“Everybody born comes from the Creator trailing wisps of glory. We come from the Creator with creativity. I think that each one of us is born with creativity.” -Maya Angelou I have learned that each age group has its own challenges, and each age group has its own charm. I have grown familiar with the pressures and unavoidable anxieties that plague all adolescents and have seen them forge through difficulties that would fell many adults. I’ve seen the cliques and the loners. The attention seekers and the wallflowers. The bullies and the “know-it-alls.” I found that the really amazing thing is that every single one of them benefits from Arts in Education. I enjoy meeting them where they are. From Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to Animal Farm to A Brave New World, kids need guidance, understanding and encouragement. As a teaching artist, I absolutely love the opportunity to offer and teach our youth a new perspective and outlet in which to exercise their frustrations through a character on stage. I am amazed when they are empowered to come out of their comfort zones to sing or dance in a musical. I am never prouder than when this mix of very different kids becomes a true team supporting each other’s individuality and applauding the performance that they all created. I have worked with age-specific groups, and I have worked with ages ranging from 5 to 18 all together on the same stage, and it is always the Art they have in common that makes it all work.

My first paid theatre gig began in 1995 - only a couple of years after graduating from Fayetteville High School. I auditioned for two educational theatre roles in children’s plays to tour Arkansas statewide: Jonelle Grace’s Journey to the Center of Me and Magic Carpet Ride. Arts Live Theatre cast me in my desired parts, and I spent the next two years traveling in a large white van on winding Ozark roads. My nights were in big and small-town motels with three other diverse, talented, morally-driven actors. My mornings were in the gymnasiums and cafetoriums of Anytown, Arkansas. I earned that paid gig by acting, educating and discussing many issues with youth across our state. Discussions involved low self-esteem, drugs, gangs, racism, bullying, physical and mental abuse and diversity. I felt I had answered a calling, and I was more than thrilled to accept a position as a teaching artist for Arts Live when the touring stopped and began offering classes and camps. After a rewarding and educational career in restaurant corporate training and management, I have had the good fortune to come back home to Fayetteville, Arkansas and the privilege to, once again, accept a position as a teaching artist for Arts Live Theatre almost 20 years later from the day it all began. I have the honor of claiming two summer sessions spent as Theatre Arts faculty for AEGIS Arts Encounter at Arkansas Tech. I have had the unique experience of being a teaching artist at a camp held at the Ozark Science Center, funded by a grant from the Arkansas Arts Council for Artists in Education. The camp was titled “High Hopes” and was created and held specifically for a hand-picked group of middle schoolers who were truly “At-risk” kids. The teens went home with new theatre skills to help them locate, channel and own their emotions, anxieties and frustrations with their lives of foster homes, poor housing, physical, sexual and mental abuse, emotional and mental challenges and absent parents. I’ve created and taught dozens of camps, classes and conservatories for beginners and advanced students: classes for a variety of youth from K-12 grades exploring improvisation, script analysis, vocalization, character development and storytelling. I’ve also directed, coached and choreographed many monologues, scenes, songs, showcases and main stage productions.