Liza Cucco
Director of Strategic Communications

Drawing on over a decade of experience in nonprofit leadership, media arts, and strategic planning, Liza is responsible for developing a holistic communications strategy for Lifetime Arts. A firm believer in the unique power of art to engage communities, motivate action, and expand horizons, her career has incorporated both a vibrant artistic practice and a commitment to community development. She holds a MFA in Media Art from the Slade School of Fine Art at University College London (UCL).

Jacqueline DuMont
Communications Content Manager

Jacqueline is responsible for developing and executing compelling multi-channel media content that engages our audiences, aligns with Lifetime Arts’ strategic goals, and supports the overall creative direction established by the Director of Strategic Communications. She plays a key role in implementing content strategies; ensuring consistency in brand voice and core messaging; and driving engagement and growth to our online services and channels.

Gahlia Eden
Education Producer

Gahlia is responsible for the overall technical success of Lifetime Arts’ virtual creative aging training delivered via Zoom and the Lifetime Arts online Portal. She supports Lifetime Arts Trainers and learners before, during, and after synchronous online training sessions. Gahlia is a creative producer and multimedia storyteller with a background in both theater and film production. She has been collaborating with independent artists and non-profit organizations to share social impact stories, resources and educational media since 2015.

Heather Ikemire
Executive Director

With 20+ years of experience in arts education and nonprofit leadership, Heather is committed to advancing creative aging nationally by building an innovative and adaptive team and growing Lifetime Arts’ strategic partnerships. Previously, Heather served as Deputy Director of Learning and Engagement at the National Guild for Community Arts Education, where she directed a substantial investment in Catalyzing Creative Aging, played a pivotal role in the Creative Youth Development National Partnership, and organized annual conferences and regular professional development opportunities for hundreds of arts education stakeholders nationally. Heather received a Ph.D. in Theater for Youth from Arizona State University and a B.A. in English Literature from Vassar College.

Julie Kline
Director of Education & Training

Julie leads Lifetime Arts’ in-person and virtual training and professional development efforts in creative aging programming for teaching artists, senior serving staff, arts and cultural organizations, libraries, and other sectors through regional and national partnerships and initiatives. Julie also oversees Lifetime Arts’ roster of creative aging trainers and guest artists. With 15+ years experience as a teaching artist, program administrator, and creative aging advocate, Julie has worked with Elders Share the Arts, intergenerational ensemble Roots&Branches Theater, and NYC’s SPARC/SU-CASA program. Julie received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting from The Theater School of DePaul University, Chicago and is a New York City-based director, actor, and writer.

Torie Klocko
Operations Manager

Torie manages the systems, processes, and workflows of Lifetime Arts’ operations and cross-sector partnerships. With 17 years of experience in program management and operational optimization, she is a champion for balancing organizational systems with human-centered design. In her free time, you can find her social dancing, tending to her chickens and pollinator garden, or hosting a board game night with friends.

Nathan Majoros
Director of Programs

A member of Lifetime Arts staff since 2012, Nathan is responsible for the planning and execution of Lifetime Arts’ national initiatives. His expertise ranges from curriculum development to building sustainable partnerships. Nathan is an alumnus of the National Guild’s Community Arts Education Leadership Institute, and a graduate of the University of the Arts, where he received his Master of Arts in Teaching and Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees. Nathan is a visual artist, and primarily works as a painter and a printmaker.

Saul Baizman
Consultant

Saul Baizman is a multimedia designer, software developer, and design educator based in Somerville, MA. He holds a BA in English and American Literature from Brandeis University and an MFA in Design from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Learn more at baizmandesign.com.

Victoria Sunko
Controller

Victoria specializes in working with small businesses to create and implement accounting and reporting procedures. She has more than twenty years of experience in accounting, budgeting, and financial analysis, working with nonprofit and for-profit organizations. She also spent time in the hospitality industry, having owned and operated a café in New York City’s East Village for nine years. Victoria holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from New York University.

Asma Feyijinmi
Storytelling, Movement & Percussion

Asma is a Brooklyn-born and raised artist who particularly savors facilitating community building. She enjoys storytelling, movement and percussion as her vehicles to explore social justice, history and language with students ages 3-103. Asma has worked with many arts and education programs throughout the five boroughs, including The Brooklyn Arts Council, Community Word Project, Urban Bush Women’s BOLD, Lincoln Center, The Morris Jumel Mansion and DreamYard Project. In November of 2018, she joined The Park Avenue Armory Teaching Corps.

Daniela Del Giorno
Dance, Theatre & Music

Daniela is an experienced teaching artist and program manager who’s passionate about bringing dance, theater, and music to both children and adults. In 2019, Daniela founded Silver Shoes Dance Club, a social dance program for adults over 55. She believes the countless benefits of ballroom and Latin dance should be accessible to adults of all economic backgrounds. As a trained ballroom dancer, Daniela enjoyed a long career with New York City’s Dancing Classrooms Program, where she can be seen in the Documentary Film, “Mad Hot Ballroom.”

Clark Jackson
Theatre, Movement, Creative Writing & Improv

Clark has served thousands of New York City public school students as a teaching artist in the areas of theatre, movement, creative writing and improvisation, in classes ranging from advanced students to the severely emotionally disabled. He has taught for Lincoln Center Theater, Elders Share The Arts, Children’s Museum of Manhattan, Queens Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and Theatre For A New Audience, and more. Clark was the 2019 recipient of the Lloyd Richards Teaching Fellowship from the National Alliance of Acting Teachers. Visit artist website

Sarah Jacobus
Creative Writing & Storytelling

Sarah is a Los Angeles-based teaching artist, leading storytelling and creative writing classes with EngAGE, a non-profit that provides arts programming in senior housing. In 2015, Sarah established Imagine That!, an independent practice facilitating creative engagement for elders, primarily those with memory loss, in residential care communities, senior centers and adult day programs. She is a Certified Facilitator and Master Trainer of TimeSlips Creative Storytelling and facilitator of the Alzheimers Poetry Project model. Visit artist website

Jade Lam
Chinese Brush Painting

Jade is a New York-based Chinese brush painting artist who regularly conducts classes and workshops at different senior facilities, museums and other non-profit and private organizations. Jade was also a NYC’s SU-CASA teaching artist from 2018-2020. Jade was trained in Chinese brush painting in the 80’s and the early 90’s in Hong Kong. Her art reveals a mix of Eastern and Western influences. Visit artist website

Annie Montgomery
Theatre

Working for Lifetime Arts for 12+ years, Annie utilizes her experience as a teaching artist of more than 25 years working in youth, community, and creative aging programs in her training projects, designs and facilitation with teaching artists and other clients. She is a faculty member at the New School, teaching Collaborative Research Studio: The Teaching Artist and continues to work professionally as an actress.

Penelope McCourty
Dance & Movement

Penelope is an arts educator, choreographer and performing artist. She currently teaches dance at The Berkeley Carroll School and facilitates residencies and workshops through New Victory Theater and Park Avenue Armory and was a veteran teacher with Elders Share the Arts. Penelope’s work has provided her the opportunity to dance with trained dogs in Liz Lerman’s Dance Exchange. Her work has been presented at St. Mark’s Church, Chicago’s Links Hall and BRIC Studios.

Lynda Monick-Isenberg
Drawing

Lynda is a visual artist and educator on equal terms. Minneapolis College of Art and Design 2020 professor emeritus, Monick-Isenberg continues to guide the Teaching Artist Minor she originated at the college, facilitate BFA workshops, and mentor MFA graduate students. In addition to teaching and a lively art practice, she participates in the development and implementation of community-based arts and aging teaching residencies and curriculum. Visit artist website

Vinny Mraz
Comedy & Improv

Vinny is a playwright, teaching artist and theater maker in NYC. As a teaching artist, he has spent the last 6 years working with senior citizens in writing workshops, acting classes and developing original show revues in senior centers and public libraries. In 2019, he was an artist-in-residence for the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s SU-CASA program. In addition to Lifetime Arts, he is a teaching artist at the Rehabilitation Through the Arts, and an adjunct professor of theater at Manhattanville College. Visit artist website

Antonia Perez
Drawing & Painting

Antonia is a master teaching artist who, for more than 30 years, has worked with students of all ages and backgrounds in a wide range of settings. She has managed, directed and designed visual arts education programs in the nonprofit sector and works as a consultant, mentor, and coach for teaching artists and arts administrators. She has focused this work in the creative aging field for the last eleven years. Visit artist website

Rhynna M. Santos
Photography

Rhynna is a Puerto Rico-born photographer and teaching artist living and working in the Bronx. Her art captures the beautiful, painful, funny, and endlessly complex lives and perspectives of people of color in her community. In 2019, Rhynna was featured for the third time by The New York Times, which in 2018 also profiled her show #papielmaestro, a documentary exploration of the life of her father, jazz great, Ray Santos. Visit artist website

Dane Stauffer
Theatre & Storytelling

Dane is an actor, writer, singer, director and educator based in Minneapolis, MN. As a teacher, he has toured the country with residencies from elementary schools to housing for seniors. Dane is known for his role as Roger Caldwell in the IVEY award-winning musical, “Glensheen” at the Brave New Workshop. He has toured Ireland and North America starring in “Triple Espresso,” garnering the Best Actor in a Comedy award. Visit artist website

Ann deVere
Lifetime Arts Trainer, veteran teaching artist, and architect

As a native New Yorker with a visual arts concentration in printmaking, Ann taught classes and workshops in public schools, cultural centers, and arts organizations throughout NYC, in addition to implementing arts programming for all ages. Throughout her teaching artist career, she engaged her students in critical discourse, concept development, and creative problem solving — all the while drawing upon their imaginations. Her students developed a sense of their own capabilities, discovered their ideas have value, and learned how they can enrich the environments around them. Read our tribute post for Ann here.