Artists | CreativeSonoma.org

Jen Black Design, Graphic Design, Jewelry, Painting

Hi, I’m Jen Black and am the owner and creative force behind Jen Black Design and Alchemy + Herbs Healing.

After spending 15 years working for a mix of advertising agencies, boutique design firms, and in-house design departments I ventured out on my own in 2016 and haven't looked back. The majority of my career was spent in print design but I’ve handled everything from print production, photography, and project management to web design, social media, and large 360 shopper marketing campaigns. I work with a wide range of clients in various industries, from small startups to established companies. No matter what stage your brand or business is in my goal is always the same, to provide exceptional service and an end product that you can’t wait to share with the world. I would love to chat with you about how we can work together to grow your business! Art and healing are two of my passions so I like finding unique ways to combine them into products for the mind, body, and spirit. I create one-of-a-kind Reiki-infused wearable art and paintings along with a line of personal care products and ritual tools. Feel free to browse my online shop and don't hesitate to reach out with any questions!

Jorge Bolaños-Santillan Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Youth, Visual Arts Teaching Artist Jorge Bolaños-Santillan offers residencies for older elementary age students called "World Healing Arts: How Other Cultures Express Emotions Through Art." Jorge was born and raised in Mexico City. He was educated as a cultural anthropologist and worked creating oral history workshops with indigenous communities as well as videography and visuals arts projects. He moved to Sonoma County and worked has recently begun working as a Community Couch in the Life Skills Department at Becoming Independent. He also participates in Raizes Collective, a non-profit that promotes art in the Latino and immigrant community.

LIA Bonagura-Transue Painting, Visual Arts Lia Bonagura-Transue was born and raised in New York City to artist parents. She attended the now famous High School of Music & Art in NYC, studied Design at the California Institute of the Arts and completed her formal education in Illustration and Painting at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. After a ten year reign as founding director of the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, Lia found her way back to her true passion…painting. Connecting with her deep design & illustrative roots while painting with oil on canvas, Lia infuses highly personal yet commonly shared content with carefully composed, balanced, but often stark graphic representations of our shared reality. Painting about our mutual experiences in this manner exposes the viewer to a deeper, emotionally charged & individualized message.

Ipolani Bovee Folk Art, Illustration, Mixed, Other, Visual Arts

Ipolani Bovee

Artists Bio

Ipolani Bovee is a native Hawaiian artist born in Salt Lake City, Utah. Ipolani has demonstrated an eloquent talent in her pursuit of art focusing on watercolor, digital art, as well as pen and ink. Her artistry consists of a profusion of personal expression, art for art’s sake and the natural world around her.

Her influence of personal experiences and environment have allowed her to transcend in her talent of line drawing, hatching, shading, stippling and blending techniques.

She is married with 3 children and currently resides in Cloverdale, California where she owns and operates KO Studio Art and Tattoo.

Jesus Bravo Artisan, Functional Art, Furniture, Sculpture, Visual Arts As a child, and first generation immigrant in this country I was never completely sure about my future. After graduating high school, I applied to SRJC and selected the welding program. Although I had a wonderful education and certification, I was unable to secure a job in the field due to my immigration status. After fifteen years of being undocumented, I had the opportunity to acquire U.S. citizenship. After I landed my first welding job, it was at that shop where I learned to create metal art, or what I like to call forever art. I would stay after work and began to put my skills to the test, spending long hours and weekends to create my own style which is highly influenced by Mother Nature, my ancestral roots, and indigenous tribes around the American continent and the world. I began making simple yard art, while continuing to develop my skills. I then started making various furniture pieces, doing larger jobs such as gates, planter boxes, and repair jobs. With these projects, I continued to develop my style of art, including original art and commissioned pieces. Every day was and still is spent practicing, evolving, and pushing my skills to become a better fabricator and artist. This is what I call BravoSculpt. In the South Central Mexico, the town I was born and raised in is very close to a sacred Mexica location ca led Malinalco. Since it was so close, it was a place we frequented as a family throughout my childhood. Malinalco has influenced and inspired my work because it is a place of rich history where I have learned, and continue to learn about the rich heritage left by our ancestors– a location of the monolith Cuahucalli, where the Mexica eagle and jaguar warriors were Trained and Initiated. Communities need to heal from ongoing traumas and I believe culture helps us heal, including art. I also believe that knowledge is power, and as I continue to learn more about my own culture, it helps me expand knowledge of other cultures and communities. I began attending several cultural events around the Bay Area, including Dia de los Muertos at various locations, Mexica New Year in San Jose, and Carnaval in San Francisco. These events have heavily influenced me and my art, as they highlight many BIPOC communities. It is at these events where we experience a sense of community and a sense of belonging. Al participants and attendees, including myself, learn so much from each other– it is truly beautiful and inspiring. These events include ancestral ceremonies, dances, altars, among other traditions that have taught me many ways to celebrate all of our ancestors. In my daily life, I like to incorporate traditional, ancestral ways of giving. And through my art, I aim to share the knowledge I am acquiring. In addition, I have had the great pleasure to collaborate with several local community projects through incredible nonprofit organizations and community groups including Sonoma Immigrant Services, Art Escape, the Springs Municipal Advisory Council, and El Verano Elementary School.

Greg Brennan Film Office, General Services, Literature, Media I’ve developed all types of communications. Business to business. Business to consumer. Internal communications. Videos—sales, training, motivational, and more. Print ads. Executive communications. Radio and TV spots. Collateral. Web copy. Interactive projects. Newsletters. And I’ve developed them for financial services companies. For retailers. For high tech companies. For health care companies. And for companies in other industries. I’ve been around the executive floor, so I’m great with senior staff. But I also work well with line people. I’ve presented concepts and handled clients with care. I’ve managed teams of people. And I’ve worked solo. I’ve done some unique stuff, too. Like written a book that Dearborn published. And developed an entertainment-on-demand application for Paramount. And directed several television series that aired nationally on public television and cable.

Deb Breton Painting, Visual Arts Deb Breton is an abstract expressionist artist working in Sonoma County, California. She creates vibrant paintings using acrylics, oils, and collage. Her abstract artworks evoke the viewer's imagination, while her portrait work celebrates the human spirit. Painting intuitively, she allows the artwork to flow from her subconscious mind onto the canvas. "Every gestural mark, brushstroke, and drop of paint is an expression of emotion. And it's this energy in these paintings that I share with you." I'm an avid fruit and vegetable gardener, animal lover, birder, cancer survivor and meditation enthusiast. Notable clients include Warner Bros Studios, Dali Museum and Nestle

Mandy Brooks Composition, Instrumental, Music, Teacher/Instructor, Vocal Mandy Brooks found the road to music career a natural path to follow as she grew up with a mother who was a professional singer. She began sitting in with her mom's bands and learning about the industry from about 12 yo. Throughout her teens and twenties, she studied music in high school, college, recorded on various audio and visual projects in the studio and performed in live groups and ensembles including The Jimmy Scott Band, Blues Baby & Good Thing. Mandy has taught piano, voice and band workshops throughout the years at Yamaha Music School; Irvine, CA; Moody Music; Anaheim, Ca. and currently teaches privately out of her home studio. As the founder of Mockingbird Productions Company, she enjoy promoting and booking acts for venues and independently. 2017 marked the year of my debut album release, "Move on Up". Mandy Brooks is the leader of the "Mandy Brooks Band", also formed in 2017, featuring local artists including Levi Lloyd on guitar. Since this release, Mandy has also released five original songs and performs nationally with her family band “Small Hat”. As well as performing live, Mandy has a passion for songwriting. Mandy has won an award in 2017 from the West Coast Songwriters, and a finalist in the 2019 Creative Sonoma Next Level songwriting contest. Mandy was also commissioned in 2018 to write a song “Common Ground” in commemoration of the 2017 Tubbs fire. Women in Music Collective was founded by Mandy Brooks in 2017 and has since produced a benefit concert in 2018 as well as donated instruments to women, to Verity and the Ronnie Martin Foundation. In 2019 Mandy was asked to speak on behalf of the collective for the Women’s March in Santa Rosa in front of 3,500 people. 2018 Mandy won the female artist of the year for the Christian/Gospel category for the Josie Music Awards in Nashville. Mandy has a passion for helping other musicians achieve their goals and making a positive change in her community through her songs and her music. Singing, playing guitar and keyboard, writing songs and utilizing the gift of music to make a difference in individuals and communities is a driving force behind the music and life of Mandy Brooks.

Karen Joy Brown Music, Vocal Karen Joy Brown's elegantly sparse acoustic pop/jazz/Americana guitar and deeply soulful voice express heartfelt emotion that inspires reflection and connection in listeners. Her songwriting reveals a poet's soul captivated by the spiritual challenges, lessons, and bliss inherent in human experience. The powerful combination of well-crafted lyrics and an enchanting vocal delivery reach out to befriend and uplift with her singular sense of rhythm, humor, and compassion. Karen and former Bootleg Honey bandmate, Katie Phillips, are currently exploring new ways to combine songwriting, singing, and recovery/personal growth work in an upcoming podcast to be released April 2024, Supernova Support. The show aims to inspire by sharing how songwriting has supercharged their own personal work and craft as well as create an interactive space for listeners to engage their own creativity and personal insight through meditation, writing, and more. They aspire to expand the principles of the show into both online and in-person workshops, retreats, house concerts and more.

Monica Bryant Illustration, Mixed, Painting, Photography, Visual Arts Monica Bryant is a mixed-media artist. She was born in Kansas, received her BA in Art from the University of Hawaii and her MFA from UC Berkeley. In 2004 she was awarded a fellowship at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York. Bryant is a credentialed Art Teacher who chaired the Art Department at Ursuline High School in Santa Rosa, CA for nine years. After Ursuline closed in 2011, Bryant instructed drawing and color theory at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) in San Francisco. She also became the art teacher at Brush Creek Montessori School in Santa Rosa until June 2014. Bryant is a Sonoma County Art Trails Artist and her work has been exhibited nationally and in Singapore. Influenced by her international travel experiences, including the three years she lived in Singapore, Bryant created distinctive remixed photographs of South East Asia in the 60’s. The photographic mixed-media works were exhibited in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Caffe Museo, October 2005. Bryant’s past work includes a large rebar and fiberglass apron, papier-mâché objects and paintings and drawings. In a newspaper article years ago, Khysie Horn said “Bryant is a conceptual artist who invites reflection and introspection”. In 2002 Bryant was the lead artist for the mural on the Press Democrat Building entitled The 50 Who Shaped Sonoma County in the 20th Century. https://www.monikaiart.studio/

Rudolf Budginas Music, Recovery Fund Grantee Rudolf's music is an entertaining classical/rock/jazz/latin show that expands the borders of classical music with a surprising mix of genres for all generations. Piano virtuoso Rudolf Budginas plays classical "hits" accompanied by a live band. A new way to experience classical music through impeccable artistry, audience interaction, and dazzling wit. Rudolf is a brilliant, internationally-renowned concert pianist, whose deft fingers have delighted audiences from Denmark to Japan and a dozen countries in between. He has acquired a numerous international awards and honors and has a movie star-like personal charm, charisma and perhaps most importantly, a sense of humor, which allows him to connect and interact with his audiences.

Allegra Burke Artisan, Fiber Art, Jewelry, Mixed, Multi-Media, Printmaking, Recovery Fund Grantee, Sculpture, Teacher/Instructor, Visual Arts, Woodworking A self employed working artist since 2003, I am also an instructor, problem solver and creative. I work in a variety of mediums: Sculpture, Collage, Printmaking, Fiber art, Kanoko Shibori, Shifu, Book making, Boro, Tapestry, Assemblage, Encaustic, Felting, International mail art, Marbling, Block printing, and Mono printing. I have taught at the SRJC, Riley St, and by request to various art groups.

Cade Burkhammer Artisan, Audio, Ceramics, Design, Fiction, Functional Art, Graphic Design, Illustration, Instrumental, Interior Design, Literature, Media, Mixed, Multi-Media, Music, Other, Other, Other, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture, Teacher/Instructor, Video, Visual Arts Cade Burkhammer, born April 21st 1973, has been painting and exhibiting paintings and playing music since he was 13 years old around the country. Painting styles include surreal oils, abstract acrylic and latex, experimental and controlled mixed media, watercolor illustration, original Photoshop photography, ceramics, bronze sculpture, writing, landscape design, gardening, science, healing arts, bardic meditation, drumming, piano, DJ... Cade is the creator of 'The Wise Fool Tarot', a self-published independent manifesto that took 15 years of research, meditation, painting, writing and raising funds for printing and distributing. This year will be Cade's second tarot release collaborating with another author. His third oracle deck is in the making. Cade is the creator of 'Wrecords', a series of recordings and sound collages in the vain of Vicki Bennett and Philip Jeck, which is the musical accompaniment for the video series 'Recycled Memories.' A multi-media event featuring video and sound collage of noisy vintage meditation of the forgotten past and dreamy future combined with live drums, piano and sometimes female vocals.

Dani Burlison Fiction, Literature, Non-Fiction, Other Dani Burlison (she/her) is a mom, writer, teacher, and activist. She is the creator/editor of “All of Me: Stories of Love, Anger and the Female Body” (PM Press, 2019), and the author of “Some Places Worth Leaving” (Tolsun Books, 2020) and “Dendrophilia and Other Social Taboos: True Stories,” a collection of essays which first appeared in her McSweeney's Internet Tendency column of the same name. She is co-editing an anthology about Northern California fires which will be published by Heyday Books in 2023. Dani has been a staff writer at a Bay Area alt-weekly and a regular contributor at Yes! Magazine, Chicago Tribune, KQED, and elsewhere. Her journalism, fiction and personal essays can also be found at Ms. Magazine, WIRED, Earth Island Journal, The Rumpus, Portland Review, Hip Mama Magazine, and in various anthologies and zines. She studied Activism & Social Change as well as Culture, Ecology & Sustainable Community at New College of California and lives on unceded Southern Pomo and Wappo land in Sonoma County, California. You can find out more at daniburlison.com

Charya Burt Choreography, Dance, Other, Professional Performance, Teacher/Instructor Charya Burt is an acclaimed master dancer, choreographer, vocalist and teacher of Classical Cambodian Dance. After the Khmer Rouge genocide, Burt trained extensively with Cambodia’s foremost surviving dance masters, eventually joining the dance faculty of Cambodia’s Royal University of Fine Arts. As a member of Cambodia’s Royal Dance Troupe, she toured internationally. Since emigrating in 1993, Burt has performed her works throughout the nation at venues including Jacob’s Pillow, San Francisco Opera House, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and many others. A true culture bearer, Burt has conducted workshops at schools and colleges around the country. Burt has devoted her life to reviving classical Cambodian dance through preserving authentic movements, gestures and dances of the classical repertory, thus helping to strengthen a sense of cultural identity for Cambodian-Americans. She has trained thousands of dance students throughout California including multiple stints as artist-in-residence at Cambodian cultural centers in Stockton, San Jose, and Khmer Arts Academy in Long Beach. A Hewlett 50 Commission was awarded her in 2021 to create The Rebirth of Apsara: Artistic Lineage, Cultural Resilience and the Resurrection of Cambodian Arts from the Ashes of Genocide. An inaugural Dance/USA and 2022 Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellow and Isadora Duncan Award recipient for Individual Performance, Burt has received multiple grants from the Center for Cultural Innovation, Creative Work Fund, and Alliance for California Traditional Arts including their Living Cultures Grant (2021) to create the Charya Burt Cambodian Dance Digital Library. Her recent choreographic works include Silenced (2018), Of Spirits Intertwined (2018), and Heavenly Garden (2016). Burt’s mission is to continue to preserve and renew her art-form, elevate the professionalism of community dance groups, and to create innovative new works firmly rooted in tradition. She is founding artistic director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance, based in the San Francisco North Bay. www.charyaburt.com

Reena Burton Illustration, Mixed, Painting, Visual Arts Born and raised in beautiful Sonoma County, CA. I studied Fine Art in college, and fell in love with youth work and community arts. I worked for many years in non-profits and schools teaching art and community building skills to children and youth. I also have a deep connection to spirituality. I studied theology at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, and worked for a time in youth ministry, teaching young people skills to access their creative and spiritual voice. I am constantly searching for new ways to express my art, and my works range from painting, drawing, mixed media, and collage. My pieces call from my life experiences, world events, and social issues. Most commonly featured themes are relationships, spirituality, intersectional feminism, self-love, green witchcraft, body image, gender norms, sexuality, and social justice. I am an amateur seamstress, a green witch, and love painting small (and occasionally big) faces. I love to run, swim, snuggle with my family, practice yoga, play in the dirt, walk barefoot, and take long baths. Things like crystals and flowers make me really, really happy. Rom-coms and British mysteries are my sweet spot. Also am a bit of a nudist. When an opportunity presents itself, I can transform into a mermaid fairly quickly. I live in Graton, California with my family: partner Zeb, son Emmett, and (very) large kitty Charlie.

Mark Bush Audio, Composition, Fiction, Instrumental, Literature, Media, Music, Non-Fiction, Other, Performance Art, Photography, Poetry, Visual Arts, Vocal Musician performer songwriter composer Artist rocKabilly poP coWboy punK jazz PoetrY

Loren Butchart Recovery Fund Grantee, Visual Arts

Loren Butchart is a tattoo artist in the Sonoma County area. Butchart also produces a podcast entitled Brave Castle Cast, which can be found on iTunes:

"Brave Castle is a podcast dedicated to discussing the pursuit of creativity with an emphasis on entrepreneurship and multi-perspective thinking. Makers, Builders, Artists, Writers, Thinkers, and Adventurers. Anyone I have access to who use their short time in existence to plant their flag as high as they can on the mountain of success, what ever that may be. This podcast is to be long format discussions into the lives and ideas of people that I respect. People of thought and action. My interests lay all over and I collect weirdos as friends. This podcast is a place to show case them, their work and their unique perspectives of the world. Brave Castle is a spelunking mission into conversation."

Eric Butterfield Composition, Instrumental, Music, Vocal

Eric Butterfield's most recent single was a semi-finalist in the 2017 International Songwriting Competition.

Eric Butterfield is a songwriter based in Santa Rosa. His most recent single, "Wake Me in Paris," was a semi-finalist in both the 2017 International Songwriting Competition (unsigned category) and the 2018 Unsigned Only music contest. The song was produced and co-written by Scott Mickelson. His near-term goal is to release a full album featuring this song.

Eric performs locally as a solo act. He also releases music as Sons of the Golden West, and released a CD under that name in 2016.

Eric's music has appeared on more than 200 TV show episodes, on many major networks.

His self-produced six-song EP as Sons of the Golden West, "Oh, California!", received airplay on KALX in Berkeley, the Americana Music Show (Durham, N.C.), WCNI (Connecticut), and was put in rotation at San Diego State's KCR.

Eric's TV credits include Last Call With Carson Daly (NBC), True Life (MTV), The Nate Berkus Show (OWN), Remodeled (Web TV Network), Real Housewives of Atlanta (Bravo), N.Y. Ink (TLC), Last Chance Highway (Animal Planet), Porter Ridge (Discovery), Flipping Out (Bravo), and PM Miami (Mun2). The song "Teriza" appeared in an online video narrated by Ashley Judd, "Help Save Idaho's Wolves." (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qK1mZ4fL6Pk). A nearly complete list can be found at https://www.ericbutterfieldmusic.com/tv-credits

Eric's West Coast roots run deep. He is a fourth-generation Californian who grew up in the Los Angeles area. This heritage and a sense of a rapidly changing landscape losing its history inspire much of what has become the varied Americana sounds of Sons of the Golden West (www.sonsofthegoldenwest.com). Travel and relocation have also been an influence. In the 1990s, Eric was turned on to the vibrant Americana music scene in Denver, Colorado. At the time, he played in a pop punk band that toured the Western U.S. and released multiple albums, landing songs on compilations from AP magazine and San Diego label Goldenrod Records. Prior to that, Eric played in Dublin, Ireland, with The Mexican Pets, which recorded albums for Blunt Records, toured Europe, and played with the likes of Pavement, Fugazi, Sebadoh, and Therapy?. More recently he played in San Francisco with the Subtractions before forming Sons of the Golden West, both of which performed in clubs in the Bay Area and beyond.

Patti Buttitta Artisan, Design, Functional Art, Graphic Design, Illustration, Mixed, Other, Other, Other, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture, Visual Arts Patti Buttitta, artist and graphic designer— Patti draws on her background and experience as an artist, illustrator, writer and printmaker. She enjoys the challenge of complicated projects, but relishes the simple and immediate. She is known for innovative graphic design ideas, including logos, brand packaging, catalogs, books, publications, newsletters, direct-mail marketing campaigns and websites. She has achieved stunning results within limited budgets. Clearly communicating and concisely articulating concepts, she works with clients, colleagues, vendors, suppliers and other professionals to bring creative concepts to life. Her illustrations have complemented her many design solutions for wine labels, food packaging, marketing materials and brochures. Patti has turned her attention to website design, applying the same sense for clear communication and satisfying visual organization.

Nicoletta Camerin Photography, Visual Arts

I am a creative individual with an educational background in both Humanities and Design and a solid business management expertise. I am driven by my passion for creating beautiful images that not only arise an emotional response but also tell a story. I am passionate about preserving memories and representing someone’s story through images. With my camera, I can be bold, observe reality undisturbed and I can get closer to people: my camera is not only my creative outlet but also my way in into people’s true selves.

Teresa Camozzi Mixed, Painting, Photography, Sculpture, Visual Arts Bio : TeresaCamozzi Multimedia California artist Teresa Camozzi, born in Rabat, Morocco, immigrated to the United States when five years old. Her artwork evokes the complexity of the Islamic, while her immigration shades her political view. Studying in San Francisco's Academy of Art, her mentor was Ernst Posey. Known internationally for large-scale permanent public artworks, she combines representational and abstract images via conventional art methods (photography, drawing) and computer technology. One example is a seven-story installation near Shanghai, China; another is at Miami International Airport. She earned the National 2009 Americans for the Arts Award for public work in Plano, Texas. She is currently engaged in creating and exhibiting her documentary series about the 2020 Pandemic. Healdsburg CA Februrary 2021

Bob Canning Fiction, Film, Literature, Media, Other Although he is a produced screenwriter (Takin it Off!, a direct-to-video comedy, which went platinum in sales), and 17 of his essays appear in “George Lucas’s Blockbusting” (HarperCollins), Bob’s first love has always been theatre. He studied Comedy Writing with Danny Simon (Neil’s brother), Playwriting with Oliver Hailey and Doric Wilson, and musical theatre at Broadway at Sunset and the Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. He was a staff writer for the Walt Disney Studios for 14-1/2 years (and lived to tell about it), and a freelance writer for Warner Bros. Home Entertainment for five years. Bob’s plays have won numerous awards, including the 2010 Dr. Henry and Lilian Nesburn Playwright Award, sponsored by the Julie Harris Beverly Hills Theatre Guild for his bio-play, FARINGDON FOLLIES: Nudity, Debauchery and Afternoon Tea. In July 2010, it had an enthusiastically received reading in Faringdon, England, where the play’s lead character, Lord Berners, once lived. The reading took place before 110 people in the produce section of the local Budgens Supermarket, during Sunday business hours, in keeping with the theme of the town’s arts festival, “Celebrating Eccentricity.” (The play was also named a Semi-Finalist in the 2017Austin Film Festival’s Stage Play Category.) Crazy Eddy received unanimous rave reviews at its world premiere at the Little Fish Theatre, San Pedro, CA, and won 1st Place in 3 national playwriting contests. He's a member of the Dramatists Guild.

Katerina Capetanos Mixed, Painting, Visual Arts I am a self-taught encaustic artist living and working in the Sonoma Valley. I'm inspired by nature, bright color and movement. My artworks are described as abstract, fantastical botanicals. I use encaustic paints and mixed media to create bright, colorful "botanical," paintings that I create using my imagination.

Mari Capon Acting, Artisan, Arts Administration, Ballet, Ballroom, Children's, Choreography, Dance, Directing, Fiber Art, Fiction, Folk Art, Hip-Hop & Funk, Illustration, Improvisation, Improvisation, Latin, Literature, Media, Modern, Muralist, Music, Non-Fiction, Other, Other, Other, Painting, Performance Art, Poetry, Printmaking, Puppetry, Sculpture, Storytelling, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Adults, Teaching Artist for Youth, Theatre, Video, Visual Arts, Vocal Mari has been professionally involved in the arts world for over twenty years. As a child, she was a creative dancer at Virginia Tanner's Children Dance Theater, and she oil painted and sang in choirs. As a teen she acted, and was a make-up artist, poet, essayist, and ballroom dancer, and in young adulthood, she was a tango dancer and professional performing artist as an Art Model for artists working for Disney, EA, and countless Universities, Ateliers, Institutes, and Studios, and especially enjoyed set, costume, and lighting designs for painters and illustrators. Upon realizing that she most enjoyed coaching artists through their process, she began teaching, first creating art curriculum for a K-12 after-school program while becoming bilingual in Peru, before returning to the U.S. to become a certified cognitive movement, creative dance, and preschool music instructor. She began providing, teaching, and consulting for bilingual preschools and Summer Camps, tutoring, and coaching gymnastics, and continued to teach the arts and sports. She also taught inclusive sex education and spiritual development for children at interfaith, non-denominational churches, and facilitated somatic processing, while attending weekly classes in various forms. As an undergrad, Mari authored an Interdisciplinary Arts Curriculum Program for Pre-K through 12th Grade and became credentialed. She will research, publish, and offer her program while continuing to teach Interdisciplinary Arts.

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