“The wonder of each person’s unique story continues to amaze me and reaffirm my own artistic journey”

– Nancy Havlik

Nephelie Andonyadis

A theater artist and educator, gerontologist, and a Certified TimeSlips Facilitator, Nephelie works at the intersection of community, arts and policy to help change the culture of care and care systems for all older adults. With a long-time practice in community-engaged artmaking Nephelie brings twenty-five years of university experience and her artistic practice into conversation with health care economics and policy to help transform the lives of older adults through creative engagement. With an MFA from the Yale School of Drama and an M.S. in Aging and Health from Georgetown University, Nephelie works in the space of creative aging to empower and advocate for older adults.
As a scenic and costume designer, Nephelie’s artistic practice embraces a wide range of media and methods including drawing, painting, puppet, mask and costume fabrication and textile arts, and the co-creation and gathering of imaginative stories and movement. Nephelie’s artistic practice is deeply collaborative, inclusive, and flexible – inviting and lifting creative practice in everyone. Having spent most of her career in the classroom and the rehearsal room, Nephelie treasures the opportunity to work with others in creative spaces and loves little more than making things with others.

Manny Arciniega

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Manny Arciniega presents percussion and healing movement workshops and is responsible for audio and visual production of pre-recorded material. He is on faculty at Levine Music in Washington, D.C. and works regularly with the Education Programs at the Kreeger Museum. As a percussionist, Manny has appeared in numerous award-winning musical theatre productions in the Washington, D.C. area, including performances at Roundhouse Theatre, Olney Theatre Center, Constellation Theater Company, Arena Stage, and Keegan Theatre. He brings his expertise to Arts for the Aging from working with world-renowned performers and conductors, in the United States and abroad, in a variety of musical genres. Manny received his undergraduate degree in music education and theory composition from Texas Christian University and Master of Arts degree in timpani and percussion performance at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Chris Brown

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Christopher Brown is a bassist and multi-instrumentalist. He provides original and interpretive bass music with Arts for the Aging workshops. He is established in Washington, D.C. as a leading performer, session player, producer and educator, at home and internationally. Originally from the UK, he has built his 20-year-plus career on musicality, professionalism, and a commitment to authenticity embracing rock/pop, jazz, gospel, electronic and world music and more. His credits include renowned artists like Ron Holloway, John Mayer, Rev. Billy F. Gibbons (ZZ Top), Susan Tedeschi & Derek Trucks, and Brian Blade, among countless others. As session bassist or producer his record of over 40 albums includes Daniel Lanois’ Black Dub, Moonshine Society and many more. Constantly in demand and forging new musical connections, he is equally dedicated to long-term projects including Pigeon Kings, Moonshine Society, Bobby Thompson, D.C. Improviser’s Collective and District Nomad. Outside of gigs and session work, he is a Musical Director, TV/film/video-game composer, and internationally renowned educator and music technologist, consulting or creating for Levine Music, the Field School, Bach 2 Rock (US) and leading European school the Academy of Contemporary Music (UK).

Peter Burroughs

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Peter Joshua Burroughs is a versatile singing actor who co-leads “La Movida” with Marla Bush in addition to his signature “coOPERAtion workshops. He has performed in many supporting roles with the Washington National Opera, as well as appearances in Weil recital hall in New York City and Principal roles with other regional opera companies. Internationally he has performed with Studio Lirico in Cortona Italy, at London’s Clore Studio of Covent Garden and Teatro Milanes in Pinar del Rio, Cuba. Dr. Burroughs has worked extensively with young and old alike as an engaging teaching artist with Arts for The Aging, Washington National Opera, Wolf Trap Foundation, Spanish Dance Society, and Washington Concert Opera. He is a founding member of ROMEZ3arts (Reach Out through Music, its E Z) a company dedicated to inter-cultural sharing and community building through arts. Equally at home on the stage and in the classroom, Peter makes opera accessible to all. His series of programs titled coOPERAtion have inspired senior day care centers and classrooms in the DC Metropolitan area for more than 20 years. His original residency plans for the Washington National Opera (WNO) DCPS partnership as Teaching Artist in both “Music, Words Opera Curriculum” and “Kids Create Opera” have been extremely successful.  He toured Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C. as well as North and South Carolina with children’s interactive opera programming and has also endeavored to take programming to his home state of Vermont. Peter holds a Bachelor of Music in Performance and Music Education from Ithaca College, Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from The University of Maryland College Park’s Maryland Opera Studio.

Paula Cleggett

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Paula Cleggett is an award-winning painter and her works are frequently shown in local galleries. Paula retired from rewarding careers in government and academia, with senior positions centered on communications and public engagement. She organized a long-running forum that explored arts policy at the national level, and she has been deeply engaged in programs using arts to improve healthcare. For over a decade, she has painted almost daily. She shares her enthusiasm for art through teaching, writing, and demonstrations in the Washington, DC area. Born in Chicago, Paula attended the Art Institute of Chicago while in high school; she went on to earn a B.A. in Art Education from the University of Wisconsin at Platteville; she received an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Rene Davila

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Rene Davila provides workshops spotlighting the history, movement, and music of Argentine Tango. Ever since he moved to the Washington D.C. area, he has been devoted to the promotion of Argentine Tango. Originally from Bolivia and with no dance background, Rene switched careers more than 20 years ago to follow his passion. He moved to Buenos Aires to learn with worldwide, renowned tango instructors, musicians, historians, and poets of the tango culture. His programs introduce and explain to participants that tango is not only a social dance, but also the complex clash of cultures that generated it, its history, its musicians, its language, and culture. Rene is an artist, a tango instructor, and an expert on tango culture. He organizes a variety of diverse and exciting tango social dances, events, and concerts in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area as Artistic Director of Tango Brillante D.C., an Arts for the Aging Cultural Arts Partner.

Annetta Dexter Sawyer

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Annetta Dexter-Sawyer is a versatile artist who leads workshops in creative movement, theater, and the visual arts. Annetta also teaches dance at Trinity University where she is the founder and artistic director of the Trinity University Dancers. For more than twenty years Annetta has taught and choreographed for all ages and special populations. Her program structure utilizes movement, exercises, dance and guided imagery for healing and well-being. Annetta would like for “those taking the class to feel better about themselves and walk away rejuvenated and refreshed!”. She has a B.A. in English and minor in communications from Rutgers University; a New Jersey State Teacher’s Certification; and an M.A. in performing arts-dance from American University.

Fairouz Foty

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Fairouz Foty is a trained opera singer who has studied with Carlos Cesar Rodriguez for more than ten years and debuted with Carol Opera Company as Micaela in ‘Carmen.’ In addition, she performed with Westminster Choir College Opera as Helena from ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and Lauretta from ‘Gianni Schicchi.’ In 2014 she completed the Bel Canto Le Chiavi Program with University of Houston and the Carol Yahr Summer Opera Scenes Workshop where she sung Mimi from Act III of ‘La Boheme.’ She is currently the co-director of music of Foty Fusion Productions and performs with Romez3Arts. Fairouz’s musical foundation began through Arabic music where her father, a virtuosic oud and Arabic singer, taught her and her four siblings how to play and sing in Arabic. She is in the process of using her western opera skills to create a unique genre of Arabic opera that focuses on the works of early 20th century Arabic composers and musicians. Fairouz Foty received her bachelor degree in music and Africana studies from Lafayette College in 2011 and then continued her studies at Westminster Choir College, where she earned a masters of music in vocal performance and pedagogy with a performance emphasis.

Joan Hampton Fraser

Emeritus Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Joan Hampton Fraser has been a creative arts consultant for over 38 years. She is currently the Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Training Consultant, coordinating and leading external teaching artist training sessions. Joan has worked as a trainer with private sector companies and government agencies since 1989. She previously led the ‘Marvelous Musicals’, ‘Creative Writing’, ‘Creative Movement’, and ‘Escape into Letters’ programs. She has worked with many populations of people and has specialized in working with people in the “Third Age” of their lives. She has utilized her extensive background in psychotherapy, family therapy, dance therapy and systems theory to complement her artistic work. Joan studied with Liz Lerman for several years at Dance Exchange, having started her work with seniors and dance at that time. Joan uses dance, creative movement, creative and letter writing techniques, and musical theater to access participants’ cognitive, emotional, and kinesthetic strengths as well as build a sense of community and appreciation for others. Joan has a B.A. in sociology/anthropology from Ithaca College, M.A. in education and human development with a specialization in dance from George Washington University, and a psychodrama certification from the D.C. Commission on Mental Health Services.

Adam Gonzalez

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Adam Gonzalez is the Music Director of Quicksilver, Arts for the Aging’s resident senior improv dance group. He is a cellist and has taught at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. and Montgomery College, Maryland, and was director of instrumental music at the Waldorf School in Baltimore. Since 2007, Mr. Gonzalez has taught classes in music history, music theory, composition, and private cello lessons, at Frederick Community College. He also maintains an active music studio at his home where he teaches students ages 8 to 98, and welcomes students of all levels, beginner to advanced. Adam started his professional career in Mexico City, where he played with the Mexico City Philharmonic. While in the orchestra, he toured throughout the country, as well as parts of Central and South America. He then moved to New Mexico, where he organized the Helios String Quartet, and the Placitas Artists series (now in its 33rd season) and toured throughout the southwest. Adam has performed in a wide variety of styles as a freelance cellist in the Washington D.C. Metro area for over 20 years. His commercial recording work has included music for the History Channel and National Geographic. He is a graduate of Wheaton College and has an M.A. in cello performance from Boston University.

Kathy Hankins

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Kathy Hankins works with sound, movement, and visualization to create an experience of mindfulness, joy, and presence. For much of her life, Kathy has presented in multiple art forms including music, stage, and print. Kathy sang with the Opera Theatre of Northern Virginia, performed children’s theater with Imagination Stage and Adventure Theatre, and sang in several Kennedy Center musical theatre productions. She is certified to teach yoga and meditation with 40 years of study in the mindfulness of words, sound, and movement. She teaches how to live with greater happiness, as in her workshop “Don’t Buy into Being Old,” where she teaches how not to easily become societal concepts of life after 50. It is a song, character, movement, or phrases that can bring the mind to presence, joy, confidence, and calm.  As an actor and singer of oratorio, art song, opera, and jazz, she has combined art forms in a one woman show that she calls “cabaret reconstructed.” The objective is to wake up the mind and create ideas flowing in an unexpected direction. She has a B.A. in literature from Fisk University, as well as studies in music, and an M.A. in literature (creative writing) from the University of Maryland. After college, she pursued further music studies with the Levine School of Music and private study.

Nancy Havlik

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Nancy Havlik has over 25 years of experience teaching interactive creative movement and dance workshops for older adults through Arts for the Aging. She presents interactive workshops for people living independently and also those with physical and/or mental impairment in community centers, day health programs and nursing homes with an emphasis on encouraging students to move freely and with pleasure within each person’s ability level. Nancy and fellow teaching artist and guitarist/composer Miles Spicer offer Dance and Blues Guitar workshops exploring the history of blues, blues artists and our dances inspired by them. She and fellow teaching artist Adam Gonzales co-direct Quicksilver, an Arts for the Aging sponsored improvisational dance company whose members are 65 and older. Quicksilver presents performances and workshops for frail seniors throughout the Washington metropolitan area. Nancy is also Artistic Director/Choreographer of Dance Performance Group, a small experimental company of professional dancers and musicians. Dance Performance Group has performed extensively in the Washington DC area and in New York and Eastern Europe. She has studied dance/dance improvisation with Robert Dunn, Simon Forti, Susan Rethorst and John Jaspers and physical theater with Saskia Hegt She has a B.S. and M.A. from Northwestern University Speech Department with a degree as a Speech Pathologist.

Jason Horowitz

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Jason Horowitz presents photography workshops that link self-portraits with participants family, memories, and history. He has extensive experience teaching at all levels from childhood through adult, including the Corcoran School of Art & Design, Georgetown University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and the Arlington County Public Schools. He has exhibited extensively including at the American University Museum, Washington, DC;  Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, OR; McLean Project for the Arts, McLean, VA; Peer Gallery, New York, NY; Civilian Art Projects, Washington, DC; Richmond International Airport as a Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellow; The Silber Art Gallery, Goucher College, Towson, MD; Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Virginia Beach, VA; American University Museum at the Katzen Center, Washington, D.C.; Honfleur Gallery, Washington, DC; Flashpoint Gallery, Washington, DC; Arlington Arts Center, Arlington, VA; among others. Horowitz is the recipient of the prestigious Aaron Siskind Foundation Award; The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship; The Franz & Virginia Bader Fund Grant; Arlington County, VA Individual Artist Grant. His work is also in numerous public and private collections. Jason has a B.F.A. from George Washington University and an M.F.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Joy Jones

Joy Jones is a teaching artist, popular speaker, and the author of several books for adults and children. Her plays have appeared on stages in California, New York, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Washington, D.C. Outdoor Recess won the Promising Playwrights Award from Colonial Players of Annapolis, Md. Her most recent book is Jayla Jumps In, a novel which received a starred review on Booklist and chosen as one of the best sports books for children by the American Library Association. Her novel in progress, Walking the Boomerang, won the 2022 Pen America/ Phyllis Naylor Grant for Children’s and Young Adult Novelists. Jones has provided innovative workshops for seniors through the DC Department of Aging and Community Living and AFTA. Jones is also the founder of DC Retro Jumpers, a double Dutch team that has toured abroad. Visit her at: www.joyjonesOnline.com.

Wendy Lanxner

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Wendy Lanxner is a Washington area music teacher, composer and arts-in-health practitioner. She has maintained a private studio for over twenty years, works as a composer and music director for ArtStream and Lumina Studio Theatre, and is Musician in Residence at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, where she provides bedside music experiences for patients. Wendy teaches lessons in flute, guitar, sax, bass, and ukulele.  She provides educational programming through several agencies including Washington Performing Arts, the Folk Society of Greater Washington, Carpe Diem Arts and Arts for The Aging, working with children, seniors, and adults with developmental disabilities. Wendy sings and plays bass with the band Wendy & the Lost Boys and performs in a jazz duo, WendySteveJazz.  She is the youth stage coordinator for the Takoma Park Folk Festival, and volunteers in hospital settings through Musicians On Call. Wendy received a B.A. in Creativity Studies from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and is a master’s degree candidate in music education at the University of Florida.

Wall Matthews

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Wall Matthews is a composer and performer whose career began in 1968. He was a founding member of the visionary Entourage Music and Theater Ensemble which released two critically acclaimed recordings for Smithsonian Folkways in the early 70’s. Since then he has had a solo career performing throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. From 1978 – 1994 he served as Composer In Residence for Dance at Connecticut College, where he composed music for such companies as The Royal Danish Ballet and The Paris Opera Ballet. He has released 9 critically acclaimed solo recordings. From 1994-2012, as Vice President of Creative for Clean Cuts Music, he composed and produced music The Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, National Geographic, and The History Channel, as well as numerous independent film projects and national ad agencies. He was nominated in 2010 for an Emmy, for his work on Yellowstone: Battle For Survival. He currently resides in Columbia, MD, where in addition to his ongoing solo work, he is a co-founder of Dancing Egg Music, an original custom music company.

Lauren Mazow Boyle

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Lauren Mazow Boyle is a clinical psychologist and poetry therapist. A word lover herself, she favors poetry that is accessible to all, and brings it into her workshops as an opening to connection, discovery, and beauty. She trained at the Wordsworth Center for Poetry Therapy in Potomac, MD and is a member of the National Association for Poetry Therapy. She has practiced individual and group psychotherapy with children, adolescents, and adults, and has facilitated poetry groups in both clinical and community settings. She earned an A.B. in English from Princeton University, an M.A. in Developmental Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from The George Washington University.

Marilyn Millstone

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Marilyn Millstone has twin professional passions: writing and teaching. Her award-winning plays have been produced by theaters across America and in Sydney and Dubai. Her full-length drama Proprioception recently won AACT NewPlayFest 2020: it will premiere at Rover Dramawerks in Plano, Texas, and be published by Dramatic Publishing. Two of Marilyn’s monologues appear in Best Women’s Monologues of 2019, published by Smith and Kraus. Her comedy about two witty seniors – Compos Mentis– is now published by Art Age Publications. She is also a published poet, prize-winning essayist and feature writer whose work has appeared in Bethesda Magazine, The Washington Post, the newsletters of Strathmore Performing Arts Center and other newspapers and magazines. As a teacher, Marilyn enjoys working with people of all ages. She’s served as drama director at Avalon and Brookewood K-12 schools; taught creative writing in the George Washington University Publication Specialist Program; taught life skills to at-risk youth through a partnership with GW and Americorps; taught news writing, public speaking and publications design at Editorial Experts; and taught theater appreciation classes at the Jewish Community Center in Rockville.  Currently, she teaches playwriting at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda. Marilyn holds an M.F.A. in playwriting from Spalding University in Louisville, where she also won the Mayborn Scholarship in literary nonfiction.

Deborah Riley

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Deborah Riley is a life-long dance artist and more recent practitioner of Laban Movement Analysis, the basis for teaching movement arts to people of all ages and abilities. In her capacity as artist-in-residence, faculty member, staff and Co-Director of Dance Place, she has contributed immeasurably to nurturing the careers of thousands of dance artists, students and arts administrators. Under her tenure, the organization was awarded the DC Mayor’s Arts Awards for Excellence in Service to the Arts and Outstanding Contribution to Arts Education as well as being recognized as “the hub of dance activity in Washington, DC” (Alan Kriegsman). As a dancer, choreographer and educator, her career highlights include international touring with Douglas Dunn & Dancers, collaborative choreography with Diane Frank and director of Deborah Riley Dance Projects. In addition to guest artist residencies at universities across the country, Deborah’s choreographic work has been presented in the U.S., the U.K. and France. In the DC Metro area, Deborah’s Moving Affirmations workshop helped to facilitate healing and recovery in partnership with community organizations such as the DC Rape Crisis Center, Montgomery County Crisis Center and Whitman Walker Clinic. Deborah continues to practice as a certified Laban Movement Analyst throughout the region. Past honors include the Distinguished Alumni in Fine Arts Award from Ohio University and twice for the Pola Nirenska Award – Distinguished Artistic Leadership and Lifetime Achievement. Deborah has served on grant panels and the National endowment for the Arts, Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour, DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities and the Bush Foundation.

Sandra Roachford

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Sandra Roachford has been teaching dance and movement in the D.C. metropolitan area for more than 25 years.  She works with special needs populations of all ages teaching creative movement expression, music and movement, and social skills.  Along with Arts for the Aging, her work includes Artstream and KEEN (Kids Enjoy Exercise Now), working with students on the Autism Spectrum. She was recognized by Stone Soup Films under the category of DC Hero, for her work with special needs populations. Sandy currently dances with Nancy Havlik’s Dance Performance Group.  She choreographs, mentors, and performs with the Inclusive Theater Company Silver Spring Company A (Artstream). Sandy has been a valuable member of the Arts for the Aging artistic faculty for more than 22 years – guiding Senior participants to find their creative side through movement with gentle and positive encouragement. She Encourages them to find their physical voice to express how they feel in the moment, as they support their peers in a creative community setting. Sandy has an M.A. in dance from The American University; B.F.A. in dance from The Boston Conservatory of Music.

Carlos César Rodríguez

The Washington Post lauded Carlos César Rodríguez as a “powerful…virtuoso…masterful pianist”. As concert-pianist he made his recital debut in his native Venezuela at age 5, solo orchestral debut at 11, and Carnegie Hall debut at age 21. He has toured Europe and the Americas performing concerti and solo recitals. He has performed at the John F. Kennedy Center; the White House; the Corcoran Gallery, and National Gallery of Arts in Washington, D.C.; Merkin Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Americas Society, 92nd Y in New York; and the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. He has appeared as guest artist with Garth Newell Chamber Music Festival, National Chamber Ensemble, and has collaborated with Denyce Graves, Jessye Norman and Plácido Domingo. In 2005 he was awarded the Georg Solti Foundation US fellowship for outstanding young conductors. With the encouragement and collaboration of Maestro Plácido Domingo Mr. Rodríguez implemented the Zarzuela Program (Spanish Operetta) for the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists at Washington National Opera. Mr. Rodríguez is the Founding Artistic Director of RÓMEZ3arts with whom he built inter-cultural exchanges in Cuba and Costa Rica between 2016 and the present. He is Music Director for WORD Dance Theatre and appeared with them at the Kennedy Center’s REACH celebrating the 100th anniversary of Women’s Suffrage. Recently he performed in Poland and Italy, with The Isadora Duncan International Institute as well as NYC and Montreal. He continues to teach at the Selma M. Levine School of Music in Washington, DC and collaborates on Arts for the Aging workshops with Peter Burroughs, Alex Russell, and Marla Bush. These include coOPERAtion, The Poetry of Tango, and La Movida.

S. Alexandra Russell

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Alexandra Russell is also Tango Mercurio’s Director and Community Program Manager for Older Adults. This partnership began in 2019 when she participated in the Tango Series, and she now co-leads “The Poetry of Tango” workshop with RÓMEZ3arts. A lifelong love of folk music and dance led her to the tango: she started dancing it in 2006, publishing articles about it in 2007, teaching it in 2010, and studying its history in 2013. Alexandra joined the Tango Mercurio Board of Directors in 2018. The diplomat’s daughter grew up in the Congo, Gabon, and France before settling in Washington, D.C. She worked for decades in international organizations, including over 20 years at the Inter-American Development Bank, where as a translator and reporter she covered Latin American and Caribbean development projects and cultural events, and produced annual reports. She previously served on the board of the American Translators Association and as president of the IDB Photographic Society and of Footnotes, the International Monetary Fund dance club. A writer, editor, and translator, Alexandra has a Master’s Degree in Translation from the University of Paris, France.

Miles Spicer

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Miles Spicer presents workshops that feature him playing acoustic guitar and leading participants in group singing, call and response, and more. A Washington, D.C. area native, Miles plays acoustic blues in the Piedmont style mixing in influences of Jazz, Blues, Soul, Funk, Rock, Cajun, and Zydeco. He is the principle guitarist in M.S.G. The Acoustic Blues Trio and The Riverdale Ramblers. Miles was mentored in the Piedmont guitar style by Mike Baytop and is a founding director of the Archie Edwards Blues Heritage Foundation. Miles has a B.A. in economics from the University of Maryland College Park.

Jackie Steven

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Jackie Steven partners with Jason Horowitz to present intergenerational, video storytelling project with the Arlington Adult Day Center and Arlington high school students.  A native of Washington, D.C., Jackie Steven has been involved in the area’s media arts community for over 35 years. An experienced producer and technologist, she has been on staff at Arlington Independent Media (AIM) since 1986 and currently serves as AIM’s director of community programs. In that role, she leads the organization’s education programs, outreach, and commercial production services. During her tenure at AIM, Jackie has developed curriculum for all manner of media classes, taught technology and production to thousands of individuals and created countless hours of content for D.C. artists, performers, and non-profit organizations.

Marcie Wolf-Hubbard

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Marcie Wolf-Hubbard has received numerous grants from the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County, along with other Art Councils to work in the community with children and adults, including individuals with special needs. Marcie has been an artist in residence at several locations including high schools teaching encaustic (hot wax) painting and mixed media. In 2018 she was awarded a two-week artist residency at Patricia Baldwin Seggebruch’s EncaustiCastle in Lexington, KY for painting. There she also benefited by forming lasting relationships with other encaustic painters including Leah Macdonald which led to co-teaching encaustic workshops in Leah’s Philadelphia studio. Marcie has illustrated for magazines and books, as well as worked as a courtroom illustrator. Her encaustic (hot wax) paintings are featured in Encaustic in the Twenty-first Century by Ashley Rooney, with foreword by Kim Bernard, Marcie is an instructor at Glen Echo Park, Yellow Barn Studios, The Smithsonian, and teaches art in her studio for children and adults. She received her B.A. from the University of Maryland in studio art and studied fine art & illustration at the Maryland Institute, College of Art.

Quicksilver Dance Company

Quicksilver is Arts for the Aging’s dance improvisation company of senior adults, aged 60 years and over. The dancers, most of whom are octogenarians, employ structured improvisational dance pieces inspired by master teachers and artists such as Robert Dunn, Simone Forti, Ruth Zaporah, Eiko & Komo and others in the field of contact improvisation. Quicksilver’s vitality, humor, and rich, varied life experiences inform their development, performance, and engagement in improvisational dance. Co-directed by Arts for the Aging teaching artists Nancy Havlik, with musical director Adam Gonzalez, Quicksilver leads interactive workshops for Arts for the Aging seniors throughout the metro area. Public performances have included those at the International D.C. Improvisation Festival, Executive’s Ball of Montgomery County, D.C. Elderfest, Joe’s Movement Emporium, University of Maryland, and conferences for National Aphasia Association, American Art Therapy Association, and the National Council on Aging. Learn more about Quicksilver here.

Emeritus Teaching Artists

Marla Bush

Emeritus Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Marla Bush presents workshops that highlight the beauty of Spanish dances. She has over 20 years’ experience performing Flamenco and other Spanish dances with the Spanish Dance Society and the Raquel Pena dance troupe. Dance venues have included everything from nursing homes to the Kennedy Center. Marla led school outreach programs and taught Spanish dance in Washington, D.C. and in Florida. In her “day job” at the Administration on Aging, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, she developed projects with art therapy associations that use the arts with healthy and frail elderly. For Arts for the Aging, she co-leads “La Movida”, an interactive Spanish dance program, and partners with Rene Davila in the Tango program. She has a B.A. and M.A. from American University and an M.S.W. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Donna McKee

Emeritus Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Donna McKee leads workshops in Visual Art and co-taught the series “Moving Art” in collaboration with choreographer Nancy Havlik, exploring rhythm and visual movement through drawing and dance.  Formerly the Head of Education at The Phillips Collection and adjunct faculty at Montgomery College and the Corcoran College of Art and Design, Donna has brought both art history and visual art workshops to seniors at their centers and in special cooperative programs with area museums. Her series of art history slide-discussion programs, “Art Out Loud”, encourages participants to discuss personal observations and responses to works of art that are selected to highlight themes in art that link different cultures and historical periods. Donna is also a collage artist who guides seniors in mixed-media approaches that focus on pattern, color and texture. She has a B.A. in Art History from American University; an M.A. Ed. in Art Education from the University of Hartford; and an M.A. in Art History from American University.

Carol Siegel

Emeritus Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Carol Siegel has been teaching with Arts for the Aging for over 20 years. She uses mixed media and poetry in her workshops and is a painter. Carol trained through the D.C. Humanities program in poetry therapy and interned at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital. She also facilitated groups in poetry and expressive arts at The Art and Drama Institute in D.C. as well as local hospitals. She has presented ideas on her groups with seniors at several national conferences. She is a former professional photographer and has exhibited in many galleries including The Corcoran Gallery of art. She taught photography on many levels and has worked in some art form all her life. Carol received the “Beautiful Minds“ national award from creative aging in 2017. She has an M.A. in expressive therapies from Lesley College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, studied art history at New York University and has a B.A. from American University in applied art and psychology.