Arts Are Core: Building Community
August 4, 2021
8:30 am–2:30 pm
Online Conference
Speakers
Keynote Speaker: Glenis Redmond
Glenis Redmond travels nationally and internationally reading and teaching poetry so much that she has earned the title, Road Warrior Poet. She has recently been awarded the highest award for the Arts in the state of South Carolina, The Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Award. Also, she has received the “Charlie Award,” given in memory of Charles Price granted by the Carolina Mountains Literary Festival in the fall of 2020.
From 2014-19, Glenis served as the Mentor Poet for the National Student Poet's Program to prepare students to read at the Library of Congress, the Department of Education, and for First Lady Michelle Obama at The White House. Author and Teacher and Writer’s Collaborative Board member Tayari Jones selected Glenis Redmond’s essay, “Poetry as a Mirror,” as the runner-up for the 2018 Bechtel Prize. Teachers & Writers Collaborative awards the annual Bechtel Prize to the author of an essay that explores themes related to creative writing, arts education, and/or the imagination.
Glenis is a Cave Canem Fellow, a North Carolina Literary Fellowship Recipient, and a Kennedy Center Teaching Artist. She also helped create the first Writer-in-Residence at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site in Flat Rock, North Carolina. Redmond’s “Dreams Speak: My Father’s Words” was chosen for third place for the North Carolina Literary Review’s James Applewhite Prize and “Sketch,” “Every One of My Names,” and “House: Another Kind of Field” was published in the North Carolina Literary Review in 2019. These poems are about —Harriet Tubman, the most famous conductor of the underground railroad; Harriet Jacobs, who escaped from slavery and became an abolitionist, and the author of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl; and Harriet E. Wilson, who was held as an indentured servant in the North and went on to become an important novelist, businesswoman, and religious speaker.
Through her poetry, Glenis has found community and belonging. Glenis believes that poetry is a healer, and she can be found in the trenches across the world applying pressure to those in need, one poem at a time.
Visit Glenis at www.glenisredmond.com
Aurora Hughes Villa
Aurora Hughes Villa is the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Endowed Program Director for Elementary Arts Education and Professional Practice Associate Professor in the College of Education and Human Services at Utah State University. Aurora was recently selected as the 2020-21 Utah Art Education Association (UAEA) Higher Education Art Educator of the year. Aurora was formerly the District Arts Coordinator for Cache County School District in Logan (UT) where she founded Art in Transit: From Schools to Community – a program that brings art made by children into public places. She received the Sorenson Legacy Award for Excellence in Arts Education in the category of exemplary arts program initiative for her work with Art in Transit. Prior to moving to Utah, Aurora was a full-time art professor at North Central College (IL) where she taught sculpture and ceramics. As a licensed teacher, she has taught art in the public schools at the elementary, middle school, and high school level in Buffalo (NY) and Phoenix (AZ) and has taught art to children and adults for over 25 years.
Barry Stewart Mann
Barry Stewart Mann, MFA, is a professional Actor, Storyteller, Educator, and Writer based in Atlanta, GA. He has been delighting audiences and inspiring students for nearly four decades, and brings a vibrant clarity and caring playfulness to his performances, workshops, and scripts. A graduate of Harvard University with a Master’s Degree in Theatre from the University of San Diego, Barry has performed on dozens of stages across the country; told tales to thousands in festivals, libraries, schools, camps, and beyond; created scripts for myriad classroom, workshop and professional performances; and led classes, workshops and residencies with groups of all ages and backgrounds, from Pre-K to Post-Grad students, from storytelling conferences to the state penitentiary, from nursery schools to nursing homes, and everywhere in between. He teaches on the faculty of Lesley University’s Creative Arts in Learning M.Ed. program, tours internationally with Dream On Productions, based in Buenos Aires, and is on the roster of the U.S. State Department’s Fulbright Specialist Program as a master storyteller and arts educator.
Bob Smith
For the past 14 years Bob Smith has been engaged in helping young people build self-confidence and develop personal talents through participation in drama and musical theater. Seeing students understand what they are capable of, connect with their community and strengthen their talents is what led him to the teaching profession. He feels fortunate that three years ago he was able to connect with the work of the BYU Arts Partnership through their Arts Leadership Academy and has dedicated his career to Arts Integration ever since. In addition to the after school musical theater program that he directed, his 5th grade classroom and his school were always full of storytelling, drama, dance, art, and music. Now, as an Arts Coach for Alpine School District, he has the opportunity to help teachers and students integrate the arts in order to take learning even deeper.
Janni Richards
Janni Richards is a Utah State University graduate. She started teaching choral music in 1998 while touring with The Young Americans based out of Los Angeles. Her passion for teaching and bringing music into the lives of children led her to Utah State University where she earned her degree. During this time, she started a music program at the local fine arts center. After graduation, Janni got a job teaching music at a charter school that had a focus on integration. This began a love of music integration and the power it can have in the life of a student. Janni also spent three years with the Cache Children's Choir as a director and an event coordinator. Currently, she is a Beverly Taylor Sorenson Arts Educator for Music, the Summer Music Institute Director, and is still running her Vocal Performance Group at the Fine Arts Center in Brigham City. Janni has five children and a "smokin' hot husband"! She feels so blessed to get paid to do what she loves. . . Music!
Kimiko Warner-Turner
Kimiko Warner-Turner is an LA based Master Teaching Artist with over 30 years of experience in theatre education; designing and managing artistic programs. She received her M.A at the University of Southern California in Applied Theatre Arts, trained with Augusto Boal, CTO (Center for Theatre of the Oppressed) - Rio in Brazil, and Jana Sanskriti in India. She’s currently working for Los Angeles County High School for the Performing Arts (chosen as the top public Arts School in the county), The Music Center Education Department, Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles, and USC’s Theatre for Social Change in collaboration with The Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative. She’s a mentor for Changing Ways, a program for formerly incarcerated men who have performed TO (Theatre of the Oppressed) scenes in schools and colleges in Southern California.
Laura Hawley
Laura Hawley has been teaching art with the Beverley Taylor Sorensen Arts Learning Program for six years. She received her BFA from Utah State University and is active in her community, both as an art educator and advocate. As an active member of the Cache Valley community, she has served both on the board for Summerfest Arts Faire, and as president for the Utah Watercolor Society Cache Valley Chapter for over five years. She enjoys integrating the core curriculum with a variety of visual art forms, exploring the many connections between art and life with her elementary school students. Laura has five children, two cats and a husband. She also enjoys many outdoor pursuits, including biking, hiking, gardening, and running.
Maele Shakespear
Maele Shakespear is a Visual Art Educator with 15 years of experience. She has taught at the elementary, secondary, and university level. She has a bachelor’s degree in Art Education from Brigham Young University and a master’s degree in Curriculum Studies from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Aside from making “cool stuff” with kids, her goal is to help students see the big picture through curriculum integration and to find joy in learning through the creative process.
Mrs. Shakespear believes in teaching elementary students fundamental art skills using a variety of mediums from textile art to Chinese Brush Painting. When she is not teaching or pursuing creative endeavors of her own, Maele likes spending time with her family and shopping the dollar section at Target.
Rosina Didyk
Rosina Didyk started her professional career as a performer of many types of traditional dance as a Principal Dancer and later Artistic Director of the acclaimed AMAN Folk Ensemble in Los Angeles. Before joining AMAN, Rosina toured with the BYU International Folk Ensemble. She has toured internationally and led workshops for students, teachers, seniors and community members in almost every state in the U.S. Rosina has been leading dance education residencies in Southern California schools since 1991, and cherishes the opportunity to bring culture and traditions from around the world, as well as facilitating dance experiences that build community and develop creativity.
Drue Bullington
Drue Bullington teaches elemental music and movement at Brownstown Elementary School in Conestoga Valley School District in Lancaster, PA. Bullington is twice a graduate of West Chester University of Pennsylvania where he received a B.S. in Music Education and a M.M. in Music Education with a certification in Orff Schulwerk. Drue holds a second master’s degree from Wilkes University in Online Teaching and Learning with an Online Educator’s Certificate of Endorsement from the State of Pennsylvania. Drue has taught in several Orff Schulwerk Levels Certification programs around the U.S. and offers numerous professional development and workshop sessions on elemental music and movement applications in the classroom, incorporating technology, and music integration. He also serves as President of the Board of Directors of the American Center for Elemental Music and Movement. Drue and his wife, Elise, live in Lititz, PA. They enjoy an active life filled with travelling, culinary adventures and volunteering in their community.
Amanda Deliman
Amanda Deliman is an Assistant Professor in Elementary Literacy Education in the College of Education and Human Services at Utah State University. Based at the Salt Lake Campus, Dr. Deliman currently teaches courses connected to the Elementary and Early Childhood Education Programs and Reading Specialist Endorsement. Amanda worked for 10 years as an early childhood educator before pursuing her doctorate in Literacy, Culture, and Language Education at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN. Her teaching and research interests focus on the intersections of literacy teacher learning and teacher education and the use of culturally responsive and humanizing pedagogies. She especially likes incorporating high-quality children’s literature across content areas while using drama and art to expand meaning making. Dr. Deliman enjoys connecting with teachers and talking about ways to increase selections in classroom libraries so young children can find representations of themselves in the books they read.
Kaajal Agnani
Kaajal Agnani, Founder and CEO of Boundless Blooms is on a mission to inspire the next generation of kindful (kind + mindful) humans. Launching her business has been a true labor of love for Kaajal, one where she's been able to combine years of experience in research, with her passion for children's education and development. Yoga, meditation, and mindfulness have played an instrumental role in her life. She knew that her first products had to achieve a specific aim: to make mindfulness meditation fun and accessible for kids of all ages. Since launching, Boundless Blooms has partnered with non-profit organizations, schools, and university programs to make mindfulness accessible to thousands of kids across the country. Kaajal holds a BA in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of California, Berkeley and an MBA from the University of Southern California (where she studied mindfulness). She currently lives in Los Angeles with her partner, Raja, vibrant toddler, Zavi, and sweet baby, Ayaan.