Agenda
9:00 Registration
9:30 Welcome in the Janis Community Room
10:00 Clay Making Workshop with Phil Wilson in the Janis Room
11:00 “Creativity” – The importance of learning in and through the arts for differentiated learners; defining the purpose of the Michigan Arts Access Artists-in-Residence Program. Presenters: George Armstrong, Retired Special Educator, Brandon Shirley, Teacher of the severely multiply impaired, Michael Gielniak, MiAA Executive Director, Lora Frankel, VSA Michigan Director Emerita, and project partners, Troy DeShano, Executive Director of the Northwest Michigan Arts & Culture Network, Kristi Wodek, Vice President of Crooked Tree Arts Center, and Liz Celeste, Curator of Education and Exhibitions at the Dennos Museum Center in the Janis Room
12:30 Lunch and Socializing
1:00 Music with Ron Fowler in the Janis Room Creative Dance with Lisa LaMarre in the Sculpture Court
2:30 Break
2:45 Visual Arts with Barbara Taylor in the Janis Room Theatre and Storymaking with Amy Johnson in the Sculpture Court
3:15 Break
3:30 Q&A with all presenters in the Janis Room
4:30 Next steps
Presenter Bios
George Armstrong has been encouraging community-based recreation, employment, cultural and civic engagement for individuals with limited access since 1980. Ed.S degree in Educational Administration and bachelor’s degrees in special education and Therapeutic Recreation from Central Michigan University, and a Master of Science Degree in Adaptive Physical Education from Western Michigan University were helpful in the effort to increase awareness and improve opportunities for people who experience barriers to complete inclusion in their communities. Founder of SPIRIT Day Camp and serving on the board of Challenge Mountain and the Bergmann Center are a continuation of the work completed as a classroom special education teacher (retired) in the Public Schools of Petoskey after thirty-six years of service. During my tenure as a schoolteacher, I was active in the Council of Exceptional Children, the Michigan Transition Services Association, the Petoskey Education Association, and various Civic Organizations in Petoskey. Currently managing the Pirate’s Cove Adventure Golf Course and as a member of the Petoskey Chamber of Commerce much work continues to be necessary to promote access to life including the work completed by Michigan Arts Access. In 2002 VSA Arts helped our local chapter develop an Arts Festival for special education students served by our local school districts and the Charlevoix Emmet Intermediate School District. On several occasions I was able to participate in the Artists-in-Residence program which provided a variety of opportunities for artistic learning and skill development. Believing that everyone should be connected to their world, it is imperative we use our gifts and talents to encourage total access to all outlets of creativity, community engagement, sports, recreation and jobs, knocking down as many barriers as we can on our journey.
Ron Fowler attended Michigan State University and earned a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resource and Environmental Education with minor in Human Communication/Speech and secondary education teaching certification and Master of Arts for Teaching in Elementary Outdoor Education. He instructed 6th through 9th grade students in Physical Education, Social Studies, Math, Life Science, Earth Science, Public Speaking, and Native American Studies at Eaton Rapids Middle School for ten years and served as director of the eighth grade winter camp for three years. During that time, Ron also discovered storytelling, old time music and dance, claw hammer banjo, ukulele and Appalachian clog dancing, and helped to form the Looking Glass Music and Arts Association. He performed in the band Public Works and danced with both the Clydesdale Cloggers and the Eaton County Drain Cloggers. After moving north in 1986, he worked at the Petoskey District Library for 29 years, served on the Downtown Events Committee, the Library of Michigan Rural Libraries Conference Committee, the Michigan Library Association Children’s Services Division Board and the Crooked Tree Art Center’s New Year’s Eve Committee among others. He has been involved with the Blissfest Music Organization, including: 12 years as board president, secretary for 6 years as well as Stage Supervisor, performer and MC for the annual festival for 40 years. He has also served as president of the Jordan Valley Fiddlers, and has been telling stories and singing songs to kids and families around the state for over 40 years. In addition, he currently plays claw hammer banjo in the band Harbor HoeDown, fills the role of grandfather and provides musical experiences for differently abled kids in northern Lower Michigan for Michigan Arts Access. In 2018 he received an “Eddi Award” for Lifetime Achievement from the Crooked Tree Arts Center.
Lora Frankel has been promoting creative power in people with disabilities for over 40 years. While serving as executive director of VSA Michigan, she created and directed the nationally recognized Michigan Artists-in-Residence program that has been conducted in more than 150 schools, and the award winning artsJAM (jobs and mentoring) Gallery & Studio program, engaging youth with disabilities in learning about careers in the arts mentored by professional artists. A former dancer and choreographer, Lora holds an MFA in dance and a permanent teaching certificate in the State of Michigan. She served on the faculties of the University of Toledo and University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and in Michigan at Wayne County and Oakland community colleges, two Detroit high schools and at the Midwest Dance Center in Oak Park. For 7 years she served as executive director of Young Audiences of Michigan and for 8 years as Outreach/Education coordinator for the Michigan Dance Association coordinating dance residencies in schools throughout the state. During her 11 year tenure as a governor appointee to the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, Lora served as a voice for persons with disabilities to promote accessibility of arts and culture for all people. Lora is dedicated to furthering lifelong learning through the arts for persons with and without disabilities, and currently serves as a consultant to Michigan Arts Access providing advice for the implementation of residency programs in schools throughout the state and professional development opportunities for educators and artists to further the teaching of the arts to differentiated learners and the inclusion of the arts in the school curriculum and community-based programming.
Michael Gielniak, PhD, Is a musician, educator, and researcher. He has worked with schools, districts and states across the country, and in Europe, Africa and the Middle East in an effort to redefine learning around systems of continuous improvement. In 2009 Dr. Gielniak led the research team for the groundbreaking study of the academic and financial effects of education technology called Project RED. He is a co-author of the research report, The Technology Factor, Nine Keys to Student Achievement and Cost Effectiveness, which has become the most widely used resource globally for the proper implementation of 1:1 technology in schools. Dr. Gielniak is also the co-author of two other books: Revolutionizing Education through Technology, and Technology for Learning: A Guidebook for Change, both of which are valuable resources for the proper implementation of education technology. Prior to his work with education technology, Dr. Gielniak was an acclaimed arts educator. Both a Fulbright Scholar and an Emmy Award winner, he has collaborated with Detroit Public Television, Michigan Music Educators Association, Michigan Art Education Association, Michigan School Vocal Music Association, National Arts Education Association, and Artserve Michigan. He also served as evaluator for a variety of VSA Michigan programs, and as grant reviewer for Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and U.S. Department of Education. Dr. Gielniak is currently Executive Director of Michigan Arts Access (formerly VSA Michigan), and is a Visiting Scholar at the University of Michigan. He holds degrees in elementary and secondary instruction, Education Leadership, and his doctoral work was in the cognitive neurosciences domain.
Lisa LaMarre, M.A. Dance Teaching Artistry, has been developing her integrated dance art curriculum since 2006, engaging K-12 and adult transition special education classrooms in hands-on dance explorations. She uses a multidisciplinary, multisensory approach adaptable for diverse learning styles and movement abilities. Lisa is dedicated to her work with Michigan Arts Access, where she uses dance to teach curriculum and special education plan goals. In addition to this work, she teaches at Wayne State University (WSU), directs the WSU Company One outreach dance company, and also directed LaMarre and Dancers dance company. Lisa is a creator of original live art performances and screen dance films. Her choreography has been featured at universities, galleries, museums, parks, and stages. Lisa is a member of Michigan Dance Council and the National Dance Education Organization. Her work has been presented at conferences nationally and in Canada, and her research on “The Role of Teaching Artists in Postsecondary Education…” was published in the Journal of Dance Education in 2019.
Amy Johnson moved to Michigan to pursue a Master’s degree in Performance Studies, after teaching high school speech and English for eight years in Illinois. She has been a lecturer in Communication, Performance and Education at Eastern Michigan University ever since she graduated. Through her time at EMU, Amy has created and directed “A Head Full of Snakes” an original collaborative production as part of EMU’s Theater Season, “Lifting the Vail”, “Taking Off” and “Snake Eyes” Readers Theater’s for competition at ARTa (American Reader’s Theater Association) and numerous other performances for public and private events on campus. She has also built partnerships between her students at EMU and Bright Futures to run forensic and improv clubs as well as being a part of WCC/EMU’s Theater Group a semester long project partnering EMU faculty and student and inmates at Woodland Correctional Center. Amy has over 20 years’ experience coaching and directing forensic programs and running and participating in youth speech camps. Professionally, she is also an Executive Communications Coach for Keany Communications specializing in presentation creation and coaching as well as executive presence. In addition to Teaching Artist work with Michigan Arts Access, Amy serves as Executive Director of Matrix Theater. Personally, Amy is currently one of the founding members of the UnTheater Company in Detroit that produces Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind. The performance experience “It(s) About Time” is her brain child and is being produced for a second run in Ypsilanti March 16th and 17th 2018. When she is not working, she is most likely dancing. Amy holds a board position for her local Swing dance organization Friday Night Swing and regularly teaches and DJs.
Brandon Shirley is a teacher of multiply, severely impaired students in the Cheboygan-Otsego-Presque Isle Educational Service District. Brandon attended Central Michigan University and earned a Bachelor of Science in Education and then continued his career in Education at Ferris State University receiving his Masters of Education with a concentration in students with Cognitive Impairments. He has been working with students with severe cognitive impairments in Northern Michigan for seven years, has been hosting Michigan Arts Access artists in residence programs for the past five years, and has facilitated the engagement of his students in creative arts activities.
Barbara Taylor is a visual artist who resides in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. She has been a Teaching Artist with Michigan Arts Access since 2014, and received the Teaching Artist of the Year award in 2019. As a Teaching Artist, Barbara has engaged students with special needs in Early Childhood, K-12, and learners in Transition classrooms in the Gratiot and Isabella County school district in creative art activities. She has similarly engaged adults with special needs in the community via Michigan Arts Access’s Club Create Program at Art Reach in Mt. Pleasant. Barbara is meticulous in selecting types of art projects that are exciting and achievable by the students, and she is thoughtful in providing them with clear understandings of the projects, as well as with supplies and tools they are able to physically manage. She takes the admirable step of familiarizing herself with technological equipment used by students and learners who are non-verbal or have hearing impairments so that she is able to effectively communicate with them, and they with her. Learners of all ages love engaging in creative art with Barbara, and they eagerly await her arrival in their classroom for what they know will be an exciting “surprise” project. A testimony to her engagement of students in creative art activities is a comment made by more than one classroom teacher that “Ms. Taylor encourages the students’ ability to be attentive and to stay on task for longer than is typical or expected.”
Phil Wilson is the co-owner of ClaySpace in Traverse City where he teaches with clay. He has been working with porcelain for over 40 years as a studio potter, displaying and selling his work at art fairs and galleries around the country while pursuing a parallel teaching career. His work has been commissioned by several corporate entities. His clay creations are both functional and aesthetic, and directly connected to the environment. Most rewarding are the many years of working with a range of populations with disabilities. He first began teaching special education students for Very Special Arts Michigan over 35 years ago in Grand Rapids, and continued teaching with Arts for All when he moved to Traverse City. Phil conducted professional development workshops for educators in collaboration with VSA Michigan at Michigan Council for Exceptional Children Conferences. He says, “When I’m not working with clay myself, I love teaching with it. The way people are drawn in as they work and the wonderful variety of expressive things made is always a delight.”