRIC. She is a faculty member of SVA’s MFA Art Practice and Artist Residency programs, and the part-time Lower School Arts Teacher for Hannah Senesh Day School in Brooklyn. Iviva holds a BA in French Language and Literature/Psychology from Binghamton University, and an AAS in Textile/Surface Design from FIT.
Shawn Rawls
Shawn Rawls grew up in Cleveland, Ohio studying martial arts and street dance from a young age. At sixteen he attended Cleveland School of the Arts and began dancing with the Y.A.R.D (Youth At Risk Dancing), an award-winning program helping youths develop an artistic voice, and U.D.C (Urban Dance Collective). He received a full scholarship in dance to pursue a B.F.A. in performance and choreography from Belhaven University. He also received his M.F.A. from Wilson college. He has been commissioned to create work on Dancing Wheels and the Roxey Ballet along with numerous choreography commissions for colleges and student training programs. Shawn is the founder and artistic director of Emotions Physical Theatre, a dance company that performs in New York and around the United States. Shawn works with the DEA to create shows and teach residencies that combine high-quality dance presentations with an anti-drug message for at-risk kids. Shawn has also been teaching dance for over thirteen years at numerous dance schools, training programs, summer intensives, conventions, and in the Newark Public School system.
Megumi Saruhashi
Megumi Saruhashi is a Japanese violinist, composer and educator based in Brooklyn. Having performed around the globe from Carnegie Hall to refugee camps in the Middle East, Megumi knows no boundary when it comes to performing music. Megumi has embraced her credo “The earth is my home, the sky is my blanket. Wherever I go, I am home”, with three bases she calls home, namely, Japan, New York and Egypt. Through steeping in these three cultures, she found her voice in musical compositions that express her admiration for these distinctively unique cultures, and discovered the magic and healing in uncovering the unity that hides in diversity. Her compositions reconcile differences across the cultural psyches, and enrich each one through the gifts of the other. As an educator, Megumi has been teaching violin in underserved communities in New York City and providing workshops at refugee camps in the Middle East because her love for Arabic music led her to discover another side of this region: on-going political issues that displace millions of people. One of her compositions “Refugees” was composed for Syrian refugees in Aramoun, Lebanon where she held a singing workshop called “Song without words” with a local NGO, URDA. Megumi continually crosses borders — literally and musically — in her dedication to finding a unifying healing force through embracing diversity.
2022 Cohort
Anu Annam
Anu Annam is an internationally acclaimed exhibiting artist, art educator, arts administrator, and curator, working in the field for over 25 years. They teach all ages and abilities at renowned institutions and organizations such as the Museum of Contemporary Art of Long Island, Islip Arts Museum, Girls, Inc., Art League of Long Island, Spirit of Huntington, Teatro Yerbabruja, the Huntington YMCA, the Town of Huntington, and public schools and libraries. They have won numerous teaching grants from the New York State Council on the Arts for their work with at-risk, special needs, ELL, and other marginalized populations. Annam is the Founder and Executive Director of the arts-based organization, designed to fight stigma against mental illness, SEA of Visibility (SEA = Support Expression through the Arts), and the queer organization, BOPPI (Bisexual, Open, Pansexual, People of the Islands) sponsor of “Born this Way/MOSAIC.” These organizations provide robust arts programming, including events, exhibitions, and education (SEA of Visibility Integrative Arts Education) for disenfranchised people. Annam’s Education and Mentorship program, Anu Annam Arts Education, has served many members of the Long Island arts community since 2005, inclusive of students with special needs and typically developing, aged from pre-K, to K-12, college, and lifelong learners. Annam has been educated at Tufts University, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Parsons School of Design, and School of Visual Arts and uses their lived experience with mental illness and traumatic brain injury to aid in the cultural integration of the disabled community through the arts.
Oksana Danziger
Oksana Danziger is a natural born creator with a passion for textile art. She works as a freelance textile artist for numerous studios – including Printfolio, Design Works International and Group Four. Oksana also teaches at Art League of Long Island and conducts workshops in schools through the Huntington Arts Council. She taught in the surface design department at The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) as an adjunct professor. Born in Moscow, Russia where she also received a classical art education from the Moscow School of Art, Oksana continued to study textile design at the Moscow State Textile University where she received a Master’s Degree in 1986. Following graduation, she exhibited tapestry, silk paintings and fabric fine art collages throughout Russia’s galleries and museums. She completed several residencies, including one in Torino, Italy. In 1991, Oksana moved to New York City where she lives and works today. She sold collections of her silk scarves at Henri Bendel in Manhattan and had a solo exhibition of silk paintings in Gallery One in Soho, New York. She regularly exhibits her work at the Art League of Long Island and Long Island Craft Guild. In her spare time, Oksana is a certified yoga instructor and practitioner, teaching classes at local libraries and studios. She is a huge believer in meditation, aiming to fuse her art instruction with mindfulness practice.
Neil Dawson
Neil Dawson is a Harlem-based, award-winning actor and master teaching artist originally from the Bronx and is equally passionate about both vocations. Favorite acting credits include The Mountaintop (Weston Playhouse), Parable of the Sower (LA Tour), Stick Fly (Majestic Theater), The Blacks (Classic Stage Company), New Amsterdam and Law and Order, with national commercials, voice overs and industrials in the mix. Neil educates young people in theatre throughout the NYC area and is currently a master teaching Artist with The DreamYard Project, New Victory Theater and Theater Development Fund and counts it all joy to share his art form with young people in his hometown. When he’s not teaching, auditioning, or acting he serves as a mentor to high school boys at the Eagle Academy for Young Men. He is a member of Actors’ Equity Association, Screen Actors Guild, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and holds an MFA in Acting from the University of Washington Professional Actor Training Program.
Meagan Flaherty
Meagan Flaherty is a professional artist, born and raised on Long Island where she frequents state and county parks to draw inspiration from the natural world. Prolific since childhood, Meagan has spent more than a decade fine tuning her skills and talents under the instruction of Jeffrey K. Fisher. Her work has been featured in advertisements and publications across the US and displayed in local galleries. Meagan began teaching art classes in 2015. With a passion for art education and vast array of skills and techniques at her command, Meagan has made it her mission to challenge young artists to expand creatively while focusing on observation, communication, and self discovery. In 2020 she was awarded the Carmela Kolman Fellowship in Fine Arts from Gallery North. And in 2021 she was hired as the Program Assistant by Gallery North. She currently teaches classes at Gallery North and Art & Soul Art Studio in Nesconset, NY and is the Artist in Residence at Sweet Briar Nature Center.
Rachael Guma
Rachael Guma is an educator, filmmaker, animator, and sound artist whose work has been shown internationally. Her teaching artist experience includes Stop-Motion Animation, Foley, Theremin, Sound for Film, Photography, and Shadow Puppetry workshops. She has taught within the New York, Brooklyn, and Long Island public school systems through arts organizations including BRIC (youth and adult education), Brooklyn Children’s Museum, the Children’s Museum of the Arts, and Magic Box Productions. In 2020 she was part of a curriculum development team for the Department of Education which developed moving image lessons for teachers to use during the stay-at-home order. In 2016-2017, she participated in the professional development Blueprint for Learning: Moving Image by teaching workshops on sound. Since graduating from the San Francisco Art Institute, her films have screened at the San Francisco Cinematheque, RX Gallery, Mono No Aware, Northern Flickers, UnionDocs, AXWFF, Black Maria, Echo Park Film Center, and Microscope Gallery where she was invited to present her first solo show in 2013. She has been invited as a visiting artist at Brooklyn College, University of Colorado, Boulder, Pratt Institute and Sarah Lawrence College.
Filomena Jack
Filomena Jack is a BFA graduate and teaches community art classes and lessons in her private studio, classes via library programming, and at various after school programming centers. She is a certified personal development coach and hypnosis practitioner. She has been teaching for more than 18 years to a wide range of communities. Filomena’s artworks range from her series of “Jazzy Plein Air” on site studies, murals located around the Twin Tiers, to an online comic rabbit named Bunzie who teaches his audience about mindfulness and inner strength. The artist hosts free online classes via Facebook in a series called “P.E.P. Club” {pretty easy painting} which is meant to help alleviate some of the stress and anxiety her viewers may be holding during the world’s upheaval. Her YouTube channel has a growing list of free access artistic classes. Filomena weaves her artistic skills, practiced coaching modalities, and humor to encourage and challenge her students. Her teaching style is to have her students be as hands on as possible. For example, instead of creating exact templates for each student she instructs them on how to create their own unique templates, thus adding an additional layer to the learning experience. Ingenuity is encouraged and mistakes are applauded. Filomena published her first art book in 2019, “Bunzie’s Bundalas”, which marries art instruction and mindfulness coloring pages. She had produced an online class that corresponds with the book’s lessons. She is currently working on the second book in the series.
Kasia Klimiuk
Kasia Klimiuk is an arts educator and theatre artist. She has been performing in various mediums for over 25 years and at the helm of non-profit theatre company, Our Fabulous Variety Show (OFVS,) with Anita Boyer since 2010 as a co-founder and co-director of their creative youth development and performing arts programs. Kasia received her MA in Applied Theatre from the CUNY School of Professional Studies as well as her NY State Certification in Theatre K-12 at the City College of New York. She is the Teeny Awards Coordinator for East End Arts, which is known as the Tony Awards for eastern Long Island high school theatre. She is also a teaching artist, director and producer with OFVS, teaching theatre and dance as well as developing their Page to Stage curriculum for in school and after school programs, and the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center, where she works with senior citizens in their creative aging program and youth in their musical theatre productions and monologue programs. She believes theatre has the power to transform and transcend into all aspects of our lives and loves engaging with humans of all ages through the power of the arts.
Johari Mayfield
Johari Mayfield’s mantra was always Liveinthemovement as a choreographer, activist, healer, teaching artist and ACE certified personal trainer living in New York City. After training extensively in ballet with Sylvester Campbell, she received a scholarship to the Ailey School, where she studied for over two years. She has been a performer in NYC with Forces of Nature Dance Theatre, Joan Miller’s Dance Players, and Peggy Choy Dance Company. As a choreographer, her work has been presented at several different venues including HERE Arts Center, The Gatehouse at Aaron Davis Hall, 45 Bleecker Theater, and Dance Theatre Workshop (now New York Live Arts). She received her ACE certification in 1998 and, since then, has been an avid personal trainer, providing both group and private instruction for a diverse range of movers. In addition to dance, fitness, and choreography, Johari has authored two comic books: Wildcard, written with visual artist Teylor Smirl, and Wildlife. Wildcard was publicly presented in January 2011 as part of the Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture’s conference “The State of African American and African Diaspora Studies: Methodology, Pedagogy, and Research.” Johari’s community outreach initiatives have included children’s workshops on healthy eating at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center, and movement and fitness with Girls Education and Mentoring Service (GEMS) and volunteer member of Lend a Hand Uganda USA . Currently, she is a teaching artist with National Dance institute, Marquis Studios, Ifetayo Cultural Arts Academy and Marquis Studios.
Clement Mensah
Clement Mensah was born and raised in Ghana, West Africa. He moved to the Netherlands at the age of 11. After high school and graduating from CIOS (sports academy) he went to Amsterdam School of Arts and graduated in June 2008. as an exchange student at the Ailey School in 2007 where he received a fellowship to study, he became member of the Student Performing Group. While at Ailey he apprenticed with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company in 2008. He has also been part of the Francesca Harper Project, danced with Emerge 125 formally known as Elisa Monte Dance performing both national and international. He has taught workshops and master classes at different institutions such as The Ailey School, The Theater School in Amsterdam and Codarts in Rotterdam, NL. Mr. Mensah has been artist in residence at Dancers’ Workshop, WY and Bennington College, VT and Episcopal School of Jacksonville, FL as well as teaching and assisting teachers at the Center for Advance Training (C.A.T.) at Trinity Laban. After receiving his MA degree in Dance Performance at Trinity Laban School of Contemporary Music and Dance in London, he returned to the U.S performing arts scene. He worked with Battery Dance leading the world-renowned dance education program Dancing to Connect. Mr. Mensah also worked with Ronald K. Brown/Evidence A Dance Company and appeared as a guest artist in José Limón Dance Company. As the founder and director of TIKoRO LLC, Mr. Mensah aims to use the gift of creativity to bridge different cultures and bring generations together using African culture through self-expression. Currently, he is an Adjunct professor at Hofstra University, a member of Reggie Wilson/Fist and Heel Performance Group, Equus-onsite, Teaching Artist at DreamYard Project. Mr. Mensah has performed and taught dance in over 40 countries and he is featured in moving stories in the movie.
ingrid romero
ingrid romero is an artist, educator and organizer, born and raised in New York City – the unceded, traditional lands of the Munsee/Lenape – with deep roots in the Andes of Colombia. ingrid has been organizing for fifteen years, and brings ten years of facilitation, teaching artistry, and youth work experience. their youth work experience includes Sadie Nash Leadership Project, The Brotherhood/Sister Sol, Kite’s Nest, and Global Action Project. ingrid has completed trainings and fellowships from School of Unity & Liberation (SOUL), Third World Newsreel, Teaching Artist Project (TAP) and The Laundromat Project. Currently, they work as a teaching artist with Educational Video Center and The Moth, while also serving as Project Co-Director at Mayday Space in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
Skye Soto Steele
Puerto Rican-American violinist, songwriter, and educator Skye Soto Steele has released four albums of original music and toured as a solo artist throughout the US and Europe, as well as working as musical director and multi-instrumentalist for platinum-selling singer songwriter Vanessa Carlton for over a decade. As an improvising violinist Skye has worked with jazz legends like Henry Butler, Anthony Braxton, Steven Bernstein, Michael Blake, and Butch Morris, and with country and rock artists Willie Nelson, Jolie Holland, and Deer Tick. He has delved into string-playing traditions from Turkey to Brazil, learning from masters like Mestre Salustiano, Mestre Luiz Paixao, Najib Shaheen, and Selim Sesler.
Teaching has been a passion throughout Skye’s career, informed by his mother’s work as a bilingual public school and Suzuki violin teacher. In twenty years as a teaching artist, Skye has taught violin to NYC public school children, run songwriting workshops for teenagers, co-written lullabies with new parents, and worked with adult musicians living in incarceration.
In 2017, Skye founded his organization String People as a way to help other string teachers and their students develop more expansive learning communities, holistic pedagogy, and artistic empowerment. This work is anchored by A People’s History of Strings, a narrative concert and playable curriculum drawing on Skye’s travels, family history, and historical research. APHoS provides a framework for culturally sustaining pedagogy while revealing and countervailing the eurocentrism and white-supremacy baked into so much conventional string pedagogy. Learn more at WeAreStringPeople.com
Julio Montalvo Valentin
Julio Montalvo Valentin (They/His/Julio) is the author of three chapbooks, the latest titled “Those Who Pray to Rice” (NightBallet Books, 2019). Julio is a member of the Latino/a/x arts collective called Los Artistas del Barrio Buffalo (LAdB), a Teaching Artist at the Just Buffalo Literary Center, and holds an M.A. in English Literature from Buffalo State College. They have recently completed a month-long project as the Poetry Teaching Artist for the “Woke Words” summer enrichment program at P.S. 18, where the students also created a public poetry mural for the City of Buffalo, N.Y. You can find Julio talking about the politics of rice, working on his poetry caravan project, or looking for the next reading/writing opportunity.
Ivan Velez
Ivan Velez, a cartoonist known for his pioneering work in independent and mainstream comics, has worked as a popular Teaching Artist for more than 20 years. His programs have been sought after and hosted by such cultural and educational orgs as the New York Public Library, The New York Design Museum, The Met, The Studio Museum Of Harlem, the NYC Parks Department, the Point, and the Bronx Museum Of The Arts. His art programs focus on global history, mythology, multicultural diversity and all the issues that touch our modern lives via the beloved and easily digested art-forms of cartooning, drawing and writing, and is taught to various age ranges from the very young to the elder. He’s been fortunate enough to be a serial grant winner and, mostly due to the NY STATE and BRONX Councils On The Arts, has been able to continue his variety of programs and public art events.
Kerry Warren
Kerry Warren (she/her/hers) is a biracial New York based actor and teaching artist. She strives to create a classroom of joy and deep practice. She is the former Co-Executive Director of the Teaching Artist Guild and recipient of the Next Generation Award in 2024 from the National Guild of Community Arts in Education. She has been a member of the Arts In Education Roundtable since 2017, Teaching Artist Project alumni, Actors Equity Union, and SAG AFTRA union member. She received the President Polisi Prize for Artist as Citizen for her educational outreach at The Juilliard School where she received her BFA in Acting. She has taught theater in Botswana, Guatemala, and all five boroughs of NYC with Harlem Children’s Zone, Hunts Point Alliance, Irondale theater, People’s Theatre Project, the 52nd Street Project, and Arts Connection. She has also performed as an actor on Broadway, Off Broadway, and regionally. kerrywarren.com
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