Our Staff and Board Teaching Artists Bios | Staff Bios | Board Bios Niizeki Hiromi has taught visual arts to children for more than 12 years in Tokyo and New York City She has taught for several organizations including the Children's Museum of the Arts in Soho, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Hudson River Museum. As an installation artist, she has participated in solo and group shows at different galleries and public spaces throughout New York City. She has also done commissioned work for several organizations. Her interest as a teaching artist is to expose children to contemporary art through the use of different media. Joan Merwyn is an internationally and critically acclaimed performing artist, teacher, choreographer, and stage director. She has taught and performed throughout Europe, Canada, and the United States with her solo performances and as a founding member of over 20 experimental and movement theater companies. She also choreographs music groups, including Rockapella and Doo Wa Zoo and integrates live music ranging from classical to hip hop into her creations. She specializes in theater and movement for the mentally ill, the elderly, and at risk people of all ages at Hospital Audiences, Inc.. She conducts residencies in New York City schools and after school programs through Marquis Studios and Union Settelement.You may visit Joan Merwyn Physical Theater site by clicking here Fred Collins is a performer of vast experience in the art of Circus. He is a stilt walker, juggler, and trained clown. He has 14 years of experience teaching and is a member of the Bond Street Theater Coalition. His motto is "Comedy is concentration." His performance group, Two Too Far, includes the study of clown cultures throughout the world including the use of clowns in Native American, African and European religious events. During his workshops, students keep journals reflecting their studies, thoughts, drawings, and ideas. They also develop physical coordination, self image, observation, and communication skills. His workshops can be teamed with a writing workshop where students write limericks and jokes to create an original clown comedy script to be performed. Luanne Dietrich is an actress, clown, and teacher. She creates, develops, and presents original theatre and clown performances as well as arts-in-education residencies in Circus Arts, Clowns and Cultures, Trickster Myths and Legends, Creative Drama and Movement, Mask-Making and Puppetry. She is the workshop manager, as well as a teaching artist for Marquis Studios. She is also a long-standing member of the international touring company, Bond Street Theatre of New York City. She and partner Fred Collins make up the clown performance and teaching duo of TWO TOO FAR. Luanne has been performing professionally for over 20 years and has been teaching the Art of the Clown and Circus to children and adults for over 15 years in the United States and abroad. Sarah Provost has been working as a professional puppeteer and actress for the last ten years. She has performed in numerous theaters in New York such as The New Victory Theatre, P.S. 122, and La Mama Etc; as well as many regional theatres and festivals including Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven, CT, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, CA, and The Geffen Theater in Los Angeles, CA. She toured with Mabou Mines' Obie award wining production of PETER AND WENDY at the La Jolla Playhouse in La Jolla, CA. Sarah's voice-over work can be heard on WBAI as part of the AUTOMATIC VAUDEVILLE RADIO PLAYERS and also on Sci-Fi.com's SEEING EAR THEATRE. Sarah received a BA in Theatre from Temple University. Sarah has received grants from the Jim Henson Foundation and an Independent Artist Challenge Grant from The Field and has enjoyed teaching puppetry arts in New York City Schools for the last seven years. Gala Shishkin earned degrees in Theatre from Orenburg Region State College and Moscow State Academy of Culture. Her work experience as educator includes positions with the Department of Culture and Academy of Sciences of Russia, where she was engaged in the formation and coordination of professional development programs. Since 1996, Gala has worked as a teaching artist with Marquis Studios. Her puppetry residencies in New York City schools end with a students' puppet show, which is exciting for the children, their parents, and teachers. Gala also teaches book and mask-making. Every school year she teaches art residencies in all five boroughs and mantains very strong relationships with a number of public schools. With Marquis Studios, Gala created and successfully implemented Shadow Puppetry and Pop-Up Book art programs for Accelerated Schools in Staten Island. She has received critical recognition and awards for her artistic works. Gala loves working with students and strongly believes that art builds children’s self confidence and can do miracles. Dr.Jennifer Raine enjoys working with children because she misses the element of play in her adult world. Jennifer's formal training is as a trombonist; in 2002 she received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Manhattan School of Music. Jennifer has given solo and chamber recitals throughout Canada and the United States, and has performed as a soloist with numerous ensembles, including the McGill Orchestra, the University of Victoria Orchestra, and the Red Deer Wind Ensemble. A recipient of many honors and awards, she has been awarded first prize in the Canadian Music Federation National Festival (1995) and in the Canadian Music Competition (1995). Jennifer has been involved with children's music and theater programs since 1987, having worked with such organizations as the Metropolitan Opera Guild, Midori and Friends, and the Manhattan School of Music. Working (and playing) with children in the arts has taught her that all people are innately creative, and that enjoyment of life is a valid educational goal. Mel Nieves Born and raised in New York City, Mel Nieves is a graduate of the William Esper Studios and is a long time member of the award winning LAByrinth Theatre Company (artistic directors Phillip Seymour Hoffman & John Ortiz). As an actor he’s worked with the Ensemble Studio Theatre, Babel Theatre Project, and Luna Stage. As a playwright his work has been presented by Repertorio Espanol, Cherry Lane Theatre, Saratoga Performing Arts Center and Bennington College. He began teaching in 2001 with the 52nd Street Theatre Project and later on in 2002 with I.D.E.A.S. (Interactive Dramatic Educational Arts in Schools) and Theatre for a New Audience. In 2005 he began working as a teaching artist with the Brooklyn Arts Council. In 2006 he began working as a teaching artist with both LEAP and Marquis Studios. He is currently teaching Creative/Dramatic arts with Marquis Studios and Playwriting with PACT (Partnering Artist/Children/Teachers) John Bellia Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, John joined Marquis in the winter of 2005. He studied harmony and composition, choir direction, and modern recording techniques at the Buenos Aires Conservatory of Music. John also studied musical therapy, teaching techniques for children and adults, and audio perception at the Univeridad del Salvador (Buenos Aires). He composed, arranged, produced, and performed for the biggest names in Argentine popular music. In 1995 he composed and produced music and songs for a children's TV show and was awarded Best Children's CD by the A.C.E. (Association of Show Business Reporters of Argentina). John started his teaching career in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1994 teaching music workshops for grades 2 through 6. John Bellia has been living in the U.S. since 2000 and is currently a teaching artist at several public schools in New York and New Jersey, teaching Percussion with Found Objects, Guitar, Song Writing, Choir, Music Appreciation, and MIDI. Sergio Klafke is a poet-painter who has been working with children since he moved from Brazil to the U.S. in 1996. He has published 5 books of poetry in his native country; and has been exhibiting his paintings in many art galleries in New York City as well as participated in several international art shows. Since 1991, he has been teaching art to public school children in kindergarten through eighth grade, and at community centers through The Children's Art Carnival and Harborview Art Center-NYCHA. He also has experience working with mentally disabled adults and has worked sewing fabrics to make quilts with senior citizens. With Marquis Studios, Sergio Klafke is "having a very rich time" bringing poetry to his classes on drawing, painting, sculpture, puppetry, mask-making, kite-making, necklace-making, mosaic, ceramics, and multimedia. Morgan Eckert is a teaching artist and puppet and set designer in NYC. She teaches puppetry and drama with Friends Seminary School, Grace Church School, Marquis Studios, and New Victory Theater. She is a company member of Chinese Theatre Works, a shadow theater company based in NYC. She has designed and built sets and puppets for the Classical Theatre of Harlem, Provincetown Playhouse, Ohio Northern University, and New York University among others. Her work as a puppeteer has been seen at McCarter Theater Center, Theater for the New City, Mum Puppet Theater and Great Small Works. Morgan's educational background includes a MA in Educational Theater from NYU and a BA in theater from Marlboro College. She has studied with master puppeteers Eric Bass, Ralph Lee and Peter Schumann. Larry Jackson received his B.F.A. in Illustration and Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts (N.Y.C.). He has undertaken numerous creative endeavors as varied as a prop designer for TV productions to an in-house designer of holiday season window displays in New York City for the likes of Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord and Taylor. A trained carpenter and gifted teacher, he has stated a belief in the mantra "teaching art is learning art". Larry has taught all age groups including teachers and parents as well as whole educational staffs. Larry creates custom-made workshops tailored to encourage the imagination and reward ideas. The students are engaged and taught not only how to communicate, but the why of communication in order to attain the set goals involved in creating their project. Larry has been teaching architecture classes for Marquis Studios, he hopes to continue and to expand his repertoire to include other visual art workshops. Nancy J. Schneider is a photographer and mixed-media artist using art as a way towards understanding nature- both of the outer and the inner/personal world. Her work has been exhibited in group and solo shows throughout the U.S. and abroad. Exhibitions include The Imagination International Conference in Recife, Brazil, the Justified Arts Gallery in Bellingham, WA and at the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library in Long Island, NY. Nancy received a Master's degree in Studio Art/Photography from New York University and the Int'l Center of Photography, a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Art Education from the School of Visual Arts, and a BFA from Alfred University. She has extensive teaching experience in both the public and private sector. Along with Marquis Studios, Nancy is also a Teaching Artist with the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts and the Nassau County Museum of Art. Hector Morales is a Peruvian drummer/percussionist, composer, recording artist, and educator. He started playing the Cajon (traditional afro-Peruvian percussion instrument) at the age of eight. He began his formal music studies at the National School of Music in Peru. In 1999, he traveled to the U.S. to study at the prestigious William Paterson University Jazz Program. Hector has performed at international venues from Peru to Brooklyn. Additionally, he performed at the Jerusalem Music Festival and was recently featured in a video produced by the Latin Percussion Company. He teaches percussion for Marquis Studios, the Center for Traditional Music and Dance, Bronx Arts Ensemble, and Young Audiences New York. Additionally, he is the creator of the innovative interactive music program "The Art of Playing Together". He has conducted master classes, residencies, after school programs, and interactive workshops on different styles of percussion from around the world at public and private schools. For more information about Hector's work as an artist and educator please visit his web site by clicking here. Amy Beth Schneider teaches creative movement and dance in various forms. She graduated from Oberlin College and then studied modern dance, ballet, improvisation, and composition for four consecutive summers at the American Dance Festival in Durham, North Carolina. After graduating from Oberlin, she lived in Durham for two years and performed with various choreographers while serving as an active member of Choreo Collective as well as a member of the dance faculty in the Wake County Public School system. She moved to New York City in 2000 and in 2002 founded Thread Dance Theater as a performance and production enterprise. Simultaneously, she developed her teaching skills with a variety of organizations (like Marquis Studios) and populations in New York City schools. Kate Bell is a writer, songwriter, director, performer, and teacher. Her plays have been seen in New York at Baruch College's Bernie West Theatre and at the Culture Project. She most recently collaborated with Committed Theatre Company on a production of her play, Estrella, My Refugee. Ms. Bell earned her M.F.A. in Creative Writing from The University of Michigan in 2000. While in Ann Arbor, Kate received a Farrar Fund Grant for Dramatic Writing as well as two Hopwood Awards; one in fiction and the other in playwriting. Ms. Bell also pursues storytelling as a jazz vocalist with her septet, THE POMA-SWANK. The group's first CD, Red Sky in Brooklyn, was hailed for "superb musicianship with the ability to communicate directly to the listener" in All About Jazz. Ms. Bell teaches playwriting, acting, vocal music, and songwriting to students of all ages all over New York City. John Russo Since graduating from Binghamton University with a BA in English and Theatre, John pursued teaching and acting. He began teaching at Dyker Heights Middle School, where he taught for three years while starting his Masters in education. John explores Creative Dramatics and Puppetry with first- through eighth- grade students building and reinforcing the skills of an acting toolbox. As an actor, John has appeared on many stages, including the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the NYC Tenement Museum, and the HERE Arts Center Living Room festival. John pulls from his training in many styles of acting to create a fun, engaging, learning environment in which the students are actively reinforcing their skills at all times through modeling, practice, critique, and group work. One second grade teacher said of John's residency, "Some of my most struggling readers were right up there reading along in front of everyone because of this workshop." Curriculum -- especially literacy -- tie-in opportunities abound. Erica Rooney is a Licensed Creative Arts Therapist with an MPS from the Pratt Institute and an MFA in poetry from Cornell University. She has been working with children in one capacity or another since the 70’s; as a teacher and most recently as an Art Therapist. She has also worked as a scientific illustrator for journals, professors, and scientific publishers. Erica has studied sumi-e, kabuki dance, piano and violin, ceramics, and yoga, including yoga for special populations. As an Art Therapist, one of her primary areas of interest is work with the autism spectrum population. Helping parents do art with their children and bring an art space into their homes is an abiding underpinning of her work. Erica believes that all learning begins with desire, and that art harnesses a child’s desire. Children love to make, to build, to mark. When they do art, they are scientists- their attention span like an ever-expanding rubber band. Ellen Fisher's performance art combines gestural actions with visual components such as film, shadow play, objects and puppets. Her performances are informed by ethnographic research in trance dance and rituals of South Asia. She has toured solo work throughout Europe and the U.S. and directed large ensemble work reinterpreting myths and legends. Her film work has been included in festivals throughout the world. She has received funding through the NEA, Art Matters Inc., the Jerome Foundation, NYFA, and the Asian Cultural Council, and she continues to collaborate with artists on community intergenerational projects. Ellen has performed with Meredith Monk/The House on several dance/theater works throughout the years, and she embraces Ms. Monk's artistic vision. Presently, Ellen is performing in her latest work, "Impermanence". Olga Hiiva has been teaching art in New York City public schools since 1987. She began as an art teacher in an after-school program at Boys’ Harbor School. During that time, she also taught art to teenagers and rehabilitated mothers at Our Children’s Foundation in Harlem. While at the Harbor School, Olga and her students created several permanent ceramic mural installations, which were funded by the Warhol Foundation. In 1991, Olga joined the Marquis Studios resident artist team and began teaching for Studio In a School. Olga teaches painting, drawing, printmaking, bookmaking, murals, quilt-making and sculpture. In addition to teaching children, Olga conducts professional development workshops, parent/child workshops, and has taught art to college students at the Nesya Institute. Olga was born in Leningrad in the former Soviet Union. Mrs.Hiiva received her Bachelor of Fine Art degree from the Corcoran School of Art, studied painting in Paris, and completed her Masters of Fine Art at Pratt Institute NY. Kate Hamilton has been working as a dance educator and choreographer since coming to New York from her native Britain. She has been a teaching artist with Marquis Studios since 2004. Other teaching and consulting affiliations include City Center, ArtsConnection, Together in Dance, and the NYC Arts in Education Roundtable. She teaches dance at St. Ann’s School in Brooklyn and has run the dance department for Creative Arts Program at the Berkeley Carroll School summer camp. Her recent choreography and performance credits include the “Gypsy” high school production at the Berkeley Carroll School, the "Spoke the Hub" local produce festival and "Back to Brooklyn." She received a Bachelor of Performing Arts from Middlesex University, a Certificate of Performance and Choreography from London Contemporary Dance School, and a post-graduate teaching degree from Brighton University. Jane Bottner is a Visual Artist deeply interested in Education and has worked as a Teaching Artist for over 15 years. She has an MS in Museum Education from Bank Street College and has been affiliated with Marquis Studios for over 10 years. Jane is a painter and has displayed her work in numerous venues in the U.S. and overseas. Jenny Polak Originally from England, Jenny Polak’s art involves drawing, painting, graphic design, web-based art and architectural structures. She has taught art to people of all ages in England and here in NY. She sees art as empowering people to explore and develop their own ideas. She co-founded the UK artists’ group Workshops on Demand which specialized in art projects working with people with disabilities. On coming to New York she taught in many venues including pinhole photography at Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City, Arts Project in the South Bronx, and drawing at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Jenny has degrees in Architecture from Cambridge University and in Art from St. Martins School of Art, London.. Jenny has exhibited widely in the US and the UK. Jenny’s work recently won a Graham Foundation grant, a Franklin Furnace Future of the Present award and a Digital Matrix award, and it has been discussed in the New York Times, the Village Voice, the Guardian (UK) among others. Teresa Fellion has performed, choreographed, and taught throughout the United States and Africa; and has been titled the “Artistic Liaison between Cameroon and the United States” by Cameroonian president Paul Biya. While in Africa, she danced with Ballet National du Cameroun, and at The National Soccer Cup Finals. Performing highlights in New York include dancing with M’Bewe Escobar, Roxanna Young, and Tracie Stanfield among others. Teresa has taught at The Ailey School, Pace University, and The Women’s Project at Barnard College. She is Artistic and Executive Director of interCATaction/Children’s Adaptive Theater; a dance-theater company that performs pieces and conducts artistic and educational workshops for youth programs, public venues, and public schools. In addition to dancing, you can see Teresa onstage at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theater and the P.I.T. Theater performing comedy improvisation. Ms. Fellion has also taught in many private and public language programs for students with learning disabilities and behavioral disorders. Karina Cavat is a painter who has taught children and adults for 15 years and is most pleased to announce her recent inclusion into Marquis Studio’s teaching artist roster. After receiving a BFA from Purchase College and an MFA from Parsons School of Design, Karina was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study painting in Rome. Ms. Cavat has taught at a higher education level as an adjunct professor in painting at the University of CA at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara City College and at Parsons School of Design. Karina was the lead artist for the Artsgenesis Artstart Program with Community Access Unlimited in Elizabeth, NJ and has been in residence at numerous NY public schools and with Children’s Specialized Hospital in Fanwood, NJ. Karina is currently also on staff as a Visual Arts Professional Developer for the Archdiocese of NY conducting workshops on creativity for teachers and parents as well as designing and guiding classroom tours and giving lectures at the Metropolitan Art Museum. Ms. Cavat maintains a studio in Manhattan and exhibits and sells her work on a national level. Michelle Heinbrook joined the Marquis teaching artists staff in late 2007 and also works as a teaching artist with Young Audiences New York and with Studio in a School at Ps20K. She has taught a wide range of courses for many establishments; including the College for Creative Studies, Studio in a School Organization, and Cranbrook Academy of Art Summer Institute. Michelle has taught and designed curriculums for painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, 2D design, web design, digital media/imaging, illustration, and art history. She received a MFA in Painting from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, MI. and a BFA from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit MI. She has had eight solo exhibitions and participated in over thirty group shows. Her work is also included in several corporate, public, and private collections. Michelle’s work is currently represented by the Foley Gallery, in New York. Matt Bogdanow is a teaching artist and musician whose music has been called "uncommonly enjoyable" by The NOISE magazine. He is a Berklee College of Music graduate in Professional Music and is the author The Backbone of Drumming – A Systemic Approach to Learning the Drumset. Matt has toured nationally and abroad with groups such as Brotherhood of Groove and The Super Casuals and his drumming is featured on numerous studio recordings as well as live albums. In addition to Marquis Studios, Matt teaches for Manhattan New Music Project, Wingspan Arts and Kids Creative, as well as offering private music lessons. More information, including a current performance schedule, can be found on the web at www.MattBogdanow.com. Charlotte Gapp received her degree in Painting and Art History from the Rhode Island School of Design as well as participating in RISD's prestigious European Honors Program. She has taught at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, and most recently worked at the Bronx Museum of the Arts for 4+ years running programs. Currently, she teaches architecture and built environment education for The Center for Architecture Foundation. She also teaches for RUSH Arts and keeps one foot in museum education free-lancing with BXMA. Since deciding to be an artist at age 5, she has never wavered from the goal of being an artist - perhaps the reason she takes the work of children so seriously. "I feel very lucky that I have been able to make art the center of my life. I cannot imagine spending time in the studio without the balance of teaching - both the internal and the social". Her father always told her that she could be whatever she wanted -teaching art she can inspire this in others. Aurelio del Muro is a visual artist, an amateur cello player, and an educator. He began his art studies with sculptor Tom Doyle in 1983 in Queens College, CUNY. Soon after, he continued his art studies at the Art Students League of New York. For many years he was studio assistant to New York sculptor Philip Pavia. In 2004 he was awarded The Mc Dowell Travel Grant for Sculpture. He’s had solo shows in 1994 at the Mexican Consulate, The White Box Gallery in Philadelphia (now in New York) in 1998 and most recently in November 2006, at the Art Students League. He has taught sculpture and stone carving at the Educational Alliance since 1998 and also teaches drawing to a home schooling group. Being an amateur Cello player, he also incorporates music and poetry to his teaching. In the past he has also worked as a counsellor and a social worker. Alisa Minyukova was born in St Petersburg, Russia and grew up in New York City. After completing high school she returned to Russia and received her masters in sculpture from the Saint Petersburg Art and Industrial academy. Alisa now teaches Fine Arts to children and adults in New York in the Russian tradition. This includes sculpture, painting, drawing, and composition with a traditional approach. Alisa became a Marquis teaching artist in 2008. Currently, Alisa is working toward her MA at New York University. Jonathan Gall is a visual artist who has exhibited his work extensively since 1995 in Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and the USA. He is currently involved with several art projects, including a children's book that he has authored and is presently illustrating. Jonathan Gall has conducted numerous visual arts workshops with grades K-8 throughout the city of New York since 2006, working with several schools and arts organizations. Among these are The Brooklyn Arts Council, The Young Women's Leadership School of Astoria, The Buckley School, NURTUREArt and Marquis Studios. Jonathan Gall has been working with Marquis Studios since 2008. Jonathan Gall's artwork may be viewed online at: www.jonathangall.info www.drawingcenter.org/viewingprogram www.wooloo.org/jonathangall Hilary Pharr has been teaching art in various programs for the past four and a half years in New York City. Her teaching experience includes after school art programs, working at the Children's Museum of Manhattan, poetry and mural painting residencies, and teaching at the Waldorf School in Brooklyn. She studied fine arts at Hampshire College in Amherst, MA, concentrating in sculpture and drawing. Hilary continues to create drawings and some collage and printmaking in the time between teaching jobs. Hilary joined Marquis Studios’ teaching artist staff in January, 2008. Elizabeth Hanson is currently teaching and performing Brazilian music in New York City. She started teaching at Marquis Studios in January 2008 and has been teaching for over ten years. As a percussionist, she currently plays with Maracatu New York and has played with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Boulder Philharmonic, and the American Institute Opera Orchestra in Austria. While living in São Paulo she recorded on a CD of Brazilian music called Espaço Imaginario. Elizabeth has a degree in percussion performance from the University of Michigan and has studied marimba with Keiko Abe in Tokyo and more recently spent two years researching and playing Brazilian folk and instrumental music in São Paulo. Elizabeth works with New York City youth through various arts education organizations such as Brooklyn Philharmonic, Symphony Space, Manhattan New Music Project and Global Arts To Go. > Staff Bios > Board Bios Home | About Us | Consulting | Residency Programs | Parent/Child Workshops | Staff Development Workshops | Kid's Art Gallery | Video Gallery

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