Core ArtsLiteracy Project Staff

Dr. Landay co-founded the ArtsLiteracy Project in 1998 and assists with daily operations and project design and evaluation. A long-time teacher of secondary and elementary English, Dr. Landay was the English Language Arts Consultant for the Maine Department of Education for seven years while also co-founding, co-directing, and teaching at the Maine Literature Project Institute. From 1991-1993 she was the Associate Director of the Literacies Institute, serving as the chief administrator and researcher in an institute studying linguistic diversity and its relation to educational achievement. Among her numerous past professional appointments and administrative responsibilities are: Chief Reader for Maine Educational Assessment, Harvard Graduate School of Education Teaching Fellow, President of Maine Council for English Language Arts, Co-director of Academic Dialogue, teacher with NEA-funded Poet-in-the-Schools Program, and author of over 35 published articles or books. In 2000, Dr. Landay received a Spencer Foundation grant to conduct research on literacy in the arts. Dr. Landay holds degrees from Carnegie Mellon University (B.A.), Middlebury College (M.A.), and HarvardÕs Graduate School of Education (Ed.D.). She has been a Brown University Clinical Professor of English Education since 1993 (Senior Lecturer since 1999).
Email: Eileen_Landay@brown.edu


As Director for the ArtsLiteracy Project in the Education Department at Brown University, Kurt Wootton leads all aspects of the organization's development including fostering collaborative relationships between Brown University, public school systems, and arts and education institutions internationally. He is the director of the ArtsLiteracy Project's "lab school" at Brown Summer High School, where artists, teachers, college students, and youth gather from around the world to explore ways to connect performance with literacy development. Kurt teaches arts and education in a variety of settings including a course at Brown titled "ED 169: Literacy, Community, and the Arts." Recently, Kurt has been setting up community-based ArtsLit lab sites in other countries including Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. In addition to his work with the project, Kurt also designs and leads professional development for SmART Schools, an organization based at the Education Development Center in Newton, Massachusetts, with the goal of integrating the arts throughout entire school systems. Previously, Kurt taught in a variety of schools including urban, private, and suburban, and he has an extensive background in acting and directing.
Email: kurt@artslit.org

Angela Richardson's professional experience is a fusion of arts administration, education, and theatre. She has successfully coordinated strategic programming and financial planning efforts for non-profit arts groups in New York, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. Recently, she taught fifth grade for three years in East Los Angeles, California and led the community outreach efforts of a music education program in East Harlem, New York. Prior to her experience in education, Angela worked as a production manager for several performers and ensembles in Atlanta, Georgia, including a multi-ensemble production during the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. She holds a Masters Degree in Arts Administration from Teachers College, Columbia University and a Bachelors Degree in Theater and Drama from Spelman College.
Email: angela@artslit.org

Jori Ketten began working with the ArtsLiteracy Project in 1998 as a Brown undergraduate student. She conducted research in ArtsLit classrooms, taught at the ArtsLiteracy summer lab school, documented in-class and professional development work through photography and film, and assisted with fundraising. Recently, Jori taught daily literacy workshops and assisted with development at The Point CDC, a Bronx-based community center; contributed to an international study on the language development of youth involved in arts environments; and collaborated with Columbia College's new Leadership Succession Awards Program as a field researcher. Jori holds a B.A. in Arts in Education and Education History and Policy from Brown and has extensive theatre, dance, and photography experience.
Email: jori@artslit.org


In 2001 John came to the ArtsLiteracy Project after four seasons of touring educational plays to schools with Perishable Theater’s Shows for Young Audiences. In 2002 the Resident Teaching Artist position was created for John, and he assumed the full time duties of creating and delivering in-school curriculums with partner teachers, mentoring teachers and artists new to the work, and developing and running the Youth Leaders program where high school youth learned to perform, present workshops, and teach at our summer lab school at Brown. John’s current focus at ArtsLit is creating engaging professional development opportunities for teachers, artists, and youth. In the summer of 2005 he served as the lead designer and curriculum specialist for the NEA sponsored Teachers Institute and for the past three years he has been coordinating professional development contracts for the Boston and St. Paul school districts as well as presenting the work of the project at local and national education conferences. John has taught ED 169: Literacy, Community, and the Arts at Brown University and works as an independent educational consultant. He is currently involved in bringing the work of the ArtsLiteracy Project to the state of Maine through his affiliation with The University of Southern Maine Literacy Program.
Email: John.Holdridge@maine.edu

Project TALL Staff

Playwright and actor Elizabeth Anne Keiser has been working with the ArtsLiteracy Project for the last four and a half years. She has worked with dozens of schools in Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, and all over New England with more than 20 educational theater companies. Her plays for children and adults have been performed in New York and Providence. She has two literacy shows that tour to area schools, including Reading Changed My Life, a testimonial packed with 103 ways (one for every year of a 103-year-old reader's life) in which reading can change one's life. Elizabeth is a member of AEA (Actors Equity Association), SAG (Screen Actors Guild), and NYTW (New York Theater Workshop).
Email: elizabeef@hotmail.com

Before receiving his Masters in Theatre Arts from Brown University, Steve worked as an actor and a director in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Boston and London. He received his B.A. from Colby College in Waterville, ME where he double-majored in Performing Arts and English. Steve was professionally trained as an actor and a director in a year-long internship with London’s Royal Shakespeare Company and for the past three years has brought his award-winning one-man show “Sigh/Omelas” to middle schools, high schools and colleges around the country in support of AIDS awareness and prevention programs. Since 1998, Steve has spent his summers at Camp AmeriKids; where he, as Program Director, planned and organized summertime fun for children affected by or afflicted withHIV/AIDS. Locally, Steve has taught Acting and Directing at Brown University and has worked with the Gamm Theatre in Pawtucket.
Email: stevejkidd@yahoo.com