Polina Isurin
Visual and Multidisciplinary Arts
Polina Isurin is an artist-teacher with over 15 years of experience in museums, schools, organizations, and universities. She holds an MFA in Studio Art from Tufts University, a PhD in Arts Administration, Education, and Policy from The Ohio State University, and is both committed and interested in how creative and pedagogical practices can coexist. Polina has taught a variety of visual art/culture courses (e.g. drawing, painting, sculpture, installation, digital video, AP Visual Art, International Baccalaureate Visual Art, courses within makerspaces) to middle, high school, and college level students, across four different states.…
Ami Majmudar
Dance/Movement: Classical Indian Dance, Creative Writing, & Storytelling
Ami Majmudar inhabits many crossroads: Indian-American, first generation, multilingual, cultural, and ethnic minority. Ami’s work as dancer, teacher, storyteller, and author is an ongoing effort to connect her many paths and to share her experiences, her art, and her stories with others.
With a degree in English Literature from the University of California-Berkeley, followed by a Master’s degree in Education, Ami began her career as a high school English teacher. While raising her three children, Ami began writing short stories and then books. Her debut novel, The Torchbearers, published by Penguin India, was shortlisted for the Neev Book Award for Distinguished Children’s Literature.…
Vicki Murphy
Visual Arts: Mosaics
Vicki Murphy is a mosaic artist who works primarily in Ohio and New Orleans. She has trained extensively with master mosaic artist Laurel True of True Mosaics Studio for many years focusing on studio work and professional development in large scale public art. She worked with True on multiple projects in New Orleans including the Global Mosaic Project and Universal Garden’s Lotus Fantasy Bench, the Green Project, and the Edible Schoolyard murals. Vicki’s combined years as artist, educator and licensed social worker give her a unique perspective regarding the healing power of art and the beauty of creative expression.…
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.…
Meghan Patijarevich
Dance/Movement: Ballet, Modern, & Jazz
Meghan Patijarevich is an imaginative and energetic dance educator. She is a native Ohioan and currently resides just outside of Columbus with her husband and daughter. Meghan enjoys bringing creativity, energy and a love of dance into each class she teaches. Her goal is to provide quality dance instruction while maintaining a positive and encouraging learning environment.
She is a graduate from The Ohio State University where she received a Masters of Arts in Education with an emphasis in Dance Education. She studied under Professor Melayne White-Dixon. Prior to that, she received her Bachelors of Arts and K-12 teaching license in Dance from the University of Akron.…
Brianna Rhodes
Dance/Movement, Visual Poetry, Modern, West African, Afrobeats, & Hip Hop
Brianna Rhodes is an Ohio native and graduate of The Ohio State University Department of Dance. She formally danced as a fellow with Dayton Contemporary Dance Company. Currently, she is working with Dianne McIntyre and serving as a freelance dancer and dance teacher. Her talents span concert, street, and commercial dance. Primarily, she works with the youth teaching dance, along with dance history, in many corners of Columbus, Ohio. Her professional career has allowed her to perform at the Bermuda Dance Festival, in a Brazil tour group, and at City Center in New York.…
Marlene Robbins
Dance/Movement: Creative Movement & International Folk Dance
Marlene Robbins is a dance educator/dancer /choreographer who has been sharing her love of dance with people of all ages for over 40 years. Marlene was fortunate to serve as the Dance Specialist at Indianola K-8 for 23 years, teaching thousands of students and developing an integrated curriculum K-5 as part of a full-time arts program. Early in her career Marlene worked as teaching artist for the Ohio Arts Council developing works in schools and communities across generations, the Greater Columbus Arts Council Artists in the Schools program, and Days of Creation (Artist Collaborative dedicated to process-oriented experiences in the arts) where she developed dance residencies and workshops in schools, community centers and camps across Ohio.…
Rikki Santer
Creative Writing: Poetry, & Film Studies
Rikki Santer has worked as a journalist, magazine and book editor, co-founder and managing editor of an alternative city newspaper in Cleveland, poet-in-the schools, high school teacher of English and film studies, and director of a student writing center. Currently she is serving as a vice-president of the Ohio Poetry Association, education consultant for Film Columbus, member of the performing poetry troupe, Concrete Wink, and she holds an Ohio Department of Education Lead Professional Educator teaching license as well as National Board teacher certification.
She earned an MA degree in journalism from Kent State University and an MFA degree in creative writing from The Ohio State University.…
Mansee Singhi
Indian Dance/Movement
“To dance is to express!” is the mantra of Mansee’s life.
Mansee Singhi is a Columbus, Ohio-based South Asian dancer, choreographer, and teacher. Her artistry has been shaped profoundly by renowned teachers from India since the age of seven, performing experiences in various countries such as Singapore, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and various places in the U.S. and collaborations with a multitude of artists in the field of dance and music.
Mansee has been a member of the United Nations Dance Council since 2012 and continues with the Board of OhioDance. Through the years, diverse influences have inspired her to immerse herself in pure dance, cross-art form collaborations, and innovative partnerships.…
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.…
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.…
