2021 Preschool Faculty KRISTINA LOFLIN • Preschool Support Facilitator Kristina Loflin holds a Bachelor of Arts from Meredith College located here in beautiful Raleigh, North Carolina. As a dance major and communications minor, much of her college years were spent working in the dance and cheerleading industries, coaching and teaching, as well as working behind the scenes in various arts administration roles. Upon graduation from college, Kristina established Xtreme Challenge Athletics which offered drop-in childcare, track out/summer camps and training classes that catered to cheerleaders and dancers. Kristina continues to work for Varsity Spirit, keeping her foot in the cheer and dance world. On the weekends, she can be found helping run competitions around the States or hanging out with her family and friends. Kristina loves working with students of all ages and helping them find their joy in learning. She is excited to continue to share her love of the arts and passion for education in her new role as the Preschool Support Facilitator for Arts Together. RENÉE BOYETTE • Director of Art Programs + Art Teacher for Stars, Moons, Comets Renée Boyette has been the Director of Art Programs at Arts Together for 15 years. She is responsible for the development and implementation of visual arts curriculum for students ranging from preschool to elementary school age. Additionally, she has led the visual art activities for Arts Together's Arts After Dark, a multi-arts experience for adults. Renée has organized and led many interactive visual art projects throughout the Raleigh community including the Hillsborough Wide Open Celebration, NC Sports Day at the NC History Museum, family events at North Hills, Artsplosure and the Governor Morehead School. She has spearheaded children's art activities for the SPARKcon festival and curated, in collaboration with Marbles Kids Museum, the Raleigh Historic Development Commissions’ children’s art contest. Renée pursued a BFA in Art Education with a concentration in Painting from East Carolina University. She believes strongly in the importance and transformative power of the arts and considers herself an advocate for getting messy. Renée likes collage, encaustics and creating with clay. In her spare time, she enjoys gardening and working on her historical home in Louisburg with her husband Charles and beagle Thelma Lou. KAREN WARR • Movement/Dance Teacher for Stars, Moons, Comets Karen Warr has had a life-long love for dance, and she remembers dancing in her first classes at the age of three in her small hometown of Murfreesboro, North Carolina. She discovered modern dance during her time at the NC Governor’s School and has been passionate about the art form ever since. She attended Randolph Macon Woman’s College (now Randolph College) and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in Biology and a minor in Dance. Karen later obtained her Master of Science from UNC-Wilmington in Marine Biology and worked as a Coastal Ecologist and Wetlands Biologist in North Carolina and Florida. She has been a member of Arts Together’s Rainbow Dance Co. for 17 years and is also a member of Black Box Dance Theatre. Karen loves to combine her interest in nature and ecology with dance when she teaches: “Dance is an amazing tool for teaching anything. Kids love to learn by 1 relating topics to their own bodies and movement.” Karen has taught dance at Arts Together for about 16 years and is in her 14th year as the movement/dance instructor for the preschool. She has been married to her husband Richard for 31 years, and they are the parents of two wonderful humans – Ian and Claire. When not dancing, Karen loves birdwatching, experimenting in the kitchen and taking walks with Richard and their dog, Logan. She also shares her passion for gardening through her new business venture, Oak City Little Gardens. KATE VANNINEN • Lead Preschool Teacher for the MOONS Kate Vanninen is very excited to begin teaching the Moon’s class this year at Arts Together! She is from the Midwest but has lived in the Raleigh area for the last 16 years. She received her BA in Anthropology and Women’s Studies from the University of Kansas in 2004. In 2010, she received her MS in Family Life and Parent Education from North Carolina State University with a focus on reconnecting children and nature, and supporting families recovering from domestic violence. She has over nine years' experience as a preschool teacher and took on a variety of roles including Children’s Advocate at InterAct of Wake County. Her take on the preschool experience is based on following children’s interests, encouraging curiosity and fostering a sense of community. Most recently, Kate worked at home raising her two children, Sylvia and Oliver, and is very much looking forward to returning to teaching. In her spare time, she enjoys quilting, baking, gardening, and whatever fun projects her and the kids come up with. OLIVIA SHEETS • Lead Preschool Teacher for the STARS Olivia Sheets has loved art and teaching since she could remember. Her great-grandmother began to teach her oil painting at the age of nine, but she had been drawing in many, many sketchbooks long before then! Olivia has extensive expertise in colored pencil realism and abstract oil painting but is currently learning metalworking and printmaking. Her passion lies in teaching others about the importance of art and history in shaping values and interests, and the lifelong impact of a creative education. She recently graduated from Salem College with a BA in Art History and studied abroad at Oxford University to broaden her specialty of Medieval Studies. Before becoming a preschool teacher, she taught American History and Civic Literacy to high schoolers. Realizing she has a special connection with children, she is also a certified DONA doula and loves all things babies! In her free time, she enjoys volunteering with Food Not Bombs, hanging out with her cat Magnolia and reading about art history. MARY LOUISE TALLEY • Lead Preschool Teacher for the COMETS Mary Louise Talley is so excited to begin her new teaching career at Arts Together as the Lead Preschool Teacher for the Comets! A Raleigh native, she has been a supporter of Arts Together over the years with her eight-year-old artsy, creative and tech-savvy daughter. She has been an Assistant Teacher, elementary Wake County Art Teacher for 10 years and stay- at-home mom in addition to working in a preschool for the past two-and-a-half years. She graduated from St. Mary’s College, UNC Chapel Hill with a BFA in Fine Arts and from Parsons School of Design in NYC with a certification in art. She enjoys traveling to the NC Mountains and beaches during the summer months. During her free time, she enjoys volunteering at her daughter’s school, hiking, cooking and teaching art to young children outside on her porch. SHEA STANLEY • Afternoon Assistant for the STARS + Floater Shea Stanley (she/her) is extremely excited to be joining the Arts Together family! Shea is an actor, comedian, screenwriter and playwright with a degree in Drama and Communications 2 from UNC-Chapel Hill. She also completed three summers at Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School and Camp in Steamboat, Colorado. She feels most comfortable on stage and believes performance is a great way to learn confidence and independence. She is from Charleston, South Carolina, where she led a children’s theatre camp at Crabpot Theatre. Shea believes in making the arts accessible and completed an honors thesis at Chapel Hill on representation in the arts, culminating in the four-day festival called Here, which included comedy shows, movie screenings and writing workshops centering marginalized groups. As a comedian, Shea believes kids are funnier than she’ll ever be and hopes she can learn a thing or two from the students at Arts Together. When she’s not writing or performing, Shea lives in Durham, where she enjoys reading, spending time with her friends and watching way, way too much Grey’s Anatomy. NIKKI TURNER • Community Connections Teacher Nikki Turner has always loved the arts, especially dance. She attended Arts Together as child, taking dance, music and art classes. Immediately, she fell in love with the teachers and the vision. After receiving a BS in Business Administration from Saint Augustine’s College and working in corporate America for a few years, she realized how much she missed dance. Longing to return and give back to the Arts Together community, Nikki decided to pursue her degree in dance. In 2004 while studying dance, she returned to Arts Together to teach. In 2008, her childhood dream was fulfilled as she received her BA in Dance, with a concentration in Private Studio Teaching, from Meredith College. Nikki has performed works choreographed by local artists such as, LD Burris, Joan Nicholas Walker and Carol Finley. She has also performed with Even Exchange Dance Theater, Black Box Dance Theater and is currently a member of Rainbow Dance Co. Nikki is a Raleigh native and has a great love and passion for its community. She believes in utilizing the arts to reach, teach and connect with the community and the world. She is excited about finding fun and innovative ways to share her love for our community, local and global history, culture and social awareness with her students. An avid coffee and cupcakes connoisseur, she enjoys seeking out the best of both. In her spare time, she enjoys seeking out locally owned businesses to support, discovering new outdoor excursions, and spending time in nature and with family and friends. She is a devoted mother of four children, Dondi, Raushan, Nikolas and Olivia Rae.