Founder, Visual Artist, Musician, Songwriter and Holistic Educator

Ann Teed is a doctoral student at Columbia University in New York, where she focuses on Holistic and Expressive Arts for Resilience and Well-being. Studying within both the Visual Arts Program and the Spirit, Mind, and Body Institute, she has integrated music, dance, and the visual arts into her professional life and work.

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Her extensive experience in the visual and performing arts includes designing and facilitating programs for numerous prestigious organizations, including Dia Beacon, Omega Institute of Holistic Studies, Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, the American Museum of Natural History, Lincoln Center Institute, World Values Day, Vassar College, Adelphi University, and Columbia University.

Ann has served as an instructor for the past15 years at Adelphi University and as a college supervisor at Teachers College, Columbia University. She is also the founder and owner of Dancing Willow Arts, where she creates and teaches joyful, meaningful arts experiences throughout the Hudson Valley of New York and on an international virtual platform.

Ann serves on the planning board of the global initiative World Values Day (https://www.worldvaluesday.com/) and launched the Lay Down the Feather Project in the fall of 2025. (https://www.laydownthefeather.com/) The initiative invites individuals around the world to “hold council” through a timeless cross-cultural practice in which a feather symbolizes peace, truth, and respect for all voices. Participants gather in “feather councils,” passing a feather so that each person may speak without interruption while others listen with genuine attention. Within the celebration of World Values Day, Ann has been at the helm designing and implementing special projects with Krishna Das, world-renowned spiritual kirtan chant/singer, musician, and author, as well as J Alison Henry, a musician, dancer, educator, and Northern Peace Delegate on the Council of the Eagle, Condor, Quetzal & Colibri. Ann's work continues to have a global presence as she brings people together for healing, peace, and well-being.

She has studied with renowned pioneers in holistic and expressive arts therapy, including Dr. Lucia Capacchione, Dr. Lucy Barbera, Dr. Joanne Loewy, and Dr. Lisa Miller. Ann continues to research, train, and develop workshops dedicated to integrating art for the spirit, mind, and body, and to share this deeply therapeutic work with diverse communities.

Ann has twice led record-breaking community arts initiatives recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records for the Largest Finger Painting (2001 and 2007). Over a 23-year career in higher education, she received the Distinguished Teacher of the Year – Alumni Award from the State University of New York at New Paltz in 2010, as well as four Myers Awards from Teachers College, Columbia University. 

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Within the creative realm of songwriting, Ann has created and implemented two extensive community outreach projects with American Icons Pete Seeger and Peter Max to integrate music, songwriting, and the visual arts.

In 2007, her song, "Have a Dream," was recorded on the John Lennon Songwriting Bus and featured on the ABC television special "Back in the USA," a Paul McCartney Special Holiday Show.

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Ann is also a recipient of the National Parents’ Choice Gold Award for her family music album, The Shooting Star Express: A Journey to the Land of Imagination, and has toured throughout the tri-state area performing her original music-comedy for audiences of all ages.

Affectionately nicknamed “Hurricane Annie,” she is a musician and lead vocalist for the Hudson Valley regional band Annie and the Attaboys, known for their soulful, rhythmic, and high-energy sound. Ann also facilitates music-based wellness experiences, including community drum circles, meditation and sound healing, circle singing, and songwriting workshops. 

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Artist, Educator, Healing Arts Practitioner

Nina Tantillo Elton has worked as a professional arts/healing arts practitioner in partnership with Arts Horizons Healing Arts Program, Mill Street Loft’s Healing Arts Program, and Doing Art Together in conjunction with The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the New York City Board Education. Nina is an adjunct professor at Adelphi University, NY State University at New Paltz, The College of Mount St. Vincent, and has supervised and mentored students at Columbia University.

Ninaʼs expressive arts therapy practice began when she developed programs that integrated creative arts therapy with the visual arts, sandplay, creative movement for children and adults of all ages and diverse populations either in public school venues and in private practice. Certificates:  -The Trauma Informed Creative Arts Therapy Certificate Program for Mental Health Professionals, University of Albany  -Certificate of Completion/Creative Arts Therapy Certificate Program/Ulster Country BOCES -Certified Katonah Yoga Instructor  -Certified Reiki Practitioner -Completion of Eurythmy Program, Eurythmy School, Spring Valley Awards and Appointments: -Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award, 2018 -Who’s Who in World 2020 -The Society of Publications Designers  -Peace Corps appointment and Temporary Foreign Service Officer for the US State Department.

Artist, Author, BA in Art, a MA in Creative Arts, Certified East Coast supervisor and Regional Coordinator for the Creative Journal Expressive Arts

About Lisa: I am a self-taught artist who has spent many years experimenting in mixed media while exhibiting and selling work in shows in NY and NJ. I have been teaching classes for over 35 years and developed a series of “art-as-therapy” workshops for those suffering with illness and adversity. I began these workshops while suffering myself with Lyme disease for many years and finding the only relief in the time I spent in the process of creating. I have dedicated my life to the belief that art is therapeutic and can help you speak words hard to say, relieve stress and suffering, and allow you to escape for a few hours.
I have a BA in Art, a MA in Creative Arts and I am the certified East Coast supervisor and Regional Coordinator for the Creative Journal Expressive Arts (a program that incorporates art with journaling). This includes being trained as a Visioning® workshop facilitator and writing “Beyond the Books” which includes ice breakers and workshops for facilitators.  I have facilitated programs for support groups (cancer, brain-injured, and bereavement) at the local hospitals, cancer centers, high schools, and (CEU’s) colleges, conferences, as well as offering a variety of workshops in my studio. I have taken my unique teaching skills across the United States and to England, Ireland, and Mexico.