Susan Teegen-Case, Executive Director
Susan@theArtWell.org
Susan is the founder and executive director of ArtWell since its inception. Susan is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and a visual artist. Her long-standing interest and practice of the intersection of creativity, spirituality, healing, and social transformation led her to envision with others the birth of ArtWell in November, 2000.
Susan also has extensive experience as an interfaith chaplain and counselor in hospice and hospitals. She received her Masters of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary and her B.A. in psychology, sociology and religion from Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington. Susan’s post graduate education includes training in Gestalt Pastoral Care and she is an adjunct faculty member at Drexel University within its School of Public Health. Her on-going commitments embrace innovative practices related to dismantling racism, community revitalization, and ecological sustainability. Susan highly values play and enjoys the mysteries of life in endless ways with soul companions and in solitude.
Cathleen Cohen, Educational Director
Cathy@theArtWell.org
Cathy, Director of Education, has more than 30 years of teaching experience. Cathy oversees curriculum and content development for the organization’s programming and assists in programming administration and implementation. She is a founder of ArtWell’s We the Poets, a forum in which children from different cultures and faiths can write and share their poetry. Cathy was also instrumental in developing ArtWell’s HeartSpeak curriculum and programming, which centers on violence prevention and giving youth and adults tools for self-expression that lead to inner and community-wide peacemaking and healing. Both curricula are aligned with federal and state K-12 educational curriculum standards and are based on leading-edge best practices in their respective disciplines.
Cathy is very hands on in her work with – and outside – the Center. Since 1989, she has led poetry workshops in a variety of public schools and private schools of all faiths throughout Philadelphia and beyond. She received the Public Service Award (2004) from the National Association of Poetry Therapy, and the Interfaith Relations Award (2003) from the Montgomery County Advisory Board to the PA Human Rights Commission. Cathy’s doctorate is in Learning Disabilities from Northwestern University. She also holds a certificate from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
Julia Katz Terry, Program Director
Julia@theArtWell.org
Julia, Program Associate at ArtWell, is a visual artist and multicultural educator with experience in teaching and developing curricula for infants through 10th grade in school, after-school and summer programs. In addition to assisting with general operations and administration, Julia is the creator and director of the Art of Growing Up. She trains teaching artists, coordinates and oversees implementations, develops and helps evaluate activities and impact.
Julia received her B.A in Studio Art and Youth Development from Hampshire College. Through her studies there, she was able to do research on female puberty rites in Ghana, where the Art of Growing Up curriculum was conceived. After partnering with ArtWell, Julia has continued to spearhead the growth and expansion of the program, reaching over 500 young people since its pilot in 2005 with 10 girls. While attaining her Masters Degree in Art Education at Tufts University she worked to develop and refine the Art of Growing Up to be integrated in school social studies and health education curricula. She has participated in several public art exhibitions, presented on the Art of Growing Up at the Massachusetts Art Education Association Conference and at the Consortium for Innovative Environments in Learning. Julia is also the recipient of an Art of Change Award from the Leeway Foundation.
Rebecca Rivera, Office Manager
Rebecca@theArtWell.org
Rebecca is the office manager of ArtWell and the Interfaith Center. She has a degree in computer science and extensive working experience with prominent Hispanics in the Philadelphia Latino community, as well as with the Jewish community through her years of employment at the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Philadelphia. Rebecca has two grown children and two grandchildren.