Beth Defuria

Beth Defuria has practiced art therapy with children and adults since 2002. After several years on Madison Avenue as an Art Director creating TV and print ads “trying to convince people they needed something external to make them happy”, she decided it was time to pursue a more meaningful path and attended Pratt Institute for a graduate degree in Creative Arts Therapy. Beth has facilitated Weekly Mentor groups for Free Arts NYC since 2005, and is also an instructor at AIMI (American Institute for Mental Imagery), “Teaching Mental Imagery To Children (...And Other Interested Family Members!)” and a HealthCorps Ambassador. As an art/imagery therapist, she works in elementary schools, public housing facilities and in hospitals witnessing the healing and transforming effects of art-making and creative imagery.

Monique Ford

Monique Ford was born and raised in Brooklyn and Westchester County, New York. Her passion for painting and a strong interest in teaching began when she attended Plattsburgh State University, where she created a thesis body of work in painting, drawing, and photography. Monique then attended Pratt Institute, receiving her MFA in 2006, and now exhibits in the northeast – where she has received several best in shows in Bedford, NY, and at The Silvermine Artist Guild in New Canaan, Connecticut. Along with her vigorous and disciplined studio practice, Monique works as a Teaching Artist at organizations including the 92nd St Y, Bric Rotunda Gallery, Studio in a School, Free Arts NYC and the Brooklyn Historical Society. Recently, she has also begun teaching Yoga for kids at the Manhattan New School. Monique lives and works in Brooklyn.

Jenny Herbert

Jenny Herbert has a Masters of Professional Studies in Art Therapy from the School of Visual Arts. She is an artist and art therapist who currently works with survivors of domestic violence in New York City. She has facilitated a Weekly Mentor Group for 9-11 year olds at Little Sisters of the Assumption Family Health Services in East Harlem since joining the Weekly Mentor Program in 2006. Jenny truly enjoys working with the LSA community. Her art work can be seen on her website: www.jennyherbert.com

Tony Ingrisano

Tony Ingrisano is a drawer and art educator who began working in education as a TA for children with Autism in Central Massachusetts. Tony lives in Downtown Brooklyn, and co-runs SHO Gallery (www.SHOGallery.com), an independent gallery space that puts on intriguing group and solo shows of artists from NYC and beyond. His own artwork can be seen here:www.linediet.blogspot.com.

Valerie Magarian

Valerie Magarian is a painter and animator who received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, concentration in painting and drawing. In addition to working as a Weekly Mentor Program Facilitator, Valerie is a Studio Educator at the Guggenheim Museum and has taught extensively in underserved communities in both English and Spanish. Valerie began working with Free Arts in 2009 and continues to be amazed by the results that can come from a dedicated volunteer/facilitator team. Her artwork can be viewed online at www.valmagarian.com.

Cheryl Paswater

Cheryl Paswater has a BFA in Studio Art, an AS in Design from Millikin University and an MFA in Painting from the Pratt Institute. For 10 years Cheryl has taught in a variety of schools and programs, worked in exhibitions for the Indianapolis Museum of Art, written for various magazines and online publications and currently owns and runs the design company Three Birds NYC with her partner Seth Mulvey. Her work can been seen at www.cherylpaswater.com and www.threebirdsnyc.com. Cheryl began working for Free Arts in the fall of 2009, and is committed to seeing restoration happen for families and individuals through the arts.

Nick Pelafas

I was a really lousy artist as a kid. Too abstract expressionist, or I'd draw a ram's head, really messy. I'd never win painting contests. I remember losing to a guy who did a perfect Spiderman (Jean Michel Basquiat). Nicholas has been teaching and collaborating with children for the last 12 years. He has an MA in African Studies from the University of Illinois, and a BA in Art History, Russian Language, African Studies and Political Science from McGill University. From 2006-2008 he taught arts curriculum to children and organized educational programming at Krannert Art Museum in Champaign, IL. Reppin’ P.S. 269 in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, Nick works with a group of twelve inspired 10-13 year olds and four dedicated mentors.

Rebecca Posner

Rebecca Posner received her B.A. in Studio Art and English from Clark University, where she went on to receive her Masters in Teaching specializing in urban education.  A Brooklyn-based artist with a background as an oil painter, she now works with a variety of materials found and created.  As a facilitator she draws from her experiences as an artist, traveler and yoga instructor to give depth, energy and creative structure to the classroom experience.  Rebecca joined Free Arts NYC in 2009 and is grateful for the opportunity to give such a personalized and enriching art mentoring experience to New York City‘s vibrant youth.

Ian Saville

Ian Saville joined the Free Arts team in 2009 and is passionate about bringing arts into the daily lives of children. Trained as a teacher and an experienced museum educator, one of Ian‘s core beliefs is that the arts can help people communicate with their immediate world. By challenging youth to take risks in their art making, we foster leadership, creativity, and expression in the next generation. You can learn more about Ian and his artwork at www.iansaville.net.

Mary Sweeney

Mary Sweeney received her BFA from Pratt Institute and her MFA from The City College of New York, has maintained a studio practice for 30 years and has worked in arts education for 15 years. Recently Mary installed a site-specific work at the Millstone Queries (Barre, VT), she has exhibited at Exit Art and the AIR Gallery in NYC, and was the recipient of City College’s Therese Ralston McCabe Connor Award and a fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Mary works as a Teaching Artist in public and private schools, and is a sculpture and ceramics professor at City College. She joined Free Arts NYC in 2008 and enjoys being part of a team that understands positive art making experiences make a difference in how children see themselves and imagine their future. Mary’s artwork can be viewed at www.maryjsweeney.info.

Jennifer Tamayo

Jennifer Tamayo is a writer, artist, & performer. She received her B.A. from the University of Chicago and M.F.A. from Louisiana State University. Her latest manuscript, Red Missed Aches, was selected by Cathy Park Hong as the 2010 winner of the Gatewood Prize and is scheduled for publication in 2011 (Switchback Books). Her art & writing has appeared in journals including DIAGRAM, Ghoti/Fish, The Breakwater Review, No Tell Motel, The New Delta Review and Action, Yes!. She is loving her first year as a Weekly Mentor Program Facilitator. Jennifer blogs at http://contrappostos.blogspot.com.

Shira Weinert

Shira Weinert is an educator and photographer who has worked on community based arts initiatives for 20 years – including art parks in East Harlem with Creative Arts Workshops, at Henry Street Settlement’s Abrons Arts Center and currently with Our Better Angels and the Harlem Biennale. Shira is also a New York City public school teacher focusing on special needs students accessing the full range of the curriculum through creative learning. Shira initiates and develops arts programming for her school, PS 5, including partnerships with Lincoln Center Institute, The Center for Arts Education, Shen Wei Dance Arts, the Museum of Modern Art, and Free Arts.

Erin Balvanz, LMSW

Erin Balvanz, earned her Masters in Social Work from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.  She also holds a Certificate of Expressive Arts Therapy through New York Expressive Arts Therapy Program in Albany, NY.  Ms. Balvanz works as a Social Worker in the Hospice Program at Visiting Nurse Services of NY, providing guidance and emotional support to dying patients and their families.  Also through VNSNY Hospice she co-chairs HEAL, Helping Each other After Loss, an arts and bereavement program for families with school-age children coping with the death of a loved one.  In her spare time she dances tango.

Erin Loughran

Erin Loughran has a BS in Studio Art from New York University and a MA is Arts Administration with a specialization in Art Education from Teachers College, Columbia University.  Erin has been with the PACT Program since 2003, first as a volunteer and then as a facilitator, and is currently the Curriculum Writer for the PACT and Weekly Mentor programs.  She is also a Program Manager at ArtsConnection, a NYC arts education organization, and has worked in the education departments of the Children‘s Museum of Manhattan, the American Folk Art Museum, Materials for the Arts, and Learning Through Art.

Jesus Mascorro

Jesus Mascorro started facilitating groups for the PACT Program in the spring of 2010, and is committed to working with Free Arts NYC because he believes in and fully supports its mission. For the past 5 years he has worked with children and art–making — including as an Art Instructor for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and as an Educator for the New York Historical Society. Currently he is a Preschool Art Teacher, and develops and implements his own art curriculum..

Rojo Robles Mejías

Rojo Robles Mejías is an art educator, writer and playwright from Puerto Rico. He graduated, with a bachelor's degree in Theater and Humanities and a master's degree in Comparative Literature from the University of Puerto Rico. He recently moved to New York and is teaching visual art, theater and storytelling in various locations and communities of Brooklyn and Manhattan.