2021 Faculty

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Quraysh Ali Lansana is author of twenty books in poetry, nonfiction, and children’s literature. Currently a Tulsa Artist Fellow and Director of the Center for Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation at Oklahoma State University-Tulsa, Lansana is also Adjunct Professor in Africana Studies and English. Lansana is Executive Producer of KOSU/NPR’s Focus: Black Oklahoma monthly radio program. A former faculty member of both the Writing Program of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Drama Division of The Juilliard School, he served as Director of the Gwendolyn Brooks Center for Black Literature and Creative Writing at Chicago State University from 2002-2012. His work Our Difficult Sunlight: A Guide to Poetry, Literacy & Social Justice in Classroom & Community was a 2012 NAACP Image Award nominee. Most recent books include the skin of dreams: new and collected poems, 1995-2018 and Opal’s Greenwood Oasis. Lansana’s work appears in Best American Poetry 2019. He is a founding member of Tri-City Collective.

Kansas City, Missouri

Sarah Hearn is an interdisciplinary visual artist and citizen scientist. Working at the intersections of art, science and science fiction, the artist explores the many forms of invisible life inhabiting the universe. Through drawing, photography, painting, collage, installation and public reciprocity she has developed several ongoing bodies of work revealing the invisible worlds of microbes, lichen, weather, ocean life and outer space. 

She exhibits her work in museums, galleries and art spaces across the United States and enjoys engaging with audiences in a variety of ways- from artist talks to lichen walks, to in person workshops, the artist values the many ways we are connected and works to cultivate authentic connections through a variety of means. She earned a BFA from the College of Santa Fe, and an MFA from Rochester Institute of Technology.

sarahhearn.art

Chesapeake, Virginia

Sherry Hatton has specialized in Arts Integration strategies throughout her 26 years in education. As a middle school band and general music teacher, Sherry consistently uses Arts Integration, Cross Curricular, Project Based Learning, and Brain Based Learning strategies and approaches to reach the diverse learners in her classroom. She provides professional development through her consulting business, and serves as an Educator in Residence for the Institute for Arts Integration and STEAM. Sherry holds a B.S. and M.A. in Music Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, M.S. in School Leadership and Administration from Capella University and a Certification in Arts Integration and STEAM. Sherry also serves on various committees at the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) revising standards and curriculum, and creating Arts Integrated lessons for the GoOpenVA website.

sherryhattonconsulting.net

Rogers, Arkansas

Dani Ives is an artist, educator and author. Her inspiration comes from a love of nature and science, which has an enormous influence on her work. Her enthusiasm for animals from an early age took her on a university and career path based in biology and conservation education, after which Dani worked as an educator at a zoo for ten years. During her conservation education career, she sought out hobbies to fulfill a need for artistic endeavors and stumbled upon needle felting. Dani has developed her distinct style of needle felting that she calls “painting with wool.” With this style, instead of using paint and a brush, she uses wool fibers and a felting needle to create the effects of layering color, creating texture and depth. She strives to push the boundaries of this fiber art by creating animal portraits and botanical pieces that are packed with details and realism.

daniives.com

Tecumseh, Oklahoma

Nicole Emmons is a filmmaker and mixed media/ installation artist specializing in stop motion animation from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She received her MFA in Experimental Animation from the California Institute of the Arts School of Film and Video as a Jacob K. Javits Fellow, and her Bachelors in Animation and Film from Columbia College Chicago. She is a dual citizen of the US and the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. Her short films have screened in film festivals nationally and internationally. Her work can be seen on network, streaming, and web formats in series, music videos, feature films, and commercials. Most recently you can see her work on Netflix and the Obama's Higher Ground Productions streaming children's series, "Waffles and Mochi." She is a founding member of the international Bodewadmi Kwe Art and Craft Collective, and a member of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition.

nicoleeemmons.com

San Francisco, California 

Doug Goodkin is an internationally recognized Orff Schulwerk teacher, teaching in over 50 countries worldwide. He worked with children from three years old to eighth grade in The San Francisco School for 45 years, is the author of nine books, is the director of San Francisco International Orff Course, the Jazz Course and has been a frequent guest teacher at The Orff Institut in Salzburg. He is also the pianist in and leader of the jazz quintet, The Pentatonics, bringing jazz to people of all ages.

His teaching has ventured beyond the borders of classic Orff Schulwerk, applying its principles to jazz, world music and diverse body percussion, to social justice and cultural issues, to deep pedagogy and contemporary ritual in schools. As described by one student, "his work is a long, earnest and continuing struggle to present music of integrity in a way that affirms our collective humanity."

douggoodkin.com