Sharing my love for art has led me to be an active teacher. Along with grade schools and colleges, I have prioritized teaching in therapeutic and interventional settings such as youth homes and prisons. My artist residencies typically involve leading students in permanent curriculum-based murals, where the students do most of the work from design to completion. Students creatively explore with a wide range of materials and media, including video and movement, to help synthesize what they are learning.

Clarion, PA Senior High community mural project

in Spring 2025, I completed a 24 day artist residency at Clarion High School, working with dynamic art teacher Caitlin Lees and her amazing students on a huge cultural history mural for downtown Clarion. The students were engaged in all facets of the process including initial brainstorming and sketching ideas, researching local history, finding representative images, generating a collaborative design, transferring the images, painting, and installation. The result was a stunning, beloved mural that will beautify and animate downtown Clarion for many years to come!

Currents of Clarion 18 x 65 ft. 2025

Practicing the mood and tone we wanted with the students' emotion drawings

Design version #5

Student design sketch

Student sketches for the birds in the mural

Nutter Fort, WV Primary School STEAM mural project

in Fall 2024, amazing art teacher Natalie Quillin received a grant to run a 2-week STEAM program for 2nd graders and make improvements to the outdoor courtyard space at the school. She contacted me and we set out to design the after school STEAM program and work with the 2nd graders to generate ideas for a large mural in the courtyard (which they call The Secret Garden). The result was an engaging two weeks with the 2nd graders, colorful improvements to the Secret Garden, and an enduring mural image that was co-created by the 2nd graders, Natalie, and myself. It was wonderful to see the students' imaginations come alive as we discussed topics ranging from physics, to ecology, to architecture, and of course art!

Natalie and me at the mural dedication event

2nd grade students learning about architecture, weight, and balance while creating Marshmallow Towers

Apollo, PA Storm Drain street murals

I worked with a group of Apollo-Ridge high school students on a series of 14 beautiful, regionally-recognized street murals around Apollo, PA that raised awareness about the impact of storm drains on the local river. The project was conceived by high school student Kate Myers and involved several core groups of students who painted creative designs encouraging care and responsibility for the local Kiskiminetas River ecosystem. Four years later, the murals still look great!

Creative Spirit

Creative Spirit was a unique collaboration between local high school students, college students, and local artists. We researched local history and combined our findings with more contemporary images to produce a 34 x 200 ft. mural that brightened an alley leading to the downtown parking garage. This project was a great example of partnerships between schools and the broader community -- coming together to make their towns more livable and colorful.

32 x 200 feet 2015