ALTO: Active Learning Through Opera

The mission of ALTO is to bring the creative process into every classroom by providing arts-integrated residencies for children of all ages.

Arts integration is an approach to teaching in which students construct and demonstrate understanding through an art form. Since opera includes all the art forms, ALTO teaching artists give students creative tools in Dance, Theater, Music, Poetry, Visual Arts, or Media Arts. Students then engage in a creative process that meets evolving objectives in both an art form and a connected curriculum area.

Since 2010, ALTO teaching artists have led over 500 arts integrated multi-session residencies in the Santa Fe Public Schools. Through generous funding from our donors, we are able to offer residencies to teachers at no charge. We invite interested teachers to apply after visiting the catalog listing here. Teachers who would like to host a residency will find instructions on the linked Teacher Information Sheet.

Residencies Workshops General FAQ’s Family Info Past Residencies

2025-2026 – Arts Integration Offerings

Residency Descriptions

Residencies are listed below in ascending order of target grade level, beginning with pre-Kindergarten.

NEW! Barnyard Dance! An Interactive Music & Movement Adventure for PreK and Kindergarten

Get ready to stomp, cluck, neigh, and sing! In Barnyard Dance, PreK and Kindergarten students are invited to a joyful barnyard-themed celebration filled with music, movement, and imaginative play: a dynamic learning experience that brings the farm to life through dance, song, and creative expression. Inspired by Sandra Boynton’s beloved book Barnyard Dance, this dynamic residency is all about play-based learning.

Children will:

🐴 Choose a farm animal character to embody for a lively barnyard party
🎶 Sing authentic American and Mexican folk songs La Granja, She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain, and Here We Go ‘Round the Mountain, Two by Two
🗣️ Practice animal names and sounds in both English and Spanish, building oral language and vocabulary
🕺 Move to the rhythms of traditional American bluegrass music, enhancing gross motor skills and musicality

This playful, culturally rich experience supports early learning goals in language development, music, and movement, all while sparking creativity and joyful participation. The final celebration gives every child a chance to shine as their chosen animal in a delightful, musical barnyard dance!
Target Grade Level(s): Pre-K to K
Sessions: 7
Curriculum Link(s): Language Arts, Social Studies
Art Form(s): Music, Movement
Teaching Artist: Leanne DeVane

Finding the Math in Musical Patterns (Pre-K)

By identifying and creating musical patterns, students connect with basic mathematical concepts in an entirely new way, cementing a greater, longer lasting understanding of patterns and how they shape our world. Students will identify patterns in familiar songs and create and share simple patterns using body percussion. Dr. Ratay guides students through this creative process, while demonstrating how mathematics and music intertwine to create patterns pleasing to the mind and the ear alike.

Target Grade Level(s): Pre-K
Sessions: 5
Curriculum Link(s): Mathematics
Art Form(s): Music, Movement
Teaching Artist: Beth Ratay

Creative Movement Skill-Building

Research has shown without a doubt that physical movement is essential for brain development and learning. Based on the dance elements of Body, Energy, Space and Time (BEST), BrainDance, and on Anne’s lesson plan format, this residency is an introduction to movement skill-building strategies for the district’s youngest students. Sessions include both somatic awareness techniques and creative dance activities exploring patterns, pathways, musical prompts, and stories. Kathleen will supply teachers with the lesson plan and teachers are encouraged to repeat parts of the lesson in between residency days.

Target Grade Level(s): Pre-K
Sessions: 6
Curriculum Link(s): Social-Emotional Learning
Art Form(s): Movement
Teaching Artist: Kathleen Kingsley

Inner Compass

Students often struggle with stresses that make it difficult for them to engage with learning in the classroom; practicing a creative process can help them find ease and calm within themselves, so they can focus on their studies. In this 5-session residency, students learn how to embody the practice of “Learning without the Noise.” That “noise” can be other students’ behaviors, transitions from one activity to another, negative self-talk, frustration, or comparing self to others. Through movement, vocal expressions, art and daily rituals, students will develop an awareness of how capable they can be with managing their inner and outer environment.

Target Grade Level(s): pre-K to 2
Sessions: 5
Curriculum Link(s): Social-Emotional Learning
Art Form(s): Visual Arts, Movement
Teaching Artist: Delia St. Louis

NEW! Circles! In Art, Drama, Classroom, and Community

In this residency, students will explore circles as a theme in both visual art, drama, and community circles. Students will engage in a set of scaffolded creative practices such as found circle poems, spiral drawings, simple mandalas as well as playing drama games in a circle, and will host community conversations and circles. Students will creatively record all of their sketches and artwork in their journals, and in closing share them with each other in class.

Target Grade Level(s): Pre-K to 2
Sessions: 5
Curriculum Link(s): Social Studies, Social-Emotional Learning
Art Form(s): Visual Art: Drawing / Painting, Drama / Theater
Teaching Artist: Michelle Holdt

Finding the Math in Musical Patterns (Kindergarten)

By identifying and creating musical patterns, students connect with basic mathematical concepts in an entirely new way, cementing a greater, longer lasting understanding of patterns and how they shape our world. Students will identify patterns in familiar songs and create and share simple patterns using body percussion. Dr. Ratay guides students through this creative process, while demonstrating how mathematics and music intertwine to create patterns pleasing to the mind and the ear alike.

Target Grade Level(s): K
Sessions: 3
Curriculum Link(s): Mathematics
Art Form(s): Music, Movement
Teaching Artist: Beth Ratay

PE with the Brain in Mind

“Movement is the architect of the brain” says dance educator Anne Green Gilbert. This residency is an introduction to movement skill-building strategies for elementary PE education. Based on the dance elements of Body, Energy, Space and Time, and Gilbert’s proven lesson plan format, this residency equips PE teachers with developmentally appropriate strategies to strengthen fundamental movement skills for early elementary students. In addition to emphasizing movement skills, students participate in cooperative group and self-awareness practices through creative movement activities. Lessons are aligned with the New Mexico Physical Education standards for the targeted grade levels.

Target Grade Level(s): K-4
Sessions: 58
Curriculum Link(s): Physical Education
Art Form(s): Movement
Teaching Artist: Kathleen Kingsley

Mathematics Gets the Blues

Students will work together to write a blues song using the established lyric and musical pattern of that form. Along the way they will create and discover patterns and repetitions in groupings of 4, laying the foundations for addition and multiplication. By practicing these musical patterns within the metric framework, students will connect with these basic mathematical concepts in an entirely new way, cementing a greater, longer lasting understanding.

Target Grade Level(s): 1-3
Sessions: 5
Curriculum Link(s): Mathematics, Language Arts
Art Form(s): Music
Teaching Artist: Beth Ratay

Shape-Shifting Geometry

This experiential unit of study will explore and reinforce students’ understanding of two-dimensional shapes (circle, square, triangle, rectangle) and three-dimensional shapes (sphere, cube, pyramid). They will be creating these shapes with their bodies. First by drawing them on the ground using
their classmates. Then for three dimensional shapes the students will be using their classmates again to create sphere, cube, pyramid, cylinder and rectangular prism by standing them up. The third session the students will create three dimensional shapes to act out a short skit based on a poem by Shel Silverstein poem called “Shapes”.

Target Grade Level(s): 2-3
Sessions: 3
Curriculum Link(s): Mathematics, Language Arts
Art Form(s): Drama / Theater, Movement
Teaching Artist: Wendy Chapin

New Mexico Desert: Story of Sand

This integrated dance/science literacy residency focuses on sequencing and embodying the rock cycle. Based loosely on a New Mexico 2nd grade science unit entitled “Pebbles, Sand and Silt: The Story of Sand”, students improvise dance phrases, embodying the changes over time that break down rocks to sand, and the roles that water and wind play in that process. The dance content is based on these naturally occurring events, with students creatively and collaboratively translating the essence of the story of sand into a dance “text.”

Target Grade Level(s): 2-3
Sessions: 8
Curriculum Link(s): Earth Science, Language Arts
Art Form(s): Dance / Choreography
Teaching Artist: Kathleen Kingsley

Water Dances: Dance Meets Science

In this dynamic, integrated dance-and-science residency inspired by Thomas Locker’s *Water Dance*, students don’t just learn about water—they *become* it. Working in small, collaborative groups, they transform text, imagery, and video into living, moving waterscapes. From the first trickles high in the mountains to roaring rivers and rolling oceans, students embody the power of water as it shapes our planet. Through a series of creative “dance challenges,” learners experiment, problem-solve, and choreograph original movement sequences that capture the rhythms, patterns, and forces of water. Along the way, they deepen their understanding of earth science while building teamwork, communication, and performance skills. With a carefully scaffolded progression, every student experiences success, pride, and the thrill of bringing science to life through art.

Target Grade Level(s): 2-3
Sessions: 8
Curriculum Link(s): Earth Science, Language Arts
Art Form(s): Dance / Choreography
Teaching Artist: Kathleen Kingsley

Breathing Life into New Mexico History

This unit can help students find personal meaning and gain understanding from historical events. During this residency, students create tableaus or frozen moments based on a specific New Mexico historical event such as the Long March or the Battle of Glorieta. In the process, students will engage in language-based learning that comes to life and stays in long-term memory through drama. Students will collaborate in small groups to create a living picture of one part of the chosen event, then write narration about their frozen picture. Your class can also share their creation of the entire event with another class at the end of this residency.

Target Grade Level(s): 2-6
Sessions: 5
Curriculum Link(s): New Mexico History, Language Arts
Art Form(s): Drama / Theater
Teaching Artist: Wendy Chapin

The Garden of the Three Sisters

Students discover the traditional crops of corn, beans, and squash—and how they work together to enrich soil, protect one another, and thrive as a community. Alongside planting and sprouting demonstrations, students connect farming practices to New Mexico history and global traditions of sustainable growing. Younger grades explore through costumes and play, while older students focus on science concepts such as life cycles, soil health, and cross-pollination. Hands-on activities encourage observation, problem-solving, and creativity and help students develop transferable skills across the curriculum.

Target Grade Level(s) 2-6
Sessions: 7
Curriculum Link(s): Life Science, New Mexico History
Art Form(s): Visual Art: Multimedia, Drama / Theater
Teaching Artist: Liberty Yablon

Embodying Biography: Walking in Another Person’s Shoes

Students often struggle with biographies of characters from very different times and places. In this residency, students will use the Actor’s Tools of body movement, voice, and imagination to become the characters they are studying and then write a monologue they will perform as the character. The students can also focus on one character like Georgia O’Keeffe and tell her story by writing scenes that span each of the chapters in her long life. The final presentation or performance can be staged in a format similar to a living museum or it can be a play with scenes that represent a part of the person’s journey through their life. Students and teachers find that this literally moving residency makes learning about history an engaging experience as well as being inspired by the lives of those who lived in the past.

Target Grade Level(s): 3-4
Sessions: 6
Curriculum Link(s): New Mexico History, Language Arts
Art Form(s): Drama / Theater
Teaching Artist: Wendy Chapin

Dry Bones Dancing

In this actively engaging residency, students explore musculoskeletal anatomy through improvisational movement and choreography. Students gain an understanding of the human skeleton as they engage in a process of creating choreography, tuning into their own bodies. The residency culminates in small group presentations of choreography created and performed by students, demonstrating how their bodies are ideal tools for learning and creativity.

Target Grade Level(s): 3-5
Sessions: 5
Curriculum Link(s): Life Science
Art Form(s): Dance / Choreography
Teaching Artist: Julianna Massa

Math on the Move

Many students feel frustrated when asked to master math skills without understanding the underlying concepts or how those skills connect to real life. This dynamic residency helps students explore numeracy, symbols, and geometry through collaborative choreography and creative movement. Using dance to represent mathematical ideas, students develop both individual and small-group movement studies that highlight the simple but powerful principles behind everyday math. Along the way, they engage in evaluation, editing, and revision—strengthening both their mathematical thinking and artistic expression.

Target Grade Level(s): 3-5
Sessions: 6
Curriculum Link(s): Mathematics
Art Form(s): Dance / Choreography
Teaching Artist: Randy Barron

Identity Investigation: An Exploration of Self and Community

In this residency, students will explore self and community using “arts based research.” The residency begins with students building and constructing an “artful journal” with recycled materials and found paper ephemera. The journals then become a place to document their research on identity that ties to grade level appropriate NM social studies standards. Students will also experience a handful of scaffolded creative practices such as found word poetry, blind contour drawing, collage, and practice interviews that will support their arts based research. Students creatively record all of their key findings in their journals, and in closing share them with each other in class.

Target Grade Level(s): 3-6
Sessions: 5
Curriculum Link(s): Social-Emotional Learning, Social Studies, Language Arts
Art Form(s): Visual Art: Multimedia
Teaching Artist: Michelle Holdt

Breathing Life into Literature

Literary text can be daunting to young readers, who may find the conventions of fiction difficult going. In this residency, students will use the theater strategies of tableau and improvisation to create dialogue for a written script based on the chosen narrative from an appropriate literary work for their grade level (Myth, fable, fairy tale or even a chapter from a book) to create a written script. Groups of 4 to 5 students will engage a part of one narrative in order to create dialogue for that part Then we can also cast our play and perform it for another class as a reading. Through this deep exploration of meaning and story, children learn to find joy in text.

Target Grade Level(s): 3-6
Sessions: 5
Curriculum Link(s): Language Arts
Art Form(s): Drama / Theater
Teaching Artist: Wendy Chapin

Be Your Own Poet Laureate

This five-session residency supports key writing standards by guiding students through reading, analysis, and the creation of original poetry. Students engage in close reading of diverse poems, develop critical thinking through discussion and peer critique, and build fluency in writing through multiple drafts of their own work. As they explore questions like “What makes something a poem?” and “Why does a metaphor work?”, students deepen their understanding of figurative language, voice, tone, and structure. They also practice revision and reflection—essential components of the writing process.

Target Grade Level(s): 3-12
Sessions: 5
Curriculum Link(s): Language Arts
Art Form(s): Poetry / Creative Writing
Teaching Artist: Darryl Lorenzo Wellington

Poetry as Narrative Writing

This engaging residency supports narrative writing standards by helping students craft compelling stories using poetic forms and conventions. Students learn to identify main ideas, develop coherent sequencing, and express their voices through structured yet creative writing. By blending elements of poetry and narrative, students explore both fictional and non-fictional storytelling, discovering how imagery, tone, and structure can deepen the impact of their narratives. The residency fosters inquiry, creativity, and reflection, while reinforcing essential writing skills such as organization, clarity, and revision.

Target Grade Level(s): 3-12
Sessions: 5
Curriculum Link(s): Language Arts
Art Form(s): Poetry / Creative Writing
Teaching Artist: Darryl Lorenzo Wellington

Dancing New Mexico’s Stories: Poetry in Motion

Poetry offers a springboard into movement that can be concrete or abstract, simple or complex depending on student age, comprehension level and experience. Students connect more deeply with poetry when they involve their bodies in expressing emotion and meaning. In this residency students explore moving to words, phrases and finally whole poems presented as “choreography challenges”. Working collaboratively in small groups, they capture the imagery and essence of their poem into a dance “text” through a creative group process. Poems range from simple haikus for younger grades, to more linguistically complex works from Levi Romero, Jimmy Santiago Baca, Nora Naranjo Morse and Michelle Otero for older students.

Target Grade Level(s): 3-12
Sessions: 8
Curriculum Link(s): Language Arts, New Mexico History
Art Form(s): Dance / Choreography
Teaching Artist: Kathleen Kingsley

Arroyo Songs! — Songwriting meets Science

Aligned closely with state and district standards, this hands-on residency integrates science, literacy, and the arts to meet educational objectives in an engaging and interdisciplinary way. In this residency, students write a song from the perspective of plants or animals in the arroyo. Students engage in a collaborative creative process that encourages critical thinking and synthesis of knowledge, transforming scientific ideas into expressive, memorable songs that they then record and share.

Target Grade Level(s): 4
Sessions: 5
Curriculum Link(s): Life Science
Art Form(s): Music
Teaching Artist: Ivy Ross

Look at That Flower!

Making realistic drawings can seem like a scary task to the average 4th-grader, and many assume that it is a matter of elusive talent rather than a skill process that they can learn. In this residency, students will learn to closely observe plants and insects native to Northern New Mexico and beyond. They will apply a variety of drawing techniques to create realistic illustrations of their choices of flora and fauna. As they work to finish their final product, they will also reflect on their process and create a written artist’s statement explaining the scientific discoveries and artistic choices they made along the way. They may discover that Artists and Scientists are really very similar.

Target Grade Level(s): 4
Sessions: 6
Curriculum Link(s): Life Science
Art Form(s): Visual Art: Drawing / Painting
Teaching Artist: Liberty Yablon

NEW! Wind and Water Carve New Mexico

How did Ship Rock come to be? What are the Tent Rocks made of? How was Glorieta Mesa formed? In this residency students choreograph living landscapes, embodying the powerful force that wind and water played and continue to play in carving and shaping our state. This is an integrated dance/ science literacy residency for 4th-5th grades focused on sequencing and visualizing the forces of wind and water and their geographic implications for New Mexico. Students collaboratively translate the story of erosion in New Mexico into a dance “text” through the creative process of choreography.

Target Grade Level(s): 4-5
Sessions: 8
Curriculum Link(s): Earth Science, Language Arts
Art Form(s): Dance / Choreography
Teaching Artist: Kathleen Kingsley

The Music of Math and the Science of Sound

In this residency, students will explore various ways that sound can be created, and how math and measurements work together to create multiple pitches on a single musical string (monochord). When students actively determine how sound and pitch work, they will make important scientific connections, while exercising their measurement, data collection and data organization skills. The exploration of the monochord also serves as an introduction to or review of fractional representation. After learning how a single string can be divided to create different pitches, students will create a short piece of music using the newly discovered properties of the monochord.
Target Grade Level(s): 4-6
Sessions: 5
Curriculum Link(s): Mathematics, Physical Science
Art Form(s): Music
Teaching Artist: Beth Ratay

Loving Learning & Learning About Love in Handmade Gelli Printed Books

Do your students struggle to engage with certain classroom curriculum? In this hands-on residency students will learn Gelli printing and build their own visual journals and then reflect on how they learn best. Using acrylic paints and Gelli Plates and different book building strategies students will learn to make a book that will truly become their own. Those books will hold notes from class discussions, scribbles, poetry, collage, drawings, and MORE! These journals will also hold student reflections on what they love about learning and how love itself is a powerful measure of engagement. At the end of the residency the class will share their journals full of ideas, sketches, plans, notes, and each student’s highly individualized self-exploration and expression.

Target Grade Level(s): 4-8
Sessions: 5
Curriculum Link(s): Social-Emotional Learning, Language Arts
Art Form(s): Visual Art: Multimedia
Teaching Artist: Michelle Holdt

Cosmic Calendars: Charting Sun, Moon, and Seasons

Students learn about celestial tracking of the sun, moon, and seasons, and the origins of the Western calendar as it relates to our solar system. With colored papers and mixed-media collage, students will create a giant calendar wheel of the four seasons and moon cycles while exploring the artist’s tools of color, geometry, and composition. Through classroom activities and the artistic practice, students will understand celestial patterns and develop a greater awareness of our relationship to the cosmos and how nature’s rhythms govern our experience of time. Students and teachers experience an exploration which aims to inspire wonder and creativity in the ways we observe and engage with the natural world and ourselves.

Target Grade Level(s) 4-6
Sessions: 8
Curriculum Link(s): Space Science
Art Form(s): Visual Art: Collage, Mixed Media
Teaching Artist: Moira Garcia

NEW! Cosmic Calendars (Abbreviated)

Shorter residencies focus on tracking time through understanding the lunar phases OR the four seasons. Students will work in groups to create a collaborative collage of the moon cycles and solar system OR a calendar wheel of the four seasons while exploring the artist’s tools of color, pattern, geometry, and composition.

Target Grade Level(s): 4-6
Sessions: 5
Curriculum Link(s): Space Science
Art Form(s): Visual Art: Collage, Mixed Media
Teaching Artist: Moira Garcia

NEW! Cosmogram: Mapping a Cosmic Identity

Designed as a follow-up to Cosmic Calendars and for students with a primary foundation of astronomy and earth science. Using mixed-media and collage, students will translate their astronomical knowledge into a personal Cosmogram a.k.a. cosmic identity map. The Cosmogram will depict the phase and location of celestial bodies as well as the season and geography of the student’s time of birth. Students will learn how to access and interpret the astronomy of their birth time and track the current moment. Guided by artist and astro enthusiast Moira Garcia, this residency will fortify and expand previous knowledge and cultivate a deeper relationship to the cosmos and personal identity.

Target Grade Level(s): 4-12
Sessions: 5
Curriculum Link(s): Space Science
Art Form(s): Collage, Mixed Media
Teaching Artist: Moira Garcia

Embodying Biography: Becoming a Person You Admire

Students often struggle with biographies of characters from very different times and places. In this residency, students will use the Actor’s Tools of body movement, voice, and imagination to become the characters they are studying and then write a monologue they will perform as the character. The students can also focus on one character like Georgia O’Keeffe and tell her story by writing scenes that span each of the chapters in their life. The final presentation or performance can be staged in a format similar to a living museum or it can be a play with scenes that represent a part of the person’s journey through their life. Students and teachers find that this literally moving residency makes learning about history an engaging experience.

Target Grade Level(s): 5-6
Sessions: 8
Curriculum Link(s): New Mexico History, Language Arts
Art Form(s): Drama / Theater
Teaching Artist: Wendy Chapin

Exploring New Mexico History through Song

When students create a piece of music about a historical subject, they greatly increase their comprehension of the subject, and gain important learning skills. In this residency, students will work together to create a corrido (ballad) about Rafael Chacón in the Battle of Valverde, or any important figure or event in New Mexican history. Dr. Beth Ratay, an experienced composer and scholar of world musics, leads this session, focusing on students’ ability to synthesize historical facts into a deeper understanding of how these events shape our collective and individual lives.

Target Grade Level(s): 5-12
Sessions: 5
Curriculum Link(s): New Mexico History, Language Arts
Art Form(s): Music
Teaching Artist: Beth Ratay

Volcanoes: The Story of the Valles Caldera

What happened in the Valles Caldera? Can it happen again? In this residency students choreograph the powerful geologic forces behind one of the largest and ongoing volcanic eruptions in the Southwest, the Valles Caldera. Working in groups with “expert packets” of information, students are introduced to the processes that underlie the formation of volcanoes in general and the Valles Caldera in particular. Through exploring and embodying plate tectonics, and using the language of convergence, divergence, subduction, translation and uplift, students build vocabulary to design short dances that demonstrate the build up of events leading to the Valles Caldera’s massive explosion, and the aftermath of smaller volcanoes over geologic time. This residency requires that students have some comprehension skills, especially for reading for information, synthesizing and verbally sharing, as well familiarity with working effectively in groups.

Target Grade Level(s): 6-8
Sessions: 8
Curriculum Link(s): Earth Science, Language Arts
Art Form(s): Dance / Choreography
Teaching Artist: Kathleen Kingsley

NEW! El Agua es Vida: A Dive into New Mexico History

What is an acequia? What is its cultural and practical importance to New Mexico? In this residency, students journey into the history of place through the lens of water; from ancient indigenous ways of water collection and distribution, to the Spanish introduction of the acequia system with its defined roles and hierarchy, to the different way of looking at water the Americans brought to the Southwest. Students work in collaboratively in groups with “expert packets” of information which they mine for their choreography work. This residency requires that students have some comprehension skills, especially for reading for information, synthesizing and verbally sharing, as well familiarity with working effectively in groups.

Target Grade Level(s): 6-8
Sessions: 8
Curriculum Link(s): Earth Science, Language Arts, New Mexico History
Art Form(s): Dance / Choreography
Teaching Artist: Kathleen Kingsley

Poetry as the Means We Need: Spoken Word & Performance Poetry

Seen as a “step-child” of academic poetry, spoken-word/performance poetry (or slam poetry) is a poetry form that is infinite and accessible to all students. This type of poetry, most importantly, opens the door for poets to use their whole body, and space, to make a poem come alive! In this workshop, through different writing exercises, students will write their own spoken-word poems and will be exposed to different performing styles and will learn memorizing techniques to recite their poem like a seasoned poetry slam poet. This workshop will ask students to explore the power of their own story as a means to create change, not be forgotten, and inspire others to do the same.

Target Grade Level(s): 6-12
Sessions: 5
Curriculum Link(s): Language Arts
Art Form(s): Poetry / Creative Writing
Teaching Artist: Alejandro Jimenez

The Passion Project, An Exploration of Self and Identity

In this residency, students will explore a self-selected topic connected to their personal identity using “experiential arts based research.” The residency begins with students building and constructing an “artful journal” with recycled materials and found paper ephemera. The journals then become a place to document their research on identity that ties to grade level appropriate NM ELA standards. Students will participate in a handful of scaffolded creative practices such as found word poetry, blind contour drawing, and practice interviews as they begin their research. The students will then research on their own using “non-screen based” modes of learning including but not limited to: interviewing experts, having an experience, reading a book, observational drawings, and MORE! All of their key takeaways are creatively recorded in their journals and shared with each other on final day of class.

Target Grade Level(s): 7-12
Sessions: 5
Curriculum Link(s): Social Studies, Language Arts, Social-Emotional Learning
Art Form(s): Visual Art: Multimedia
Teaching Artist: Michelle Holdt

NEW! The Art Nouveau Effect

Students will explore the visionary works of Alphonse Mucha with a field trip to our very own Vladem Contemporary Museum (in-person before Sept 21, 2025; virtual field trip option may follow). They’ll examine how Art Nouveau emerged as a response to the Industrial Revolution and ask: What art reflects the Digital Revolution today? Through discussion, reflection, and studio artmaking, students refine their own artistic voices and create original works that connect history, aesthetics, and the human experience.

Target Grade Level(s) 9-12
Sessions: 6
Curriculum Link(s): Social Studies, Social-Emotional Learning
Art Form(s): Visual Art: Drawing / Painting
Teaching Artist: Liberty Yablon

Teacher Information Sheet

Teaching Artists

Randy Barron has classroom teaching experience dating back to 1980, and he served as a touring Kennedy Center Teaching Artist from 1995-2021. Randy has led hundreds of professional development events for teachers and teaching artists, in forty US States, as well as in Singapore. Randy danced and choreographed professionally with dance companies from Boston and New York City to the Midwest, and he served as a founding Artistic Director of City in Motion Dance Theater in Kansas City, Missouri. Randy has a wide range of experience in education. He has been a charter school founder, a charter high school director, a curriculum writer — and even a school bus driver. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, and he is also a former volunteer firefighter and EMT. Randy has received the Coll Award of Distinction from the New Mexico Art Education Association. He lives with his wife on the Santa Fe Trail near Las Vegas, New Mexico, just an hour’s drive from their twelve-year-old, identical twin grand-daughters.

Wendy Chapin is a theater artist who began teaching in the Santa Fe public schools in 2001 independently as a theater teacher, working with integrated arts for the Alto Program, and working for Artworks a Lincoln Center Program sponsored by Partners in Education. She has taught theater arts to all ages from 7-70 for 40 years. Wendy is a theater artist who believes in collaborating with teachers to find ways to embody learning as well as creating opportunities for students to develop empathy as part of their interpersonal and intrapersonal experiences inherent when using drama in combination with curricular areas of study. Wendy has a BA in theater and history from the University of Colorado and an MA in Art Therapy from Southwestern College. She worked in professional theater on and off Broadway for 11 years.

Leanne DeVane is a musician, music educator, arts administrator, and horsewoman. She recently completed five years with Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival as Director of Education, where she oversaw multiple music education programs for students, PreK-12. Prior to her work with Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, she served the Santa Fe community for twelve years as Music Education Coordinator for Santa Fe Public Schools. Leanne finished her undergraduate study in Piano Performance at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and her graduate study in Music Education with Eastman School of Music. She completed coursework in Educational Leadership with New Mexico Highlands University. Leanne formerly taught elementary music and choir on the Navajo Reservation in Fort Defiance, Arizona, as well as eight years of elementary music and choral teaching at Ramirez Thomas and Sweeney elementary schools in Santa Fe. Leanne is recipient of the New Mexico Music Educators ’Association Administrator of the Year Award (2017), the City of Santa Fe Mayors ’Excellence in the Arts Award (2016), the New Mexico School Board Association Leadership in Student Achievement Award (2012), and in 2011, was recognized as a leader in music education on the nationally broadcast public radio arts show “From the Top.” Leanne’s personal passions include equitable access to vibrant music education for all youth, piano, Spanish, telepathic animal communication, and animals of all sizes, predilections, and shapes.

Moira Garcia is a visual artist and bilingual educator. She is a New Mexico native and has worked in Santa Fe schools for over a decade. She holds a BFA in Studio Arts with a focus in Printmaking from the Institute of American Indian Arts, and a MA in Latin American Studies with concentrations in Art History and Indigenous Studies from the University of New Mexico. Her artwork is a visual language of symbol, color, and metaphor that often references and interprets ancient culture and cosmologies. As an educator, Moira is dedicated to meeting the needs of each student and guiding the expression of their unique and creative genius.

Michelle Holdt is an enthusiastic arts integration specialist and leader with a strong commitment to leading an arts rich life and making creative practice available for all children. She has over 20 years experience in arts education as a drama teacher, professional development leader, and arts administrator in a wide variety of educational settings. She was the Arts and Restorative Learning Coordinator at the San Mateo County Office of Ed and holds a Masters and Credential in Educational Administration from San Francisco State University, an Art Integration Certificate with The Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership, a BA in Drama and Human Development from Harvard University, a Masters in Theatre and Dance from the University of New Mexico, and a clear K-8 multiple subject credential from New College of California in San Francisco.

Alejandro Jimenez is a formerly-undocumented immigrant, poet, writer, and educator from Colima, Mexico, living in New Mexico. He placed 3rd at the 2022 Abya Yala Poetry Slam Championships held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which brought together 15 national poetry slam champions from 15 countries in North, South, Central America and the Caribbean. He is the 2021 Mexican National Poetry Slam Champion, he is a two-time National Poetry Slam Semi-Finalist (US), multiple time TEDx Speaker/Performer, and a regional Emmy-nominated poet. In 2022, he was featured in TIME Magazine as one of 80 Mexican artists shaping contemporary Mexican culture. His work centers and touches on cultural identity, immigrant narratives, masculinity, memory, and the intersections of them all.

Tamara Johnson is a dancer, educator, and writer. She has been designing and facilitating experiential education programming for over a decade. She is passionate about the power of dance to overcome language barriers and cultivate empathy. Tamara is currently the Executive Director and Co-Artistic Director of MoveWest and a Course Development Specialist in the Institute of American Indian Arts department of Online Learning.

Kathleen Kingsley is a dancer/choreographer/dance educator. As co-founder of City in Motion Dance Theater in Kansas City, Missouri, she choreographed for and danced with the resident company, as well as working as an artist in education with Kansas City Young Audiences. She also initiated the first of four children’s dance theaters. She is a graduate of Anne Green Gilbert’s Summer Teacher Institute in creative dance. Her work in dance straddles both the teaching artist and school educator roles. As co-founder of the Río Gallinas School for Ecology and the Arts in Las Vegas, New Mexico she developed and taught the dance curriculum for grades 1-8. She established the dance department at the United World College of the American West (UWC-USA) and developed their International Baccalaureate Degree Program dance curriculum. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Latin American studies. Currently Kathleen is co-founder and executive artistic director of MoveWest Center for Movement Exploration in Santa Fe and serves as ALTO’s residency program coordinator.

Julianna Massa (she/they) is a dance artist based in Albuquerque, NM, trained in modern/contemporary dance. Her work centers around a love and respect for the messy imperfection of human bodies moving together in space, asking how dance can bring us towards shared visions of the future. Recently, Julianna was on the faculty for the inaugural Albuquerque Contemporary Dance Festival. Julianna has experience teaching dance and creative movement to children and adults with Albuquerque Public Schools, Harwood Art Center, OT Circus Arts Connections, and Keshet Dance and Center for the Arts.

Beth Ratay is a versatile composer who is able to craft music using a wide variety of styles and techniques. From music possessed of a quiet, understated grace, to music based on mathematical concepts, to emotive and hilarious opera, Ratay’s music is engaging, charming and beautiful. Dr. Ratay has had her music performed by diverse ensembles from across the United States. Her studies on the relationship of text to music in the work of Leoš Janáček and symmetric or layered musical structures in the music of Harrison Birtwistle strongly informs her own compositions. Beth also has been teaching music to people of all ages for over 25 years. Her experience includes individual instrumental and compositional instruction, music fundamentals and general education music courses for adults, and music basics for kids for all ages. Beth believes that learning music teaches many important and fundamental skills including social/emotional skills, math skills, and problem solving skills.

Ivy Ross is devoted to a collaborative and creative vision of an emergent equitable world. She is a nationally recognized facilitator, musician, writer, and educator who addresses challenging social and environmental issues with compassion, critical thinking, playfulness, and flexibility, and she currently serves as the Director of Education for the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. She has served as consultant, facilitator, and performing artist for a multitude of organizations nationwide including: Children’s Defense Fund; Columbia Hospital For Women; Teachers & Writers Collaborative; Young Audiences; Children’s Cancer Association: MyMusicRX; the Anti-Defamation League, and The Boys & Girls Club. She is a certified Mindfulness Meditation Instructor, Hatha Yoga Teacher, Student Success Coach, and A World Of Difference Institute Trainer. Classroom teacher Emily Wahl says of Ivy, “She brings an attentive, gentle, cheerful, and patient attitude to teaching. It is clear that she finds inspiration in the responses of the children to the music, and gladly and adeptly incorporates their ideas. She is a joy to work with and the children respond with great affection and enjoyment to her sweet and fun style of teaching.”

Delia St. Louis is an educator with a Master of Science in Education. She has classroom teaching experience dating back to 1999 in the New York City Public Schools and later starting in 2013 at Albuquerque Public Schools. She’s also the founder of Learning Without The Noise, a practice in which children learn tools and exercises that give them a unique advantage in learning and in life.

Darryl Lorenzo Wellington is the 2021-2023 Poet Laureate of Santa Fe, NM. He also writes a syndicated editorial column for The Progressive Media Project. Since 2016, he has been a Writing/Communications Fellow with Center for Community Change, a Washington DC-based organization that supports low-income people of color. Last year, he presented talks and workshops on poetry at over fifteen Santa Fe elementary, middle and high schools.

Liberty Yablon is a sculptor, photographer and illustrator, born and raised in Santa Fe. She’s Also lived in Los Angeles where she worked in fashion design and film production. She loves to sew and design extravagant costumes. In downtime she crochets and loves time in nature. Before becoming a workshop leader with the Alto program, as well as ArtWorks, she taught art and theater full time for SFPS. She was an early member of art collective Meow Wolf and created immersive art experiences with them for 5 years. She’s passionate about teaching and loves working with students of all ages and backgrounds.