Artist and Presenters
Center ARTES presenters are experts in their fields and
in most cases are working artists and experienced classroom teachers as
well. As such, they share tried and proven arts education teaching
strategies and activities for immediate integration into the classroom.
Center ARTES artists and educators come from diverse backgrounds and
are trained to cultivate mutual understanding and communication within
the multicultural learning communities they serve. Presenters and
workshop facilitators come from diverse places such as France (Marcel
Marceau), Croatia, Brazil, China, Mexico, and local schools,
universities, and Native American reservations. They present workshops
in fields as diverse as ceramics, sculpture, puppetry, percussion,
theater, storytelling, music, painting, drawing, mixed media visual
arts, education, and more.
Please see below for brief introductions to some of our core artists and presenters.
Mindy Donner
An arts coach with SUAVE since 1994, she is a puppeteer and storyteller
with her group, Spinning Wheel Players. She and her group have been
performing in such theatre venues include Sushi (San Diego) and Lace
(Los Angeles) since 1986. Her theatre arts background extends from
France to the O'Neill Playhouse (Connecticut). Mindy celebrates 20
years as an arts educator, beginning as a Waldorf kindergarten teacher.
Mindy currently teaches a section of Merryl Goldberg's class, Learning
Through the Arts, at Cal State San Marcos. She continues to participate
actively in the ongoing artistic and educational activities of the
Puppetry Center/San Diego Guild of Puppetry. Having received funding,
Mindy is currently working on a historical fiction play based on
California history.
Merryl Goldberg, Ed.D.-Center ARTES Executive Director
Merryl is a Professor in the
Visual and Performing Arts Department at Cal State San Marcos where she
teaches courses on learning through the arts and music. She has
published several works including the forthcoming Arts and Learning,
third edition, Longman/Addison Wesley (2006), and most recently,
Teaching English Language Learners Through the Arts: A SUAVE
Experience, Allyn and Bacon (2004). In addition, she is a professional
saxophonist, performing internationally with the Klezmer Conservatory
Band since 1980. She is a recording artist for Rounder Records with a
dozen CDs to her credit. Merryl earned her bachelor's degree at the New
England Conservatory of Music and completed her graduate work at the
Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Iain Gunn
A SUAVE arts coach since 2003, his background includes teaching
puppetry and performing arts with the San Diego Guild of Puppetry and
Fern Street Circus. Iain holds a BFA from The University of British
Columbia in both multimedia art and creative writing and has studied
dance with Experimental Dance and Music (Vancouver), at Earthdance
(Plainfield, MA) and at Eveoke Dance Theatre (San Diego). He is a
co-founder of DakiniDeva Performance Arts, who were artists in
residence at the San Diego Children's Museum for almost two years,
producing art events, circus performances, and The Day Out of Time
Festival 2002 with Planet Art Network San Diego. His Mythologram
Theatre brings performances to Old Town's Cinco de Mayo festival as
well as performing at school assemblies around Southern California. He
is presently co-directing and performing with Technomania Circus and
exhibiting his visual art in various locations, both public and in
galleries.
Roxanne Kilbourne
Roxanne is a professional poet specializing in the use of power words
and dynamic language for the everyday person. She also presents
techniques to integrate literacy with poetry in an active learning
situation.
Sylvia Mejia
A sculptor of organic figurative ceramics, she has been with SUAVE
since 2003. She has worked with children in various locations including
the San Diego Museum of Art, the Museum of Man, Greater Golden Hill
Community Development Corporation, Coronado School for the Arts, and
San Diego City Schools. Working with a variety of clay bodies, glazes,
and processes, her sculptures often include ingredients from her
travels such as seaweed from California beaches, sand from Borrego
Desert, and clay from New Zealand, Australia, France, and her native
California. She has been an artist in residence at the University of
San Diego and her work has shown at the San Diego Institute of Art,
Spanish Village Arts Center, and various galleries.
Eduardo Parra
An arts coach with SUAVE since the program's inception in 1994, he is
known as "Mr. SUAVE" because of his talents in several areas of fine
arts: music, visual arts, and drama. He plays various instruments from
Latin America, including Pre-Columbian instruments. He has worked in
television, theater, and film. For the past eleven years he has used
art, music, and drama techniques in his work to challenge and motivate
both elementary-age students and adolescent at-risk youth. Awarded a
Fulbright-Hayes Grant in 2001, he lead a group of fellow educators and
art coaches through his native state of Veracruz, where they studied
with various indigenous artists. He continues to be inspired by the
world around him, and brings that inspiration into the classroom. He
studied dentistry and fine arts at Veracruz University in Mexico.
Abel Silvas (aka Running Grunion)
Professional Mime (student of Marcel Marceau) is a member of the
Juaneno Mission Tribe of San Juan Capistrano specializes in teaching
social studies through the very personal history of Pablo Tac, Mission
San Luis Rey Indian who at age 11 was the first-ever American Indian to
write a history of his people.
Berta Villaescusa
A California credentialed art educator teaching a variety of visual
arts, she has been teaching for SUAVE since 1995. While predominately a
mixed media artist, she recently completed a commissioned painting and
is currently working on ceramic sculptures. Berta has exhibited in solo
and group juried shows. She has an AA degree in drawing and painting
from Grossmont College, a BA in art education and a California teaching
credential in art with supplementary authorizations in English as a
Second Language and Introductory English from San Diego State
University. Besides being a full-time SUAVE Arts Coach, Berta is an
adjunct professor at Cal State San Marcos, a Niki de St. Phalle
Education Committee member for Escondido's Public Art Commission, and
current Secretary and Annual Retreat Chair for the San Diego chapter of
Women's Caucus for Art.
