Debra Pasquerette, teaching artist and Manager of Community Engagement at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, CA, has worked with people of all generations across the community. She later shifted to working with older adults and developed a passion to pursue Creative Aging programming in her community. As part of …
Category: Teaching Artist of the Month
Robin Bady
Lifetime Arts’ Roster Teaching Artist and award winning storyteller, Robin Bady, has been teaching theatre, writing and storytelling for as long as she can remember. Her career began with teaching children in schools and later branched out to teaching in libraries, theaters, parks and senior centers. In 2012, Robin was awarded the National Storytelling Network’s J.J. …
Lisa Spraragen
A graduate of Brown University with a Master’s in Music Performance from NYU, Lifetime Arts Roster teaching artist, Lisa Spraragen is a classical and flamenco guitarist and dancer. This past year she taught three Creative Aging programs for us as a part of the Catalyzing Creativity in New York City initiative made possible by the Fan Fox …
Peyton Scott Russell
Born in Minneapolis, MN, Peyton’s earliest memories as a child were making art and being creative. This continued into high school where he discovered graffiti art from the film Style Wars in 1984. This consumed his art interest. A portfolio of traditional art and graffiti influenced works helped earn acceptance into the School of the …
David DeBlieck
Mr. DeBlieck’s teaching credits include faculty lecturer at the University of Hawaii (1995-1997), where he taught courses in modern dance technique and advanced Labanotation, Augsburg College (2005-2015) where he taught Creative Drama, Introduction to Theatre, Dance for Musical Theatre and Introduction to Dance, and at St Cloud State University (2009-2015) where he taught dance composition …
Marta Sanchez
Marta Sanchez is a teaching artist and visual artist living and working in Philadelphia, PA. She has taught at several community centers and universities including the Tyler School of Art, St. Joseph’s University, Taller Puertorriqueño, and The Mann Senior Center. Her work is part of several permanent collections including Yale University, University of Michigan, University …
Thomas Boyd
Thomas Boyd is a master teaching artist, songwriter, and prolific writer of prose. His songs have appeared on “Rock ‘n’ Roots,” a public radio music program. He has been an artist-in-residence at City of Berkeley (California) Echo Lake Camp, a writing instructor, and a songwriting instructor at The Creative Center in New York City. We …
Teaching Artist of the Month: Sandra Drabant
What is your primary artistic medium? I primarily work with mixed media, paint, collage and drawing. I enjoy painting layered canvases of color and texture because I love the surprises this intuitive process can bring. How did you get started as a teaching artist? I am a formally-trained art teacher, art therapist and artist, so …
Teaching Artist of the Month: Marjorie Shaefer
What is your primary artistic medium? Storytelling. How did you get started as a teaching artist? Teachers in schools where I taught were asking me to return and teach the students how to turn their social studies events into stories. This led to workshops for the teachers also. What led you to Creative Aging? I …
Teaching Artist of the Month: Mansa Mussa
Mansa Mussa What is your primary artistic medium? My primary artistic medium is visual art. My process encompasses drawing, photography, collage, mask making, mixed media, three dimensional art, and iPadology (abstract photography using the iPad). How did you get started as a teaching artist? I started working as a Teaching Assistant in the Open Writing …
Teaching Artist of the Month: December 2017
Frank Ingrasciotta What is your primary artistic medium? Theatre / Improvisation / Playwriting / Memoir Writing How did you get started as a teaching artist? After years of working professionally as an actor and stage director, I wanted to expand my learning so I returned to university to complete my B.A. Degree. I had already …
Teaching Artist of the Month: Nov 2017
Judith Sachs What is your primary artistic medium? Adaptive Dance How did you get started as a teaching artist? After my first successful hip replacement I wanted to share my joy of movement with everyone, regardless of age or physical restrictions. I trained with the Dance for PD program and I am about to …
Teaching Artist of the Month: August 2017
Richard Estrin What is your primary artistic medium? Although I do many other things, I am primarily a painter who works with oil and watercolor. How did you get started as a teaching artist? I began as a teaching artist in public elementary schools in the early 2000’s. I found that I loved teaching. …
Teaching Artist of the Month: June 2017
Karen Fitzgerald What is your primary artistic medium? I’m a painter. I work primarily in oil paint, using gilded grounds. I also produce watercolors, and to a lesser extent, prints such as monotypes, solar etchings and photogravure. How did you get started as a teaching artist? After finishing my MFA, I’d hoped to begin teaching …
Teaching Artist of the Month: May 2017
Bernie D’Ettorre What is your primary artistic medium? Watercolor, though I started in oils. How did you get started as a teaching artist? I was asked to fill in at a class. After winning awards, area art galleries asked if I would like to teach classes. I taught an art class to Alzheimer patients, stressing …
Teaching Artist of the Month: April 2017
David Deblinger What is your primary artistic medium? Self generated performance. I also act in other people’s projects on stage and screen. How did you get started as a teaching artist? I attended New York’s High School of Performing Arts in the 1980’s, and I was influenced heavily by a great director and teacher who …
Teaching Artist of the Month: March 2017
Julie Kline What is your primary artistic medium? Theater – actor, director, writer, producer. How did you get started as a teaching artist? I started teaching theater in college – for kids all ages from 4 to 18. I was going to acting conservatory at The Theater School, DePaul University in Chicago and would go …
Teaching Artist of the Month: Feb. 2017
Mark Nowak What is your primary artistic medium? I am a Photographer, I use a Nikon D800. How did you get started as a teaching artist? I have always been the photographer to “teach” even when were just walking around, every moment is a teaching moment. About 4 years ago I was approached by a …
Teaching Artist of the Month: Jan 2017
Linda Luisi What is your primary artistic medium? In the atelier of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, I was trained in oils to acquire “old master” techniques. I transferred those oil skills to acrylics for a more suitable product and to satisfy deadlines. Depending on the project, some of my work resembles the 13th-17th …
The Importance of Teaching Artists
At the center of a truly great Creative Aging program is the teaching artist. They are the boots on the ground, who are teaching new skills to curious minds and turning a group of strangers into lifelong friends. Teaching artists make the learning fun and engaging, and they accomplish all of this with a sense …
Teaching Artist of the Month: Nov 2016
Lauren Jost What is your primary artistic medium? I consider my primary medium to be storytelling. I direct (and occasionally perform in) theatre performances for very young children, and I use visual language, puppetry, music, and words to compose stories that spark imaginations and playfulness. A great deal of my teaching artist work involves crafting …
Teaching Artist of the Month: Oct 2016
Jeremiah Jenner What is your primary artistic medium? Digital and 35mm film photography. I received my first camera, a Kodak 126 Instamatic, from my mother when I was only five years old. Since that day, the camera rarely leaves my fingertips. I enjoy learning and exploring new ways to create art through this medium. I …
Teaching Artist of the Month: August 2016
Antonia Perez What is your primary artistic medium? I have been working with used plastic bags as my primary medium since 2008. I collect them from a range of sources and transform them by crocheting them into a variety of sculptural forms. I also collect other discarded materials such as tissue boxes, household textiles and …
Teaching Artist of the Month: July 2016
Lori Adams What is your primary artistic medium? Photography. How did you get started as a teaching artist? I have always enjoyed explaining how things work to others, and had been told I was good at it. When given an opportunity to teach workshops in photography, I tried it, and it gave me much satisfaction. …
Teaching Artist of the Month: June 2016
Will Clipman What is your primary artistic medium? I’m a multi-disciplinary artist precisely because no one medium I work in is more or less engaging to me than another; so I’d have to say I have an equal artistic passion for and professional commitment to music, creative writing, maskmaking, storytelling, the performing and recording arts, …
A Special Welcome to Our New Roster Members!
This month we are highlighting 40 teaching artists that have been added to our Roster in 2016. This means we now have 180 roster artists, in 20 states, and in many artistic disciplines!!! We are so excited to continue growing and expanding with such a wonderful group of artists. Lifetime Arts’ Creative Aging Roster is a free …
Teaching Artist of the Month: April 2016
Hermine Meinhard What is your primary artistic medium? I am a poet and was a late bloomer. Though I wrote stories under the nightlight as a child and in high school, I didn’t come to poetry seriously until my thirties. I love that writing is an art form you can begin at any age. How …
Teaching Artist of the Month: March 2016
Celia Caro What is your primary artistic medium? I’m a mixed-media artist and work primarily with drawing, painting and collage. I also make comic zines (self-published magazines.) My work is always about storytelling, so I combine text and image and focus on narrative. How did you get started as a teaching artist? I started after …
Teaching Artist of the Month: February 2016
Dave Johnson What is your primary artistic medium? Often described as two minute plays in verse, my poems pursue a lyrical narrative that work toward a crescendo and reveal. How did you get started as a teaching artist? I began as a teaching artist in 1991 when I was working as office manager for Poets …
Teaching Artist of the Month: January 2016
Mary Crescenzo What is your primary artistic medium? My primary medium, which crosses both literary and commercial markets, is Literary Arts to include play writing, poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and essays. How did you get started as a teaching artist? As a multidisciplinary artist, I earned my BA in Arts Education from Lehman College and taught in the …
Teaching Artist of the Month: December 2015
Joan Green What is your primary artistic medium? My primary artistic medium is dance — I am a modern dancer and choreographer. I am also a visual artist and have known myself to be passionate about both these art forms since the age of three. As I get older I am focusing more on my …
Teaching Artist of the Month: November 2015
Bill Wertheim What is your primary artistic medium? Writing, both memoir and poetry. How did you get started as a teaching artist? I was a middle school English teacher for 4 years during the late 1960s, and made writing projects the center of my teaching. In 1976, a poet-friend told me about the possibility of …
Teaching Artist of the Month: October 2015
Tamara Keshecki What is your primary artistic medium? First and foremost I’m a classical flute player. I also work as a teaching artist in elementary and intermediate schools, with developmentally disabled adults and run a non-profit arts organization, Musical Chairs Chamber Ensemble, Inc. How did you get started as a teaching artist? I started teaching …
Teaching Artist of the Month: Sept 2015
Paul Ferrara What is your primary artistic medium? I have an eclectic history when it comes to the visual arts. My entry into the visual arts was in graphic design, however, after my first year of college I transferred into the theatre program. While there I focused on scenic design and scene painting. I incorporate …
Teaching Artist of the Month: August 2015
Annie Montgomery What is your primary artistic medium? Theatre. How did you get started as a teaching artist? When my first child was a baby, I was a professional actor but most of my jobs were out of town and paid very little. I couldn’t travel like that anymore with a baby and I definitely …