Arts Enhancement
Arts Enhancement workshops offer a learning experience in fine and performing arts centered around a specific discipline.
These workshops serve to enhance the classroom learning by connecting curriculum to an artistic practice.
A team of professional teaching artists provide a three-, five-, or eight-session package in a variety of disciplines.
All content is customizable to current curriculum and grade level, lessons are available for grades K-5.
Pricing
- Three sessions: $300; Teachers in Ingham Intermediate School District pay $75
- Five sessions: $500; Teachers in Ingham Intermediate School District pay $125
- Eight sessions: $800; Teachers in Ingham Intermediate School District pay $200
Teaching Artist
Aral Gribble, Theatre Arts
A Lansing, MI based professional Teaching Artist, actor, and digital media storyteller who specializes in creating inclusive, adaptive, joy-driven theatre experiences for students of ALL abilities, Aral’s curriculum integrates improvisation, physical storytelling, character creation, and collaborative narrative building to support students in building narrative power, strengthening social-emotional capacity, and co-creating performance that centers lived experience, interdependence, and justice as a shared responsibility. Aral has extensive experience working with students with disabilities and creating accessible workshops and learning opportunities.
Aral studied Theatre Performance at University of Michigan and has a Digital Media Specialist Associates degree from Lansing Community College.
Erika Noud, Photography and Mixed Media
Erika Noud’s exploratory approach to teaching allows individuals to work at their own pace and comfort level while experimenting with different media and subject matter. Erika loves working with themes connecting art experiences with history, geography, literature, music, nature, science and more while providing a welcoming environment for students to explore.
Erika has a BA in Telecommunication from MSU and a MA in Community Arts and Diverse Populations from Saint Michaels College.
Lauren Mudry, Dance and Movement
Lauren’s workshops invite teachers and students to explore movement as a powerful learning tool, connecting creativity, community, and self-expression. Through dance, participants engage their minds and bodies, enhancing focus, emotional intelligence, and confidence while discovering new ways to support kinesthetic learners.
Lauren is a professional dancer, choreographer, and educator, and has worked with companies, studios, and theatre programs throughout the Midwest, New York, and Chicago. She holds degrees from Lansing Community College and Eastern Michigan University.
Liz Wylagala, Visual Arts
Liz is a visual artist and educator who inspires creativity through hands-on engagement in the artistic process. Her workshops and residencies invite students to explore drawing, painting, multimedia and “junk” art, and 3D sculpture while developing confidence, curiosity, and collaboration. Whether creating individual or group projects, Liz helps students connect visual expression to learning across the curriculum.
A passionate advocate for arts education, Liz earned her MFA from Pratt Institute and her BA from Wells College and has played a key role in mid-Michigan’s arts community.
Megan Wright-Jones, Theatre Arts
Megan Wright-Jones is a theatre artist, educator, and director, and the cofounder and Executive Artistic Director of Professional Youth Theatre of Michigan (PYTMI). A Disney Musicals in Schools teaching artist for ten seasons, she also leads professional development for teachers and adjudicates youth productions. Her work helps students connect story, song, and self, building empathy, communication, and creativity through performance. Megan holds a BFA in Acting and an MA in Teaching Artistry from Wayne State University, and an MA in Applied Drama from Eastern Michigan University.
Shelby Parker, Theatre Arts
Shelby brings her experience in teaching creative drama in elementary settings and her perspective as a performer to her work as a teaching artist, emphasizing theatre’s role as a space to broaden our empathy for one another and create connection in seemingly impossible places.
Shelby Parker is a theatre artist and educator whose work centers on discovery, humor, and creative play. She holds a B.A. in Theatre and Performance and B.F.A. in Film Production from Oklahoma City University and is currently a second-year M.F.A. Acting Candidate at Michigan State University.
Tabor Vits, Breakdance and Movement
Tabor “TV Breaks” Vits is a bboy (“breakdancer”) and teaching artist with over 10 years of experience helping young people build social-emotional and civic skills through dance. He has a background in leading arts after-school classes, civic engagement programs, independent learning spaces and community art projects in Lansing, and his unique methodology combines street dance knowledge with critical pedagogy to deliver engaging lessons for all ages. Sample lessons include learning 8-counts of choreography to teach addition and multiplication (mathematics), telling the story of Hip Hop as a social movement (history, sociology), and learning about angular momentum through backspins and headspins (physics).
Tabor is a graduate of Michigan State University’s Residential College in the Arts and Humanities, with a BA in Spanish.
Teri Noaeill, Music and Theatre Arts
Teri specializes in working with elementary and early childhood students through storybook play and early childhood music that incorporates gross motor skills and internalizing rhythm through play. She also leads team-building workshops and character development activities designed to strengthen ensemble connection, audition readiness, and performance confidence. Her approach blends creative exploration with practical performance tools, offering schools a wide range of interactive and developmentally appropriate theatre and music programming.
Teri has a BS in Elementary/Early Childhood Music from Western Michigan University, is certified in Youth Mental Health First Aid, and holds a Beginner’s Intimacy Diploma from Theatre Intimacy Education and is dedicated to fostering safe, inclusive, and collaborative spaces for artistic exploration.
Lizabeth Desmet, Music
Liz is a music educator who believes everyone is musical and deserves access to music learning opportunities. Specializing in early childhood music, they use vocal exploration, creative movement, and audiation (thinking in music) to provide students with a musical foundation they will have for the rest of their lives. Liz utilizes materials like scarves, beanbags, and handheld percussion instruments to aid in play-based music learning.
Liz has a BA in Music Education from Michigan State University and currently teaches music classes at non-profits, preschools, and public libraries in the Lansing area.
Kaitlyn Riel, Music and Musical Theatre
Kaitlyn Bess Riel is a graduate of Central Michigan University with degrees in music education and musical theatre. She is a teaching artist with the Wharton Center and Disney Musicals in Schools. She is a member of the international teaching artist coalition, and avid performer. Her most recent roles are Gussie Carnegie (Merrily We Roll Along), Taylor (Island Song), and Bonnie and others (Come From Away). She currently teaches voice and acting lessons in the Greater Lansing area.
Miranda Sue Hartmann, Theatre Arts, Fine Arts, & Writing
Miranda is a Lansing, Michigan–based theatre professional, visual artist, and writer. From her home studio, 1024 Illustrations and Designs, she creates artwork and writing while making time to read and explore new ideas. She is a teaching artist with the Wharton Center for Performing Arts and OpenSpot Theatre and teaches drama at MADD (Music, Art, Drama & Dance) Camp in downtown Lansing each summer.
Miranda holds an AA in Psychology from Lansing Community College, graduating magna cum laude; a BA in Interdisciplinary Arts and Performance from Arizona State University, graduating summa cum laude; and a MEd in Curriculum and Instruction: Theatre Pedagogy from Southeastern Oklahoma State University, also graduating summa cum laude. An active volunteer with local community theatres, she has contributed as a director, makeup artist, choreographer, intimacy coordinator and props and sound designer. She has also served on boards and committees for arts and education organizations and currently sits on the Board of Directors for Ixion Theatre Ensemble.