Communications
Jasmine Begeske, Membership Chair
Dr. Jasmine Begeske is an artist, researcher, and teacher educator. She is a clinical instructor in special education at Purdue University with a research and teaching focus on inclusion and accessibility for students with disabilities. Her research centers measuring access and accessibility to arts education for vulnerable populations and developing and individualizing creative assistive technology solutions for improved accessibility to learning. Her artistic practice includes experimental printmaking and participatory arts projects that include individuals with disabilities as makers. Dr. Begeske is the current Membership Chair for DARTS.
Alida Anderson, Special Collections Co-Editor
Alida is Associate Professor in the School of Education at American University, with research and practice interests in inclusive and integrated arts approaches to language and literacy learning. Anderson’s background includes experience as a visual artist and teacher-therapist to students with exceptionalities. She has worked for over two decades in preschool and school age educational settings using creative arts approaches with children and families, including students with a range of exceptionalities in special and general education settings. Her background experience includes work in museum-based early childhood education settings, art-therapy/teaching in a school for students with autism spectrum disorders, diagnostic and clinical practice in communication sciences and disorders, and pre- and in-service teacher training and professional development in language, literacy, and arts integration topics. Dr. Anderson has presented to international and national audiences on a variety of language- and literacy-related, and arts integration topics. Recent presentations have been given to the Council for Exceptional Children, Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, Institute for Educational Diplomacy, Association for Childhood Education International, American Educational Research Association, British Dyslexia Association, VSA International/Kennedy Center, and the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics. She holds a B.A. in Art/Art History from Colgate University, M.A. in Communication Sciences/Disorders from Northwestern University, and Ph.D. in Special Education from University of Maryland, College Park. Dr. Anderson’s work is featured in Dyslexia, Child Language Teaching and Therapy, The Educational Forum, Urban Education, Journal of Research in Reading; Reading and Writing; Journal of International Teacher Education; Bilingual Research Journal; Learning Disabilities: A Multidisciplinary Journal; Preventing School Failure, and SAGE Open. She is editor of Arts Integration and Special Education: An inclusive theory of action for student engagement (2015, Routledge).
Jane Burnette, Special Collections Co-Editor
Burnette was a member of the team that produced Project PRIME, a research project that laid the groundwork for the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (PL 94-142), which later became IDEA. She worked for CEC for many years as Publications Manager for the ERIC/OSEP Special Project at the ERIC Clearinghouse, where she was responsible for developing research to practice publications from planning through marketing. Her products included books, minilibraries, ERIC research syntheses and digests, several sections of TEACHING Exceptional Children, and A Statistical Profile of Special Education in the United States, a publication useful for advocacy. Since working with CEC, she has written and edited numerous publications, and she contributed chapters to Reaching and Teaching Students with Special Needs through Art (Gerber & Guay, 2006) and Understanding Students with Autism through Art (Gerber & Kellman, 2010).
Matt Hunter, Artist
Our logo was developed by Matt Hunter, an artist based in Pittsburgh, PA. He studied at Pratt Institute as well as at Carlow University, and he continues to pursue self-guided education in the arts. Throughout his life, Matt has drawn or painted something just about every day. His paintings have been exhibited in various venues, and are hung in many private collections across the United States. His design work has been utilized by clothing companies, musicians, and non-profit organizations, as well as by business owners. When Matt is not creating art, he can be found working as a carpenter, or spending his time with friends and family.