Kim Stroud, Madison
Kim is a dancer, dance teacher and the director of the arts at CREC Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts.
Shanna Melton, Bridgeport
Shanna is a poet, curator and leader of the Writer's Group based in the City Light's Art Gallery in Bridgeport.
Calida Jones, Hartford
Calida is a violinist, a violin teacher and the artistic director of Bravo Waterbury! at the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra.
Dr. Jose Gonzalez, Quaker Hill
Jose is a poet, writer and professor of English at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.
Mark Aldrich, Newtown
Mark is the founder of THE GARNER PLAYERS, a playwriting and performance program at Garner Correctional Institute. He produces plays written and performed by inmates through the Theatre Arts & Opportunities Foundation and volunteers at the Alternatives to Violence Project at McDougall, Cheshire and Garner Correctional Institutions.
Leslie Elias, West Cornwall
Leslie is co-founder and artistic director of the Grumbling Gryphons Traveling Children's Theatre, as well as a published playwright, director, actress, storyteller and teaching artist.
Elizabeth Morgan, Middletown
Elizabeth is a youth advocate and a former board member of Oddfellows Playhouse in Middletown, where she also served as the volunteer executive director.
Mohamad Hafez, New Haven
Mohamed is a Syrian-born artist, architect and co-founder of UNPACKED: Refugee Baggage, a multimedia installation that seeks to humanize the word "refugee."
Kerri Quirk, Willimantic
With her escort Tom Menard. Kerri is a visual artist and a person with autism who is deaf. Kerri's art is her voice.