| Participants at the Artist/Teacher Institute (aTi) are instructed by renowned Master Teaching Artists - practicing dancers, musicians, authors, and artists - who perform, publish, and exhibit their work internationally. Their commitment to education, creative development and teaching artistry to all learners at all levels is world class.
Marck "Flaco" Best Marck “Flaco” Best is a performing artist of Cuban and African American descent and a proud native of Philadelphia, Pa. He is one of only 5 dancers honored by the city of Philadelphia for his contributions to the city’s rich tapestry of arts and cultural heritages by being awarded the Liberty Bell. A professional dance teacher of 12 years, Flaco has taught literally thousands of people to dance all over the United States and internationally. Flaco is one of the founding teaching artists in residency in the public & parochial schools of Philadelphia instructing children in the Dancing Classrooms curriculum, which was the subject of the very popular documentary film, “Mad, Hot Ballroom!"
Barbara Bullock Barbara was named a NJSCA Distinguished Teaching Artist in 1997 and 2001. She is a recipient of a PEW Fellowship in the Arts, Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation visual artist residency grant, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowship and Delaware State Arts Council arts-in-education residency. Her work is part of the permanent exhibit at The African-American Museum in Philadelphia.
Dominique Cieri
Dominique is a graduate of Rose Bruford College in Kent, England, and recipient of The Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence from The State University of New York. An award winning playwright, she is also recipient of the 2003 and 2009 Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation and NJSCA Playwriting Fellowship. She is resident artist with the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, the New Jersey Writers Project, Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey, and Arts Horizons. Her plays have been developed at Williamstown Theatre Festival, MA; Philadelphia Theatre Company, PA; Ensemble Studio Theatre, NY; Centenary Stage, NJ; Off World Productions, NJ, and Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey and produced in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and New Jersey. Dominique is currently pursuing her MFA in Creative Writing at Goddard College. Lamont Dixon Lamont Dixon, aka “NAPALM” is a regular on the jazz-poetry scene as he infuses jazz, hop hop, blues and drama with his performances and workshops. A Philadelphian, Lamont trained at Freedom Theater and the University of the Arts, as well as a tenure with Temple University’s Full Circle Improvisation Troupe. Lamont appears on "African Rhythm Tongues" with jazz musicians Khan Jamal, Byard Lancaster and others. He also served as co-executive producer for HBO Russell Simmon's 2001 Def Poetry Jam Tour in Philadelphia. Napalm's poetry has been published in African Voices, The Phylaxis, New Poet's Revolution and Essence Magazine. He is a recipient of the Phylaxis Society's Excellence in Literature Award and John G. Lewis Medal of Excellence for Art. Catherine Doty Catherine Doty is the author of Momentum, a volume of poems from CavanKerry Press. Her work has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies, among them Garrison Keillor's More Good Poems for Hard Times and Billy Collins' 180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Every Day. She is the recipient of a Marjorie J. Wilson Award, an Academy of American Poets Prize, fellowships from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and the New York Foundation for the Arts, and other grants and honors. Ms. Doty has worked as a visiting artist for the Frost Place, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the New York Public Library, and other organizations. Eileen Foti Eileen M. Foti is an Assistant Professor at Montclair State University, where she teaches papermaking and printmaking. She was the Master Printer and Print Studio Manager of the Rutgers Center For Innovative Print and Paper in NJ from 1989 to 2004. She was the Interim Education Director at Tamarind Institute from 1998-99. Her work is included in many collections such as the Museum of Fine Art in Croatia, Moussem Assilah in Morocco, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, The Huntington Museum in West Virginia, and The Jersey City and the Hunterdon Museums in New Jersey. She has received fellowships from the NJ State Council on the Arts and the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, and has had artist residencies in Morocco, South Africa, Botswana, Thailand, Croatia, Russia and throughout the Caribbean. She is on the Board of Advisors for the Artist Proof Studio in Johannesburg, and was an advisor to Crow's Shadow Institute on the Umatilla Reservation in Oregon. She is on the Board of Directors at the Printmaking Council of NJ.
Anndee Hochman Anndee Hochman is the author of Anatomies: A Novella and Stories (Picador USA) and Everyday Acts & Small Subversions: Women Reinventing Family, Community and Home (The Eighth Mountain Press). She has been a teaching artist for 15 years, working with children, teens and adults in schools, after-school programs, residential drug treatment programs, juvenile detention facilities and a fishing village on Mexico's Pacific coast. Her articles, essays and profiles have been published in The Philadelphia Inquirer, O: The Oprah Magazine, Working Mother, OUT and Cooking Light. Since 1992, she has worked with the New Jersey Writers Project and the Arts in Education program of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. She teachers an adult workshop in creative non-fiction/memoir at the Winter Poetry & Prose Getaway, held each January in Cape May, New Jersey. Vist her website at www.anndeehochman.com. J. Kenneth Leap J. Kenneth Leap is primarily recognized for his achievements in the field of architectural stained glass. Working in a tradition that dates to the cathedrals of medieval Europe, Leap creates his panels by hand-painting colored pieces of glass with vitreous pigments. These pigments are fused to the glass by firing in a kiln before being assembled into stained glass panels using strips of lead. His painterly work in stained glass has earned him numerous awards including a fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a jurors' award of honor in the Philadelphia Museum of Art exhibition, “Contemporary Philadelphia Artists” and inclusion in the Corning New Glass Review 11. Articles about his work have appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer, The New York Times, Architecture of New Jersey, Professional Stained Glass Magazine and Stained Glass Quarterly. Visit his website at www.jkennethleap.com. Hector Morales
Peruvian drummer and percussionist Hector Morales blends in his playing as well as his composition the sounds of diverse musical traditions such as Afro-Peruvian, Jazz and Latin Music. Hector is currently based in the NYC area where he leads his band "Afrodita" and participates in other musical projects with upcoming young artists of the NYC scene. He has recently been featured in a video produced by LP and has performed internationally at stages such as NJPAC's Festival "Sounds of the City", Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), The National Museum of Peru, "Society of Musicians and Composers of Chile Auditorium" and the Jerusalem Music Festival. Hector graduated from the prestigious William University Jazz Program.
Peter Murphy Peter Murphy was born in Wales and grew up in New York City. He is the author two books of poems, Stubborn Child (2005), a finalist for the 2006 Paterson Poetry Prize, and Thorough & Efficient (2008), both from Jane Street Press. His poetry and essays have appeared in The American Book Review, The Shakespeare Quarterly, World Order and hundreds of other journals. He is a consultant to many organizations including Arts Horizons, the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, the Philadelphia Arts in Education Partnership and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and has been an educational advisor to Fooling with Words with Bill Moyers and other PBS poetry programs. He is also the founder/director of the Winter Poetry & Prose Getaway, which is in its 16th year, and other writing programs & retreats.
Mary Phelan Mary Phelan is a professor and the former director of The University of the Arts Book Arts/Printmaking Program and currently Coordinator of the Fine Arts, Printmaking/Book Arts undergraduate department. Exhibitions, Invitational: Masters of the Craft, Center for Book Arts; The Art of the Book: Visualizing Poetry, Swarthmore College, PA; Crossing Over/Changing Places, Corcoran Museum of Art; A Type Miscellany, Grolier Club; Eighty from the Eighties, Ninety from the Nineties, York Public Library. Awards: Who's Who Among America's Teachers; The Type Directors Club Award of Excellence; AAM National Museums Publication Competition Award. Collections: Museum of Fine Arts, San Francisco; Boston Public Library; Getty Foundation; Harvard University; Library of Congress; Museum of Modern Art; New York Public Library. Claire Porter
Claire's work has been produced by Dance Theater Workshop, PS-122, Joyce Soho, The Bottom Line, NY Horticulture Society, The Knitting Factory, Danspace at St. Marks, Jacob's Pillow, Southern Theater in Minneapolis MN, Duncan Theater in Palm Beach FL, Liberty Science Center NJ, Kitchen Theater in Ithaca NY, Wooley Mammoth Theater in DC, Off Center Theater in Tampa FL, Center Stage in Raleigh NC, American Dance Festival, Lucille Ball Festival of Comedy, Holland Festival in the Netherlands, Tour of Comedy in Germany and the Korea International Festival in Seoul. She has an MA in Dance from Ohio State, a BA in Mathematics, is a Laban Movement Analyst and taught Choreography at Columbia Teachers College NYC. Josh Robinson
Josh Robinson grew up around the music business and began playing pots, pans, and eventually drums in his basement at an early age in his hometown of Woodstock, NY. In 1989 he joined "Sankofa" Afro-Brazilian drum and dance ensemble where he was introduced to the instruments and rhythms of Latin, Brazilian, and Caribbean music. The rhythmic quest has taken him to countries such as Cuba and Brazil where he has studied with masters of percussion with a strong focus on conga drums. He founded "Rhythms & Roots" Latin Music ensemble in 2000 with wife Giovana, and both were selected to the Philadelphia Music Project's Latin Orchestra led by famed bandleader Johnny Pacheco. He performs in Philadelphia with "Alo Brasil," poets, DJ's, theatre & dance groups. Kit Sailer Kit Sailer earned her BFA from Syracuse University, receiving the prestigious Hazard/Gee Fellowship upon graduation. She has recieved a NJ State Council of the Arts Fellowship, was Artist-in-residence at the Newark Museum, and was selected to participate in Aljira’s Emerge program. Solo exhibits include Johnson & Johnson, New Jersey Center for Visual Arts, Tomasulo Gallery, and Watchung Arts Center. Group shows have included The Newark Museum, Aljira, NJ State Museum, Old Church Cultural Center, and City Without Walls. Corporate collections include John Wiley & Sons, Johnson & Johnson, and Cooper Industries, in addition to numerous private collections. Miriam Schaer Miriam Schaer is a multimedia book artist. Since 1993, she has exhibited steadily and extensively in solo and group exhibitions, and her work has been mentioned in a long list of articles and reviews. Miriam Schaer teaches Art of the Book at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. She has lectured and taught books structures and printmaking at universities and art centers in the US and abroad. She also has run teacher training, and artist workshops, as well as taught in artist in the schools programs throughout the region. |
