We are proud to have these artists participating in
activities sponsored by the Lagniappe Project
John Russell Herbert
I have engaged in creative writing for most of my life.
I am also fairly prolific as a painter, but creative writing has never ceased,
and particularly during various periods since college, it has been my prime medium.
I’m currently “semi-published”, as a writer of fiction, prose,
with some prose-poetry. I encourage all variations of style, and I see creative
writing as having many innate segues into philosophy, etc., into a variety of
fields “pure fiction”, per se.
Regarding The Lagniappe Project, upon first meeting David, there were particular
reasons why I was especially excited about specializing in the creative writing
aspect of the program. This has something to do with cohesiveness, and breadth,
with expansive and unique subjective vision, and with the value of articulate
communication.
I find that Lagniappe students vary greatly from individual to individual, that
some students need most to be drawn out, to realize the value of their creative
potential, and that others, while also benefiting from the above, are already
relatively “free”, in their processes of conceptualization, but that
they are greatly aided by encouragement in the direction of the conventions of
language, etc., to let their trains of thought, or “cognitive pathways”,
become accessible to readers.
Memory and dreams have been emphasized in my “assignments” (or .
. . suggestive prompts), as I see this format as particularly conducive to subjectivist
creativity and freedom from convention.
The work is exceedingly rewarding.
Back to top
Art with a Heart
Art with a Heart is a non-profit organization that provides innovative visual
arts classes to children, adolescents and adults in economically disadvantaged
communities in Baltimore. Art with a Heart works to change lives by opening imaginations,
improving self-esteem and providing opportunities for success through interactive
visual art experiences. Art with a Heart provides programs in group homes, community
centers, schools and shelters where people do not have consistent access to visual
art.
Since the organization’s inception in March of 2000, Art with a Heart has
grown from four small classes to a thriving organization with 22 ongoing classes
and several community events throughout the year. In its classes, students are
exposed to a world outside of themselves – to artists, places and ideas.
Art with a Heart gives students opportunities to conceptualize and create artwork
while using a variety of styles and techniques.
Through Art with a Heart classes, students learn that there is value in what
they can create. When students see that they can imagine and create something
with their own two hands, they see possibilities outside of their daily routine,
and their world can begin to open.
Back to top
Terry Van Tassel
Terry Van Tassel is an accomplished painter and registered art therapist. She
received her MFA from the Maryland Institute's Mt. Royal School in 1983. Twenty
years later she returned to graduate school to study art therapy at the George
Washington University in Washington DC. In addition to her work with the lagniappe
project, Terry facilitates an out-patient art therapy group for the trauma disorders
Day Hospital at Sheppard Pratt; she also directs a community-based therapeutic
art program serving Baltimore's homeless and disenfranchised.
Back to top
Ed Kaitz
Ed Kaitz likes to do music, art, and writing, and decided to start a project
called "Altered I/Altered Eye" to assist disempowered writers and artists,
specifically those diagnosed with mental health disorders, in Maryland. The journal,
which is sent to all of the On Our Own mental health drop in centers in Maryland
and distributed elsewhere and by subscription(contact Ed at ekaitz2000@msn.com)
runs 12 -20 pages long, and is issued bimonthly. In addition to art and writing,
it features interviews, opinion pieces and book reviews relevant to mental health
consumers. Ed wants to send a progressive message of recovery and empowerment
to mental health consumers, who are often very socially isolated. Altered I/Altered
Eye presently does not have a web site (current 3/07) and welcomes subscriptions
and charitable contributions to help defray it's printing and distribution costs.
Sample copies can be seen in the American Visionary Art Museum library, in Baltimore,
Maryland.
Back to top
Maria Broom
As an actress, Maria is known nationally from her roles in HBO's "The Wire" and "The
Corner". In Baltimore, she is the 'StoryDancer' with Young Audiences of
Maryland. A Fulbright scholar, an OSI Fellow and a former television news reporter,
she is the honored recipient of the 2004 Governor's Arts Award. Currently on
the faculty at the Baltimore School for the Arts, Maria also mentors eighty young
'Dance Girls of Baltimore'.
DANCE AS THERAPY is a group session based on the premise
that everyone in the ‘village’ dances…everyone! In traditional villages across
the globe, dancing is a common and unifying activity for the young and old, for
males and females, for leaders and servants alike…as well as for the gifted and
the slow. Talent, skill or ability is not required to participate in ‘village
dancing’.
DANCE AS THERAPY always begins with a circle of silence. This is a brief time
of stillness and introspection. A time to practice deep breathing and to open
the heart and send out love. This quietly guided, meditative few minutes is accompanied
by Homa Therapy, an ancient Vedic practice of healing the atmosphere that promotes
calmness. (homatherapy.org)
DANCE AS THERAPY offers three components of moving rhythmically, using delightfully
stimulating music from Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America. The first component
is the warm-up, starting with stretching movements for the arms and the back,
done while in a seated position, followed by standing movements that wake up
the hips, pelvis and legs. The second component is fun choreography that makes
you travel or get up off the ground. The final component brings everyone together
in the dance circle and each person gets a chance to show off in the middle.
We say goodbye using American Sign language, offering peace and love to each
other, to our friends and families and to the whole world.
DANCE AS THERAPY is geared to the capabilities of each group that is involved.
There is much focus on coordination, which can be quite a challenge for those
are heavily medicated. But all of the movements are simple and very strengthening
and the music is enticing, so even with a little effort, most everyone can dance.
And the dancing in turn, produces smiles, inspires laughter and helps create
much needed, increased self-confidence.
Back to top
Clayworks
Baltimore Clayworks exists to develop, sustain, and promote an artist-centered
community that provides outstanding artistic, educational, and collaborative
programs in ceramic arts.
Back to top
Allison Bachmann
I have always liked being around textiles. I've been quilting
for 17 years, before I caught the quilting bug I made clothing.
I have taught various quilt techniques at quilt shows and guild
meetings. I am a member of three quilt guilds. I am most active
in Friendship Quilters of Linthicum where I am the Publicity Chairperson
and am on the Program and the Charity Committees. I also belong
to Village Quilters of Catonsville, and the Baltimore Applique
Society. I have attended many workshops through the guilds, North
Carolina Quilt Symposia and classes here in Maryland and in Pennsylvania,
Wisconsin, and Kentucky. I have worked on at least 8 Raffle Quilts
to raise money for the guilds. I have had one piece published in
a magazine (Quick Quilts, March/April 2005, Vol. 52). I enjoy other
textile arts such as Knitting, Counted Cross Stitch and Needlepoint.
Originally from Minnesota, Colorado and South Dakota, I now live
in Orchard Beach, Maryland with my husband of 21 years and a cat.
Back to top
Mary Jane Oelke
Mary Jane Oelke is a visionary artist, musician, actor and puppetmaster
who was awarded a Governors' Citation for Artistic Merit and has
been working in art and theatre production for over 20 years. Her
works include equine portraiture, landscape painting, theatrical
set design, scene-painting, mask design, puppetry, sculpture and
acting. Her original marionette plays have been seen throughout
the region. She also plays violin and has performed her original
music at the Maryland Artscape Festival and other local venues.
Back to top
Clarissa Lacson
Clarissa Lacson graduated from the Peabody Institute of Music in 2003,
where she earned a Bachelor's Degree in cello performance under Alan
Stepansky, former Assistant Principal Cellist of the New York Philharmonic.
She freelanced with the National Philharmonic and Annapolis Symphony Orchestra
before accepting a position as Recreational Activities Staff at the Kennedy Krieger
Institute's pediatric rehabilitative hospital in Baltimore, MD. Clarissa plans to
pursue a master's degree in Music Therapy in the fall of 2007.
Back to top
Moziah Saleen
Moziah Saleem is a professional percussionist who has played with such names as
Afrikan Zulu, The Oakridge Boys, The Wailers, Neil Young, Ashford and Simpson,
Bruce Hornsby and The Neville Brothers. He lived and toured out of Nashville,
Tennessee for twenty years before returning to his hometown of Baltimore, where he
started teaching young people and adults the meaning and power of the drum.
Moziah’s current Talking Drums Program introduces students to the history, art form and language of the drum.
Using instinctive knowledge and corroborative research that drumming is a healing force, Talking Drums goals include:
• To explore issues of self expression, communication and motor development through rhythm
• To offer youth positive and constructive activities
• To build self-esteem and positive social interaction with other peers and adults
• To enhance cultural awareness and understanding of diversity
• To improve concentration and attention span
Back to top
