Teaching Artists

Below is a list of teaching artists in the state of Michigan. This list is to be used as a reference. Please contact Teaching Artists individually for professional references. If you are a teaching artist interested in being included in the database, CLICK HERE for the application. 

Cultural, History

Historic Mackinac On Tour

Mackinac Mackinac

Hear the music, see the rifles and learn about soldier life all from your classroom. Two costumed interpreters bring the fur trade and Straits history to life with exciting demonstrations, hands on activities and a truck full of touchables. Students help in trading and bartering, carry a fur bale, get dressed in historic clothing and hear the sounds of the past!

Cultural

Ivory D. Williams

Detroit Wayne

Storyteller

Ivory D. Williams

Cultural

Jason Hudy

Livonia Wayne

Magician Jason Hudy blends entertaining routines involving magic, comedy and audience participation with educational messages to create fun and memorable school assemblies for elementary students.

Cultural

Jenifer Strauss

Traverse City Grand Traverse

Dynamic and thought provoking, engaging and educational, heart-warming and sometimes outrageous, Jenifer Strauss uses stories to enrich lives. Offering a unique brand of energy-injected performances, workshops, trainings and keynotes, she captures interest, motivates learning and inspires writing. A former environmental and elementary educator, Strauss discovered that people think, learn and imagine in narrative. In 1993 she combined her love of teaching and story and founded Story Be Told Productions, helping educators, businesses, organizations and individuals use story to connect, communicate and clarify their goals. Strauss is the creator of the Turning Points Personal Narrative Model and co-founder of The Center for Imagination.

Cultural, Instrumental Music

John Churchville

Ann Arbor

John Churchville is a two time Grammy Nominated Music Educator, Music Education Consultant, and national presenter for the Bureau of Education Research (BER). He holds a BFA in World Music Performance from California Institute of the Arts, and a Masters in Music Education from The University of Michigan. John is also an award winning musician, producer, engineer and founder of the Indian music fusion group Sumkali, who released their 4th album in 2018 and continue to perform and tour throughout the US.

John specializes in Indian tabla drumming. His experience in the music industry has been incredibly diverse. In addition to hosting over 130 monthly Indian Music Nights at the Crazy Wisdom Tearoom, John has also been a featured performer for the Michigan Pops Orchestra, performed at a wide array of venues including festival stages, churches, temples, schools, boats, floats and more. He has played in steel drum groups, Bollywood groups, rock bands, funk bands, bar mitzvahs, weddings, corporate events, private parties, live radio, and much more.

As an educator, John started and directed for 11 years an award winning music program for Infant-8th grade music students at Go Like The Wind School in Ann Arbor, MI. His work at that school has been nationally recognized and has compelled John to present his work at the Association for Popular Music Educators National Conference, the NYU IMPACT conference, the Michigan Music Education Conference, and as a provider of professional development seminars for Elementary music teachers nationwide.

Cultural, Theatre

Keir Jackson

Detroit Wayne

Keir is a spoken word poet who performs his encouraging, positive and inspirational works with music. He is also a spoken word poetry workshop facilitator. In his sessions, Keir covers a variety of poetry genres and provides instruction on how to perform them.

Cultural, Visual Arts

Kelly Church

Hopkins Hopkinds Township

Kelly Church weaves the Native American traditions of Michigan Anishnabe into her engaging and informative presentations, demonstrations and hands-on workshops. Her talents and training were passed down through her unbroken family line of black-ash basket makers. Church also works with cattails, basswood, cedar, birch bark and sweetgrass to make both modern and traditional woven works. Programs are designed for all ages and may be tailored to specific age groups.

Cultural, Visual Arts

Krasl Art Center

St. Joseph Berrien

Krasl Art Center’s ArtTouch program brings hands-on multi-cultural kits full of art and artifacts to schools for engaging cultural presentations.Led by one of the teaching faculty, school and community groups are engaged in a 45-60 minute presentation from: Ancient Greece, Hola Mexico, Potawatomi: Keepers of the Fire, Discovering Islam, African Odyssey, Sculpture Alive, or Far East Fantasies. Customized 45-60 minute art projects are available for an additional fee.

Cultural, Instrumental Music

Linda Lee and the Golden-Aires

Midland Midland

Linda Lee is the "House Entertainer" for the world-famous Bavarian Inn in Frankenmuth, Michigan, and is also their "good-will ambassador," promoting German hospitality wherever she goes. Linda Lee became affiliated with Frankenmuth Bavarian Inn fulltime in 1991. She is affectionately known as "Bavarian Inn's Linda Lee" where she entertains five days a week!

Cultural

Lindsay Robillard

Dearborn Wayne

The Arab American National Museum provides off-site cultural competency workshops and hands-on learning activities.

Cultural, History, Literary Arts, Theatre

Lois Keel

Clarkston All Michigan Counties

Storyteller Lois Sprengnether Keel’s lively style enriches her large repertoire of international folklore, historical reenactment and Michigan tales in stories from around the world and back in time. Keel, who performs as Lois, matches programs to audiences’ age and interests. Her entertaining, educational programs are often participatory and may include music, sign language or puppets.

In her wide range of Michigan programs, Lois reenacts such historic figures as a woman who grew up on an Underground Railroad Station and aided Civil War home front efforts or another serving in World War I. She also conducts storytelling workshops for all levels.

Cultural, Theatre

Magical Rain Theaterworks

Kalamazoo Kalamazoo

Magical Rain Theaterworks creates theatre experiences exploring story, myth, movement, wisdom of the heart and body, and the creativity of diverse peoples and cultures. Performances, workshops, and residencies for K-12, college, and adult audiences are available. Repertoire includes Palabras Luminosas (Latino luminous language, laughter, and lore), Mythic Blacklight Student Productions, Anima (team building workshops), Latinas in Myth and Legend, El Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead Presentations), and more. Programs explore Latino culture and heritage, inspire creative minds, and foster emotional and social intelligence. Our goal: Collaborative, creative work, joy, mutual respect, and competence.

Magical Rain Theaterworks

Cultural, Instrumental Music

Merling Trio

Kalamazoo Kalamazoo

Dutch, Polish, and Japanese influences. Offers workshops.

Cultural, Science

Michigan Eats: Regional Culture Through Food

East Lansing Ingham

We are what we eat! For Michiganders this means pasties, muskrat dinners, coneys, fish fries and cherry pie. Twelve week program.

Michigan Eats: Regional Culture Through Food

Cultural, Instrumental Music

Peter Madcat Ruth

Ann Arbor Washtenaw

Folk Music, Blues, Jazz, and World Music with an underlying theme of Cultural Diversity and World Brotherhood performed on harmonica, guitar, ukulele, kalimba, penny-whistle, jaw-harp and other folk instruments from around the world. Madcat's kids' concerts are "kid tested and approved."

"Since 1980 I have had the pleasure of playing folk music, blues and world music for school assemblies throughout the United States. In my assembly programs I use harmonicas, ukulele, guitar, penny-whistles, jaw-harps, kalimba and other folk instruments from around the world to demonstrate a variety of musical styles. The students are encouraged to ask questions and to participate in the program by clapping out rhythms, composing blues lyrics, and by singing along."

"My assembly programs run about fifty minutes in length. When I perform at a school I bring with me a portable sound reinforcement system (P.A.), and a large assortment of musical instruments. It usually takes me about an hour to unload my equipment, set it up, and tune my instruments. Then it takes another hour to pack it up and reload it into my car. For this reason I can do no more than two assembly programs per day. I usually charge $400.00 for an isolated assembly program, $500.00 for two shows in the same location, and $300.00 per school if I perform in two schools in one day. I like to book my engagements a few months in advance."

Cultural, History, Visual Arts

Quilting Sisters: African-American Quilting in Michigan

East Lansing Ingham

This exhibition of fifteen quilts from the Michigan State University Museum.

Quilting Sisters: African-American Quilting in Michigan

Cultural, Vocal Music

Rackham Symphony Choir

Grosse Pointe Wayne

Rackham Symphony has 3 outreach programs. The first is Singing it Real which is The Reluctant Dragon performed with life-sized puppets followed by a puppet making workshop and preceded by in class activities that are presented through an in service with teachers. Rackham also offers master classes. Lastly, RSC offers Voices of the Homeless which is a program on homelessness.

Cultural, History, Visual Arts

Rags, Rugs and Weavers: A Living Tradition

East Lansing Ingham

The process of weaving rags into useful household items came to Michigan with immigrants from northern Europe.

Rags, Rugs and Weavers: A Living Tradition

Cultural, Instrumental Music, Vocal Music

Red Tail Ring

Kalamazoo Kalamazoo

Red Tail Ring is the Americana roots duo of Michael Beauchamp and Laurel Premo. Whether rendering a traditional tune or one of their original compositions, the duo infuses each song with musical imagination, haunting harmonies and instrumental artistry on fiddle, guitar, banjo, mandolin, jawharp and plain-old foot stomping. Three years and 300-plus shows into their partnership, Beauchamp and Premo have traveled increasingly farther in their musical ramblings, playing shows throughout the Midwest, East Coast and Southeastern United States. In the summer of 2011, the duo added Denmark to their list when they performed and taught as cultural ambassadors through the American Embassy.

Cultural, Dance

Reg Pettibone’s Native American Dance-Cultural Program

Livonia Wayne

Champion powwow dancer and full-blooded Native American from the Ho-Chunk Nation, Reg Pettibone presents an engaging cultural program that amazes, entertains and educates audiences. Along with his wife Marca, who is from the Paiute Nation, Pettibone draws on his traditional upbringing to provide the audience with a better understanding of true Native American culture through dance, song, stories, audience participation and a hands-on artifact display.

Reg Pettibone’s Native American Dance-Cultural Program