The People of SFOA

Mainer. Storyteller. World Builder. By school year a high school educator, and a teaching artist by summer. Often described as “eclectic, adventurous, and bananas'."

Alisha is a junior at MDIHS. She was born in Arizona and has been in Maine for 10 years. This is Alisha’s 5th year at SFOA and she enjoys drawing and ceramics.

Chase has been a part of SFOA for 12 years now and enjoys it every single year, and loves gaming, art, nature, and cooking.

Hilary was born and raised in Wisconsin.
She has been in Maine for 13 years and
lives in Southwest Harbor. Hilary has a
BFA in Art Education and an MS in Art Therapy MEd in Applied Behavior Analysis. She is an art therapist, loves cats (she has 6), and loves to create art!

Malcolm is an outdoors enthusiast, aspiring guitar player, and avid music enjoyer from Southern California. He is always excited to learn new things and help kids pursue their passions. This will be his second year at SFOA, and he can't wait to contribute to the incredible community there.

This will be Isaiah’s third year at the Summer Festival of the Arts. A lifelong artist—ever since it was possible to hold a marker—Isaiah enjoys creating models and dioramas, and playing music. Isaiah also brings three years of experience as an apprentice jeweler, combining creativity with attention to detail in both visual and tactile forms.

Caresse joined the board of SFOA in 2014 and has loved supporting young artists’ imaginations ever since. She spends most of the year as a literacy interventionist at Conners Emerson and therefore is known as Ms. Hanson at SFOA. Her creative favorites include mixed media, fiber arts and dancing.

Beverley is over the moon excited to be joining the SFOA team this year! She is a Northern Mainer and an alumni of the College of the Atlantic who decided to stick around. Greatly influenced by her studies in human ecology, theatre, and video art, as well as a love of music - she is passionate about building community within art spaces in Hancock County. 

Tessa is an artist and maker from Bar Harbor, Maine. She is currently a student at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, studying interdisciplinary arts with a minor in jewelry and metalsmithing. She spends her summers on the island, where she works as a carpenter and sells her jewelry at craft fairs. 

She spent many years at SFOA as a student and is super excited to return as a teacher this summer!

Graham Carter is a Senior at Mt. Desert Island High School. He has been involved in theater and music for his whole life. Despite his plan to study astronomy in college, creating art and music will forever be his passion. When he's not learning a new instrument or drawing maps of made-up kingdoms, you will find him on the stage. He has been working with SFOA during the summer and winter camps for three years, and is excited to continue!

Tara has been working with children for most of her life and loves helping kids explore their creativity. Her daughter has been an SFOA camper for nearly five years, so Tara is excited to be joining the team this year! She thrives in environments where children can express themselves, build confidence, and feel proud of their talents and creations. Tara can’t wait to make art and help create lasting memories this summer! 

CassieLyn Willis has been involved with SFOA since she was a little one. She enjoyed her time as a young artists and has loved working as a teaching artist for the past four years. CassieLyn has performed in and choreographed musicals for Acadia Community Theatre and MDI High School. She continues to pursue dance education through Thomas School of Dance. She’s thrilled to be a part of SFOA again this year!

Donald is our bus driver! He’s originally from Georgia, but has lived in Maine for 16 years. Donald has been driving buses for 2 years for Mount Desert Elementary and is going on his second summer of driving for The Island Explorer and SFOA. He is an Army veteran who served in Operation Desert Storm and is the kitchen manager for Reel Pizza. He's been known to be one of the best and most friendly bus drivers around!

Mike Perlman is a videographer and photographer based in Lamoine with over 25 years of experience. He's produced short films, commercials, sketch comedy, pilots, documentaries, and music videos. Mike is excited to share his knowledge of the visual arts with future filmmakers here at SFOA!

Kristin is a clinical social worker who works as a counselor in private practice and with local schools. She has a degree and background in theatrical arts and a love for artistic expression. She is a board member of SFOA and in 2016 she and Haley Merchant developed the Body Art class, and she has been teaching it ever since. She is a master grilled cheese artist and curious about everything. 

Dawn is an Art Therapist and co-founder of The Counseling Collaborative in Town Hill. This will be her third year co-teaching Body Art and she is also on SFOA’s Board. In addition to loving all things visual arts, Dawn enjoys growing her own food, knitting, traveling and spending time with family and friends. 

Candace is a stay-at-home mom and caregiver who has lived in Southwest Harbor for 13 years and has a Bachelor of Science in Biology.  She comes from a long line of needleworkers including her mother, grandmother, and great grandmother!  Cross stitch and plastic canvas were the first techniques she learned at age 9, and she began learning embroidery 5 years ago.  When she is not playing family cab service she enjoys needlework, reading, and hunting for sea glass.

Cameron grew up in Bar Harbor and brings a deep love for his hometown to everything he does. Passionate about volunteering and inspiring the next generation, Cameron is a gifted storyteller who knows how to connect with young minds through creativity and enthusiasm. When he’s not giving back to his community, you can find him at the local movie theater, listening to his favorite music, or getting in a workout around town. He’s thrilled to be part of the Summer Festival of the Arts and to help make this summer educational, fun, and unforgettable.

Tennille Moore, MEd, is a mathematics teacher at Mt. Desert Island High School.  She has studied many forms of dance, beginning at an early age with classical ballet and then studying tap, modern, African, Jazz, highland, and Cape Breton Step.  In addition to a mathematics degree, Tennille also has a music degree, playing 18 instruments, including oboe and bagpipes.  From an early age, working with her grandmother, she found a love for fiber arts through embroidery and cross-stitch, through 4-H she was introduced to plastic canvas, and finally, as a young adult she learned to crochet, again with her grandmother.  Her free time is spent enjoying time with her son.

Dasha’s passion for singing and acting has led her to take part in a variety of concerts and community events, including fundraisers for refugee families and cultural organizations. She has performed both solo and with ensembles such as the Show Choir, and in the musical production Chicago at Mount Desert Island High School.

She has worked with vocal coaches from Ukraine, Poland, and the U.S., and is fluent in five languages—something she often tries to incorporate into her performances. Her recent theater experience includes roles in the One Act play Eurydice and the spring production of Cyrano at MDIHS.

She attends Emerson College in Boston to study Theatre and Performance.

Marc Happel’s career in costume design and production has spanned over 40 years in the worlds of theater, opera, film, and dance.  Since 2006, he has brought his expertise to New York City Ballet as Director of Costumes, overseeing a shop of craftspeople that maintains and cares for the costumes of the Company’s full repertory, in addition to the production of costumes for new works.  In this role, he has also been instrumental in working with every designer and choreographer of the Company’s Fall Fashion Gala since its inception in 2012, guiding and bringing their designs to the stage.  In addition to his own designs for New York City Ballet, his work has been seen on Broadway, Off Broadway, in film, and many other dance companies. 

Cecelia Blackett is ecstatic to be back for her fifth year working at SFOA, and her fourteenth year at SFOA overall! It brings her so much joy to work at her childhood summer camp. Cece is a rising Sophomore at Suffolk University in Boston, MA. There, she studies English with a focus on creative writing. She has been involved with theater in some way since she was a kid, and even when teaching or other art classes she loves to find a way to bring her passion for performing arts into her writing and any visual art. This summer she will be bringing her college studies into a seniors creative writing class, and a book making class. Her love of theater will be explored and shared in her junior theater class, and to round out her love of kids she will be working two periods with the Sprites!

Doug has been involved in SFOA for years and has worn many hats. He taught classes for many years. In more recent years, he has been the "Transportation Guru" and bus driver for SFOA, and thankfully, he hasn't retired yet. He is on the board for Acadia Community Theater. Doug has produced, directed, acted, and played in the pit for many productions with ACT and The Grand. You can often find him playing his banjo and singing with the Common Good Band at the Common Good Cafe on Sunday mornings all year. 

Poonam is a Human Ecology student at the College of the Atlantic with a strong passion for environmental education, community engagement, and youth empowerment. This summer, Poonam is excited to teach Bollywood at SFOA and work as an assistant in other classes. With experience leading workshops on literacy, health, and sustainability in India—and having co-founded the Mula Mutha Revival Project—Poonam brings a hands-on, inclusive approach to learning. Poonam looks forward to creating a supportive, curious, and engaging classroom environment where every student feels seen and inspired.

Abbie is thrilled to be joining SFOA for her second summer, working with the imaginative and energetic Sprite group! With over 15 years in education, a BS in Child Development from the University of Maine, and a Montessori teaching certificate, Abbie brings the kind of experience that says “trust me, I’ve seen everything.” During the school year, she works as an Elementary Literacy Specialist at MDES, where the youngest students know her as “the teacher who reads to us at lunch” (a pretty great title, if you ask her).

Though her own art career peaked somewhere around “ambitious stick figures,” Abbie is passionate about helping kids dive deep into the creative process—brainstorming, designing, revising, and most importantly, celebrating! She lives in Bar Harbor with her husband, their two inventive daughters (fellow SFOA campers Vivien and Sylvie), and their very wiggly Aussie Milo. She’s all in for a season of color, curiosity, and the occasional glitter emergency!