P.S. ARTS :: restoring the arts to public education

Teaching Artists

P.S. ARTS Teaching Artists are practicing artists who integrate their art forms, unique perspectives, and professional skills into the classroom. P.S. ARTS Teaching Artists have a minimum of three years of teaching experience and either a Bachelor or Masters of Arts degree in arts, education, community arts or relevant field of study. They are diverse in background, expertise and ethnicity, and reflect the cultural backgrounds of the children we serve.

Teaching Artists work collaboratively with the program staff to develop standards-aligned arts instruction that coordinates with classroom curriculum. All Teaching Artists participate in professional development workshops throughout the year to strength their curriculum and teaching techniques. They are also active in their school community, attending faculty meetings and school events where they interact with administrators and parents, advocating for the arts.

		Kimberleigh Aarn Theater Teaching Artist, Peer Mentor Kimberleigh Aarn is a performing artist and nationally known artist-educator experienced in developing K-12 theatre arts curriculums along with designing and facilitating professional development experiences for educators in the arts. She has served as an arts education coach throughout the country focusing on such areas as arts integration and literacy. Her professional acting background consists of theater, film and television with nominations for a Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come & Gone and a 2005 LA Stage Alliance Ovation Award nomination for The Merchant of Venice, Los Angeles Women’s Shakespeare. She has been a Teaching Artist and mentor with P.S. ARTS since 1997 and started her own consultancy, Open Top Creativity which has a theatre and literacy program called “Through a Theatrical Lens.”

		Viktoriya Babchenko Music Viktoriya Babchenko has been accomplished Teaching Artist with P.S. ARTS since 1999. Well versed in Kodaly and Orff Schulwerk, Viktoriya currently heads successful music programs at Coeur D’Alene Elementary and Playa Elementary.

		Ann Barron Visual Arts Ann Barron is a professional graphic artist and has been a Teaching Artist with P.S. ARTS for thirteen years. She attributes her success in the classroom to her ability to create a "safe space" in the studio - providing opportunities for the student artists to revel in their creations while discussing the process from initial vision to finished art piece.

		Judith Campanaro Visual Arts Judith Campanaro is an experienced visual artist, art educator and art therapist. Prior to joining the team at P.S. Arts she was the Creative Arts Therapist for Child Haven in Seattle, Washington and has also worked as a teaching artist for VSA Arts of Nevada, the Arts Council of Kern County and as an adjunct professor at Ottawa University. Her mission as a teaching artist is to facilitate empowerment through creative expression. In addition to teaching, she has had many solo shows both in the United States and the Caribbean. Her paintings are also included in numerous public and private collections and she is the author of Art for the Soul, the Healing Magic of Creativity.

		Amber Carroll Music Amber Carroll is a Teaching Artist for P.S. ARTS who currently teaches music to grades 3-5 at Grand View Elementary school. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from the Crane School of Music and her Master’s Degree in music education from Ithaca College. While in school at Ithaca College she also acted as Master Teacher for the undergraduate music education students. Amber has 9 years of experience teaching music in a school setting and holds a California single subject Teaching Credential. Born and raised among the tradition of Barbershop music, Amber sings in a 2 time world championship Sweet Adelines chorus “Harborlites”. This hobby feeds Amber's interest in American folk music and art. She is also a skilled classically trained singer who loves to share her love of the beauty of the human voice with her students.

		Bill Coelius Theater Bill Coelius is a professional actor and writer who has written over 100 plays (all of them under two minutes) and has performed on stage, film and television. As a Teaching Artist he has taught creative storytelling, script writing and performing skills to students both here in Los Angeles and in New York City. He is a three-time national champion in prose, poetry and duo public speaking forensics competitions. He holds a B.A. in Philosophy and a B.A. in Theatre Arts from Eastern Michigan University. He also runs a performance summer camp called The Art Thieves Conservatory, a school for the brilliant and sneaky.

		Heather Conyers Visual Arts Heather Conyers is an experienced visual artist and educator currently teaching for P.S. ARTS at Jose A. Castellenos Charter School. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Studio Arts (Printmaking) from Hunter College. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. She has taught in museums, community centers and schools throughout Southern California.

		Michael Delgado Visual Arts Michael Delgado is a Visual Arts Teaching Artist for P.S. ARTS. He has dedicated twelve years to the instruction of Kindergarten through fifth grade students in visual arts at Grand View and Coeur D'Alene Elementary Schools in the Venice area. Prior to his current position, Michael worked for Performing Tree Teaching Arts Program and St. James Elementary from 1990-1997. He studied guitar at Dick Grove School of Music in Sherman Oaks, which lead into playing with local bands and performances with Video/Performance Artist, Ulysses Jenkins. Outside of the arts, Michael has spent over fifteen seasons as a volunteer baseball coach. His experience in coaching, teaching, and guiding youths in sports has been beneficial in the art room, fueling his belief that disciplines that are learned in athletics can be channeled in the art teaching process.

June Edmonds
Visual Arts
June Edmonds is an artist, a teacher and a professional curator. She has been an art instructor for such prestigious organizations as Santa Monica Community College, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Heart Project.

Her professional experience as an artist includes designing and fabricating a 4’x34’ Venetian glass mural for the Department of Cultural Affairs Private-Public Art Program, a one-person exhibit entitled “Tierra Rica” in Chiapas, Mexico and creating a Venetian glass mosaic for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Los Angeles for the Metro Blueline Pacific Station.

A recipient of numerous grant and awards, Ms. Edmonds received her Masters in Fine Arts in Painting from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia.

		Rachel Galper Music Rachel Galper is a Teaching Artist now working at Grand View Elementary School with Kindergarten through second grade students. Rachel, a graduate of New Mexico State University, began her career in New Mexico, where she taught the classics to young people as part of the American Southwest Theatre Company. Working with faculty there, she “translated” Shakespeare and other classics, making the works more accessible to young people. In Los Angeles, Rachel took Early Education courses at UCLA, has completed Orff Level One at California State University at Los Angeles, and has worked with the Los Angeles Children’s Theatre and the L.A. Theatre Collective. Rachel has worked extensively with the Santa Monica Playhouse for many years and has many musical theater stage credits there including numerous Actors’ Repertory Theatre and Family Theatre productions. She has performed on tour with Actors' Repertory Theatre in both England and Japan. For several years during the school year, Rachel has been teaching Music and creative expression with P.S. ARTS and Theatre Arts at Canyon School in Santa Monica. Her summers have been filled with children taking her direction at the Santa Monica Playhouse where she directs original musical works for young people.

Hilary Hahn
Visual Arts
Hilary Hahn is a Visual Arts Teaching Artist at McKinley Elementary. Prior to joining P.S. ARTS, she taught for the Artlink Program in Ontario school district, and instructed Scenic Design for six seasons at Pico Playhouse. Hilary holds a B.A. from the University of LaVerne, where she studied fine art and excelled as a Set Designer. She is currently a facultymember at Brentwood Art Center as well.

As a native of Louisville, Kentucky she brings with her a natural curiosity and interest in the global community. As a teacher, her travels from France to India inform her instruction. One successful projectduring her residency at Moffett Elementary School combined her love of architecture and the environment in the construction of an eco-village focused on recycling and sustainable design. A personal artistic achievement includes creating art for the Coachella Valley Music Festival for 4 years in a row! In her free time, she enjoys practicing yoga.

		Tabitha Hernandez Visual Arts Tabitha Hernandez is a Teaching Artist for P.S. ARTS who currently teaches visual arts to kindergarten through fifth grade students at Kettleman City Elementary and Tamarack Elementary. She brings her four years of experience working on murals and other community projects within her hometown to her teaching. Tabitha is currently working on her Multiple Subject Credential from Chapman University in California.

		Matt MacFarland Visual Arts Matt MacFarland earned a B.F.A. from UC Santa Cruz in 1999 and a M.F.A. from Otis in 2003. He employs common materials like dryer lint, butter and toothpaste to create work about comedy and tragedy and how the two are intertwined. He recently participated in the annual LA Road Concerts series, a multi-discipline arts extravaganza that took over all of Sunset Boulevard. He also recently wrapped up a four-month artist in residency at the One Colorado complex in Old Town Pasadena. There, he applied his love for humor, cartooning and portraiture to draw free caricatures for the passersby in addition to completing many drawings, sculptures and prints. Matt has been an educator for over eight years and enjoys watching the expression of discovery on his students' faces as they experiment with a new material or make a connection with another school subject. He currently resides in Los Angeles.

		Johanna McKay Theater Johanna McKay has directed and adapted Shakespearean plays for young people and has taught acting to children and adults for over fifteen years. She's worked independently as well as at such schools as Idyllwild Arts, Marquez Elementary School, and UCLA. She teaches drama at the seven elementary schools in Lawndale for P.S. ARTS. Johanna has earned her B.F.A. in acting from The Theatre School, DePaul University (Sarah Siddons Award), and her M.F.A. in theater, film and television from UCLA (Jack Nicholson Award). Johanna’s acting credits include work at the Steppenwolf, The Goodman, Dallas Theatre Center, San Jose Repertory Theatre and the Hollywood Bowl. She has worked as an actor with many local theaters in Los Angeles and has won acting awards such as the LA Weekly, Santa Barbara Independent Theatre Award, and Dramalogue Award. Film/TV credits include Grey’s Anatomy, Malcolm in the Middle, Mr. 3000, The Babe, and The Bernie Mac Show. Her adaptation of Shakespeare's "As You Like It" is being published by the New York company, Playscripts, Inc.

		Benjamin Morales Visual Arts Benjamin Morales is an experienced Visual Arts Teaching Artist who prides himself on maintaining a high level of creativity and a familiarity of multi-cultural aesthetics. Prior to joining the faculty at P.S. ARTS, he was the Head Art Instructor at Alta Vista Charter High School, functioned as an art instructor at School of Arts and Enterprise and was on the studio faculty of the Armory Center for the Arts. Mr. Morales is also a prolific artist and is an active participant of group shows exhibiting themes that are culturally motivated. Recently, he worked with George Yepes, the Los Angeles based muralist to create a 340-foot mural for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/ NASA. He received his B.A. in Fine Art in Illustration from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2002.

		Marwan Mograbi Music Marwan Mograbi was born and raised in Accra Ghana. He graduated from the University of Ghana with a bachelors degree in Modern Languages and performing Arts, and a Masters degree in International Relations from Alliant International University in San Diego, he is also a certified ORFF Music instructor. Marwan worked with the National Theater of Ghana for 2 years as an aactor and a musician and moved to Germany where he taught and performed African Arts through Tabasamu (A non-profit organization) that he co-founded. he has given numerous workshops, seminars and performances throughout Europe. After moving to Los Angeles in 2000 he has played with icon Stevie Wonder and other performers like Zap Mama, Anthony B, Rocky Dawuni, he has also been involved musical projects with the La based Organic Orchestra and Playing For Change, with whom he had the opportunity to perform with Ziggy Marley and Toots Hibbert from the legendary Toots And The Maytals. Marwan has been happily working with P.S. Arts since 2001 as a teaching artist.

		Tammy Moran Visual Arts Tammy Moran has been a Teaching Artist with P.S. ARTS for seven years. Tammy is an avid believer in educating the whole child through music, which led her to obtain certification in Orff Schulwerk Levels One and Two. She is currently pursing her Master’s Degree at California at State University Los Angeles.

		Leah Padow Visual Arts Teaching Artist, Peer Mentor Leah Lawrence is a Los Angeles native who fell in love with art as a child. She obtained her BA in Studio Art from CSU Long Beach and is currently working on a Master of Liberal Studies in Arts Development and Program Management. Leah works as a Teaching Artist and Peer Mentor for P.S. ARTS and has been involved with various arts organizations in Southern California including OCMA and the Brentwood Art Center. She is a member of art groups Women Painters West, Art Talk, and the Wednesday Collective, which support her work as a studio artist. Leah's favorite part about being an artist is seeing how all artists, especially her students, can use similar materials to create a variety aesthetic and emotional expressions.

		David Partida Visual Arts David Partida is a multi-media artist, primarily working in the visual arts. He received his Bachelor's Degree from San Francisco State University and a Multiple Subject Credential from Cal State, Los Angeles. After teaching elementary school for five years, David now teaches visual arts at Camino Nuevo Charter Academy servicing students from Kindergarten through eighth grade. Aside from practicing visual art forms, David is an active performance artist exclusively working with traditional Aztec dance, song and instruments. He is also a jewelry maker and plans to launch a jewelry website this year. David has worked on and collaborated on several murals, community projects and events. David sits on the Pueblo Nuevo Development board of directors, which provides opportunities for economic and educational advancement for the residents of the McArthur Park neighborhood. David currently resides in Hollywood, California where he's planning to start a dance group.

		Elizabeth "Lissie" Quishenberry Music Lissie Quishenberry has been a teacher for 21 years. She began her career as an educator after receiving her B.A. in Elementary Education with a minor in music from La Sierra University and receiving certification for 3 levels of Orff-Schulwerk and Kodaly. Her many experiences as a teacher include serving as the music and choir director for the Pasadena Waldorf School, a preschool music teacher for the A+ Children's Center and an elementary school music teacher for the La Canada School District. She is also the current musicianship teacher for the prestigious Los Angeles Children's Chorus. An active member of the music educator community, she has been a presenter at a national Orff conference and various Kodaly workshops and has been published in Teaching Magazine. Lizzie is also an actor, singer and avid violinist.

		Martha Ramirez-Oropeza Theater Martha Ramirez-Oropeza brings a wealth of experience to her position as a Theater Teaching Artist at Edison Language Academy where she designed and implemented a theater program for Kindergarten through fifth graders that is conducted entirely in Spanish. Prior to becoming a Teaching Artist for P.S. ARTS, she was an actor, director and administrator for the Mascarones Theater Group, which was one of Mexico’s leading independent indigenous theater groups. The company’s motto was, “If the people do not go to the theater, then the theater has to go to the people.” Thus, Mascarones brought choral poetry, a blend of the choruses of Greek theater and dance choreography, to the workers of Mexico. In addition to her work in the theater, Martha is also an accomplished visual artist who specializes in illustration and murals. She has taught and conducted workshops at Universidad Nahuatl, University of California, Los Angeles, University of California, Santa Cruz and Columbia University.

		Pedro Rivas Theater Pedro Rivas is a young but experienced and passionate educator and Teatrista. He is currently a Teaching Artist for P.S. ARTS at Reef Sunset Jr. High and Kettleman City Elementary. Pedro is also the Founder and Director of a local Theatre Company in Mendota, Aqua Viva Teatro. Pedro holds a B.A. in Theatre Arts from U.C. Santa Cruz. He became passionate about the Theatre while a student at U.C. Santa Cruz. There, he was introduced to a Multicultural Theatre Troup, Rainbow Theatre, and Don Williams. Since then, he has sought, and continues, to empower students and communities with Art and Theatre. This he does by teaching Theatre, writing, directing, and producing shows. Pedro uses the Theatre as a platform for social change, cultural awareness, and self-expression. He believes Theatre can help all individuals receive a complete understanding of their responsibilities in this world.

		Aiko Sakazaki Music Akio Sakazaki received her Master's of Arts in Teaching in Music Education as well as her Single Subject Music Credential from the University of Southern California. While at USC she was the recipient of the D'Addario Foundation Achievement Award for Master of Arts in Teaching Music, the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation Scholarship for the Master of Arts in Teaching and the Bank of America Award in Vocal Music. She continues her professional development as an educator by participating in Orff-Schulwerk and Kodaly workshops and is a member of the Los Angeles chapters of both organizations. Among her experiences as a vocalist her greatest accomplishments include performing a trio from Mozart's "Cosi Fan Tutte" with world-renown mezzo, Suzanna Guzman; performing at Princeton University in a chamber choir under the baton of Dr. James Jordan; and singing in a choir at Disney Hall with the LA Philharmonic under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen. In 2009 she was the youngest conductor selected for the project, "Bridging USA & Japan," a performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony at Disney Hall. She continues to deepen her experience as a conductor with "Cappella Opus," founded in 2011. Ms. Sakazak is currently the youngest conductor for a mixed choir in the Japanese community. In addition to her background in opera and classical voice, Ms. Sakazak is an accomplished instrumentalist and plays the flute and the piano.

		Matthew Segal Music Matthew Segal is a versatile multi-instrumentalist and vocalist who plays over twenty instruments, ranging from keyboards to percussion, and guitars to kalimbas. Earning a B.A. in Music Performance from the unique Naropa University in Boulder, CO, and an M.F.A. in World Music Performance from the California Institute of the Arts, he has also been trained as a Teaching Artist by the Music Center of Los Angeles and by the L.A. County Arts Commission’s Arts For All Teaching Artist programs, in addition to his Level I Orff-Schulwerk Certification from CSULA and studies overseas. Matthew has been a private and workshop series instructor for many years and has taught and performed with the CalArts based CAP, (Community Arts Partnership) in Los Angeles schools. As a musician, he has toured and recorded for over 18 years with international groups from the Caribbean, West, Central & Southern Africa, South America and Europe, and 17 years of traditional Gamelan orchestras from Bali and Java; performing genres ranging from bluegrass, jazz and rock, to reggae, Afro-funk and hip-hop. As a result, Matthew has a distinctive teaching style, integrating authentic approaches to global musical cultures with modern fundamentals in his TerraMusika musicianship and ear-training series. These include his “Say-It-2-Play-It” program that he developed around body and vocal percussion techniques, incorporating the interlocking Balinese Monkey Chant, or Kecak with vocal etudes in rock and hip-hop beat-boxing, to educate students in rhythmic training and community building.

Jennifer Seifert
Theater
For the past nine years, Jennifer Seifert has worked as a teaching artist with thousands of children from LAUSD, Wiseburn School District, LESD, and Mountain View School District. As a theater Teaching Artist Jennifer has worked with such programs as Inside Out Community Arts, Glendale Public Library, Upstage Theatre Arts, OCPAC, Will and Company and P.S. ARTS.

Her interest in bringing arts education to inner city children began while she was at USC, when she founded the USC Children’s Theatre Company, an organization that performed for surrounding schools in the South Central area of Los Angeles. While attending USC she was awarded both the Blankenchip/White Scholarship and the Jack Nicholson Award for outstanding contribution to the arts.

As an actress she has worked with such theatres as the Geffen Theatre, Actors’ Gang, A Noise Within, Shakespeare Festival L.A., North Coast Rep., Mint Theatre (Off-Broadway), Laguna Playhouse, Ricardo Montalban, Pechanga, Rubicon Theatre Co., and the Falcon Theatre. She is a member of the Troubadour Theatre Co., which was most recently honored with an award from the LADCC, for “Excellence in Theatre.” Jennifer has received Backstage West Garland Award Honorable Mentions for her performance in Much Adoobie Brothers About Nothing (Falcon Theatre), and for her direction of Someone to Watch Over Me (Hudson Theatre). Her television and film experience includes Punching the Clown (Slamdance 2009), Return to Babylon (Beverly Hills Film Festival 2009), The Cleaner, Huff, The Huntress, Lars and the Really Real Girl (Drama ¾ short film nominated for MTV Music Award), and the Academy Award nominated film, In America. She continues to study acting with Howard Fine and Larry Moss.

Jennifer can also be seen teaching on HDTV in a segment on the Herb Alpert Foundation and P.S. ARTS.

		Jennifer Cree Swan Visual Arts Jennifer Cree Swan has established and managed community based arts programs for twenty years. Jennifer studied documentary filmmaking and interdisciplinary arts education at New York University and San Francisco State University. In 1989 she founded Listen To Our Elders, Listen To Our Children an organization dedicated to creating intergenerational oral history programs carried out by youth and elders throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1996, Jennifer moved to Washington, DC to work with the National SAFE KIDS campaign. For six years Jennifer coordinated the local DC SAFE KIDS coalition and managed support services for three hundred SAFE KIDS coalitions worldwide. From 2001-2004 she was the Arts Program Director for Joe’s Movement Emporium a comprehensive art center serving Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Jennifer now resides in Venice, California where she teaches art, is a freelance writer/oral historian, and helps arts and media organizations develop and carry out strategic plans.

		Tamie Smith Visual Arts Tamie Smith is a native Californian who is based in Venice, California. She has been a P.S. ARTS Teaching Artist since 2000. Tamie has completed several large-scale ceramic tile murals in and around the Los Angeles area. She has been involved with local non-profit arts community projects such as the Venice Community Housing Corporations at-risk youth training program. Previous to her career as a Teaching Artist, Tamie lived and worked abroad. She studied at Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera (Academy of Fine Arts of Brera) in Milan, Italy. She has always been involved in art throughout her life, from watching her father build Hot Rods as a child to visiting museums in Paris. Tamie is a multi-media artist whose life experience is her inspiration.

		Stephen Spataro Music Stephen Spataro is an accomplished choir director and musician. While employed as the choral music director for the Milton Hershey School in Pennsylvania, he grew the struggling middle school program from 48 singers to over 150. The choir was chosen to perform for the National Literacy Conference hosted by Barbara Bush. He was also selected as the director of an elementary school choir program that combined 800 singers from 15 school districts in Pennsylvania. Mr. Spataro writes musicals, most notably "Sweet Dreams," the story of Milton Hershey. He is also a singer-songwriter who is adept at guitar and percussion and is currently recording an album of 11 original songs to be released in October 2011. An active collaborator and believer of cross-disciplinary art, he recently partnered with spoken word artist T. Greene, composing original music and producing her first album, set to release in September 2011. Stephen Spataro received his B.S. in Music Education from West Chester University and a Master's Degree in Music Education from New York University and three levels of certification for Orff-Schulwerk and Kodaly. In addition to his work with P.S. ARTS, Stephen is the music teacher for the UCLA Lab School for elementary school students.

		Terence “Tee” C. Williams Theater Tee Williams is grateful and humbled to work as a theater Teaching Artist for P.S. ARTS. He is thankful for the opportunity to guide his students to explore the world around them through theater. Tee enjoys continuously inspiring his students to create original works and rediscover classic drama. A native New Yorker, Tee has appeared in numerous stage productions on the east coast with his most notable role as Othello on 42nd Street. He received his Bachelors degree from Penn State University and continued his theater training at Florida State University’s Asolo Conservatory. He received his M.A. in Fine Arts from Brooklyn College while working with black theater legend Woodie King, Jr. In Los Angeles, Tee was last seen in a production of “Making It Big” as well as NAACP Award nominee “NEVA~EH: Prince of Black Angeles.” Tee continues to take great pride in his work with young people and support for their infinite possibilities. Let the stars shine from within!

		Sandy Yamashiro Visual Arts Sandy has a B.A. in Social Welfare and a Masters Degree in Social Work. Her experiences as a social worker gave her invaluable tools that she incorporates into her teaching practice and gave her an insight into the lives of P.S. ARTS’s underserved students. In addition, she has also been a silk painter, incorporating Japanese design into her wearable artwork and she considers her family her greatest inspiration. Sandy Yamashiro has been a P.S. ARTS Teaching Artist at John Muir Elementary for eight years.