About

EDUCATION

  Wesleyan University, CT - Master of Arts in Liberal Studies; Concentration: Art

International Expressive Arts Therapy Association -   Registered Expressive  Arts Consultant and Educator 

St. Francis Academy, CT – Certificate in Clinical Pastoral Counseling                                      

Charter Oak State College, CT – BA in Art / Minor Psychology

Art Institute of Boston, MA – Fine Arts Program

WORK EXPERIENCE

Teaching Artist - Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism, Young Audiences of CT & Life Time Arts Creative Aging Teaching Artist Rosters Hartford - May 2005 to present. Arts in Education Teaching Artist, developing and teaching arts programs throughout the state in schools, libraries, museums, nature centers, etc. Serve as a consultant for the arts and special needs groups. Presenter at conferences, workshops & in-services.

Expressive Arts Specialist - Connecticut VNA’s Hospice, Wallingford, - March 2004 to September 2009 (Laid-off).  Program coordinator and member of the counseling team; create, develop and implement visual art projects, poetry & programs with terminally ill adults, seniors and their families; curate art exhibit; Presenter at conferences, workshops, in-services and marketing programs about hospice to community.

Expressive Arts Specialist - New England Expressive Arts, Middletown- May 2000 to present.    Business owner of New England Expressive Arts providing consulting services, community programs, training and advocacy for the arts. Private expressive arts sessions or group sessions available. www.newenglandexpressivearts.com

Expressive Arts Specialist - The Kennedy Center, Bridgeport, May 2003 to March 2004.  Counseling team member to provide visual arts classes, dance therapy and poetry facilitation for adults and senior groups with special needs.

Editor, PATH (Parents Available to Help) quarterly newsletter, January 2001 - present.  Newsletter for parents of children with special needs distributed throughout Connecticut.

Staff Correspondent & Photographer, Cromwell Chronicle, Rocky Hill 1997 to 2002 Middletown Press, Middletown 1999 - 2001 - for “Women’s Section" Home Town Journal, East Haddam  1997 – 1999

AUTHOR OF NEW BOOK: "LIVING THE GIFT"
To be published in 2011
A Family Support Book and Workshop Program for Families, Support Personnel, and Professionals Working with Children with Special Needs  

VISUAL ARTS EXPERIENCE

Visual Arts  - Working in mosaics, using all types of materials including ceramic & glass tiles, smalti, pique assiette (broken tiles, dishes, etc.,) stained glass, and found objects such as pieces of old jewelry. Fine art painting with watercolors; pastels; acrylics; mural painting; drawing with charcoal and graphite; multi-media sculpture

Exhibitions - Exhibit and sell paintings, mosaics, multimedia art projects, and commissioned pieces throughout Connecticut. Commission work is also done.

Teaching : Mosaics, drawing, painting with watercolors. Classes held every 6 weeks in my home studio. Four to five students per class.

Curator –  St. Francis Hospital, Hartford, CT – Curator of the Integrative Medicine Art Gallery. Rotate exhibit every two months, showing art with a healing theme

Curator - Awakening the Imagination of Medicine Conference, by Authors Thomas Moore, James Hillman, Michael Kierny, East Hartford, CT – Curator of art show for Thomas Moore at this conference. Art with the subject of alternative healing and self expression works from patients were gathered for this show.

Curator - Completing the Journey: The Art of Hospice Care – Past curator of traveling art show of works done by, for and about terminally ill patients, sponsored by Masonicare, a Connecticut Home Healthcare Corporation. Organize all events revolving around this art show, including public speaking programs, opening receptions, and educational events.

HONORS and AWARDS

Winner of Guilford Arts Center Achievement Award 2006 Year of the Child  was presented to me as an individual who excels in teaching visual arts to improve or enhance the quality of life of children who are emotionally, physically or mentally challenged.
 

D'Amato Award for Graduate Studies -  Charter Oak State College, May 2002.  Received the annual award to a Charter Oak alumna actively pursuing a graduate degree and demonstrating serious scholarship, a commitment to learning and a commitment to community service in the area of people with special needs.  

State of CT Advisory Board for Artists with Disabilities – invited to be an Advisory Board member by the State of CT Commission on Culture and Tourism, to plan and conduct a Forum on Careers in the Arts for People with Disabilities in the State of Connecticut starting in January of 2008.

EDUCATIONAL TRAVEL

Semester At Sea  University of Pittsburgh , Spring 2005 Voyage – Traveled Kenya , South Africa, Brazil & Venezuela with 650 college students, 100 faculty, staff and crew.  Participated in the teaching and study of art, music & dance of Africa and South America, as well as taught an educational seminar on the use of the arts with hospice, while on this educational journey. Studied the art of other countries such as Trinidad & Tobago, Mexico, Canada, Italy, and US Virgin Islands

Conference Presentation and Speaking Experience 2000 – 2010

MA Early Intervention Conference 2010  & 2011– Transforming Family Dilemmas  (Focus on Families Program)

Building Bridges Conference 2011, Boston MA - Creative Meal Times Workshop

CT Storytelling Festival 2009, New London, CT – Scheduled to do workshop for national storytelling conference participants on Stories from Hospice.

AdCare Educational Institute, Inc, Worcester, MA 2009 – Family Dilemmas presentation

Special Education Resource Center, Middletown, CT 2009 – Family Dilemmas presentation

“Together We Will” Conference 2008 in Cromwell, CT for State of CT Education Resource Center  - presenting a 90 minute workshop on Dance Therapy and Expressive Arts for Children with Special Needs

Association of Personal Historians National Conference 2008 in Nashville, Tennessee - Presenting a 90 minute workshop on personal history poems and hospice care

Institute for Community Research International Conference 2007 - Speaker on panel for The Arts and Healthcare talking about using poetry with terminally ill patients

Exploring Possibilities - The Art of Inclusion - Conference Speaker 2007 & 2006 on developing arts programs for children with special needs

KidSteps Family Program – Family Dilemmas – 2007 Speaking on common dilemmas of families of children with special needs with Andrew Miser, PhD

Spencer School PTA – Day in the Life of Chris – 2007 Photo journalistic program that demonstrates a day in the life of a special needs child, from getting up in the morning, the school day to bed time.

Yale New Haven Children's Hospital 2007 - Consultant to Yale's Expressive Arts Children's Program; Child Life Staff in-service on expressive arts; Worked with individual patients and in clinics

Guilford Arts Center 2006 Achievement Awards – Speaker at award ceremony on using poetry and art with children with terminal illness and special needs

CT Coalition to Improve End of Life Care Conference 2006 - Speaker on using expressive arts and poetry with terminally ill children  

Parents Available to Help Gala 2006 - Speaker as PATH Honoree at the 2006 Gala Banquet talking about work with special needs children

Village for Families and Children 2006 - Speaking engagement & staff training in dance therapy and expressive poetry for children with special needs

St. Vincent’s Hospital Special Needs Services Conference 2006 - Speaker for conference regarding children with gastrostomy tubes - talk entitled “Creative Meal Times”

Higher Order Thinking Schools Conference 2006 - Speaker on a panel regarding using the arts with children with special needs

Connecticut Association of Physical Education, Health, Recreation & Dance 2005 Conference – presentation on Expressive Dance

Board of Education Services for the Blind – Regional Conference 2005 - Family Dilemmas – 2007 Speaking on common dilemmas of families of children with special needs with Andrew Miser, PhD

Poetry Readings & Classes

CT Children’s Medical Center, Hartford, CT – Poetry project with patients and their families

Yale Children’s Medical Center, New Haven, CT – Poetry project with patients and their families

Day Away Conference, CT VNA Hospice, Madison, CT – Read poetry and taught expressive poetry class

Mercy Center, Madison, CT – “Poems from Hospice” - poetry reading of expressive life history poems created with the stories of terminally ill patients

ArtSpace, Hartford, CT - “Poems from Hospice” - poetry reading of expressive life history poems created with the stories of terminally ill patients

Windham Arts, Willimantic, CT - “Poems from Hospice” - poetry reading of expressive life history poems created with the stories of terminally ill patients

NOMA Gallery, Middletown, CT - “Poems from Hospice” - poetry reading of  expressive life history poems created with the stories of terminally ill patients

St. Francis Hospital, Hartford, CT - “Poems from Hospice”  - poetry reading of  expressive life history poems created with the stories of terminally ill patients

Community Art Projects

John Lyman School, Middlefield, CT 2010 - Oil Drum Art (first & second grades)

Discovery Museum, Bridgeport, CT 2009 – Junk Man & Oil Drum projects for Green Day Festival

New London Library, CT, 2009 – Oil Drum Painting Project with after school program

Samuel Staples School, Easton, CT 2008 – Oil Drum Painting Project with third grade to create recycling containers for school

Town of Brookfield, CT, 2008 – Oil Drum Painting Project for town Memorial Day parade; public invited to paint designs on recycled oil drums to be used as recycling containers in Brookfield parks.

Feet to the Fire Festival, Middletown, CT, 2008 – Oil Drum Painting Project for an environmental festival sponsored by Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT; public invited to paint designs on recycled oil drums to be used as recycling containers in Veterans Memorial Park, Middletown, CT.

Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism HOT Schools Conference, Hartford, CT 2008 – Oil Drum Painting Project for Higher Order Thinking Schools 2008 annual conference

Earth Place, Westport, CT 2008 – Earth Day festival creating “Junk People” with the public; Junk people made from recycled everyday junk

MARC Community Resources – Oil Drum Painting Project & Junk Man Project 2008 & 2009 -  with developmentally disabled adults; painting environmental art on recycled oil drums

Lyme Consolidated School – Oil Drum Painting Project – elementary school-wide project with recycled oil drums painting eco-systems for Earth Day