Ta-Coumba Aiken
Teaching Artist / Muralist / Painter

Biographical Information: Ta-Coumba T. Aiken is a nationally recognized painter and muralist living in St. Paul. He has created murals on buildings through out the Twin Cities and in greater Minnesota. In 1987 Aiken received national recognition for a mural he painted on the side of a 60-foot grain elevator in Good Thunder, Minnesota. He is also a popular artist-in-residence in the schools. He gives lectures about his own and other African and African American art, teaches art to students in the schools and organizations, and conducts staff development workshops for teachers. In 1995 he collaborated with artist and colleague Seitu Jones and John Biggers, as well as fifteen other African-American artist, to create the "Celebration of Life" mural project in Minneapolis, which celebrates African-American art and culture. His work is derived from African masks and is influenced by the art of Salvador Dali, Max Ernst, and Georgia O'Keefe. Ta-coumba has worked as an artist with ArtStart since 1988.

Artist Statement: I consider myself a painter, muralist, and an art activist. My art reflects the many facets of how I think and the experiences I have had. My work is deeply based in the promotion of positive mental and spiritual attitudes. As a teaching artist I strive to empower youth to believe in their own artistic expression and to understand how their individual expression contributes to the greater community.

Susan Armington
Teaching Artist / Painter / Mixed Media

Biographical Information: Susan Armington (B.A., Brown University, M.S. Cornell University) is a visual artist who works in painting, mixed media, and imaginative mapmaking. She loves making things of all sorts, and has made collages a big as an elephant and as small as a peanut. She often builds miniature worlds in pop-out "map boxes" or intricate collage maps of the Middle East. She is a roster artist for COMPAS' Writers and Artists in the Schools Program and has led workshops statewide, as well as at the Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and Walker Art Center. She originate the Talking Suitcases project which leads with Carla Vogel through Intermedia Arts and independently. In this project participants create handmade objects that fit into a suitcase and are used for telling a story. She also founded Pictures at an Exhibition project which commissioned new art to go with music by Mussorgsky that was itself inspired by visual art.

2004 she was awarded a Minnesota State Arts Board grant to create a map of the Twin Cities our of words and languages of he people who live there. The map Geography of Home is currently on display at the Weisman Museum of Art at the University of Minnesota.

Artist Statement: I work largely in painting and collage and imaginative map-making. Sometimes I work in two dimensions, sometimes in three. I often use words and language in my work. My recent work, "Mythic Geography" focuses on map views of the Middle East with layers of ancient writings and textures of the land. In 2004, I applied my map-making to Minnesota, my home, and created a 6 ft. x 9 ft. map painting of the Twin Cities called "Geography of Home." This map is made out of the words and languages of the people who live here. To create it, I interviewed 49 city residents who speak 29 languages about what it is like to live here, and used their writings to shape the land of the cities. My current project is a series of large-scale collage portraits of people of diverse backgrounds who inspire me from the map.

In my residencies I like to pick topics that connect to students' lives and ideas. I often lead mixed media projects such as mapboxes, collage boxes, collage maps, etc. that link a classroom theme with students own ideas and feelings. I am especially fond of mixed media projects that allow students to mix 2-D and 3-D materials, drawing, and collaging so that students can work with materials and ideas that speak to them. I believe everyone should feel good about their ability to do art, and I set up projects to make sure that everyone can succeed.

Del Bey
Teaching Artist / Fabric Artist / Photographer

Biographical Information: Del Bey is a photographer and fabric artist on the Minnesota State Arts Board roster. Of her art form she states,"photography is one of the media I use to translate personal experiences into images that reflect my existence. Through photography I explore different environments and gather information to translate and share. My wish is to evoke thought and reflection, by creating work that is emotionally expressive and socially relevant." She is currently working on her elementary teaching licensure in art education in order to begin her own school some day.

Artist Statement: I believe art is a form of personal expression that has the possibility to encourage self-awareness and build esteem in students. Sharing experiences opens dialogue related to our existence in society and it reveals perspectives of different cultures. Art gives us the ability to translate the world around us and reveal a stories about our lives. Creativity allows the subconscious to take over and release stress through colors and images. Lines, shapes, forms, and colors become symbols for emotions, a different language. I believe that understanding ourselves will help us accept others.

My experiences have taken me from a combination of rural farming towns to urban settings similar to my background. I have found that children share a common tread of thirst for an engaging and interesting experience. Also, I've seen the ability of students to exceed expectations when given an opportunity. It is my desire to help students understand and explore how the arts make positive contributions to society.

Jan Elftmann
Teaching Artist / Sculptor / Recycled Art / Art Cars

Biographical Information: Jan Elftmann received a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in sculpture. Her artwork has been exhibited locally, nationally and internationally. She has taught art classes at the Walker Art Center since 1994 and art and science classes at The Science Museum of Minnesota since 1986 to children 2 1/2 to 14 years of age. She has been a visual artist on the Minnesota State Arts Board Roster since 1989 and on the rooster for Compas since 1994. Her art works are in the collections of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, the I.D.S., Damark Corporation, Minneapolis, Minnesota and ValuRX, Plymouth, Minnesota.

Artist Statement: I work primarily in assemblage sculpture and room installations. My work incorporates found, discarded and collected three dimensional objects of our society. I learned the lessons of progress, regress and regeneration from my Grandma Gail, who grew up during the Depression saving countless mundane objects for reuse. When my own objects are arranged in combination with one another, or set in juxtaposition, they tell stories about life, relationships, pain and joy.

I am interested in working with elementary school children before they have associated art exclusively with a person's ability to"draw a pretty picture". Working and constructing with found and collected objects develops an acknowledgement of choice as part of the creative process, motor and spatial skills, stimulates problem-solving abilities and gives them the social message: Reduce, reuse, and recycle. Their interaction with me as an artist pursuing art as a career demonstrates that creativity is an important contribution to society. Ultimately, I believe that art provides a necessary perspective and challenge in a child's development and pursuit of self.

One of my most popular and successful residencies is "Assemblage Kinetic Robots", using recycled objects, a circuit using a battery, a motor, a light and a switch so the robot moves.

Armando Gutierrez G.
Teaching Artist / Painter / Muralist / Sculptor / Musician

Biographical Information: Armando Gutierrez G. is a versitile artist working in various mediums. Known primarily as a painter/muralist, he is also a performer and musician creating and playing pre-Columbian instruments of Mexico. He is founder and former executive director of CreArte Chicano Latino Arts Center and Museum. Gutierrez also was instrumental in the development of El Colegio, a charter high school serving Latino students in south Minneapolis. He is the recipient of the Leadership Initiatives in Neighborhoods (LN) grant fromThe St. Paul Companies, the U.S. Bank Sally Ordway Irvine Award for initiative in the arts, and the Jerome Foundation Travel and Study grant, and two Arts Board Artists Asistance grants. Currently, Gutierrez is working with ArtStart on an ongoing basis in youth development, teacher staff development and as a consultant to ArtStart's ArtGallery.

Artist Statement: The most important tasks in the relationship of teaching art are to help each child recognize their individual gifts and provide a path by which they can develop these gifts both technically and creatively. My motto in the classroom for students and educators alike is,"Trust risk".

Julie Kastigar
Teaching Artist / Anishinabe Bead Artist / Maskmaker

Biographical Information: Julie Kastigar is an Anishinabe artist, storyteller, puppeteer and art educator. She has worked regionally and nationally for the past 18 years, both with HOBT and independently. Some of the organizations she has worked with include the L.A. music Center, The Minnesota History Center, and The Fergus Falls Center for the Arts. Recent work includes A Company of Angels, La Bafana, On the Day You Were Born, Coyote Stories, Retelling the World and May Day. Julie has received grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board and Jerome Foundation among others. Julie has a B.A. in Studio Arts and American Indian Studies from the University of Minnesota. She is passionate about work that fosters cultural pride and value.

Artist Statement: Through my art I am a student of the mysteries and wonders of our world and I try to express the beauty, power and amazing resilance of the creation we live in using the teachings of the medicine wheel and coyote among others. I try to create work that uplifts, inspires gratitude and empowers. As a teacher I create an environment that is safe and nurtures the child, teaching respect and group responsibility. I hope to develop their individual voices and honor each expression. As an American Indian I love teaching about my culture and our history. My work is highly informed by that identity, but I see my work as an artist as larger than that identity.

Bonnie Langenfeld
Teaching Artist / Fabric Artist / Painter

Biographical Information: Bonnie Langenfeld is a fabric artist who believes in the importance of capturing beauty and recalling special memories in her pictures. She has a background in drawing, painting, stencilling, sewing and quilting. Her most recent endeavors are beautiful, meaningful and surprising. At first glance, the viewer feels that he/she is looking at a realistic watercolor. The surprise is that there isn't one drop of paint, but is a compostition of carefully chosen fabrics and many colors of machine stitched details. Shadows are added and the piece is framed to complete the illusion.

Langenfeld has earned numerous awards and honors in her seven years of creating compositions in fabric. Most recently shewas a featured artist in ArtStart's February 2006 gallery show, and at Minneapolis Textile Center 2005 Holiday Sale, and her work was presented in LakeHomMagazine's 2006 winter issue. Langenfeld recently retired from 36 years of elementary teaching. Her experience as a classroomteacher and artist bring meaningful learning while having fun in a respectful environment.

Artist Statement: I believe strongly in the power of the arts to motivate children, to help them make connections in their learning, and to become better problem solvers, so in my own classroom, I incorporated art in other curricular areas as often as possible. No one is allowed to say,"I can't", because everyone 'can'. I seemy role as a teacher as nurturing creativity, helping children develop their skills, and teaching about successful artists so that children can learn and interpret their own, and others'art.

I bring a love of children to the classroom. I like to use humor and emphasize a can-do attitude. I am a great rolemodel for both demonstrating correct techniques and for making mistakes. I look for small steps of progress and celebrate effort. I love to be planned and prepared, yet am happy to adjust lessons to accomodate children's needs.

Sara Langworthy
Teaching Artist / Fiber Artist / Cultural Fashions

Biographical Information: Sara Langworthy lives and works in Saint Paul, MN. Her background and education is in theatrical costuming, with a significant detour down the mascot costume road. She has been working in the fiber arts area for 25 years, making quilts, wearable art, tableware, clothing and fabric collage. Currently, she teaches sewing, works as an artist in residence, and does custom sewing and sample making, as well as designing and manufacturing her own line of washed wool kitchen accessories and rugs.

Artist Statement: As a fiber artist and quilter, I love to explore the idea of women's work and give it "added value"in our life. An object that is used mainly for function, like a quilt or a coat can be twisted and embellished to make it decorative, or political. An object that is usually decorative, like a wall hanging can challenge our assumption and even keep us warm in a pinch. I like to break the rules and make people touch the quilts, and leave the edges raw and the lines uneven.

I feel it is important to offer students a wide variety of art experiences, because not all of us can draw well, but most of us can make beautiful art in other ways. In my experiences with students in a residency format, we have made individual fabric collages, quilts that are a group collaboration, and wall hangings that incorporate individual collages into a larger, group piece. I have also explored different cultural fashions, and created garments with students that reflect their research and designs. I love to design a project curriculum around particular age groups, working with classroom teachers to help illuminate and compliment subjects they are already working on.

Marcia MacEachron
Teaching Artist / Sculptor

Biographical Information: Biographical Information: Marcia McEachron graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in drawing and painting. She soon traded her skills in drawing and painting to learn skills in working with metal. Today her interests include creating contemporary sculpture and sculptural furniture using metals. The found object also has played a lively role in her work as a sculptor." I love working with metal. I love interpreting human experience into the medium of metal. Each skill one acquires allows the imagination to grow." As a sculptor, she has exhibited her sculpture and created large scale sculptures for public spaces both locally and nationally.

Artist Statement: As a professional community artist, I view the school residency as a way I can encourage and support each child's creative process. It was my teachers who encouraged and supported my artistic talent at an early age, and I am grateful for that nurturing and want to give back what I received. I like to promote self-discovery in my residencies through creating a stimulating climate in which children learn new ways to look at the world and to respond imaginatively. After twenty-five years as a teaching artist, I feel quite comfortable working in a variety of media in the classroom from murals to plaster cast masks to public installations. The arts are a powerful way to learn about one's self in the world.

Cassandra Monson
Teaching Artist / Drawing / Painting / Bookmaking / Papermaking / Sculpture / Maskmaker

Biographical Information: Cassandra Monson is a professional artist and a freelance art teacher. Cassandra has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the College of Visual Arts with a focus in education. Cassandra has been teaching for years at local community based organizations such as ArtStart, Intermedia Arts and Minneapolis Community Education. She has also facilitated large community events through the Northside Arts Collective and Tamarack Nature Center. Cassandra has worked with many area art centers such as theWhite Bear Center for the Arts and Bloomington Center for the Arts. She also teaches after school and summer programs for many area school districts in Forest Lake and Centennial. Cassandra has worked closely with the Kids Philosophy Slam and the Art Car Parade. She is active in the local arts community and loves working with people of all ages and art mediums. Cassandra shows her artwork in galleries regularly, which provides a rich opportunity for her students to learn from a working artist.

Artist Statement: Cassandra Monson teaches fine art classes and culturally integrated art activities. She teaches drawing, painting, bookmaking, papermaking, sculpture and maskmaking. Cassandra combines quality art materials with reusing and recycling to enhance her student's creative problem solving skills and promote environmental consciousness.

Laura Pereira
Teaching Artist / Collage / Mixed Media / Painting / Illustration / Jewelry

Biographical Information: Laura grew up in Chicago, Illinois and attended Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin with a major in Art History. She holds a MEd in Art Education from the University of Minnesota. Currently, Laura lives in St. Paul, Minnesota with her husband, two children, a free-spirited dog, 2 crayfish, 6 goldfish, 2 hermit crabs and numerous guppies and insect pets. After spending nearly 13 years as an Art Educator, Laura is now focusing on what she loves best—making art and spending time with her family.

Artist Statement: My work focuses primarily on exploring relationships between images and materials. I try to find unique combinations and place them in new contexts, fusing them together to create a whole. I am an avid collector of objects and images and thus rely heavily on collage and found objects. I find joy in reusing even the smallest scrap of paper or metal. Although my work spans a wide range of media, from mixed media paintings and illustration to artist's books, boxes and jewelry, the process is similar for each art form. The process is organic, meaning that the work evolves without a clear plan and sometimes takes on a life of its own. I try to let the materials and the images take me where they will and not be constrained by any preconceived vision. I enjoy working with children and youth of all ages to impart the wonderous world of art.

Cynde Randall
Teaching Artist / Environmentalist / Painter

Biographical Information: Cynde Randall is an artist and artistic director for bird x bird, a non-profit organization devoted to the stewardship of avian species and the environmental education of human beings (www.birdxbird.org ). Randall has served as an art consultant for: Hopkins Public Schools where she convinced the district to commit to the creation of a k-6 art curriculum; for Walker Art Center, where she was hired to rewrite WAC's children's tours; and Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, where she recently created a short curriculum connecting art to archeology for Mill Ruins Park on the Mississippi at St. Anthony Falls.

Artist Statement: I am passionate about reconnecting children to nature and especially interested in projects that help humans to develop compassion and empathy for other species (animals, plants birds, insects). I am deeply committed to the growing eco-literacy movement and believes that our future relies on healing our relationships with the Earth.

Michele Rock
Teaching Artist / Mosaic Artist / Tiles and Mosaics

Biographical Information: Michele has been making handmade tile and mosaics for about 10 years. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the College of St. Catherine and has participated in both juried and invitational group exhibits of handmade tile throughout Minnesota. She also has varied teaching experience with children K-12 that includes instruction in mosaic and handmade tile, illustration and set design. Michele is currently a member of the Handmade Tile Association and exhibits her work in several galleries in Minnesota.

Artist Statement: Ever since I was a young child, I have been fascinated by mosaic and can remember staring at the pages of a book that contained photographs of the old Roman mosaics that were made from stones. At that time I would make my own mosaics out of paper bits. Now I am able to use the colors that inspire me because I can make my own tile using different clay bodies and endless glazes and from there, build my mosaics.

My fascination with mosaic also rivals my fascination with the minds of young people. When the students are young, I am amazed by their fresh ideas and their fearless assaults on their projects as they come up with incredible pieces of work. When the student is older and perhaps more self-conscious, it is always rewarding to help them find success in a medium they may never had access to, or fear of failure has kept them from attempting. I am heartened when I see discipline issues melt away as a student discovers something positive to funnel their energy into such as an art project. Ultimately, we share a mutual feeling of pride and satisfaction with the experience of success as both teacher and student.

Ernie Whiteman
Teaching Artist / Painter / Native American Arts

Biographical Information: Ernest Whiteman is a visual artist who lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. An Arapaho Indian, he grew up on the Wind River Reservation in Southwestern Wyoming (on the edge of Riverton, Wyoming). He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin in Eau Claire and a Masters of Fine Arts degree from the University of Minnesota, both concentrating on sculpture. In addition to making sculpture, paintings, prints, and jewelry, Whiteman also teaches.

Artist Statement: I feel it is important to give back to other people, because someone took time to teach me. Through my work I keep alive a tradition and give respect and power to the images so that they can speak once again in the twenty-first century.

Douglas Ewart
Teaching Artist / Instrument Maker / Musician / Composer

Biographical Information: Douglas Ewart, born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1946, at age six, became acutely aware of different materials and textures around him and wanted to manipulate them for his own use. A past president of Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), which encourages musicians to explore the boundaries of sound, Ewart is an internationally renowned musician and educator who has been fashioning his own instruments since he was a very young artist. While initially motivated by survival, independence, and economics, he has since heightened his craft to the level of fine art, exhibiting work at the Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art and other museums around the world. He is the founder and director of Crepuscule, a nationally recognized, community-based musical happening involving families, professional musicians, dancers, artists, and other individuals performed in the Twin Cities, Chicago, most notably for the grand opening of Millennium Park, Philadelphia and Paris, France.

Along with his composing and performing achievements, Ewart is equally well-known as a maker of musical instruments, some ornate enough to double as sculptures, like the totem flutes adorned with wood-burned designs and paintings. In a unique twist on the old "swords into plowshares" concept, he also makes instruments out of a very unlikely source material: 33 mm artillery shells he buys at a military surplus store. Ewart fashions rainsticks and didjeridus from bamboo and clay—including a "slide" didjeridu almost twice as long as he is tall. He has taught himself circular breathing, in order to play the instrument in the traditional fashion.

His most recent appearance at the Walker Art Museum was received to rave reviews by the contemporary music community in which Ewart showcased his musical and instrument construction skill performing/improvising on instruments he built using a variety of recycled and salvaged materials. Ewart, a member of the COMPAS roster, is much sought after artist-in-residence in the schools and has taught in ArtStart's summer interdisciplinary arts program since its inception in 1992.

Rosyln Harmon
Teaching Artist / Storyteller / Performer

Biographical Information: Roslyn Harmon, is an educator who uses her talents as an artist, vocalist, storyteller, and mentor to inspire others to learn. As a resident artist with ArtStart, Arts-Us, and a Consultant for Girl's In Action, she presents in numerous schools helping youth discover their "personal power" to become positive leaders and role-models. Roslyn is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, obtaining her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication Studies.

Artist Statement: I bring creativity, leadership and vision to the classroom. My love of children has inspired me to "plant the seed" of learning, "nurture" minds to think towards a positive goal, and "harvest" superior achievement, social, and moral development. I believe that children, who are exposed to the Arts and Arts Education, have the tools and power necessary to increase their ingenuity, independence, and integrity to help change and meet the needs of our community.

Ghana M'baye
Teaching Artist/African Drummer/Peformer

Biographical Information: Ghana M'baye was born in Senegal, West Africa. His music is inspired by the spiritual songs and rhythms of the Baye Fall, a unique group within the Muslim religion, characterized spiritually by their dedication to hard work, education and tranquility. Ghana performs with various world music groups around the Twin Cities.

Artist Statement: Since moving to the United States in 2000, I have committed my life to teaching African drumming, dance, and customs to children in and around the Twin Cities. Learning to play the drum takes a great deal of energy and concentration, both qualities that help students become better learners.

Mark Safford
Teaching Artist / Actor / Puppeteer / Performer

Biographical Information: Mark Safford is an actor, puppeteer and founder of BareBones Productions. For the past eight years, BareBones Productions has produced an annual Halloween puppet show in the Minneapolis City Parks. Using wheat paste and cardboard to create gigantic puppets, the Halloween pageant takes place after dark, combining spooky costumes, live music and the power of ritual to invoke the spirit of the Day of the Dead. Mark is also is a puppeteer with Heart of the Beast Puppet and Masque Theatre's May Day Parade and teaches classes in puppetry in HOBT's summer program for youth. He has acted in many productions around the Twin Cities, including on the stage of Theatre de Jeune Lune and The Guthrie.

Christopher Yaeger
Teaching Artist / Director /Dancer / Choreographer

Biographical Information: Christopher Yeager has played a variety of roles in dance and theater since his early school days. As an independent teaching artist, he works in schools and performs on stages across the globe including the Twin Cities, Budapest, Prague, Las Vegas, and Seoul. He is an ACE dance specialist with the Perpich Center for Arts Education. The ACE Dance Program train teachers to use dance as a distinct area of study as well as integrated with other subject areas. Teachers experience hands-on learning in dance during summer and academic year workshops.

He is also the Director of "Christopher Street Dance", the newest dance company in the Twin Cities. The premiere performance Dance Hall Days at the Minnesota Fringe Festival offered audiences a hearty sample of the rich heritage found in American dance and music.

Artist Statement: I create dance activities that turn dance into a community happening. In my workshops I combine dance, theater and the cultural arts to recreate a variety of global celebrations. I can lead you on a brisk folkdance-themed journey to experience an Irish Ceilidh or try your luck at the Tango. I can lead you on an in-depth tour of a variety of specific geographic places of interest through dance to celebrating the Chinese New Year or revel in a Caribbean themed Carnaval. As a seasoned traveler, I am excited to take you on a journey exploring folk dances from around the world, or enjoy samples of dance styles originating in our back yard.