The diverse skills of ARTS ALIVE!’s family constitutes a mosaic that truly enhances the educational environment.  They have backgrounds in theatre arts, creative drama, dance, music, visual arts, art history, psychology, literature, communications, Spanish, early childhood and elementary education.  Furthermore, ARTS ALIVE! educates its instructors  through an extensive apprenticeship program, formal classroom training and playshops. 

 

Tina Sabuco
Artistic Director and Creator

Tina Sabuco, Artistic Director and creator of ARTS ALIVE! Inc., holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Drama and Children’s Theatre from The University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from Northern Michigan University.  She began dancing at age three in her hometown of Escanaba, Michigan, and has never stopped!  Since 1994, Tina has combined her drama

 

and dance backgrounds with music and visual art  to offer an integrated arts program for students of all ages and abilities through ARTS ALIVE! Inc. Her teaching methodologies combined with her extensive and varied teaching experiences garner her frequent assignments training other teachers, as well as invitations to keynote early childhood education conferences.

During the Fall of 2001, Tina served as an adjunct professor at the University of Houston Clear Lake.  There, Junior and Senior Education Majors had the opportunity to benefit from Tina’s 26 years in the field through taking her course, Arts and the Child.

Tina lives in Garden Oaks with her partner of 18 years, Shellye Arnold and their animal family – Elvis and Seymour – 2 lively longhaired dachshund brothers, Azalea – the ever expanding “tuxedo” cat and Olive – their cat who seems to think that all houses in the ‘hood are her home!

Tina delights in teaching "children" from 1 to 101 and looks forward to continuing to live out her personal motto - - “You don’t stop playing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop playing!”

 

Wendy Haardt
Executive Director

 

Wendy Haardt joined ARTS ALIVE! as its very first employee in 1996, and in 2005 was named ARTS ALIVE!’s Executive Director!  Most recently, all of us at ARTS ALIVE! were delighted to celebrate Wendy's 10 year anniversary with us, where we honored her for her dedication to our company, tremendous "can do" attitude and all of her contributions in front of and behind the scenes over the years.  Wendy’s experience, creativity, colorful personality and knowledge of Spanish make her a valued member of our ARTS ALIVE! family.

Wendy hails from Eustis, Nebraska and holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Houston as well as a Teaching Certificate  from the Houston Independent School District.  She has specialized in preschool teaching in the Houston area for over 17 years. Prior to joining ARTS ALIVE!, Wendy taught in a bi-lingual pre-kindergarten program with HISD in a cooperative effort with Neighborhood Centers.  In her spare time, she enjoys reading, crocheting, and playing with Vegas, an English Mastiff.  But most of all, Wendy enjoys spending time with her husband of 14 years, Bryan and their daughter, Serenity Jane!

“My favorite part of this job is the light in the eyes of the children when they see the magic of ARTS ALIVE!.”
 

Anissa Dwiggins
Director

Anissa Dwiggins joined ARTS ALIVE! in December 1998 and most recently was promoted to Director for her outstanding teamwork over the last 8 years.  Originally from Victoria, Texas, Anissa has a BA from the University of Houston in Studio Arts, focusing on a wide range of visual arts, including ceramics, painting, drawing, color and sculpture. Anissa also earned an all-level teaching certificate from the University of Houston, where she received hands-on teaching training for children of all ages. She currently teaches our Integrated Arts Classes to children from 6 months to 2 years from diverse backgrounds at over 10 schools throughout the Houston area.


Since joining ARTS ALIVE!, Anissa’s family has grown. Married in April 2002, she and her husband Julio, now have their first child, Marley Sky, who was born in January 2005.  They are hoping for Marley Sky to have many more siblings in the near future. Coming from a large family with many children has also contributed to her love for teaching. Anissa enjoys spending time with Julio, Marley Sky and their 2 dogs, Bonnie and Clyde.  She also loves traveling, especially to Hawaii and Spain to visit relatives.   Her love of education, passion for life, varied interests and desires to help others makes working with children, young and old, truly enjoyable.

“ARTS ALIVE! has brought so much joy to my life!  The reward of sharing this with others is priceless.”

 

Janet Snider
Edutainer & Party Leader Extraordinaire