BIO INFORMATION – STUDENTS AND GRADS – Expressive & Creative Arts Graduate Program
Salve Regina University
Name Bette Frank Leahy
When CGS/CAGS program completed: Spring 2015
Previous college(s), trainings, and degree(s):
Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado: BA, Art
New School for Social Research, New York, NY: MA, Psychology
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY: B.Arch., Architecture
Vocation / Career to date: (if applicable)
Currently: Expressive Arts Therapist, Boston, MA at Rogerson House – Assisted Living and Day Program
for people with Alzheimer’s and dementia
What inspired you to enter Holistic Graduate Programs / Specifically Expressive and Creative Arts?
Actually, I had thought of going to school for Art Therapy after I graduated from college.
I applied to NYU and I was accepted with the proviso that I take some undergrad psychology classes
because I hadn’t taken any in college. I took some graduate classes instead and got side-tracked and ended up
with an MA in Psychology. That was about 40 years ago. Life has many twists and turns…
I took a few classes several years ago with Michelle Cassou who introduced me to the idea of painting as a
tool for self-discovery. I had looked around at other schools and didn’t really like what they had to offer.
There was a woman in the class who had done the Expressive Arts Institute Íat Salve and it sounded like just
what I wanted. I called the program coordinator after the class and that was that.
Outstanding experiences in the program?
Everything – is that too broad an answer?
Each class has been an adventure in self discovery and each one has been precious and valuable. I love
coming to Newport. It’s always exhilarating and exciting and I always learn something new about the world
and about myself.
Your vision and plans for the future (it’s ok if you don’t yet have one):
I work with people in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s and dementia and I feel that the work I do is very
USEFUL. In the future, I would like to continue working with elders but with people who are more cognitive
able to understand what I do.
Any parting remarks /goodbye thoughts:
Now, I have to find something else to inspire me and keep me going forward.
I wish there were more classes at Salve that I could take. I want to continue
to explore myself and the universe and make more time in my life for art.
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Bio Information and Mission Statement
Carole Melucci
When CAGS program completed: May 2015
Vocation/Career to date: Elementary School Principal
Education: Undergraduate degree in elementary education with a concentration in sociology
(URI), masters in special education (PC), severe/profound certificate program (RIC), and
advanced graduate degree in educational leadership (PRN/ J&W).
Certifications: Building Level Administrator (PK-12), Administrator of Special Education, All
Grades Special Education – Severe Intellectual Disability, Elementary/Middle Special Education
Teacher (K-8), Elementary Education Teacher, Grades 1-6
What inspired me to enter Holistic Graduation Program- specifically expressive and
creative arts? My inspiration came from the five levels of the Helix Model. I also was
interested in ways to work with others to facilitate deep self reflection, personal, and system
transformation.
Outstanding experiences in the program: Ability to demonstrate personal and professional
application of the concepts in the Expressive and Creative Arts.
Any parting remarks/goodbye thoughts: Throughout my journey, I have experienced firsthand
the value of all the modalities as a means for self-discovery, transformation, creative
development, and the healing process for myself. These precious gifts of allowing and selfcompassion are the ingredients to the healing process, accessible when one uses their creative
development to access, release and transform.
Mission Statement
An invitation to play and have fun exploring with visual arts, movement & drama, writing, and
sound is offered. Through guided creative and expressive arts activities, participants will be able
to experience the benefit of allowing their inner world become outer imagery.
The aim is to allow participants to engage in self expressive processes to validate one’s ability to
connect to their inside world and share these personal discoveries with a group.
The time together sharing with a group will assist in building a stronger community as
participants relate to others by sharing their creative thinking and discoveries through a series of
self expressive practices.
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Cate%Tsahalis%
Completing%Certificate%of%Graduate%Studies%Spring%2015%
%Bio%
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passions—movement,%healing,%education,%and%feminine%empowerment.%The%program%has%proven%to%be%
lifeKchanging%in%so%many%ways.%My%professors%and%classmates%have%enriched%my%life%deeply;%it%was%a%true%
gift%to%engage%with%such%a%supportive%and%inspiring%community%over%the%past%18%months.%Each%class%gave%
me%a%new%opportunity%to%uncover%hidden%gems%within%myself—the%depth%of%my%experience%was%made%
possible%through%the%environment%created%by%the%professors.%I%always%felt%safe%and%supported,%which%
gave%me%the%courage%and%freedom%to%take%risks%and%push%my%personal%limitations.%%
Right%now,%my%path%is%leading%me%in%an%unexpected%direction.%For%the%first%time,%I’m%seriously%considering%
getting%certified%to%teach%elementary%education.%I%believe%that%our%deeply%flawed%system%needs%as%many%
creative%thinkers%as%possible.%I%would%like%to%bring%the%tools%I’ve%learned%in%the%Expressive%Arts%program%
into%the%traditional%classroom%setting—my%methods%will%likely%be%challenged,%but%I%know%that%creative%
freedom%is%worth%fighting%for.%I%also%intend%to%bring%my%Expressive%movement%practice,%specifically%
involving%hoop%dance,%to%women%and%teenage%girls.%Empowered%women%will%create%the%changes%our%
world%so%desperately%needs;%I%would%like%to%be%part%of%this%revolution.%As%I%say%goodbye%to%this%program,%I%
am%filled%with%an%overwhelming%sense%of%gratitude—my%circle%of%incredible%people%has%widened,%my%
creative%spirit%has%been%reignited,%and%my%path%shines%brighter%than%ever%before.%Thank%you%to%all%who%
made%this%journey%so%colorful!%%
Christine Southworth Bio Information
CGS Completed 12/2014
Graduation Spring 2015
Previous College and Trainings:
Holyoke Community College AS- Nursing
UMASS- Amherst (UWW) BS Health and Wellness Promotion
Expressive Arts Institute Completed 2012
University of Buffalo Arts in Healthcare Summer Intensive 8/2014
Career
Southworth Wellness LLC - Started this business in 2010. Facilitate wellness workshops including stress management,
expressive arts and play.
RN - Various settings including; corporate clinic for employees, home care, senior housing,hospitals and nursing homes past
20 years.
What Inspired me to enter Expressive and Creative Arts Program
My passions and talents were not being appreciated at my corporate job. I started my business and reconnected with my art in
2010. I volunteered at an art camp for kids and saw the quote, “Trust in what you love, do it often and it will take you where you
need to be.” Through a Google search I found mandala art and healing class….(long story) the path opened….Salve Expressive
Art Institute came up on a search. It felt like a miracle. Why hadn’t I stumbled across this before? Art had always been a salvation
in school. I called and applied with a glitter enhanced application and found my tribe.
Outstanding experiences
I’ve processed a lot of my own past and present conflicts through this program. I see and have experienced the healing ability of
expressive arts for trauma and pain reduction. I was a bit apprehensive about the movement and sound healing since I had lost my
voice long ago. Finding confidence and support through this program was a gift.
Vision and plans for the future
I am hoping to combine my nursing background with my expressive art training to create “ART RESCUE”…..Bringing people
back to life with CPR, Creativity, Play and Relaxation. I hope to continue to work with various populations to reduce stress,
decrease pain and improve wellness through expressive arts workshops. I am currently working with grieving children, family
caregivers and hope to work with nurses and other medical caregivers to change the healthcare experience. I plan to balance this
with fun, creativity workshops for children and women.
Parting Remarks
To my teachers and classmates……thank you for your awesome presence. You have all touched my heart forever, making me a
better person. Wishing you happiness and a glitter filled life.
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Gloria Crist
Completing Expressive & Creative Arts Graduate Program Spring 2015
After a successful career in theater, television and film for the past 28 years that took her
from North Carolina to Las Vegas, New York and New England, Gloria turned her part
time job of working with adolescents and arts enrichment into extended education for
herself.
She enrolled in the Holistic Counseling and Expressive Arts program in the fall of 2012
and continued her focus on using the arts to assist adolescents in self-awareness and
healing. Through the Expressive Arts CAGS program, Gloria began Tiverton After
School Arts, an arts nonprofit providing teaching artists and after school arts enrichment
programs throughout the east bay area. Now, in its third year, TASA has provided
programs and classes to over 500 children in the east bay area, and opened up the magic
of theater through the GoSeeAShow program providing families the opportunity to attend
shows at PPAC. She is the drama advisor at Tiverton High School, and serves on several
arts education projects through Rhode Island and Massachusetts and is passionate in
seeing the arts remain vital to education and community.
She will graduate with her Masters in Counseling in May 2016.
BIO INFORMATION – STUDENTS AND GRADS
– Expressive and Creative Arts Graduate Certificate program at Salve
Name James Simon
When CGS/CAGS program completed: Spring 2015
Previous college(s), trainings, and degree(s):
University of Rhode Island (BA in Psychology, BFA in Theater),
University of Illinois at Chicago (Master’s in Social Work)
Vocation / Career to date:
Clinical Director of Deaf & Hard-of-Hearing Therapeutic Services with Perspectives Corporation. In addition,
James has an outpatient private practice located in North Kingstown, RI. Previously James worked as a school
counselor, theater artist, and administrator with Mental Health & Deafness Resources, Inc., and the
International Center on Deafness and the Arts located just outside of Chicago.
What inspired you to enter Holistic Graduate Programs / Specifically Expressive and Creative Arts?
I have always wanted to figure out a way to integrate performance art and other artistic and expressive
modalities in to the work I do as a behavioral health clinician. Personally, I have found that my background in
theater provides me with balance and enhances the work I do as a therapist. The Expressive and Creative Arts
program at Salve Regina was the perfect fit for me as it brought me to where I wanted to go as a clinician and
provided me with a path towards personal growth and transformation.
Outstanding experiences in the program?
I enjoyed being challenged with the task of experiencing new artistic modalities while letting go of the critic
within. I had an outstanding peer group to share this journey with and am incredibly thankful for Instructors
who knew instinctively how to provide us with the guidance, support, and mentoring needed to take this work
further.
Your vision and plans for the future :
Use the expressive and creative arts in my everyday practice both personally and professionally. I hope to also
create fully accessible group opportunities for Deaf & Hard of Hearing individuals of all ages on an ongoing
basis.
Any parting remarks /goodbye thoughts:
Looking forward to future alumni opportunities to reconnect with this wonderful group and never stop
creating!
Art Bio of Karyn M. Jones: 2015
Forward
In my eager infant hand, a pencil I once brandished—
“What?” You say “Why, that’s outlandish!”
Yet, ‘tis the truth I say that on that very same day,
when I was two and the world was new
instinct & love conspired “Here, my dear, this is for you…”
Salve Regina University: CAGS in Expressive and Creative Arts, May 2015
Coursework spanned a full spectrum of body/mind/spirit experience, focusing on personal
transformation and application of techniques to healing and professional work.
How consciousness is embodied and how to safely access the body’s wisdom and truth to
enable healing on deeper levels than talk therapy alone can accomplish: these were my most
treasured lessons.
The multimodal avenues incorporated included: sound, writing, movement, theatre arts, 3D
image-making, meditation, working in dyads or small groups, and, always, all of us holding a
safe space within the sacred circle of the entire class. Risk-taking and trust were developed.
Independent Exploration of Varied Art Media (ongoing)
Includes: small scale sculpture & other clay projects, wood burning and wood etching,
designing and assembling jewelry, painting in acrylic and watercolor, working in pastels, crayon,
markers, incorporating found objects in mixed media pieces, and any other approach or
combination that appeals to my sensibilities.
Hobbies/Skills
Musical Instruments (harmonica, percussion, guitars: lap steel, 12-string, 6-string)
Singing (solo or harmony), Chanting
Writing (children’s stories, freelance journalism, write essays, and journaling)
Art Work Exhibited/Sold Professionally
2009: Exhibited and sold painting at Courthouse Center for the Arts (W. Kingston, RI)
2009: Exhibited and sold two paintings at Argentum Gallery, Wakefield, RI
2005-2008: Sold hand-made jewelry (semi-precious gems, earrings, necklaces, bracelets)
2005: Sold multiple copies of two published children s stories I authored
Other Related Accomplishments
2000: Completed Multimedia Certificate Program at the University of Rhode Island (video
production and editing; graphic design, and brochure production. Earned certificate and letter of
recommendation.)
1983: Manuscript of my poetry and illustrations accepted for publication (not printed)
1983: Awarded Rice Medal for Excellence in English from Iona College, New York
BIO INFORMATION – STUDENTS AND GRADS
– Expressive and Creative Arts Graduate Certificate program at Salve
Name__Pamela Marie Edmunds
When CGS/CAGS program completed:___May 2015
Other Salve programs enrolled in or already earned:
Masters of Arts in Holistic Leadership
CGS Holistic Studies
Previous college(s), trainings, and degree(s):
Bachelor’s of Arts in Women’s Studies, UMASS Dartmouth, Dartmouth, Massachusetts
Vocation / Career to date: (if applicable)
Holistic Healing Practitioner and Teacher
What inspired you to enter Holistic Graduate Programs / Specifically Expressive and Creative Arts?
My inner guidance inspired me to enter the Holistic Programs.
Outstanding experiences in the program?
Yes, I did have some outstanding experiences.
I received some tremendous healing and transformation while attending the Expressive and Creative Arts program.
Your vision and plans for the future (it’s ok if you don’t yet have one):
One of my plans is to use the Expressive and Creative Arts with women dealing with Breast Cancer.
I am already looking into various Breast Cancer Centers to facilitate classes at.
Berger Biography
G. Spencer Berger completed his CAGS in the Expressive Arts program from Salve Regina
University (SRU) in Newport, RI, Spring, 2015. He received his Master of Arts degree in
Holistic Counseling from SRU in 2012, has taken two courses in the CAGS in Holistic
Leadership program from SRU and plans to receive that Certificate in Spring, 2016. Spencer
attended Washington and Jefferson College from 1960-1961 and spent three years in the U.S.
military from 1961 to 1964, after which he returned to his alma mater, graduating in 1967 with a
Bachelor of Arts degree in English and a minor in Studio Art. In 1974, he received a Three-Year
Diploma in Interior Design from The New York School of Interior Design. His innate curiosity
and interests have created a unique path of endeavor—including copy writing, graphic design,
photography, residential and commercial interior design and construction management. After
particularly strenuous specific job and client periods, he created a more relaxed and diverse
focus work effort, like when he moved to San Francisco in 1977 and for three years traveled
around the city on his Vespa with his Haliburton case of camera equipment shooting assignments
for a weekly newspaper. Spencer also did a two weekend training program with San Francisco
Sex Information (SFSI) and served as a volunteer on their Hot Line. It was the beginning of the
AIDS epidemic—an electrifying, socially and politically chaotic time. In the early 1980’s, he
founded a creative shop, Ova Mundi, which offered graphic design and copy development
services. Over the years his curiosity has inspired him to attend a number of self-development
workshops, also to apply for service positions such as becoming a Hospice volunteer. Dr. Jack
Childs [founder of the Holistic Program at Salve] was Spencer’s mentor for the Mankind Project
training, and hearing Spencer’s expressed interest on Salve’s holistic programs sponsored his
application for the masters degree program. That was in the Spring of 2009. What is wonderfully
ecellent about the courses in the holistic programs is that they are each and all very alluring,
as well as providing a unique path down the rabbit hole to self-awareness. I can’t identify any
outstanding experiences. Each moment was pregnant with potential to guide the student.
Presently, I have an office on Bellevue Avenue and am presenting myself as a Holistic Life
Coach with focus on the Body-Mind-Spirit connection. I feel very grateful to be a member
of the Salve holistic family. We are tribal members, and I will always be in touch some way,
some how.
Name:
Stephanie Ann Robb
Degree earned: M.A. Holistic Leadership
Geographical origin: Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Previous college(s) and degree(s):
Boston University B.A. in History of Art and Architecture
Career to date:
Mariner
What inspired you to enter Holistic Programs?
I wandered into it and was inspired to take this route instead of an MBA
because the classes sounded more interesting. Simple as that.
Outstanding experiences in the program?
I tore my ACL whilst emulating fireworks. And it was a wonderful
experience!
Your vision and plans for the future
I would like to start an eco-tourism and adventure business wherein people
will learn leadership skills, a deeper understanding of the consciousness
within Nature, and how to use Expressive Arts to access, release, and
transform their experiences.
Any parting remarks /goodbye thoughts:
I would like to thank you all for helping me embrace my spirituality through
experiential education and linguistics. I feel a deep gratitude to my professors and
classmates who held the space for many layers of healing and growth.