Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo is an artist and an educator. She has dedicated her professional and adult life to promoting the importance of art and education. Beth has had the opportunity to work with a variety of community organizations facilitating insightful and productive connections through the arts. Over a decade ago, Beth founded Oak Street
Kelly Hrenko, Ph.D., Director of Professional Development & Program Dissemination
Professor of Art Education at University of Southern Maine, Dr. Hrenko’s current scholarship is within the field of integrated arts and multimodal creative literacies. She uses her position as a teacher educator in the visual arts as a place where several intersections occur; between art and culture, community and school; and interdisciplinary education. She comes
Louisa Donelson, Organizational Director
Louisa has worked in youth arts and museum education for 12 years. She believes arts education is a vehicle to encourage empathy and social bridging, and to foster deep, interpersonal relationships with each other and the world. She believes each of us have something to teach and something to learn from each other. Louisa holds a BFA in Painting from
Meghan Scribner, Arts Integration Specialist
Meghan is an interdisciplinary artist and educator who enjoys working with a wide range of ages and abilities. She is passionate about using the arts as a learning avenue and recently completed a rigorous course in arts integration. Meghan holds masters degrees in counseling/art therapy and fine arts. She is an avid learner and has
Perryn Anable Ferris, Director of Communications, Design and Development
Perryn has been an artist and freelance web and graphic designer for over two decades and has a background in software design and development. Since moving to Portland in 2002, she has co-founded an online magazine, MainelyKids.com, and has worked with many of Maine’s leading nonprofits and government organizations while working for Shoestring Agency in
Anne Ackerman, Lead Teaching Artist and Program Coordinator
Anne is an artist and educator, who hopes to instill curiosity, appreciation, and conservation of the natural world through the arts. Anne holds a Masters in Education and a BFA in Art Education from the University of Southern Maine. Anne has presented arts-integrated workshops at national conferences for both classroom and visual art educators, and received the Art Education Discipline Award
Joel Ellis Brown, Photographer
Joel is a lifelong Mainer who has lived in Portland for 26 years. She received her BA in art from the University of Southern Maine and has worked as an artist and in other self-employed ventures as a landscape gardener, baker, and seat weaver ever since. Photography has been her main creative outlet for the