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Arts education extends far beyond traditional classrooms. This track explores how innovative approaches, partnerships, and institutions are shaping the future of arts learning—ensuring creativity remains accessible, relevant, and impactful for all.
Panel One: Innovations in Art Education
How do we prepare the next generation of artists, cultural leaders, and creative thinkers? This panel brings together educators and arts professionals who are pushing the boundaries of traditional arts education. From digital tools to interdisciplinary collaboration, discover groundbreaking approaches that are redefining how we teach and learn the arts.
Natalia Margarita Dominguez is the founder of Creative Muse Arting, LLC, and a dedicated TCU Doctoral Student specializing in Higher Education Leadership. An award-winning former art teacher with over a decade of impactful service in Fort Worth ISD, Natalia’s teaching philosophy, The Right to Art, emphasizes culturally responsive, student-led art studios. Her expertise in classroom management, student-led curriculum design, and action research empowered students to led in the art studio.
Cindy Ingram is an author, poet, mixed media and mosaic artist, coach, educator, and entrepreneur. Connecting with works of art, creating safe spaces, and crafting innovative learning activities are her superpowers, and she has dedicated her life to bringing the magic of creativity and art connection to others.
As a creativity midwife and coach, Cindy helps people birth their creative projects into the world, supporting them through the emotional landscape of creative work with compassion and practical guidance. She is the author of Art Is About Being Whole: A Memoir and host of the "Spacious Creative" and "Art and Self" podcasts.
Kelvin Dilks prides himself on his Fort Worth roots. Having graduated from Richland High School, he went to Abilene Christian University and majored in Theatre and History Education. Upon graduation, he started teaching at Haltom High School. During his years there, he taught theatre arts, technical theatre and a plethora of social studies classes. During his years at Haltom, the OAP advanced every year in competition and in 1995, the International Thespian Society invited Haltom High’s production of Once Upon a Mattress on main stage at the International Festival. Kelvin taught for thirty-one years in the Birdville ISD and in January of 2015, he retired. He currently serves on the Birdville Board of Trustees.
MODERATOR: Kelly M. Ward has a dedicated career in museums, galleries, academia, and arts non-profits and specializes in early twentieth-century cross-cultural painting and sculpture, with an interest in the transatlantic exchange between the art and artists of Latin America, Europe, and the United States. She works as the marketing and communications coordinator at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and teaches as an adjunct instructor at the University of Texas at Arlington. As a skilled writer and researcher, Kelly has proven experience in visual analysis, lecturing and public speaking, marketing, graphic design, and social media management.
Panel Two: Education in Cultural Institutions
Museums, theaters, and arts organizations are becoming essential spaces for arts education. This discussion highlights how cultural institutions are fostering learning experiences beyond the classroom—engaging diverse audiences, developing new curricula, and strengthening the role of the arts in lifelong learning.
Connie Hatchette Barganier is head of education at the Kimbell Art Museum, where she collaborates with fellow educators to develop year-round programming and resources that deepen cultural understanding, foster personal creativity, and build community at every stage of life. The Kimbell’s robust slate of offerings includes museum publications, lectures and film screenings, art-making workshops, docent-guided tours, teacher professional development, as well as options for families, teens, university students, and community groups with special needs.
Alli Rogers Andreen is the Manager of Family and Access Programs at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas. She earned a BFA in Studio Art with emphasis in Painting from Texas State University (2011) and an MA in Art Education with a Graduate Certificate in Art Museum Education from the University of North Texas (2015). Rogers Andreen serves as the Western Regional Director for the Museum Education Division, regularly contributes presentations and publications in the field of art and art museum education, and serves as adjunct faculty in the Art Education department at Texas Christian University.
William E. Girón serves as Executive Director for Artes de la Rosa (ADLR) – Cultural Center for the Arts. His responsibilities include collaboration with the Board of Directors to advance the mission of the organization; maintenance, expansion, and compliance of sustainable funding streams; oversight of day-to-day operations of the organization including strategic planning, programming, financial management, building management, hiring, training, and management of Artes staff; development of professional relationships within the local, national, international artistic community and elected officials.
MODERATOR: Amy Hardison Tully is the inaugural Teresa Ann Carter King Dean of the College of Fine Arts at Texas Christian University. Prior to her appointment at TCU, she was Associate Dean and Director of the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, and she has also held professor and administrative appointments at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina.
Panel Three: Partnering with the Community
Building strong community connections is key to making arts education more inclusive and impactful. This session explores successful partnerships between schools, artists, nonprofits, and local organizations that expand access to creative learning and empower communities through the arts.
Nicholas Ditto is a transformational school leader committed to driving student achievement and expanding educational opportunities. With over a decade of experience as a teacher, instructional coach, and founding principal, he has dedicated his career to ensuring all students thrive. As the founding principal of IDEA Rise College Prep, a middle and high school in the Las Vegas Trails neighborhood of Fort Worth, Nicholas led the school to earn an “A” rating from the Texas Education Agency and recognition as a “Best Middle School” by U.S. News & World Report.
Ebony Nicole Johnson is a dedicated and passionate art educator with over 13 years of experience fostering creativity and artistic expression among students across the states of Texas, Mississippi, and Tennessee. From the very beginning of her career, Ebony recognized one fundamental truth: everyone deserves access to high-quality arts education. This belief has been the cornerstone of her teaching philosophy, driving her to create inclusive and engaging learning environments where students can thrive
artistically.
Lauri McKay Bevan has the Executive Director Imagination Fort Worth since 2012. Lauri McKay Bevan is a certified arts educator with experience teaching students from pre-K through high school. She is also a professional actor, director, and produced playwright, and served as administrator for a multi-state non-profit social service organization helping at-risk teens. This combination of experiences in education, the arts, and non-profit management provide her with a unique skill set to lead Imagination Fort Worth.
Dr. Anika Perkins is an accomplished educational leader with a career spanning over 25 years, dedicated to advancing student achievement and fostering creativity through the transformative power of fine arts.
As the CEO/President and Superintendent of the Texas Center for Arts + Academics (TCA+A), Dr. Perkins leads the strategic vision and daily operations of two renowned audition-based public charter school districts—Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts and Texas School of the Arts. Under her leadership, these institutions, along with TCA+A, exemplify a commitment to cultivating creativity, excellence, and innovation in education.
MODERATOR: Sauntymia Robinson is the co-founder of Artistry Soul Collective, where the mission is to give local R&B and Neo-Soul artists a platform by way of creating content that captures their performances and stories as well as curated events in Fort Worth, TX. Prior to entrepreneurship, Sauntymia dedicated her career to education (social-emotional learning for students diagnosed with emotional disturbance, oppositional defiant disorder, and autism, core subject inclusion support and college readiness) and shelter resident case management for teens/young adults (ages 16-24) and domestic violence survivors.