Past Webinars
2013 FAAE Arts Integration Teaching Artists’ Guided Residency Program
From a strong applicant pool, four (4) teaching artists were selected for participation in the second year of the in-depth FAAE Arts Integration Guided Residency program. Mentors, representing successful classroom/subject area teachers, arts teachers, and teaching artists, will mentor the five FAAE Arts Integration Teaching Artists. FAAE Arts Integration Teaching Artists work one-to-one with their personal mentor teams to build professional skills and to establish a sustainable and supportive learning community for Florida Teaching Artists. In addition, the 2012 FAAE Arts Integration Teaching Artists will continue their work and also will serve as mentors to these outstanding Teaching Artists.
FAAE 2013 Arts Integration Teaching Artist Profiles
Visual Art
Bonnie Berneau
Since August 2001, Bonnie Bernau has been with the Education Department at the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, located on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville, following two years as Visiting Assistant Professor in Art Education at UF. As of August 2010, Bonnie holds the title Education Curator of Community Programs, and was Education Department Chair 2001-2010. Along with 20 years as a public school art teacher and curriculum developer, Bonnie conducted Discipline-Based Art Education training for the Florida Institute for Art Education for 5 years throughout Florida for the J. Paul Getty Center for Education through the Arts.
From 1995-1999, Ms. Bernau was a Very Special Arts (VSA arts) “Start With the Arts” National Program Manager in Washington, DC, an inclusive arts program for young children. For the Arts Education Partnership's Task Force on Early Learning, she contributed to the seminal 1998 national report, "Young Children and the Arts: Birth to Age Eight." As a producing artist, Ms. Bernau participated in the 1998 Corcoran School of Art exhibit, "Triumph of the Spirit," in Washington DC.
Bonnie was honored by the Florida Art Education Association (FAEA) as “Florida Museum Educator of the Year” in 2004 and won the prestigious award, “Florida Art Educator of the Year” in 2005. Ms. Bernau, an active member of several professional organizations, has made numerous conference presentations to the Florida Association of Museums, Florida Art Education Association, National Art Education Association, VSA Florida, National Association of Educators of Young Children, and National Head Start Association. In 2009, Ms. Bernau served on a NAEA task force to update the national Art Educator Professional Standards. Bonnie Bernau holds both BS and MS degrees in Art Education from Florida State University and has completed all coursework for a PhD in Art Education at FSU.
Music
Jeff Brown
Jeff Brown has collaborated with thousands of students of all ages, serving as: Santa Fe Opera Composer-In-Residence and teaching artist; Albuquerque Public Schools Spanish Teaching Artist; National Dance Institute of New Mexico Pianist and vocal instructor; Choir pianist for Plano, TX Public Schools; Rio Grande Youth Chorale Assistant Conductor; guest lecturer for University of New Mexico; percussionist for Albuquerque City Zoo; Youth singers director in Orlando, FL; and Composer-in-Residence for National Hispanic Cultural Center/McCune Foundation.
Jeff’s artistic interests began with classical and jazz piano, and include electronic music, improvisation, African and Latin American percussion traditions, and art music for choirs. He is a three-time alum of The Banff Centre Artist in Residence Program (Banff, Alberta, Canada.) In 2012 he was selected for the Lehigh University’s Choral Composers Forum, and his works will receive 2012-2013 premiers with various choirs across the U.S. Other current work includes bandleader/arranger for Arvel Bird (Native American Musician of the Year, 2007); Music Director at Christ Church Unity in Central Florida; and commissioned composer for LittleGlobe Lifesongs, a project which pairs hospice patients with professional artists for composing art songs.
As teaching artist, Jeff brings a view of learning as life strategy. He sees art as a way to discover personal connections with the world at large and encourages following inner curiosities to their illogical conclusions.Before becoming a musician, Jeff graduated in Industrial Engineering at Northwestern University and worked as business consultant in South America and the Caribbean. He began piano studies at age 27, and has since been featured as solo pianist and chamber musician in South America, Europe and the U.S. He also referees HS varsity basketball.
Dance
Victoria R. Kroll
Victoria R. Kroll graduated from DeSales University, Center Valley, PA, with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance. She is a member of Florida Dance Masters. She has taught all genres of dance for the past nine years in dancing schools in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Florida. Victoria is a performer with Walt Disney World Entertainment. She is an award-winning choreographer for Magic Curtain Productions, Orlando, Florida, and the Principal Teacher for Just Dance Studios in Orlando. In her native New Jersey, she was the choreographer for the St. Rose High School Dance Team and spring musical. Ms. Kroll was the Dance Captain for The Premier Theatre Company. She choreographed liturgical dance for several churches in New Jersey.
An award winning dancer, Victoria continues to study all styles of dance. She was a ballet and pointe student of former Joffrey Ballet Principal dancer, Trinette Singleton. She has attended workshops and Master classes with Mia Michaels (Contemporary Dance), Savion Glover (Tap), and Tyce Diorio (Jazz). Victoria's philosophy of teaching dance is that everyone can dance. She has worked with preschoolers through senior citizens. She hopes her positive attitude encourages everyone to take the chance to dance
“We should consider everyday lost in which we don't dance.”
Neitzsche
Theatre and Film
Nerissa Street
Nerissa Street calls herself a Trans-former™: a performer who creates cultural experiences to transform her community. Nerissa Street is a filmmaker and teaching artist whose visionary storytelling and sharp insights inspire her global and professional audience. Her audiences include: Images and Voices of Hope, Urban League of Broward County, Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce, Catalyst Miami, Women in Distress, Cinema Paradiso, Edna Manley College of Visual and Performing Arts in Jamaica, TEDxMIA and His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama.
Her Culture Creates Commerce
As a teaching artist, her award-winning, paradigm shifting work has been presented across the country. She was named one of Broward County’s Emerging Arts Leaders. Her trademarked presentation, No More Starving Artists™, directly impacted over 300 South Florida artists, writers and performers. Because of that, she was asked to be a founding committee member of the Broward County’s Artist as Entrepreneur (AEI) Program, developed with the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture and the Broward County Cultural Division. Through the AEI, artists received a “weekend MBA in the business of art”, allowing them to end their dependence on grants for their work. She also served as a grant panelist for cultural arts funding for 4 consecutive years. Her work has been featured locally in South Florida on WLRN, Hot 105 FM, in the Miami Herald, the Sun-Sentinel, and in both the Miami and Broward New Times. She was honored as a Miami New Times Savvy Single for her innovative community service. She has spoken to the audiences of Broward County Cultural Division, Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce, Images and Voices of Hope, The Motherhood Foundation, the Human Services Coalition and Women in Distress.
Her Innovation is Inspiration
Although she already had a degree in business and was working in her field, she became a non-traditional student in theatre to deepen her cultural work. She was a Dean’s Scholar, and she was one of 5 performance students selected to sing for a private audience of His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, at Nova Southeastern University.
Her research and experience as an arts advocate was compiled in a multimedia project called Beyond The Lucky Break™. Beyond The Lucky Break™ debunks the starving artist myth by sharing stories of professionals whose artistic work has yielded joy, stability and most encouragingly, prosperity. Because of this, she was the only woman invited to share this concept at the inaugural TEDxMIA event (part of the TED.com platform) at the Wolfsonian Museum in 2010. In 2011, she shared those insights with the students at the Edna Manley College of Visual and Performing Arts in Kingston, Jamaica, at the Rex Nettleford Arts Conference. Her first short documentary, “HeArt Work”, drew accolades from the producer of Miami’s 48 Hour Film Fest. She hosted a series of short film events at Cinema Paradiso in Fort Lauderdale called “The Screening Room.”
What’s Next
Most recently, Nerissa was selected for a Creative Capital mentorship called, “Internet for Artists,” to foster the development of her innovative brand online. She is a certified Drama and film educator, she’s proficient at Final Cut Pro and Final Draft, and she uses visual storytelling to animate any message she delivers. She was recently elected as the Vice President of Professional Development for the Urban League’s Young Professionals Network in Broward County, and is working with a Broward County performing arts elementary to direct the students in their first Broadway musical at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale.
Multidisciplinary Arts
Nzingah Oniwosan, Broward County
Nzingah Oniwosan is an award winning visual artist, classically trained pianist, published poet, and an up and coming African and Haitian Folklore dancer. As a result of her working across various artistic disciplines, she has had the opportunity to work with well over a ten thousand children and adults as a teaching artist. She currently has been field reporter for Teaching Artist Journal in addition to be being an artist in resident with Arts 4 Learning, Miami; VSA FL; and Old Dillard Museum. In recent years, she has been awarded several grants from Broward Cultural Division to further her work as a teaching artist.
FAAE 2012 Arts Integration Teaching Artists – Year Two – Profiles
Dance
Margo Blake, Orange County
A New York native, Reverend Margo Blake holds five degrees including a BFA in dance, a Master’s in Arts Administration, and an Honorary Doctorate from Bible College where she was Dean and Director of Arts. Margo was an adjunct instructor at both Temple University in Philadelphia and Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. She has served as Performing Arts Director for Agape Christian Academy in Orlando. Her 47-year career as a professional dancer, choreographer, playwright, director and instructor has earned Margo an international reputation. Margo’s instructors included: Michael Peters, Chuck Davis, Katherine Dunham, Arthur Hall, and West African masters in the U.S. and Ghana, West Africa.Margo’s performance credits include: Broadway, television and screen. She has performed in West Africa, the Cayman Islands, Carnegie Hall, The United States Capitol, Smithsonian Institute, Lincoln Center, and Orlando-based theme parks. For Walt Disney Entertainment, Margo was a performer, trainer, and African Dance Consultant for The Festival of The Lion King Show; she was the first African American female Associate Show Director at Walt Disney World.Margo is a founding performer of Fresh stARTS, an “Artist in the Schools Program” in Orlando; she has provided dance programs and residencies with Fresh stARTS over the past 20 years.Currently, Margo teaches dance at The Center for Contemporary Dance in Orlando and the KIDZ Ministry at her church. She is a new Teaching Artist listed with the Orange County (Florida) Arts Education Center.
Visual Art
Dolores Lowery, Gulf County
Dolores Lowery is a visual art instructor in Port St. Joe, Florida with children K-12 and adults. A true individualist, she strives to create work that is unique and encourages originality in all her students. She previously worked as Artist in Residence for Project Impact in Franklin County. Dolores became heavily involved in the arts in Bay and Gulf Counties in 2003 when she opened her own gallery. She is the founder and President of the Society of Expressive Artists, a former member of the Board of Directors and current volunteer for the Gulf Alliance for Local Arts.
See Residency Plan | See Student Work
Music
Judy Steinmeyer, Duval County
Judith Steinmeyer started her career in Washington, D.C. as a violinist with the United States Air Force Band. She performed at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Bolshoi Theatre, the White House, Carnegie Hall and worked with artists including Luciano Pavarotti and Ray Charles. Judy played violin in the Baltimore and Washington Opera-Ballet Orchestras and the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra and is a voting member for the Grammy’s. She conducts the Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestra Premiere Strings and teaches music to nearly 650 students every week at Holy Family and Holy Spirit Catholic schools in Jacksonville. Judy is very excited about helping youth use music to resolve conflicts.
Drama
Crystal Haralambou, Hillsborough County
At Douglas Anderson School of the Arts in Jacksonville, Crystal Haralambou walked on stage and fell in love with theatre. Following high school, she studied her craft at the University of South Florida and was cast in a number of challenging roles that drew excellent reviews. After graduating with a degree in Theatre, Crystal followed her dream and worked with several renowned theatre companies, including SAK Comedy Lab in Orlando. She was also awarded the Gilda Radner Scholarship for Comedy from The Second City in Chicago. To keep her craft honed, Crystal routinely performed with the Bay Area Improv Theatre Ensemble. In 2008, Crystal received an Artist Enhancement Grant from the State of Florida to attend Improv Training in New York with comedy greats such as Gary Austin, Jeffery Sweet and David Razowsky. At the Patel Performing Arts Conservatory (Tampa,) one of the top five performing arts centers in the country, she served in an administrative role and was director of various performances designed to give children the opportunity to act.
Prior to working at the Patel Conservatory, Crystal spent eight months in the Philippines, where she taught children in some of the poorest parts of Manila. One of the highlights of her stay was conducting “The Power of Theatre in Teaching” seminar for area educators. The experience not only confirmed her belief that theatre was a universal tool for teaching, but also a wonderful catalyst for bringing people together. A true epiphany for Crystal, however, was discovering how theatre transcends even cultural differences by speaking to the human spirit.
In all, Crystal has more than a decade of experience teaching theatre to children, teens, and adults in studio classes and school settings. To her, theatre is not only a form of entertainment but also a powerful means for self-expression. She sees children as artists and is in perpetual awe of her students’ creativity and imagination.
Whether acting, directing, or teaching theatre, Crystal is absolutely passionate about her work. Perhaps this is because she hasn’t simply found a wonderful career, she has discovered her true calling.