Ramon Abad (he/his) is a Filipino American puppeteer, artist, and teacher. Since the mid 90s to present day he has written puppet plays, hand-made puppets and performed solo shows throughout the Bay Area, the US and the UK. Since the beginning of 2021, Ramon has been a resident artist of Balay Kreative Studio: a collective of Filipinx American artists based in SOMA Pilipinas, a downtown San Francisco neighborhood designated as a Filipino cultural district.
Ramon was a company member of Larry Reed’s ShadowLight Productions as a puppeteer and maker and was in a show that toured in the Jim Henson International Puppetry Festival. He was performer, director and writer in the Filipino American sketch comedy troupe tongue in A mood. He has collaborated with many art and theater organizations on puppetry projects at Bindlestiff Studio, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, SOMArts Cultural Center and the Children’s Creativity Museum.
He has directed live, in-person stage and on-line productions using modern puppetry. Ramon has led residencies and workshops that engage young children, college students and professional adults in exploring a variety of puppetry mediums.

Alexis Arnold is a visual artist and educator in Oakland, CA whose sculptural, installation, and mixed-media two-dimensional artwork explores the subjective perception and experience of light, space, time, material, color, and pattern. Her artwork has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including in Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Aspen Art Museum, Napa Valley Museum, Atlanta Airport, Bergdorf Goodman, The NY Hall of Science, and others. Alexis’ work is held in the collections of SFMOMA, Meta/Facebook, the University of Pittsburgh, Virginia Commonwealth University, Costa Cruises and more. She holds an MFA in Sculpture from the San Francisco Art Institute, as well as BA in Art from Kenyon College in Ohio. Alexis' art practice strongly influences her teaching, allowing her to present unique and evolving projects to students at any age level, from children to adults. Her holistic approach to arts education involves empowering students to expand their boundless artistic and intellectual abilities, be open to experimentation, gain confidence, and discover their sense of self and potential to make a positive impact in the world.

Jeanette Au was raised in New York and trained in visual arts at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and the Performing Arts—also known as the Fame school. She holds a BFA in interdisciplinary studies from the San Francisco Art Institute and an MFA in knitwear design from the Academy of Art University. Ms. Au’s work blurs and transgresses the boundaries between fashion and art, exploring cross-cultural dialogues and liminal space. Her knitwear collection has been presented at New York Fashion Week, and she has taught undergraduate fashion courses at Academy of Art University and offers textile art instruction throughout the Bay Area. As an educator, she shares inspiration, process, and an exploration of material and techniques in order to discover—and to delight—in the unexpected.

Sophia Alawi won the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award for Best Featured Actress – Musical in 2019 for Groundhog Day The Musical at San Francisco Playhouse and was named one of “five standout performances” in 2019 by the Houston Chronicle for the role of Wendla in Spring Awakening. Her regional credits include Twelfth Night and In the Heights (Playhouse on Park). New York credits include Fat Kid Rules the World (Clurman Theatre) and Emerson Loses Her Miand (Hudson Guild Theater). Ms. Alawi earned a BFA from Rider University and also studied at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting and The Barrow Group in New York. She is a screenwriter producing and crowdfunding her first film.

Charlotte Horst Baldiviez is a New York based actor, dancer, and choreographer. She studied performing arts and social justice at the University of San Francisco with emphasis in both theater and dance and at Pacific Conservatory Theater (PCPA) in the two-year Professional Actor Training Program. Ms. Baldiviez’s love of theater and performance knows no bounds; she enjoys the work of William Shakespeare as much as Andrew Llyod Webber’s Cats as much as anything Dimitris Papaioannou can think up. She also is a co-founding member and artist director of `{`unsuper`}`vised children dance company, a bi-coastal interdisciplinary dance company. Recent theatrical credits include Sarah DeLappe’s The Wolves (#13), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Puck), Peter Pan (ensemble/dance captain).

Mohamed Lamine Bangoura is a descendent of Sousou and Malinke ancestors, from Guinea, West Africa, and has spent his life traveling throughout Western Africa to study music and enrich his understanding of the many cultures and ethnicities of the continent.

Lamine has been lead percussionist, musical director, and choreographer for African ballets across West Africa and the Bay Area. He was founder/director of, “Association of Young Artists and Musicians of Guinea”, AYAMG, a network and resource organization for young artists that promotes collaboration and development of traditional arts in Guinea. From 2003-2008 Lamine was contracted with Air France as a music teacher and guide. He personally designed and guided tour groups of 7-12 people on local excursions, as well as led music workshops and classes ranging from 5-20 students. He has traveled West Africa to perform in traditional arts festivals, cultural exhibitions, and tourism epicenters.

Unity has thus become the marker of his artistic style, influenced by the diverse number of artists and teachers he’s worked with.

The investigative nature of Agelio Batle’s work may stem from his background in the sciences, as his BA from UC Santa Barbara is in Biology. Not wishing to pursue a career in science, Mr. Batle returned to his lifelong interest in art and earned an MFA from California College of Arts and Crafts (now CCA), graduating with High Distinction honors. Batle’s artwork includes stage design, art installation, performance art, drawing, and sculpture, and has been shown in museums and galleries across the United States—including the American Craft Museum in New York, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, and the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento. Mr. Batle’s work is in the collections of Nelson Mandela, President Bill Clinton, George Lucas, and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, among others.

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Keta Bill received her BA in theater and music from Western Illinois University. A performer and studio vocalist in the Bay Area for more than thirty years—with such bands as the Zasu Pitts Memorial Orchestra and Big Bang Beat, and shows such as “Teatro Zinzanni,”—she continues to record for commercials, film, and CD projects. Ms. Bill teaches singing and chorus for Brisbane Dance Workshop, ODC, and Spindrift School of Performing Arts and offers private piano and guitar lessons. She has worked in early childhood music and movement for more than twenty years, and teaches at various preschools as well as the Blue Bear School of Music.

Noah Bossert is a passionate music educator, pianist, and vocal coach hailing from Madison, Wisconsin. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin Madison with an undergraduate degree in Music Education and graduate degree in Education Policy and Analysis. Focusing on access to music education-for-all is his top priority as an educator and advocate. He started his teaching career as a high school choir and general music teacher in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There, he provided musical opportunities to all students through accompanying and arranging for the choirs, leading hip-hop cyphers in the general music classroom, and music directing/keyboard conducting multiple different shows produced by the high school theater company (“Tuck Everlasting,” “Fly by Night,” and “High School Musical the Musical”). Upon moving to the Bay Area, Mr. Bossert began performing all-request shows at dueling piano clubs such as Johnny Foley's, as well as solo piano bars such as Martuni's. As a musical director, he continues to direct shows at San Francisco University High School (“Merrily We Roll Along”) while teaching vocal arts and songwriting as a music faculty member, and works as with local theaters such as SFBATCO (“I, Too, Sing America”) and 142 Throckmorton Theater (“A Chorus Line,” “Fiddler on the Roof”).

Patric Cashman’s method of teaching aims to attain qualitative results rather than quantitative ones. Quality rather than quantity with a goal to deepen the students’ awareness of their inherent potential and ability. With time, students begin to realize that all movement has potential and can be incorporated, they become more confident to trust their own movement impulses and, consequently, contribute them to the class. As a teacher Mr. Cashman believes that every student has the potential to create and express, sometimes they just need guidance to allow it to blossom.

Mr. Cashman teaches urban/contemporary dance, along with a hybrid of hip-hop street-styled dance techniques. Using music/audio soundscapes for inspiration, I expand student engagement using a variety of methodologies, games, and exercises from Contemporary/Modern dance techniques (e.g use of breath to assist fall and recovery based on Martha Graham’s work). I find this widens students’ exposure to different dance forms, while not limiting them to any particular style, and allowing each student to find their own place of connection to movement within a wider spectrum of dance making possibilities. Dance allows me to learn more about myself in ways other methods don’t and hope that students will discover something new about themselves and their potential through this guided process.

Wanda Chan is a Bay Area artist. She received her undergraduate degree in Art History from Barnard College in 1997 and a Master of Fine Arts in sculpture from the California College of Arts and Crafts in 2002. Her early interest in cultural motifs led her to investigate the nature of identity and perspective, shifting her focus to “style” as a motivation. After freelancing in Los Angeles under fashion directors and wardrobe stylists, she returned to the Bay Area to share her production skills with the emerging Oakland School for the Arts. Teaching art history and stagecraft unlocked for her a five-year conceptual preoccupation with an alter-ego persona, as a result she stopped identifying as the Japanese character she had developed. In the years since she has had a successful career as a visual merchandiser for luxury brands. The production of meaning in a consumer culture continues to be central to her work.

Vincent Chavez was born and raised in the South Valley of Albuquerque, New Mexico. He received his formal dance training from the Dance Theater Southwest (Albuquerque), Ballet Hispanico (New York), Academy of Nevada Ballet Theatre (Las Vegas) and Alonzo King LINES Ballet Training Program (San Francisco). As a result of his strict training and creative educational experiences, he was chosen to perform with leading companies including the San Francisco Opera, Robert Moses’ KIN, Oakland Ballet Company, Nevada Ballet Theatre, New Mexico Ballet Company, among many others.

Vincent has taught, directed, and coached in numerous dance programs including AileyCamp Berkeley/Oakland, Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts, San Francisco Youth Ballet Academy, ODC Youth & Teen programs, and Orinda Ballet Academy. He, alongside another long-term member of Robert Moses KIN, developed the curriculum for “Bootstraps: Lyric Legacies,” a collaborative educational and explorative outreach program implemented by the SF Unified School District among other organizations where the transformative power of dance, expression, and creativity is needed.

Ruby Day has a BA in Musical Theatre from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow. She lived and worked in New York for three years, performing all over, most notably as part of the National Touring Company of Annie, as Star to Be. She moved back to the Bay Area, her hometown, to star in Beach Blanket Babylon as Snow White, until the show closed in 2019.
In her off hours, Ruby attended the Clown Conservatory of SF to broaden her emotional range and sharpen her skills in physical comedy. Represented by STARS talent agency, she has worked in commercials and voiceover. Ms. Day has been teaching acting, singing, and voiceover throughout the Bay Area.

Antwan Davis is a professional performer and teaching artist with over twenty years of experience using body percussion and movement to support learning, creativity, and community in schools. His work integrates rhythm, call-and-response, and embodied music-making to strengthen focus, coordination, collaboration, and social-emotional skills. Drawing from his background with STOMP, Step Afrika!, and Molodi, Antwan creates inclusive classroom environments where all students can access music through their bodies and engage in joyful, collective learning.

Oumarou Diarra is a drummer, percussionist, vocalist, and music producer from Burkina Faso, currently based in California. He is known for his dynamic stage presence and his signature fusion of West-African rhythms with contemporary sounds, blending afrobeat, jazz, world music, hip-hop, R&B, and blues into a vibrant and emotionally powerful musical identity.
Born into a traditional griot family, Oumarou began performing at 13 while accompanying his mother, a traditional Djely singer. He later trained at the prestigious “La Dernière Trompette Junior” school in Ouagadougou (2005–2008), mastering both drum set and traditional percussion including djembe. Over the past decade, Oumarou has built a respected career across West Africa and abroad, working with major artists and ensembles including Yéleen, Alif Naaba, Floby, and Duniya Dance & Drum company. From 2016 to 2019, he had the honor of collaborating with African music icons Salif Keita and Ismaël Lô, contributing to tours, studio projects, and international performances.

Danny Duncan has served as Director of the San Francisco Arts Education Players since its inception. He wrote the libretti and song lyrics for eight SFArtsED Event of the Year performances and created three original musicals for the SFArtsED Players.

A native San Franciscan, Mr. Duncan has worked in the Bay Area most of his life, including as Founder and Artistic Director of Duncan & Company, which toured the West Coast for seven years. Mr. Duncan's writing career began in 1969 with Uhuruh, which appeared Off Broadway in New York at the City Center Theatre. Since then, he has authored and produced eight original musicals, including Billie’s Song—winner of six Bay Area Critic Awards, including Best Musical of 1982.

Mr. Duncan is also the recipient of the Bay Area Critics Circle Award for his choreography for the TheatreWorks production of RAISIN—a musical adaptation of the Lorraine Hansberry play—as well as the Dean Goodman Choice Award for outstanding achievement in theatre. Mr. Duncan has served as Artistic Director for the Mayor's Summer Youth Program (Bayview Hunter's Point) and for United Projects, an arts organization that trains young people in the performing arts. Mr. Duncan has taught at American Conservatory Theater and was a longtime member of the faculty of the Oakland School of the Arts, where he also directed their main stage musical.

Laura Ellis is a member of faculty of the Theater and Dance department at Cal State University East Bay, for whom she has choreographed numerous productions. With colleague Kimiko Guthrie she co-directed and co-choreographed A Chorus Line—which garnered critical praise and was the catalyst for CSUEB’s Musical Theater program. Ms. Ellis has also staged productions for Open Opera, Festival Opera, George Coates Performance Group, Douglass Morrison Theater, and Theatre Rhinoceros. A principal dancer with Dimensions Dance Theater, she has appeared in works by Emily Keeler, Donald McKayle, Garth Fagan, Deborah Vaughan, Joan Lazarus, Anne Bluethenthal, Kim Epifano, and Robert Moses; and is co-founder of the award-winning Black Choreographers Festival: Here & Now. In the summer of 2017 Ms. Ellis was a co-choreographer of Ragtime—a co-production of SFArtsED and the SF Bay Area Theatre Company performed at the Nourse Theater.

Before moving to the Bay Area in 2012, Zoe Farmer spent twelve years teaching at a diverse public school in London. A practicing artist since 2007, Ms. Farmer has shown her work in both London and San Francisco and earned an MFA in Fine Sculpture at California College of the Arts. Ms. Farmer’s art practice is interdisciplinary, and she works with a range of materials in both conventional and unconventional ways. A scuba diver with a life-long interest and investment in marine biology and a strong belief in our connection to the ocean, Ms. Farmer’s work seeks to explore the instability created when social constructs influence the fabrication of scientific truth. Ultimately, the social constructions of our society become conspicuous and limiting against the adaptable, fluid bodies of the animals and organisms that she observes.

Natalie Greene is a performer, teacher, and choreographer who explores both traditional and innovative combinations of dance and theater. She is part of the adjunct faculty at the University of San Francisco, where she co-directs the Dance Generators with Amie Dowling. Ms. Greene also teaches through SFArtsED and the ODC School, and has served as Dance Faculty at San Francisco State University. She has performed with Kim Epifano, Deborah Slater, Emily Keeler, Kelly Kemp, Leyya Tawil, and Mary Armentrout, and her choreography has been presented locally at ODC Theater, the Garage, John Sims, Shotwell Studios, and Dance Mission, as well as at venues across the country. Ms. Greene also creates performances with youth, teens, seniors, incarcerated adults, and college students, which have been performed in such venues as the Eureka Theater, the de Young Museum, the Marsh, the Fromm Institute, County Jail #8, College of San Mateo, and Ruth Asawa School of the Arts.

Emily Hansel (they/she) is a San Francisco-based dancer, choreographer, dance teacher, arts administrator, and artist advocate. Originally from Rochester, Minnesota, Emily received their BFA in Dance from the University of South Florida. Emily has danced with SFDanceworks, Post:ballet, Christy Funsch, Mark Foehringer Dance Project, Robert Moses’ KIN, Garrett-Moulton Productions, Rebecca Fitton Projects, David Herrera Performance Company, Jennifer Perfilio, FACT/SF, and ZiRu Dance, among others. Emily has also performed in Alexandra Pirici’s Re-collection at SFMOMA and in Cunningham repertory in Signals from the West. For their choreographic work, which is centered around dismantling systems of oppression in the contemporary dance field, Emily has received an San Francisco Artist award from the San Francisco Arts Commission, was selected to participate in MANCC’s Forward Dialogues program, received an ODC Theater RDI Award, and was named an Individual Artist Fellow by the California Arts Council. Through their choreography, writing, speaking engagements, and other creative work, Emily advocates for healthy and equitable working conditions for dancers. In her teaching, Emily focuses on playing with imagery, momentum, alignment, weight, space, and energy while emphasizing freedom, individuality, and creativity.

Natalie Harris is a Bay Area based Soprano living in San Francisco. Originally from the Washington, D.C. area, Natalie completed their Bachelor's degree in Music from James Madison University in 2019 before moving to San Francisco to pursue their Master's and Professional Studies Diploma at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Since completing their studies, Natalie has been teaching private voice lessons in San Francisco and performing around the Bay Area, primarily working in opera and classical/chamber music. Local companies Natalie has worked with include Livermore Valley Opera, Pocket Opera, and the San Francisco Opera Guild. Their favorite roles to perform have been Adele in Die Fledermaus, Mabel in Pirates of Penzance, and Adina in L'elisir d'amore. Natalie has enjoyed working in outreach and education through San Francisco Opera's Opera Together Program, and now with SFArtsED. Natalie is eager to bring music and theater training to schools, where they can share their vocal and performing background, and make the arts accessible to all.

C.K.Itamura is a Yonsei, Nikkei interdisciplinary artist based in California. Her conceptual, visual, performance and community engagement art serve to engage intergenerational audiences in the exploration of observation, contemplation and expressive imagination. C.K. is an Artist-in-Residence of San Francisco Unified School District Library Department and San Francisco Arts Education Project, and works with San Francisco Public Library, Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Mateo County Libraries, San Mateo County Office of Education and South San Francisco Unified School District via Young Audiences of Northern California, and others to create and provide: professional development workshops for educators; hands-on art-making workshops for students; and to make art-making accessible to the general public.

Rodney Earl Jackson, Jr. made his Broadway debut in The Book of Mormon after graduating with a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama. He was last seen performing in the Temptations musical Ain’t Too Proud, and previously traveling North America in the first national tour of Motown: The Musical. A San Francisco native who was discovered in his public elementary school at age 9 by SFArtsED (Emily Keeler & Danny Duncan), Mr. Jackson continued his theatre and performance education at Rec and Park’s Young People’s Teen Musical Theater Company (Diane Price, Anne Marie Bookwalter & Nicola Bosco-Alvarez) and graduated from the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts’ theatre department (Phillip Rayher & Donn Harris). As the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of BATCO, he is a proud art-activist passionate about telling untold stories.

Eva Langman has been a theater instructor and director for youth and adult groups in the Bay Area since 2008. She studied at the Experimental Theater wing of the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU and has trained at the California Institute of Integral Studies in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Drama Therapy. Eva facilitated the creation of original scripts and libretti with students from Kindergarten through the 8th grade and has been the resident Creative Director of West Portal Elementary School’s spring musical since 2014. She has taught drama, voice, improv, mask work, devised theater and creative writing under the auspices of several arts organizations in California, including SF Arts Ed, Bay Area Children’s Theater, Leap, Little Opera and the Randall Museum. Through theater education, Eva aims to facilitate curiosity, empathy and self-knowledge among her students, and foster a deeper connection to the innate human capacity to play.

Originally from Toronto, Canada, Rachel Major is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design and the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Ms. Major lived and worked in Paris for two years before moving to San Francisco in 1994 and receiving an MFA from Mills College. In her work, which has been shown in France, Canada, and the United States, Ms. Major investigates our complex and often fraught relationship with food using a variety of media—including sculpture, painting, and photography. She has been making art with children for more than ten years, and enjoys connecting art with science and working collaboratively with open-ended materials—exploring everything from airplanes to zoetropes.

Laura Marsh hails from Memphis, Tennessee, where she received a BFA in Dance and Theatre from University Of Memphis in 1992. After graduating, she performed and choreographed with Project: Motion, later moving on to become co-artistic director of the company. In 1997 she was awarded first prize in Tennessee Association Of Dance’s annual choreography competition.

Since her arrival in the Bay Area in 1998, she has performed with Megan Nicely and Company, Right Brain Performance Lab, Nina Galin Music and Dance, and Steamroller. In addition to working with SFArtsED, teaching residencies have included time at Synergy School, ODC, Rhythm and Motion, Brisbane Dance Works, and Beresford Recreation Center in San Mateo.

She enjoys working with students of all ages, and blending elements from a variety of dance genres to inspire creative movement.

Tom Mayock, brings the dance arts to thousands of children annually in the form of standards-based curriculum in elementary schools. With his unique K-5th grade curriculum of Jazz, Creative Moment, and student generated-composition, he helps students to be better critical, collaborative, and creative thinkers. He is the co-artistic director and choreographer of The World Dance Festival and the Classroom Connections Festival. He has been an Artist Mentor with SFArtsED for more than a decade. Mr. Mayock has attended Cornish College of the Arts, and performed, choreographed, and taught professionally in Seattle, Portland, Las Vegas, Alaska, the Bay Area, and Washington DC.

Mallory McDaniel graduated from the California College of the Arts, receiving her BFA in Fashion Design. While at CCA she won a competition for sustainable fashion design sponsored by the prominent San Francisco nonprofit, ReMake. This led to her being the center of a documentary produced in Sri Lanka where she was introduced to the many issues surrounding the pipeline of overseas garment production.

Before fashion Ms. McDaniel studied film and taught at the multimedia youth nonprofit, Spy Hop in Salt Lake City. While there she completed three documentaries, one winning her a Student Emmy. She has a special love for the medium of stop-motion film due to its detailed hand-crafted artistry. She has worked with all ages, from teaching art to toddlers (working on fine motor skills and early childhood development), to 3-month summer intensives, creating 20-minute film projects with high school students. Her interest in art started from a young age, as she began to gather and combine a variety of artistic materials, styles and techniques and remains passionate about creativity, playful exploration, sustainability, and up-cycling, a focus that she applies with great excitement in all areas of her life.

Melinda Neal-Cofresi is a BFA candidate in dance at Saint Mary’s College. She trained at the Oakland Ballet Academy under Ronn Guidi and studied locally at Shawl Anderson and the San Francisco Dance Center. She is certified to teach ballet by the Dance Masters of America, and has performed with Simply Pasquale, Napoles Ballet Theatre, California Ballet, Udance Electra, New Trails Dance Theatre, Oakland Ballet Academy, and Solano Civic Ballet. Ms Neal-Cofresi is the Artistic Director and Choreographer for Halal Ballet Theatre, a non-profit youth ballet company and also teaches for Dance Network.

Ms. Nureyev is a multidisciplinary artist and designer that foregrounds fiber-based mediums and practices that require methodical handwork.Techniques such as weaving, braiding, and hand sewing, as well as painting and illustration that reference textile structures and surface design are common themes in her work. She is interested in revealing the psychological underpinnings, emotional pathology, and spiritual disconnection that accompanies being a descendant of the African American diaspora as well as simply a human and a woman in this world now. Ms. Nureyev has been a teaching artist with the San Francisco Arts Education Project (SFArtsED) since 2006 and is a recipient of a National Endowment of the Arts-funded residency via SFArtsED at the Minnesota Street Project. She was a selected artist included in the 2023 DeYoung Open and is producing ``Soft Spaces for Hard Times: A Community Quilting Project`` that engages San Francisco youth in the creation of a monumental textile collage funded by the SF Arts Commission.

Thora Olsen is a Bay Area visual artist and writer. She received her undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies and Native American Studies from Dartmouth College, and is currently an MFA Candidate at Bennington Writing Seminars, where she is working on a collection of nonfiction essays. Thora has worked as an arts educator in schools, prisons, and for nonprofits in the Bay Area for more than a decade. She is passionate about helping young people to trust their visions and enjoy their creativity. She is happiest by water.

Erik Parra is a San Francisco-based visual artist and educator who holds an MFA in Studio Art from the University of Wisconsin—Madison and a BFA from the University of Texas at Austin. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally including Brazil, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, and New York. Locally, Mr. Parra’s work has been exhibited at Southern Exposure, The Headlands Center for the Arts, The Berkeley Art Center, Johansson Projects, and Eleanor Harwood Gallery. In addition to having over 15 years experience working as a teaching artist he lectures extensively at universities and colleges including at the University of Wisconsin--Madison, North Seattle College, Hastings College in Nebraska, San Francisco State University, City College of San Francisco, and the California College of the Arts.

Kristin Pflumm is an artist and educator who is ready and willing to take on any crafty experience that will expose her to new skills and ideas; from learning how to make ceramic sculpture in Italy to weaving canang flower offerings in Indonesia. She is forever inspired by the tenacity of nature, traveling to new places, listening to live music, meditation and meeting kind people. Much of her recent work consists of photography & travel sketches. These might include cityscapes, prints or line drawings of her breakfast. She is a passionate collector of art supplies & loves to experiment with new mediums, materials & tools. She is currently working on a collection of tiny greeting cards. As an educator, she is deeply moved by the brilliant imaginations of her students & is interested in helping them feel confident about their artistic journeys and explore what is meaningful to them to feel fulfilled. She has a BA in Studio Art and an MA in Education.

Angelina Picazo is a San Francisco based choral music educator dedicated to helping students discover their voices and develop strong musicianship. She teaches vocal ensembles, music literacy, and beginning piano for singers at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts (RASOTA) and directs the Training Chorus with the San Francisco Girls Chorus (SFGC). She holds a B.A. in Music Composition with a minor in Education from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Single-Subject Teaching Credential in Music at San Francisco State University. She is currently pursuing her Master of Arts in Music Education at San José State University.

Angelina approaches her work with a strong belief in the role choral music can play in students’ personal and artistic development. Her teaching is rooted in social-emotional learning and centers on creating a student-focused rehearsal environment where singers feel supported, challenged, and encouraged to take risks. Drawing on experience with a wide range of ages and skill levels, she brings a thoughtful approach to choir direction, inclusive repertoire selection, and vocal technique. Across her work, Angelina emphasizes music literacy, sight-singing, and performance preparation, blending established pedagogical practices with creative strategies that help students build confidence, connection, and a lasting relationship with music.

Acting professionally since age 9, Brennan Pickman-Thoon attended New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, receiving a BFA in drama and a BA in English. Through NYU, he studied at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting and has performed locally with Berkeley Repertory Theatre, California Shakespeare Theater, Cutting Ball Theater, Marin Shakespeare Company, Marin Theater Company, and New Conservatory Theatre Center. Mr. Pickman-Thoon was the resident drama teacher at Venitia Valley Elementary and co-taught theater at Richmond College Prep. He toured middle and high schools with NCTC’s OutSpoken, a play about teens and identity, facilitating talkbacks and learning moments for young audiences across the Bay Area. He also teaches summer Shakespeare intensives with Marin Shakespeare Company.

Mário Pires Cordeiro is an American-Portuguese artist and mentor based in San Francisco since 2015. His artistic practice explores the intersection of visual art and functional objects through experimentation with media and color. Central to his work is the exploration of color—ranging from personal tastes informed by social contexts to examining the symbolic and cultural meanings it carries in contemporary society. He sources colors from design trends, forecasts, and specific environments or publications, incorporating them into his art. Pires Cordeiro also draws inspiration from engineering and geometry, distilling complex ideas into distinct, minimalist forms. His diverse practice spans various media, including painting, apparel, sculpture, large-scale installations, public art interventions, as well as drawing and collage.

Nico Poler’s passion for acting and storytelling began in school plays and after school clowning classes, and has led him to direct several plays, run a youth theater company, and basically make as much art as possible. A San Francisco native, he stepped away to pursue a BFA in Acting at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, but is now back in the Bay Area pursuing a variety of theatrical opportunities.

Through all his artistic endeavors, the childlike joy from making people laugh or bringing them out of their usual lives into something curious and exciting remains his core motivator. Art is a magic tool, like religion and language, that can be used to make the world a better place. Favorite acting roles have included Creon in ``Antigone`` and Kulygin in ``Three Sisters.`` Nicolas will gladly talk for hours on end about fantasy and science-fiction, animals (both extant and extinct) and the fractal nature of the universe.

Carmen Roman is a dancer, choreographer, educator, filmmaker, and emerging scholar. She was raised both in Lima, Peru, and in the Bay Area. As a choreographer, her work is deeply rooted in Afro-Peruvian dance vocabulary and also uses movements inspired by other dances of the African Diaspora and modern dance using her practice as an art form and vehicle for self-expression. Her article, ``The Danced Spirituality of African Descendants in Peru,`` was published in a special edition of the African Performance Review (2013). In 2015-2016 Carmen was awarded a U.S. Fulbright Fellowship in Dance to Peru to research Afro-Peruvian dance through practice, performance, and observation. Her dance documentary ``Herencia de Un Pueblo (Inheriting a Legacy )” shot in El Carmen, Peru, was awarded Best Documentary and Best Cinematography at the San Francisco Dance Film Festival (2016) and has screened in various cities across the U.S. and internationally in England, Tanzania, and Canada. In 2018 she was part of NYFA's Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program. In 2019 she was awarded the Mythili Kumar Emerging Artist Award and was commissioned to create new work for the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival. Carmen’s work has been documented in articles such as “Moving Words, Thinking Movement: Three Peruvian Approaches to Dance and Diversity” and “Somatic Sauce: 2020: annotating Love Therapy and celebration.``
Carmen has been teaching dance for over ten years to children and adults in the Bay Area and in rural communities in El Salvador and Peru. She holds a B.A. in Dance from San Francisco State University and an MFA in Dance from Mills College.

Elena Ruggiero is a Bay Area native who has been a teaching artist and musical theatre choreographer for more than 15 years. A musical theater lover since childhood, she attended the University of Redlands, Johnston College where she obtained her BA in Musical Theater. She then returned to San Francisco to continue her studies in theatre and dance. An instructor offered her an opportunity to try her hand as a teaching artist and ever since then, she has continued to work for various organizations such as Palo Alto Children's Theatre, Leap Arts in Education, SFArtsED, New Conservatory Theatre and Peninsula Ballet Theatre to name a few.

In 2025, Elena was accepted into Luna Dance & Creativity's Summer Institute in Berkeley, an intensive study and investigation in dance discipline, creativity and culturally-relevant teaching practices. Elena is an outgoing, energetic and enthusiastic teacher who encourages her students to explore and enjoy the multiple realms of all-things-theatre. As an actor herself, she understands the value of art education and hopes to pass that knowledge on to her students to instill confidence, strengthen community and foster arts appreciation.

Sharon Shao is a multi-hyphenate artist who performs widely in the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as New York. Sharon has worked with youth and adults of all ages and experience levels as a vocal and theatrical coach. Through a holistic lens, Sharon weaves a background in theater arts, classical voice training, developmental psychology, and somatic practices, to create a caring and supportive space where learners can thrive.. As the child of a music teacher and singer, who emphasized the importance of believing in one’s potential, Sharon encourages students to stay curious and passionate about their growth.

Grace Shaver has studied dance since age 3, fostering a deep appreciation for her body and the movement it is capable of. Grace is a contemporary dance performing artist and holistic and whole-bodied ballet educator based in the Bay Area. In the spring of 2023 she launched the ongoing research project Dancers as People in support of her B.A. in Performing Arts and Social Justice from USF. She often explores people's connection to nature in her choreographic work, and her rehearsals and pieces embody her “dancers as people” framework.
Grace's love for dance and movement developed into a deep love of yoga, and in December 2019 she completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training. In the fall of 2020 she became a trauma-informed yoga instructor and most recently completed a prenatal and post-natal teacher training in April 2024. Grace's yoga practice influences her dance and movement work, which is often focused on the connection between mind and body. She also works as a postpartum doula, and her dance teaching is informed by her experience in care work and years of working with young children and their families. Grace loves teaching dance because she believes dance is a valuable tool for children to gain increased awareness of and appreciation for themselves and their bodies. And it's fun! When not dancing Grace can be found hiking, swimming in the ocean, sharing home-cooked meals with friends, attending concerts, and basking in sunshine.

Tom Shaw is a singer-pianist with extensive musical theater experience as a music director, accompanist, and actor. He has also composed music and acted for television and film. His jazz trio, the Tom Shaw Trio, performs throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and is often engaged to accompany other vocalists, cabaret performances, musical theater productions, and shows, and can be seen regularly performing in San Francisco at Martuni's—among other venues.

Mark Shoffner is a visual artist and author/illustrator of children’s books. His most recent book, The Witches of Glen Park, is a mysterious tale set in San Francisco written for middle-grade readers. It follows four other books created by the author using a range of illustration techniques including watercolor, pen and ink, and photomontage. Mr. Shoffner received his MFA from Queens College, City University of New York in 2000 and has been based in San Francisco since 2013, where he often works on visual arts projects with long-time collaborator Rebecca Herman. Their textile and installation work was exhibited at the Main Branch of the San Francisco Public Library, the San José Museum of Quilts and Textiles, and Tenjinyama Art Studio in Sapporo, Japan. He loves to foster creativity and an exploration of various art and writing techniques.

Alpha Oumar “Bongo” Sidibe is a traditional drummer from Conakry, Guinea in West Africa. He is musical director of Duniya Dance and Drum Company. Mr. Sidibe studied with Master Drummer Mamady Keita at his school, Tam Tam Mandigue, Guinea, and participated in his workshops in Conakry and Balandougou, Mamady’s village. He performed with Ballet Jah Karlo in Dakar, Senegal, and recorded the CD “N’dguel Fall” and toured with Orchestre Baye Fall. Before leaving Guinea, he was co-director of Balandougou Kan, a group of traditional percussionists and dancers. Since arriving in the U.S., Mr. Sidibe has performed with Rhythm Village, Joan Baez, Mickey Hart, the Grateful Dead, and Black Nature from the Sierra Leone Refugee Allstars. He is also a singer and percussionist with Dogon Lights band and a teaching artist.

Eric's theatrical credits include TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Marin Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Broadway South Bay, Bay Area Bar Shakes, 42nd Street Moon, La MaMa, Musical Theatre Factory, the Fulton Theatre, Bard SummerScape, 34 West Theater Company, Seven Angels Theatre, the Secret Theatre, Winnipesaukee Playhouse, and East Lynne Theater Company. A proud Canadian, graduate of Muhlenberg College, and member of AEA, he is represented by Metropolis Artists Agency and JE Talent.

As a teaching artist he’s worked with a variety of Bay Area organizations, such as Spindrift School for Performing Arts, Mr. D’s Music Club, and Musical Theatre Works, and is also a certified voice teacher through New York Vocal Coaching. When working with students his focus is creating a safe environment where young artists can unlock technique, storytelling, and joy!

Samantha Stone received her BFA in Dance from the University of Michigan. Upon graduating, she continued her dance studies in Brazil, Mexico and Europe as well as in the Bay Area, focusing on Axis Syllabus Dance. Most recently, she participated at the Luna Dance Institute, where she further trained in the field of children's dance education. She has had the pleasure of working with choreographers Kathleen Hermsdorf, Bianca Cabrera, Rosemary Hannon, Ashley Trottier, Aura Fischbeck, and Leyya Tawil. Ms. Stone is a co-founder of Viv dance company and her work has been shown in several local theaters, although she prefers enchanting the homes, galleries, and shops around her with movement and design. She engages in teaching, choreographing, and performing on both sides of the San Francisco Bay, always advocating for arts awareness and opportunities for all.

Christopher Street, a dedicated music professional and advocate for youth arts, originates from Southampton, Long Island, New York. Since his teen years, he has been actively involved in performances with various concert choirs and bands throughout the United States. Holding a Bachelor of Arts in Music Theory and Choral Performance, he has focused his career on promoting youth arts and education. With over two decades of experience, Christopher has worked with numerous youth programs and within the San Francisco Unified School District, fulfilling roles like Paraprofessional, Behavioral Specialist, and Instructional Aide for both elementary and secondary schools.

Some of his notable career roles include Director of Prep I & II and Training Chorus I & II at the San Francisco Girls Chorus. He also took on the position of Site Director at venues such as the Ruth Williams Memorial Theater, Bayview Hunters Point YMCA, and Kanbar Center for the Arts. Career highlights for Christopher include his time as Music Director at KIPP Academy and as an artist in residence at the Ruth Williams Memorial Theater in San Francisco’s Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood. Currently, in his fifteenth year as a lead teaching artist and composer with the San Francisco Opera, Christopher focuses on empowering students by nurturing their inner strengths and talents through project-based activities. He excels at creating a learning environment that is both culturally rich and emotionally supportive, which helps boost students' confidence and encourages them to achieve their full potential.

Phaedra Tillery Boughton (she/her) is the Associate Producer and Casting manager for SFBATCO. She is currently the 2022-2023 Theatre Bay Area Arts Leadership Residency Recipient. She is an actor, director, playwright, and arts advocate. Her work consistently challenges the concept of traditional theatre and pushes the boundaries of creativity and inclusion in the theatre community.

Phaedra’s performance career includes work with Center Repertory Theater as Mable in their production of Crowns, and at Hillbarn Theater on Clybourne Park (Director), Ain't Misbehavin’ (Armelia McQueen/Assistant Director), 1940s Radio Hour (Geneva), The Color Purple, and To Kill a Mockingbird. Other credits: West Side Story (Director at Throckmorton Theatre), Caroline or Change and Little Shop of Horrors (Ray Of Light Theatre), Newsies (Woodminster), Tarzan (PAP), and Avenue Q (NCTC).

Trish Tillman served as the Director of Artistic Learning at California Shakespeare Theater for five years. She has been a working actor, improviser, and theater arts teacher for 25 years, and holds an MA in Dramatic Performance and Teaching Theater from Antioch University and a BS in Performance Studies from Northwestern University. Ms. Tillman has created artist teaching training programs for both classroom teachers and college education students, and has brought the world of Shakespeare to thousands of children through numerous productions and classes. She is the founder of two improvisational theater companies in San Francisco and is currently a staff and ensemble member of Un-Scripted Theater.

Jamie Yuen-Shore is a proud alumna of the first generation of SFArtsED Players. In addition to SFArtsED, she has taught musical theater and theater education with the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre, the Fulbright Program in Montevideo, Uruguay, Aim High, and where she teaches at San Francisco Day School. She serves on the board of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company (SFBATCO), where most recently she co-created and directed I, Too, Sing America (Othello Jefferson). She has previously choreographed with SFArtsED for Building Broadway, Carnival, Ragtime, Seussical™, and West Side Story.

Jesus Zamarron has more than ten years experience teaching art in after-school programs at Holy Name School and Mission Dolores Academy. He graduated with an MA in Art Education from the Academy of Art in 2013, and holds a BFA from Complutense University in Madrid and a Pedagogical Adaptation Certificate (CAP) from University of Almeria, Spain.