Learn from Great Arts Teachers

Laurie lives and works at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. As a child she was fascinated by all things fiber, particularly when visiting Colonial Williamsburg. She learned to spin first, on a spinning wheel built by her grandfather. Spinners hang out with weavers and spinning became the entry drug as she developed her fiber habit.

An adept disciple of Pt Tejendra Narayan Majumdar for the past six years, I have immersed myself in the rich tradition of Indian classical music, specifically focusing on the sarod. My musical journey began a decade ago with vocal training, and over the years, I have expanded my expertise by undergoing rigorous tabla training under the guidance of maestro Soumen Nandi.

For over 35 years, Bobbie Pell has shared her love of story with audiences of all ages through written works, storytelling performances, and workshops. Her specialty area, Celtic folklore and traditions, focuses on faerie lore, ballads, and archetypical myths. Her first book, THE HIGHLAND HEART, explores themes of true love, faerie encounters, and a hero's journey to wholeness.

I am a Venezuelan musician and music educator from Cumaná, Sucre, with many years of experience performing, teaching, and promoting Venezuelan music and cultural traditions. Throughout my musical career, I have performed and worked with guitar, cuatro, mandolin, bass, percussion, and ensemble performance.

Louie Pearlman has been an innovator and a maverick of the New York City comedy and arts scene since 2002. During his career, he's taught comedy, public speaking, and team-building across the continent with students of all ages. Louie is currently a writer on seasons two and three of Sesame Street's podcast "Foley and Friends," airing on the Audible platform.

Heather Storta has been passionate about knitting from her first lesson in 2003. As a devoted lifelong learner, the minute she learned about TKGA and the Master Knitter program, she signed up. She became a TKGA-Certified Master Knitter in 2014 and was immediately asked to serve on the MHK Committee.

I'm a sound engineer with both Bachelors and Masters degrees. I'm also a professional singer-songwriter and artist with my own project (Mari Segura), which you can find on all music platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, etc. I write all songs for my own project besides writing for other artists as well, from several different music genres.

Having practiced yoga since the age of six, Gigi Matthews trained as an instructor in the lineage of yoga master TKV Desikachar, whose teachings adapt classical yoga poses to meet the needs and abilities of each individual within a holistic framework that includes the mental, emotional, and philosophical aspects of this ancient practice.

Melanie Bailey Cox is a spinner and weaver with a passion for textile arts. Melanie is a member of the Burlington Handweavers and Spinning Guild and through the guild she became exposed to and involved with handweaving and hand spinning. With her engineering background she has always had a love for processes and enjoys understanding how to make things.

Beth is a CBA- and ABANA-certified journeyman blacksmith and instructor, and a member of the Society of Inclusive Blacksmiths. She got a chance to live in Denmark for a year, which led for forging for a viking ship reconstruction and trying to make the stuff we see in museums! She has taught enthusiastic students on three continents, both in person and on line.