Kristen is the owner and director of Pisgah Dance Academy located in Pisgah Forest, North Carolina. Kristen has been dancing for 25 years, and teaches all styles of dance at her studio – Classical Ballet, Pointe, Tap, Jazz, Cheer-Dance, Contemporary, Hip Hop, Musical Theater, Clogging, Ballroom, and Zumba.

For the past 16 years, Kristen has choreographed in all phases of dance, from her own productions to competitive teams. She is also a traveling judge for the dance industry. She feels truly blessed to be able to pass the love of dance and the quality of the art along to her students.

In her off time, she enjoys spending time with her two puppies and her building projects. Kristen is excited to be teaching dance  at Transylvania County Arts Council for her 17th season.

Dr. Veronica Leone Matthews holds a Master of Liberal Arts in English, emphasis in Shakespeare, and a Doctor of Education from the University of South Florida. She is a graduate of the University of Cambridge Shakespeare Summer School and spent 10 years as a professional actress appearing in regional theater Shakespeare in the Park productions. 

In 2014, Veronica co-founded St. Petersburg Shakespeare Festival in St. Petersburg, FL, a non-profit theater company which presented 2 outdoor Shakespeare productions each year, as well as staged readings. As the Festival’s Artistic Director, Veronica produced 7 seasons of Shakespeare in the Park, providing free access to the arts in downtown St. Petersburg.

She was awarded multiple honors for her work engaging community partnerships around the arts, as well as for Shakespeare in the City performances she adapted or co-directed.

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Veronica moved to Brevard, NC in 2021 to be near family and works as a writer as well as an adjunct instructor of humanities at Brevard College. 

Musician, educator, composer, and arranger are some of the hats Derrick has worn since childhood.

Derrick is currently the Music Program Director at Brevard Academy and Music Director for The Arts For Christ TAFC Band, which is the band behind all of Alvin Moore's hit stage plays. Derrick has also worked with American Idol contests such as Rueben Studdard (2003 Winner), Orna Jones (2005), Destini Winters (2012).

Since 2000, Derrick has played the IAJE Festival (International Association of Jazz Educators), Umbria Jazz Festival, City Stages Festival (Birmingham), Porretta Soul Festival (Italy), Africa in April Festival (Memphis), Paducah Summer Festival, and the IBFF of Nashville (International Black Film Festival).

Anne’s Books and Papers

annesbooksandpapers@gmail.com

Since first encountering The Penland Book of Handmade Books at the public library in

2006, Anne has been passionate about making books and has been learning and practicing the

crafts involved in making books – binding, making paper, marbling, creating book cloth, and

woodworking. These skills have been acquired from the John Campbell Folk School

(Brasstown, NC), the Penland School of Crafts (Penland, NC), the Sawtooth School for Visual

Art (Winston-Salem, NC), as well as from several well-known paper/book artists. After years of

developing and expanding her skills, she is now a full-time artist specializing in bookbinding,

papermaking, and marbling. Anne is at heart a teacher, finding pleasure in sharing her passion

for paper and book arts.

Danielle holds a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education and a master’s degree in Education with an Emphasis in Literacy and Curriculum. She began her teaching career over 20 years ago in St. Petersburg, Florida, with experience in both public and private schools as well as several grade levels. She was active in her Florida community and helped wherever she could. She was honored to be nominated in Pinellas County for Outstanding Educator of the Year for her commitment to children and families. 

In 2017, Danielle decided to leave the classroom and put her skills and knowledge to work homeschooling her daughter, Lila. Today, they are still loving every minute of their homeschooling journey. Lila especially loves the incredible classes and opportunities at the Arts Council! 

Danielle grew up with award winning artist parents. Her father is a photographer, and her mother paints beautiful watercolor birds and landscapes. Growing up with artist parents taught Danielle to place a high value on art, creativity, originality and a community that supports the arts.
Danielle is passionate about education and art. She especially loves when the two come together.

Michael Koz has been a Multimedia Designer for 25 years and loves teaching people what he loves to do. His fun and exciting skills include graphics, motion graphics, animation, and character animation. 

Michael has worked for the U.S. Navy to help educate pilots, and for WalMart and Sam’s Club on nationwide graphics. While working for Exciting Events, his "outside of the box" creativity was encouraged. Some events included Jurassic Park, Alice in Wonderland, Pirates of the Caribbean, and many more. 

Recently, Michael has joined the faculty of Blue Ridge Community College as a teacher of Graphic Design.

Jack and his wife Mary Scott have lived in the Brevard area since 2003.  He serves on the steering committee of the Land of Waterfalls Camera Club and helps coordinate the monthly programs and speakers for that organization.  He does presentations, offers individual coaching on the art and craft of photography, has done photographic printing for exhibiting photographers, and is glad to have more time to devote to the craft now that he is retired from corporate life.  

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His work has been published in Our State North Carolina magazine, Blue Ridge Country magazine, and The Blue Ridge Travel Guide.  His work has been exhibited at the Transylvania Community Arts Council and the Hollingsworth Gallery in Brevard, the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts at Appalachian State in Boone, and at The Biltmore in Asheville. His photographic interests tend toward travel, landscape, architecture, capturing the good light, and photographing people in the act of being themselves.  

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Jack currently exhibits at Number 7 Arts gallery where he has been a member since 2016, and serves on the board of the Transylvania Community Arts Council. Other experience includes being a special events photographer for the Brevard Music Center, photographing fundraising and other donor events with performing students and distinguished guest performers such as Itzhak Perlman and Joshua Bell. 

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Jack is active in a local photo critique group, and is regularly invited to adjudicate work for photo exhibits. While largely self-taught, he took photography and darkroom courses during college and has lifelong experience with film, print, and digital imaging.

Web Gallery: www.jackchristfield.com

Ted brings over 22 years of experience in education to the position along with a passion for figuring out how kids learn best. In my two decades worth of experience, I have served as a classroom teacher, professional development presenter, coach, administrator, and board member. 

After graduating from Warren Wilson College with a degree in English Literature in 1997, Ted moved back home to Southern California. It was there that he began his teaching career as a middle school language arts and social studies teacher in Long Beach, California. Ted and his wife moved back to Western North Carolina when he accepted a position at Hendersonville Middle School.

Ted taught and coached in Hendersonville for four years before moving to Francine Delany New School for Children. In his first year at FDNSC, he earned my National Boards in English Language Arts. During his final two years at FDNSC, he began my pursuit of a Masters in School Administration at Western Carolina University. In 2012, Ted was awarded the Don Chalker Award for Excellence in Educational Leadership by the faculty at WCU.

In the summer of 2011, Ted joined Asheville City Schools as an elementary assistant principal, and subsequently served as principal of Asheville High School. Ted is currently the Director of Brevard Academy. 

Ted and his family moved to Brevard in January of 2023.  Ted recently became a member of the Pisgah Forest Rotary Club, and is looking forward to learning about and working with the Transylvania Community Arts Council and our creative community.