Co-Facilitators

Daemond Arrindell is a multi-genre writer, performer, and Teaching Artist. After more than ten years working in social services, eight of them managing the King County Crisis Connection’s teen hotline, Teen Link, his passion for spoken word poetry took center stage and he channeled his energy into his art and arts education. He has been a faculty member of TAT Lab: the Washington State Teaching Artist Training Lab; Freehold Theatre - co-facilitating poetry and theater residencies at Monroe Correctional Complex for men for 15 years; Adjunct faculty at Seattle University and Tacoma’s School of the Arts; Senior Writer-In-Residence through Seattle Arts & Lectures' Writers in the Schools Program and Skagit River Poetry Foundation.

Daemond’s teaching focuses on the complexities of identity: how we define ourselves, how society sees (or doesn’t see) us, and how we face and function within those realities. Whether facilitating high school students, adult educators or incarcerated populations, his objectives remain the same: to think critically and creatively; to honor individual voices, especially those who have been disenfranchised, overlooked or ignored; to reflect on what makes us unique and celebrate it. In the process of building space for these voices and stories, it became necessary to address the systems of oppression that empower some and disadvantage others as well as their current and historical context.  This led to a more formal and intentional bridge between arts education and social justice work.

Tina LaPadula is an east coast transplant and warrior for equitable art making and learning opportunities. For more than 15 years she poured most of her creative energy into Arts Corps, the award winning arts and social justice non-profit she helped found. She has collaborated with The Frye Museum, The Museum of History and Industry and Bumbershoot Arts and Music Festival and NW Folklife to curate exhibitions and events that elevate the art and perspectives of young people. As a teaching artist Tina has taught at performance and storytelling Centrum Arts, Seattle Children's Theatre, The University of Washington, and in a multitude of schools and after school programs.

These days she serves as the Creative Youth Project Manager for the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, and as a consultant, facilitating workshops on racial equity and the arts for public schools, cultural organizations and national conferences.

Tina supports the growth and development of teaching artists locally and nationally, most notably as the founder of the Seattle Teaching Artist Network, as a faculty member for the WA State Teaching Artist Training Lab, as the former chair of the Association of Teaching Artists, and as a national advisor to the Teaching Artist Guild. Her writing and opinion have been featured by Americans for the Arts, On the Boards, The Teaching Artist Journal and The National Guild for Community Arts Education.