Artists

IAHE Artists

Artist biographies are below

Klea Blackhurst is an actress, singer, and musician currentresiding in New York City. She made her New York debut Off-Broadway in "Oil City Symphony" at Circle in the Square Downtown and recreated the role in theatres all across the country. In 1992, she joined forces with "Oil City Symphony" co-authors Mike Craver and Mark Hardwick in the development of "Radio Gals." Ms. Blackhurst originated the role of Rennabelle in Arkansas Repertory Theatre and at The Pasadena Playhouse, The LaMirada Center for the Performing Arts, The Coconut Grove Playhouse, and an Off-Broadway run at The John Houseman Theatre. Ms. Blackhurst is also a member of Emerging Artists Theatre Co. She has appeared on "A Prairie Home Companion", "Sesame Street" and regionally at Actors' Theatre of Louisville, GeVa Theatre, Players Theatre Columbus, and Pioneer Theatre Company in her hometown of Salt Lake City, Utah. She has recorded duets with Brent Barrett and the mysterious Guy Haines on "Lost in Boston IV" and "Unsung Irving Berlin." A popular cabaret performer, Ms. Blackhurst recently appeared in the Mabel Mercer Foundation's Eleventh Annual Cabaret Convention in New York's Town Hall.

Bill Bowers is an actor and mime who has performed throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. In New York he has appeared at La Mama, New York Stage and Film, and has appeared on Broadway in The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Lion King. Mr. Bowers has served on the faculties of Rutgers University, U.C.L.A. "Teach For America", International Creative Problem Solving Institute, Rocky Mountain College, Lincoln Center Institute, and the Institute for Arts and Humanities Education teaching acting, scene study and mime for over 10 years.

Catherine Doty was born and raised in South Paterson, New Jersey. Working as a cartoonist, she attended Upsala College and the University of Iowa, where she received her M.F.A. in Poetry. Ms. Doty's poems have been published in "Hanging Loose," "Louisiana Literature," "Steelhead," "rara avis," and other magazines and journals, and her illustrations have won national awards. She is a recipient of an Academy of American Poets Prize and Fellowships from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and the New York Foundation for the Arts. She has been teaching poetry in New Jersey since 1976, and now lives in Staten Island, New York, with her husband, jazz drummer Fred Stoll, and their sons, Henry and Will.

Daniel Heffernan is a visual artist who lives and works in New York City. He is pursuing his M.A. for Arts and Arts Professions at the New York University School of Education. He has also studied at the School of Visual Art in New York and the Art Institute of Chicago. He holds degrees in French Studies and International Relations from the University of Illinois at Champagne, Urbana. Mr. Heffernan has been a member of the faculty for the Summer Arts Institute of the Institute for Arts and Humanities Education for over eight years and works as a classroom instructor in the INTERARTS school residency program. In addition, he has created and edited a number of video documentaries for the INTERARTS residency programs in the schools.

Maureen Heffernan is the Executive Director of the Institute for Arts and Humanities Education. Ms. Heffernan has an extensive background in theater as well as working with young children, teenagers and the physically disabled. Over the past 18 years, she has earned increasing recognition for her directing abilities, which include more than 70 professional theatrical productions nationally. She was founding Artistic Director of the Unlimited Potential Theater Company of Very Special Arts in New Jersey, a theater company for people who are physically challenged. Ms. Heffernan served as Artistic Director for George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Ms. Heffernan holds a M.F.A. from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University and is a New Jersey State Council Distinguished Teaching Artist.

Brendan Leach is a multidisciplinary artist who graduated from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University with a B.F.A. in Visual Arts. He is currently working at the Institute for Arts and Humanities Education as an Artistic Associate. Brendan is an instructor at the AMARD summer camp as well as the Pixel Nation video workshops. He also works as a classroom instructor in the INTERARTS school residency program. Brendan works as an artist for Family Arts & Creativity during the evening workshops and at professional development trainings. Brendan also does graphic design work for IAHE.

Claudio Mir graduated from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University with a B.F.A. in Visual Arts and he received a Professional Actor Degree from the School of Scenic Arts, National Fine Arts Palace, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He has also studied theater direction at The International School of Latin American and Caribbean Theater in Bologna, Italy, and earned his Associate Degree in Professional & Commercial Photography from Middlesex County College. Mr. Mir received the El Dorado Award for Best Dominican Actor of the Year for his performance in "Regina Express." In addition, he was awarded an Arts Challenge Fund Grant of the Dodge Foundation to create, coordinate and design, an experimental community theater group called Taller Tres Platanos, Una Tortilla y un Coqui. He has been involved in the theater productions of "Lo Mio es Mio," "Mondongo Scam," "Matrimonio y Mortaja," "Momonitrio," and the "Big Noses Riot." He also composed the music for "Lo Mio es Mio" and "Ramon Arepa."

Darrell Wilson is an artist and teacher living in New York City and is currently a classroom instructor for the INTERARTS school residency program. He received his M.F.A. from Rutgers University where he has taught sculpture, drawing, performance and filmmaking. He is presently teaching film at New York University. For the last 13 years, Mr. Wilson has co-coordinated the INTERARTS department for the New Jersey Summer Arts Institute of the Institute for Arts and Humanities Education. Together with Ms. Heffernan, Mr. Wilson has developed interdisciplinary programs and projects for children, teachers, adults, and senior citizens on the local, state, national, and international level. He has been a New York Foundation for the Arts artist in residence for the Dobbs Ferry School District. In 1998, he designed a multi-media program for the Parsons School of Design, entitled the New Media Seminar. Most recently he received the Irene C. Fromer Award for his solo show, Arcana Suite, which was presented at the Snug Harbor Culture Center, Staten Island, New York.

Jo Winiarski is currently a classroom instructor in the INTERARTS school residency program of the Institute for Arts and Humanities Education. In the past she has directed a three-dimensional design class for the Summer Arts Institute and conducted writing and movement workshops. In addition to this, she has been the set designer for a number of theater productions. Most recent design credits include: A Likely Story (The New Group: Naked), Whores (NJRep/ Playwrights Theater of NJ), Cinderella (Summer Theater of New canaan), As Bees in Honey Drown (Provincetown Repertory Theater), Lemonade (NJRep), The Heiress (The Roundtable Enemble at The Mint Theater), The History Mystery (TADA), and Expat/Inferno (winner 2003 NYC Fringe Festival - Overall Production). She was also the props master for episodes 1 - 13 of Craft Corner Death Match, a new game show on the Style Network. Ms Winiarski recieved her B.F.A. in Theater and minor in Fine Arts from the New York University and she recieved her MFA in design from NYU in May 2003. She is an alumna of the Summer Arts Institue.