Nathalie Cerin
songwriting, curriculum design, staff training, professional development
Nathalie Cerin is a singer-songwriter and educator originally from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Nathalie has worked in school administration, workforce development, vocational rehabilitation. She has also worked as a teaching artist in schools in the Bronx and Philadelphia for arts various arts organizations such as, The Dreamyard Project, The Center for Arts Education, MIMA Music, and Artwell Inc. where she designed and facilitated in-school and after school music programs for a wide range of ages. Focusing on folk and popular music, Nathalie believes in utilizing song to teach key life concepts such as active citizenship, global history, social justice, and self expression. She is passionate about music, social justice, education, and everywhere that these topics converge.
Nathalie's music
teaching artist
Ami YARES
songwriting, curriculum design, staff training, professional development
Ami Yares is a singer/songwriter, educator and social activist. Ami’s experience in arts programming ranges from research on the arts’ impact on social wellness to conflict transformation programming and design. As a performing artist, Ami uses music as means to convey understandings about society and culture and has traveled the world, performing and teaching. BuildaBridge captures Ami’s passion for the necessity and urgency for the arts to play a more integral role in the healing and wellbeing of society. The organization is a natural nexus of Ami’s passion and he looks forward to seeing BuildaBridge develop into an even more impactful organization. For Ami, it is a privilege and responsibility to follow the muse of the arts and justice, together.
executive director & teaching artist
Zein Hassanein
Zein is an arts and culture enthusiast, educator and activist from Cairo, Egypt, by way of Portland, OR. Growing up with one foot in the Egyptian underground metal scene and the other in western classical voice, he pursued his undergraduate studies in music history, vocal performance and biology in Portland, OR. It was here that Hassanein cultivated his passion for nonprofit arts, working as a teaching artist at nonprofit Ethos Music Center, and programming an experimental new media arts program for teens through Open Signal: Portland Community Media and the Hollywood Theater. Since moving to Phila. Hassanein studied Music Therapy and Counseling and has worked in community music therapy settings, and thrown himself into the incredible arts scene. He currently works as a music therapist at an inpatient psychiatric hospital in Kensington, sits on the advisory board of Yallapunk, and a teaching artist with BuildaBridge.
teaching artist
music therapist, deep listening, curriculum design, professional development
Jeremy Goldsmith
Jeremy Goldsmith is a hip-hop artist, educator, and social worker from Philadelphia, PA. He began tutoring at a GED program in 2010, and continued teaching through his college years at various schools. He's been writing and recording music since 11 years old, and began his public career as Internal Rhyme at the age of 18. Jeremy now lives in Los Angeles, working as a clinician for people experiencing homelessness, and continuing to pursue his dreams of music.
teaching artist
songwriting, hip-hop and music production
Candy Gonzalez
Candy Alexandra González is a Little Havana-born and raised, Philadelphia-based, multidisciplinary visual artist, poet, activist and trauma-informed educator. Currently, Candy’s artwork explores themes of body politics, fat phobia and self-healing.
Candy received their MFA in Book Arts + Printmaking from the University of the Arts in 2017. Since graduating, they have been a 40th Street Artist-in-Residence, a West Bay View Fellow at Dieu Donné Papermill, and a Picasso Project Resident Teaching Artist at Kensington Health Sciences Academy.
teaching artist
creative writing, poetry, visual arts
Chelsea Faulkner
Chelsea Faulkner is an Art Therapy and Counseling student in Drexel University’s Master Program. She really enjoys learning about new cultures, music, and foods. Chelsea is a musician and artist. She is classically trained on the violin. She also is a photographer, but enjoys creating with many other art mediums, such as ceramics, painting, and sculpture. Chelsea designs lots of social media posts, teaches compassionate yoga, has taught violin and music theory, and has led a variety of restorative visual art classes for BuildaBridge. In her free time, she enjoys being active by running, hiking, and gardening!
teaching artist & social manager
visual arts, yoga and social media
Belle Alvarez
Mariadela Belle Alvarez is a dance artist. Alvarez creates and collaborates with the belief that dance is futuristic technology for organizing, healing and liberation. Her choreography has been presented by the Painted Bride Art Center, Asian Arts Initiative, and PGM ONE, to name a few. Teaching credits include Swarthmore College, Temple University, Spelman College, Friends Central School, and numerous community arts organizations; for which Alvarez was recognized locally by the Bartol Foundation for her leadership as a teaching artist.
teaching artist
dance and movement
Mariadela Belle Alvarez is a dance artist. Alvarez creates and collaborates with the belief that dance is futuristic technology for organizing, healing and liberation. Her choreography has been presented by the Painted Bride Art Center, Asian Arts Initiative, and PGM ONE, to name a few. Teaching credits include Swarthmore College, Temple University, Spelman College, Friends Central School, and numerous community arts organizations; for which Alvarez was recognized locally by the Bartol Foundation for her leadership as a teaching artist.
Esther Hermiz
Esther Hermiz is a singer-songwriter, music therapist, and adaptive music teacher originally from Ohio. She hopes to utilize music with therapeutic intention to build resilience, community, and critical engagement. Adopting a trauma-informed lens, she seeks to create a safe enough space for clients and students alike. She adopts the view that the line is blurred between teacher and student, as they can take the shared space to explore creatively together. This posture of inquiry is at the heart of her practice.
Check out Esther's music here
teaching artist
songwriting
CAitlin green
Caitlin is a dance artist based in Philadelphia, originally from Huntingdon, PA. In her work, Caitlin aims to activate conversation, self evaluation, and vitality. She tends to concentrate on the body's role in wellness, individuality, and expressions of personal and collective narratives. Caitlin earned her Master's degree in Dance/Movement Therapy from Drexel University in 2019, where she particularly studied the use of dance improvisation for exploring and expressing self and identity. As a freelance dance artist, Caitlin has choreographed and co-created works featured in Philly Fringe Festival 2019, RAW Artist showcase, and EMERGE Earthdance multidisciplinary artist residency. Caitlin is also a teaching artist with Dancing Classrooms, where she teaches ballroom styles to 5th grade students with the aim of encouraging socioemotional skills through dance.
teaching artist
dance and movement, dancing to transgress workshop (pd)
Jacob Sapon
Jake is a poet, songwriter, and educator. Working with students of all ages and abilities, Jake values joy, community, and authentic expression in his teaching. As a teaching-artist, Jake is most passionate about teaching deep listening and communication skills. He also loves teaching people to discover their own creative voice. A recording artist, Jake's latest album is titled "Dreams of Loss and Light."
teaching artist
songwriting & creative writing
Hope Mead
Hope Mead is a potter and educator living and working in Camden, NJ. She is the 3rd generation of potters in her family, both her mother and grandmother being ceramic artists and art educators. She received her BS in Art Education from Messiah College. She has been working in clay since her childhood but began to throw on the wheel more seriously in her Junior year at Messiah College and has been hooked ever since. She teaches ceramics locally with BuildaBridge International, Spiral Q and in her own studio. She believes in creating opportunities for all people to express themselves and to find joy in working with clay. Hope has recently begun specializing in firing woodfired anagama kilns in rural Pennsylvania. She has shown her work regionally and nationally. Hope works on both specialized commissioned work and unique handmade items being sold online at local craft events and boutiques.
teaching artist
visual arts & ceramics
ALEX VOGELSONG
Miss Alex is a teaching and performing artist who has loved and worked within Philadelphia for nearly the last decade or more. Improv, theater, music, storytelling... she hopes that sharing the art experience that helped her learn how to connect with herself and others— can in turn help others empower themselves as well. Learn more about Alex here.
teaching artist
improv, theater, storytelling & music
Samantha Jones
Samantha is a singer-songwriter/musician and artist. Currently, Sam studies psychology at Rowan University. She expresses herself through multiple mediums of art like dance, studio art, filmmaking and poetry. Only recently did Sam start to dabble in music-makinag in her first year of college and fell in love with it. Sam wants to become an Art Therapist working with children and adolescents. Sam says, “I would love to use art to help people in the way art has always helped me.”
teaching artist
music & visual arts
Isabel Kohuth
Isabel is visual artist from Denver, Colorado. She’s currently an Art Therapy student at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art and Architecture. She believes in the healing and cathartic power of creating in any form and personally works with with and enjoys painting, drawing, mixed media, and photography. In her personal process she focuses mainly on her own emotions and lets the piece build from their. She visually processes inequality of all kinds, homelessness, and advocacy for mental health. She’s experienced a variety of BuildaBridge’s programs and loves teaching Visual Journaling. She’s excited to meet and create with you soon!
Instagram: @petalsforponders
teaching artist
visual arts
ALI RICHARDSON
teaching artist
songwriting, production & poetry
Laura Lizcano
songwriting, early childhood & movement
Laura Lizcano is a Colombian-born vocalist, songwriter and teaching artist. Laura has worked as a teaching artist for the Kimmel Cente, Carnegie Hall, and World Cafe Live for various youth and community oriented programs.
In addition to her work as a teaching artist, Laura regularly performs and produces her own music. Her latest album, Heart, is available on Bandcamp and all streaming platforms.
teaching artist
Parker Sera
theater, improv & visual arts
Parker Sera is an actor, theatre maker, singer, poet and teaching artist from Minneapolis, MN. She believes that the role of the artist is to help humans understand ourselves and one another.
Parker's teaching emphasizes mindfulness, somatics, and theatre as a tool for presence and connection. In addition to her work with BuildABridge, she teaches at Philly ASAP and Temple University, where she also received her MFA in acting. More at parkersera.com.
teaching artist