Ray McNiece
Theatre, Performance Poetry & Storytelling
Ray McNiece is the author of eight books of poems and monologues, most recently Breath Burns Away, New Haiku. He has created two solo theatre works: Dis – Voices From a Shelter and Us? Talking Across America; two music/poetry collaborations: “Mouth Music” and “A Rust bowl Hootenanny;” and an autobiography on stage: The Lives of A Poet. The Orlando Sentinel reporting on Ray’s solo show at the Fringe Festival called him “a modern day descendant of Woody Guthrie. He has a way with words and a wry sense of humor.” In a review of Us?…
Zak Morgan’s sense of humor and penchant for wordplay are gifts passed down from his grandpa George. Zak and his siblings grew up hearing wonderful stories about magnetic feet, kissing the Blarney Stone, and catching a lion with bare hands. Zak began writing his own stories in elementary school and honed his writing skills at Kenyon College. He did this while having adventures of his own, including ascending Mt. Rainier and sailing across the Atlantic. After college, Morgan moved to Wyoming where he entertained children during the day and adults at night.…
Pamela O’Loughlin
Multidisciplinary, Dance, Creative Writing, & Visual Arts
Pamela O’Loughlin is a gifted creative, avid learner, and passionate teacher.
She is an innovative, thoughtful, and skilled educator; from budgeting supplies for activities to last-minute changes that tend to come up when dealing with multiple groups, classes, and organizations, Pamela handles any adverse situation seamlessly.
Pamela is passionate about brainstorming with teachers, students, and administrators. Believing that if she understands what needs to be taught, a creative activity can be developed. Grounded in her early efforts centered around social emotional work that pairs well with Ohio’s Social Emotional Learning Standards, she believes she can teach to any standard of which she has a clear understanding.…
Marquette Stankowski
Drama/Theatre, Theater Arts and Public Speaking
Marquette Stankowski has worked as an actor, teacher, and director for more than 20 years. He is currently the artist-in-residence at New Albany Primary School. In his role, he develops and leads two signature experience programs in which all students in two grade levels participate. The Carnival of the Animals is the first grade experience that culminates in a dance and poetry performance. The second grade experience, The Journey, combines music, poetry, dance and visual art with the school’s second grade science curriculum. It also culminates with a performance at New Albany’s McCoy Center for the Performing Arts.…
DaShika Street
Visual Arts, Painting, Sewing, Candle Making, Murals, & Digital Art
the elevation of the Greater Akron Arts and Culture sector. This is especially evident in her work at Street Craftery (a creative art studio, founded by Street in 2022). At Street Craftery, Da’Shika uses her gift of creating and teaching as a vehicle to empower emerging artists and collaborate with seasoned artists to strengthen the community through artistic expression.
Da’Shika’s community-building through art has awarded her esteemed consultancy opportunities such as developing the campaign and strategy for Kent State University Museum’s landmark exhibit: Textures: The History and Art of Black Hair.…
Carol Tyler
Visual Arts, Comics & Graphic Novels
Carol Tyler is an influential pioneer of American Comics, known for her beautifully written and drawn by hand autobiographical stories.
Carol was born and raised in Chicago, received her Masters from Syracuse in 1983. After some years in NYC, she moved to San Francisco and began getting her comics published in R. Crumb’s Weirdo. In 1988, Carol received the Dori Seda Memorial Award for Best New Female Cartoonist.
Carol has many books, including the graphic masterpiece “Soldier’s Heart: The Campaign to Understand my WWII Veteran Father, A Daughter’s Memoir” (2015) which began as the “You’ll Never Know” trilogy.…
Tiffany Wilson
Film/Video/Media, Video Production & Photography
Tiffany Wilson has taken a unique approach to finding her life’s purpose and has sought to find ways to constantly reinvent herself. She has held positions from working in the news industry to owning a business, to now her current passion of being an educator.
Raised in a military family, Tiffany understands what it means to be resilient and wants to inspire her students to do the same as life can be challenging. Throughout these challenges, creativity has always served as a vehicle to express and share her gifts with the world.…
