Interludes

Atticus Hensley is the fine arts manager for the Tennessee Department of Education.

Jaclyn Rudderow serves as the senior director of school programs for Save The Music Foundation, leading the foundation’s programmatic efforts in communities across the country, including in Nashville and Memphis.

Bradley Foust is the district fine arts supervisor for Bartlett City Schools in Bartlett, Tennessee, and is an online instructor of music history and appreciation for Southern New Hampshire University.

Loneka Wilkinson Battiste, associate professor of music education at the University of Houston, is an international scholar with more than twenty years of teaching experience in school and community settings. Her work has been published in Choral Journal, Journal of Historical Research in Music Education, Journal of General Music Education, Proceedings of the International Society for Music Education, and Toward Equity in Music Teacher Education. She has been a featured clinician for the Texas Music Educators Association conference and was the featured mini-conference presenter for the Organization of American Kodály Educators national conference in 2022. She has given speeches and papers in Accra, Ghana and in the Brazilian states of Pernambuco, Paraiba, Ceára, and Bahia. Her work focuses on supporting both enriching and affirming experiences for all students. She received her PhD in music education from Louisiana State University.

Bene Davis holds degrees from Northern Arizona University and has forty years of teaching experience as a high school and middle school director. Davis is an active clinician, adjudicator, and published composer, with compositions available through Alias Press and Twin Towers Music Publications.

Tony Hartman teaches music to students in elementary grades, and is also the director of Steel de Boro, a steel pan program for students from fourth to sixth grade. He teaches at Middle Tennessee State University and has presented numerous sessions around the country. Hartman has compositions published through Row-Loff Productions and was recognized as a CMA Music Educator of Excellence.

Erika Knapp is assistant professor of music education at Texas Woman’s University, specializing in elementary and choral music education. She received her doctorate at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, and taught elementary and secondary general music and middle school choir for thirteen years. Knapp has presented for many national and international venues, where she focuses on inclusive practice and empowering educators to create joyful musical experiences. She is an Orff pedagogy teacher-trainer for the American Orff Schulwerk Association and teaches level I and II courses across the United States. Her research interests include music for students with ability differences, teacher professional development, and equity in music education. She has published research in the Journal of Music Teacher Education, Music Education Research, The International Journal of Music Education, Psychology of Music, Music Educators Journal, and The Orff Echo.

David H. Knapp is assistant professor of music education at Florida State University, where he also earned his doctorate. His research and teaching focus on removing barriers to participation in music education. He teaches courses in digital music making and modern band, with a focus on diverse and accessible teaching practices. Knapp’s research has been published in the International Journal of Community Music, Music Education Research, Research Studies in Music Education, and the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education. Prior to his teaching at Florida State University, he served on the music education faculty at Syracuse University. While there he began the Music in the Community program, a collaboration with community partners to establish lab spaces throughout the community. This work helped him to earn the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Unsung Heroes Award in 2022, presented by Martin Luther King III.

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Scott Rush is the team lead for the Habits series published by GIA and currently serves as the conductor of the Charleston Wind Symphony. He is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music and the University of South Carolina and is the former director of bands at Wando High School in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Under his direction, the Wando Symphonic Band performed at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic and were Grand National finalists. Rush is active as a conductor, clinician, and adjudicator throughout the United States and Canada. He is the author or co-author of eighteen books, some of which include: Habits of a Successful Band Director, Habits of a Successful Musician, Habits of a Successful Middle School Band Director, Habits of a Significant Band Director. In 2010, Rush was elected to the American Bandmasters Association, and he currently serves as past president of the Servant Leadership Association for Music.

Thomas Rinn serves as assistant professor of choral music education at Texas State University and artistic director of the Austin Gay Men’s Chorus. He holds a PhD in music education from the University of North Texas, a master’s of music education from Florida State University, and a bachelor’s of music from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Prior to his current appointment, he spent twenty years as a high school choral director. Rinn’s research focuses on music teacher education, social media in music education, teacher retention, and effective instructional strategies. His work has been published in the Journal of Music Teacher Education, the International Journal of Research in Choral Singing, and the Journal of Research in Music Education. A past president of the Texas Choral Directors Association, Rinn currently chairs the University Scholastic League Choral Sight-Reading committee and serves nationwide as a choral clinician, guest conductor, adjudicator, and presenter.

Gary P. Wilson is the director of choirs at Hendersonville High School in Hendersonville, Tennessee. He is active as a clinician and adjudicator and has conducted honor choirs and festival choirs throughout the United States. Wilson is a respected scholar and is the first recipient of the doctor of musical arts degree in choral conducting from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Melissa Roth Young is a graduate of Baylor University and the University of North Texas. With more than thirty years of teaching experience, she is currently a PhD music education fellow at the University of North Texas. She previously served as the choir director at Haggard Middle School in Plano, Texas, and was co-director of the Plano Children's Chorale. Choirs under her direction have consistently received awards at concert and sight-reading contests, as well as distinctions at local choral festivals. She has served in regional, state, and national offices for numerous organizations related to music education and is also a part of the choral track faculty for the Southern Methodist University Kodály Certification program. She is a sought-after clinician and adjudicator and is published with Alliance Music Publications, Carl Fisher, and Melissa Roth Young Music. She lives in Richardson, Texas, and sings with the First United Methodist Church Richardson Chancel Choir and the Summer Women’s Chorus of Plano Civic Chorus.

Andy Bleiler is a passionate arts educator and artist whose career has spanned more than thirty-five years. He serves in many roles for the Lipscomb University’s Department of Theatre and Department of Cinematic Arts. Bleiler holds degrees from Drake University, Concordia University, Lipscomb University, and a master of fine arts in design and technical production from the University of Memphis.

Sheila Daniels, a multi-disciplinary theatre-maker based in Seattle, is an associate professor at Cornish College of the Arts at Seattle University. She teaches directing, acting and devising. Her theatre credits include directing at Seattle Rep (Indecent, Dancing at Lughnasa), ACT (The Wolves, The Ramayana), Strawberry Theatre Workshop (Lydia, The Bridge of San Luis Rey), Seattle Shakespeare Company (A Winter’s Tale, Pericles, Macbeth), Seattle Children’s Theatre (Jackie & Me), and Intiman Theatre (A Streetcar Named Desire, Crime and Punishment), where she served as associate director under Bart Sher from 2007-2009. Her devising work has been commissioned by Tacoma Museum of Glass, UMO Ensemble, and her own company, Baba Yaga. Productions in 2026 include Gypsy: A Musical Fable with Cornish and Jiehae Park’s The Aves at ACT Theater. Daniels is in the multi-year process of making the documentary Hidden Bodies: Stereotyping and Shaming of the Femme Body in American Theater.

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Elizabeth Dunn-Ruiz is a full-time lecturer in the Graduate Program in Educational Theatre at The City College of New York. She is a board member of the American Alliance for Theatre and Education, a new teacher mentor with the Arthur Miller Foundation, and a freelance curriculum writer, consultant, teaching artist, and dramaturg focused on new play development. She holds degrees in creative writing from The New School, in urban and multicultural education from the College of Mount Saint Vincent, and in English literature from Hunter College. She completed two years of studio training in the Experimental Theatre Wing at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Dunn-Ruiz taught at Bronx Community College, taught English at South Bronx High School, and co-founded Bronx Theatre High School, where she served as artistic director and teacher of performance. She also taught and worked as a master teaching artist for Roundabout Theatre Company, including six seasons as playwright mentor for the youth ensemble.

Leni Dyer is an associate professor and costume designer in the department of theatre and dance at Austin Peay State University. Dyer’s professional career has taken her all over the United States and the world. With costume history and research as a strong interest, she had the opportunity to tour mainland China as an education delegate with the People to People Ambassador Programs.

Anna Filippo is currently the executive director for the Tennessee Theatre Association. She received her doctorate in theatre from the University of Georgia and has taught college theatre since 1989. Some of her professional work includes producing and directing historical outdoor dramas and musicals outside of Nashville.

Alan Hawkins is an improviser, educator, and author with more than twenty years of experience in teaching and directing. He has trained at many of the nation’s leading improv institutions, including the Second City Conservatory and Musical Conservatory in Los Angeles, the iO West program, the Chicago ComedySportz Training Center, and the Annoyance Theatre. Since 2004 he has taught improv and theatre, developed curriculum for high school instruction, and served as a teacher and director at the Chicago Teen Comedy Fest. Hawkins is an ensemble member and instructor at Unexpected Productions in Seattle, where he teaches improvisation, including his signature “Improvising in the Style of Shakespeare” workshop series. He is the author of You Can’t Learn Improv From a Book, a resource designed to help drama teachers introduce and strengthen student improvisation. Hawkins’s teaching emphasizes emotional honesty, active listening, and expressive storytelling, assisting educators to empower students to create bold, connected, and imaginative work.

Jim Hoare is the executive vice president at TRW and has presented workshops throughout the United States and United Kingdom. In recognition of his impact on theatre education, he was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the New York State Theatre Education Association. Hoare is the author of Your High School Improv Show Playbook and Your School Theatre Director’s Playbook.

Jim Hoare is the executive vice president at TRW and has presented workshops throughout the United States and United Kingdom. In recognition of his impact on theatre education, he was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the New York State Theatre Education Association. Hoare is the author of Your High School Improv Show Playbook and Your School Theatre Director’s Playbook.

Cassie LaFevor is an arts educator at heart and has experience working with students, from young children to adults. LaFevor is in her eighteenth year at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center and as senior director of education enrichment manages both the Season for Young People and the Spotlight Awards programs. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University with a degree in speech and theatre.

Cassie LaFevor is an arts educator at heart and has experience working with students, from young children to adults. LaFevor is in her eighteenth year at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center and as senior director of education enrichment manages both the Season for Young People and the Spotlight Awards programs. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University with a degree in speech and theatre.

Ashley Laverty is the founding artistic director of Kerfuffle, a theatre and dance company that creates original performances for children up to age six. Under her leadership, Kerfuffle has partnered with many arts and non-arts organizations to bring aesthetically exciting, engaging, and accessible theatre experiences to children around the country in museums, libraries, parks, and community centers. She has more than twelve years of teaching artist experience, specializing in early childhood drama. In Chicago, Laverty is proud to be a teaching artist with Lifeline Theatre, Writers Theater, Imagine Theatre, and the Stage School. She has led professional development workshops focusing on integrating drama in early childhood with educators across the country. Laverty holds a degree in theatre for youth from Arizona State University and a degree in theatre arts from Point Park University's Conservatory of Performing Arts.

Catherine M. Pratt serves as the lighting coordinator faculty at Middle Tennessee State University. She holds degrees from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and Mount Marty University. Pratt has been involved with numerous theatre groups around the country.

James Savage Jr. is an associate professor at Ohio Northern University and an associate teacher with the Great Lakes Michael Chekhov Consortium. He has performed Off-Broadway, regionally, and internationally. Some favorite highlights include Henry V, Richard II, and Hamlet at the American Globe Theatre; Doubt, Everyman, and Murder in the Cathedral at the Black Orchid Theatre; and Your War’try Grave at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club. He performed and co-created a solo show titled 8x10 (about solitary confinement in the United States prison system) in New York City and at the Cincinnati Fringe Festival in 2017, and played Odysseus in The Odyssey at the Hydrama Theatre on the island of Hydra in Greece. Savage has taught at The New School for Drama, the New York Film Academy, and New York University Steinhardt. He also contributed two chapters in the Routledge book titled Michael Chekhov and Sanford Meisner: Collisions and Convergence in Actor Training.

Jason Sebacher is a playwright and educator and the founder of Gitelman & Good Publishers, a company dedicated to publishing exceptional new plays and musicals for high school, college, and community theatre stages. He works with playwrights and theatre educators to develop plays that challenge and inspire student performers.

Katie Sellers is the costume shop supervisor for the MTSU Department of Theatre and Dance. She is a tailor, designer, and dyer, and has worked in costuming and theatre for more than twenty-five years.

Marisa Smith is a co-founder of Smith and Kraus Publishers and currently serves as a consultant for the company.

Terlene D. Terry-Todd is a dancer, actor, choreographer, and professional teaching artist with more than forty years of experience. A leading movement arts integration specialist, she presents nationally and internationally. Terry-Todd currently serves as a master teaching artist with Wolf Trap Education and has received numerous awards for her choreography, arts contributions, and work with children with special needs. She holds a degree in physical education from Hampton University, a master’s in curriculum and instruction from the University of Northern Colorado and a master’s in dance history and choreography from American University. Terry-Todd has taught at both Howard University and American University and has been a guest choreographer for the University of Delaware’s Sharing Our Legacy Dance project. She also served Fairfax County Public Schools as a certified dance and adapted physical education specialist.  A strong advocate for wellness, Terry-Todd created the Healthy Choice series for children, beginning with Sweetie’s Healthy Start.

Matt Webster is an educator who has been teaching students and theatre teachers for more than thirty years. He is the education consultant for the Drama Teacher Academy and an adjunct professor at Winthrop University. Webster is also the author of the book Methods of Teaching Theatre: A Teacher Toolkit, an award-winning playwright, prolific actor, and director.

David Arnold has been a caricaturist, based mainly in Nashville, Tennessee, for more than forty years. He learned his craft while in high school so he could work a summer job at Opryland USA theme park from 1974 to 1980. Through his company, Caricatures, etc., Arnold provides art entertainers, such as caricature artists, face painters, balloon artists, and magicians, to the public.

Lindsey Bailey has spent nearly three decades using art as a bridge between people, cultures, and communities. Having taught in schools and community organizations across six countries, her work is rooted in the belief that creativity thrives through imagination, collaboration, and human connection. Originally from Texas, Bailey brings both academic depth and global experience to her practice.

With more than two decades of experience in elementary education, Michelle Carneal has enjoyed teaching art to children from pre-kindergarten through elementary grades. Carneal has degrees from Middle Tennessee State University and Austin Peay State University. Most of her teaching career has been spent at Stuart-Burns Elementary School in Dickson, Tennessee.

Candido Crespo is more than an artist; he is a storyteller, an educator of eighteen years, and a devoted father whose work pulses with the vibrancy of everyday life. A graduate of The State University of New York at New Paltz and at Stony Brook, Crespo spent years refining a multidisciplinary approach that dances between the precision of drawing and the tactile, layered worlds of printmaking and collage. Today, his practice is a celebration of the human experience. Whether through the athletic energy of his Hoop Screams series, the cultural resonance of the Vejigante mask, or his intimate explorations of Fatherhood, Crespo's work invites the viewer to find joy in the complex. Beyond the studio, he is a catalyst for community. Through his creativiDAD project, he empowers fathers and male guardians to embrace creativity as a vital parenting tool, proving that art isn’t just something you look at—it’s something you live.

Felicia Faniola-Gregory is a self-professed “Jill of all trades, master of none.” She dabbles in photography, painting, murals, crafting, songwriting, and acting, among other artistic endeavors. Faniola-Gregory is currently the art teacher at St. Mary’s School in Johnson City, Tennessee, and serves on the Johnson City Public Arts Committee.

Lynnette Gilbert is an associate professor of art education at Arkansas Tech University and the director of the Windgate Summer Art Launch Program for Arkansas art educators. She received her doctorate at the University of Houston, and has twenty-three years of teaching experience, including sixteen years teaching art in secondary schools in Tennessee and Texas. Throughout her career, she has presented sessions locally, regionally, and nationally, including the National Art Education Association, the Texas Art Education Association, and at the Kent State Symposium she presented Textures: The History and Art of Black Hair. She also has been published in the Journal of Folklore and Education and Panorama. Her goal and platform are creating a space for more distinctive voices in the field of art education. Her artwork reflects the beauty, strength, and value of black women through her bold use of colors, play of pattern, textures, and mixed media.

Gary Gillespie Israel is the president of the Dorothy M.Gillespie Foundation, a non-profit organization whose mission is to supportartists, initiatives, and institutions that embody the same innovative,inclusive multidisciplinary approach that Dorothy Gillespie exemplified in bothher art and philanthropic endeavors.

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With thirty years of experience in Tennessee education, Teresa Grooms is a visual art teacher at White House Heritage High School. Her instruction emphasizes innovative ideas, unique materials, challenging artistic processes, and mindful art lessons that encourage creativity, exploration, and meaningful student engagement.

Emily May-Ragland is an artist and educator with eight years of teaching experience and a passion for making creativity part of everyday life. She has designed and painted numerous murals that bring together bold color, storytelling, and community pride, both inside of schools and in public spaces. She has also headed several school collaborative murals incorporating students’ ideas.

Dale Mays is a passionate, veteran educator with thirty-six years of experience inspiring students through the integration of arts and academics. He holds degrees from Syracuse University, the College of New Rochelle, and the College of St. Rose. Mays began a career in corporate America, working as a marketing analyst and a buyer before becoming an educator.

Catie Nasser is an art educator, art therapist, and visual artist who has been working with children in the arts for more than twenty years in public, private, and therapeutic settings. She is a veteran elementary art teacher of the Middleton Public Schools, and in 2021 was named the Massachusetts Elementary Art Teacher of the Year. Nasser teaches a range of fine art mediums that incorporate arts integration, social emotional learning, and project-based learning. She loves showing young artists how to take their creativity to new levels with animation, robotics, kinetic sculpture, and coding. Nasser is committed to using art to help youth find their voice and fully express thoughts and ideas. She has presented at both state and national conferences for the Art Education Association. She has appeared as a guest in several podcasts such as Everyday Art Room, The Creativity Department, and Get a Cue. Nasser is also an adjunct faculty member with the Art of Education University.

Virginia Nix is a TAA facilitator and teaches at Kenrose Elementary in Brentwood, Tennessee. Nix developed the STARS Elementary Exhibition, which recognizes elementary school artists from across the state. She was named the Tennessee Art Education Association Elementary Art Educator of the Year in 2022.

Joel Scholten is an elementary art educator, curriculum designer, and practicing artist based in Omaha, Nebraska. He earned a degree in art education from Northwestern College in Iowa and a master’s degree from Concordia University in Nebraska. Scholten strives to help students experience art in meaningful and deeply personal ways, introducing them to diverse contemporary artists and showing them how art can communicate story, message, and meaning. He has worked with learners of all ages in communities ranging from Seattle to Iowa and Nebraska. In addition to classroom teaching, he has contributed to art education through his work with The Art of Education University, where he supports the development of the FLEX curriculum. As an artist, Scholten works primarily in encaustic and mixed media. Drawing inspiration from everyday life and the natural world, his art explores visual storytelling through the balance of control and chance.

Kim Shamblin is a retired art teacher who taught in West Tennessee for twenty-eight years and now resides in northern Louisiana. She has been a part of TAA for more than twenty years and serves as the TAA Connections liaison. Shamblin is an avid quilter and uses her art background to teach other quilters a variety of fabric and design techniques.

Rebecca Walther is currently teaching visual art at Smyrna High School in Rutherford County, Tennessee. Walther’s gifted education endorsement combined with her experience in curriculum modification for adult education students, gives her a unique approach to visual art instruction. Her goal is to provide all students the opportunity to engage in a positive visual art experience.