Teaching Experts

Coyote’s teaching professionals are what set it apart from other out-of-school programs. They offer their remarkable skills and open their workspaces so that Coyote kids can catch the fire of their enthusiasm and learn the techniques of their trade.

They are film animators and painters, pastry chefs and architects, dancers and dj’s, welders and lawyers, magicians and writers, photographers and engineers, jewelers and hatmakers, scientists and sculptors.

They love putting sophisticated tools, techniques and challenges in the hands of kids who are just entering that wonderful transition from childhood to adulthood. Possibilities? They are endless.

Check out the amazing Teaching Artists who will be at Coyote this summer:

RUBEN BARRON got hooked on magic as a 10-year-old and now has a young son already determined to become a Mentalist (mind reader).  A professional magician for over 15 years, Ruben performs at comedy clubs, trade shows, company or community events, and private affairs. He has also become a popular performer in schools, where he captivates his young audiences, whether he is performing for them or teaching them magic. His goal is to give kids plenty of tools, practice, and in-class experience to go out and wow their friends and family.
 
KRISTINA BARTLESON went to college for art only to realize she loved to cook. She graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY., has cooked on tall ships, in fine dining restaurants and at school. She has since realized that desserts flex her artistic muscles a little more and has prepared pastries at Rover’s, Cascadia, and the Four Seasons Hotel.  Her favorite part of preparing food is the presentation – what she calls the “Here, I made this for you.” 

STEVE BROWN, director of kidLAW®, facilitates mock trials throughout Washington.  He shows kids how trials & lawyers work, how to communicate better verbally, how to think at higher levels, and how to master group process skills.  He spent 14 years as a trial lawyer, was a partner at Stokes Lawrence, and was recently a member of the Seattle School Board. Coyote is lucky to join him both at Stokes Lawrence law firm and in an official courtroom for this excellent opportunity.

ALICIA DARA is a singer, songwriter, performer, and educator.  A graduate of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, she has performed in countless musicals and choirs.  In 1997 she founded her own record label and has released 4 self-produced CD's of original songs.  She has taught over 100 private singing students and dozens of singing and songwriting workshops.  She continues to perform locally and all over the US and Canada.  Learn more at www.aliciadara.com.

BELLEN DRAKE, a graduate of Photographic Center Northwest, has been a professional photographer since 1999. She shoots everything from children, families and events to world record champions, fashion shows, snowstorms, and forests. She considers photography a never-ending project and takes photos everyday. A gifted teacher, she has taught for Powerful Schools, Community Learning Center, and Seattle Public Schools.

TERRI  KABLE has studied fiber arts and fashion design in Sweden, Central Asia, and New Mexico.  She has a passion for creating and embellishing clothing out of recycled objects.  Old buttons, vintage aprons, and felted rugs are favorite obsessions.  She currently coordinates before and after school programs for elementary students and teaches knitting in her home studio.

MARYA SEA KAMINSKI is an actor, director, and writer, and has performed worldwide, including Lincoln Center & La Mama Playhouse in NYC, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, and both ACT and Seattle Repertory Theatre in Seattle.  Her professional training and broad acting experiences enrich her love of teaching.  In Seattle she has taught at the University of Washington, Arts Corps, Freehold Studios, Eastside Preparatory School, and Coyote Central.
 
ELENA KORAKIANITOU is a multi-media artist who turns numbers of different mediums into significant art.  Her paintings and other artwork have been exhibited in galleries and museums across the U.S. and in Europe, and locally at the Woodside-Braseth Gallery and the Bellevue Art Museum. She is also a gifted teacher who has inspired scores of students to produce very impressive art.

911 MEDIA ARTS CENTER, considered the state’s premier media arts center, establishes excellent video production and workshop opportunities.  It provides the media tools for media artists to create and exhibit their work.  WEB CROWELL’S  911 youth projects include The Young Producers Project, Media Underground, and hands-on animation. He has inspired scores of Coyote animators in Cartoon Animation, many of whom have taken the course over and over.  In 2002, he was awarded the Genius Award from The Stranger for video productions.   BRIAN AINSLEE moved to Seattle from Hollywood where, as an award winning Animation Technical Director, he worked on hundreds of commercials and animations as great as The Simpsons and Family Guy. He also teaches the adult animation class at 911.

NORTHWEST FILM FORUM aims to become the nation’s leading center for film artists. It has aided 250 filmmakers to produce their films and offers some 60 workshops a year.  ERIN KATZ runs her own production company, June Bug Media. She also teaches video production, animation, and editing classes at 911 and is the film instructor at The Center School.  BRIAN AINSLEE moved to Seattle from Hollywood where, as an award winning Animation Technical Director, he worked on hundreds of commercials and animations as great as The Simpsons and Family Guy.  He has studied film production and has also worked on a long series of films and music videos while in Hollywood.

TANYA OWENS has been creating jewelry for the past ten years and has been teaching jewelry making and design to kids for over five years.  She creates wearable art pieces using metalsmithing, electroforming and enamel techniques. This year she received the Pathways Scholarship at Pratt Fine Arts Center for use in their metalsmithing studio, where she continues to develop and explore new techniques.  She teaches at Pratt, at Coyote, and as an assistant teacher at NOVA High School.

PHOTOGRAPHIC CENTER NORTHWEST, a regional leader in the education and promotion of art photography in the Northwest, offers courses and workshops to novices as well as seasoned professionals.  It’s gallery shows present the work of internationally renowned photographers.  For the past several summers, Photographic Center Northwest has invited Coyote students to work in their professional setting with one of their excellent PCNW instructors. REBEKKAH SCHMIDT returns to teach another great Coyote summer course.

PRATTFINEARTSCENTER, established in 1976, is Seattle's best resource for offering courses to working artists, emerging artists, and students in glassblowing, welding, forging, jewelry smithing, printmaking, drawing, and painting.   JAMES BRANDALISE, architect and furniture maker, is a very gifted and talented instructor for Coyote in furniture design and soapbox derby car construction. STACY FROST developed her glass skills right at Pratt, has assisted several prominent glass artists, has been juried into multiple shows and now is a warm shop instructor herself. Pratt is a major reason that the Northwest has become a leading international glass arts center. TERRI RAU is a Pratt instructor of hot glass beadmaking and glass fusing for middle school students and has taught metal fabrication, glass beadmaking, and enameling to Cleveland High School students.  Her silver and bead jewelry is represented locally at Vetri.
ROGER SQUIRREL has been teaching welding and metal fabrication to South Seattle Community College students for over 20 years. A student of art and sculpture, he has also taught foundry arts and metal castings and is very excited to be sharing his talents and experience with young Coyote welders.

SEATTLE GLASSBLOWING is one of the largest schools in the country specializing in glassblowing classes and reputed to be excellent for beginning glassblowers. DAVE CONTRERAS is great with kids as a wonderful and patient instructor.  He has professionally studied glass with Aaron Tate, a prominent glass sculptor, and Bog Riggs, production director at the Glass Eyes Studio.  Seattle Glassblowing Studio welcomes Coyote Central for a third summer.

ED SOBEY, Ph.D., is an expert in inventions.  He is a founding director of the National Inventions Hall of Fame and the National Toy Hall of Fame. In 1990, he launched Camp Invention, which now serves 40,000 kids across the country each summer.  He's a world traveler as a workshop and curriculum presenter, has written several books on the matter, and is obviously the teacher to teach these courses.

GREG STUMP draws and writes a weekly cartoon strip for The Stranger.  He is a regular contributor to The Comic Journal and is co-producer of the comic book The Urban Hipster.  His comics & editorial cartoons have appeared in a host of newspapers & publications.  Coyote is lucky to be in its 7th year with Greg on the boards with our young cartoonists. He is a classic cartoonist in the American tradition, but by popular demand has taken up Manga and anime drawing for Coyote kids.

LANA SUNDBERG, a veteran artist in painting, ceramics, and mixed media, is also a gifted teacher who has been creating with kids for over 20 years. From NYC to Seattle, she has been exhibiting her paintings in local galleries, sculpture installations at Bumbershoot,  and ceramics in prominent collections.  She continues to teach for Coyote through summer classes and Macy's windows and for Arts Corps.

ANN TEPLICK writes poetry, fiction and plays.  From Vermont College, she has recently earned an MFA in writing.  She loves the rigor of intensive writing sessions here and across the country.  A masterful teacher, she finds many ways to share her writing know-how with kids.  She works with young writers at Hamilton International Middle School in the Powerful Schools Writers’ program, at the Child Study and Treatment Center in Tacoma, and with incarcerated teens in the King County Juvenile Justice Center. Many groups of Coyote writers can attest to her talents.

SHERI VAHEY graduated in culinary arts from The Western Culinary Institute in Portland.  She has pursued her love of the arts both in cooking and baking at The Four Seasons, Queen Mary’s Tea House, and Special Occasions Catering.  She discovered her talents for teaching when she taught at Operation Frontline, a program for kids through adults.