Learn from Great Arts Teachers

With a bachelor's degree in Mass Communication from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, I honed my communication skills as a radio and television assistant producer, where I learned the power of clear and real communication. This experience taught me how to help voices be heard, a skill that remains crucial in today’s global world.

Sarita Westrup is a Mexican-American craft based artist who lives and works in between TX and North Carolina. Westrup was raised in the Rio Grande Valley of the south Texas borderlands and earned an MFA in Fiber Arts from the University of North Texas in 2016.

Chorus master and vocal coach, with a past career as both baritone and tenor in the Italian repertoire. My teachers include renowned singers from the golden age of opera, such as Silvano Verlinghieri and Luisa Malagrida, who performed on the world’s greatest stages.

Jan was born and educated in the Netherlands and came to the US in his mid twenties. He always wanted to be a cabinet maker, started and operated his cabinet shop in 1985, sold it in 2007, and traveled for 5 years throughout the US to certify shops for the Architectural Woodworking Institute Quality certification Program.

I believe piano study is more than technique—it is a meaningful journey of expression, creativity, and personal growth. Every student learns differently, so I tailor each lesson to individual goals, learning styles, and musical interests.

Rhiannon Huscha will be teaching multiple classes at the 2021 MDSWF.

Carol Crawford will be teaching Plot the Path of a Memoir. Carol Crawford is the owner of Carol Crawford Editing, an accredited Author Accelerator book coach, and a member of the Editorial Freelancers Association. She has published essays, poetry, and fiction in the Southern Humanities Review, the Chattahoochee Review, the Concho River Review, and the Journal of Kentucky Studies,…

Ira S. Murfin is a writer, educator, scholar, critic, and artist based in Chicago. He holds both an MFA degree in Writing and a PhD in the study of theatre and performance. His past published and produced work includes playwriting, fiction, non-fiction, poetry, criticism, and scholarship.

GAIL CLEMENT is a dedicated Sashiko teacher with a lifelong passion for stitching, mending, and the rich textile traditions of cultures around the world. With years of experience in hand-sewing techniques, Gail specializes in the art of Sashiko, blending its deep-rooted Japanese heritage with contemporary approaches to mindful repair and design.

Elizabeth Whitton is a mompreneur who turned her love of wool into a thriving family-run needle felting business called Felted Sky. A self-taught needle felter, she has a knack for designing beautiful small projects that she has turned into a line of needle felting kits suitable for beginners.