“Whole-brain, heart-centered work in the creative and expressive arts is just as valuable as any other applied learn- ing,” shares Gloria Crist, founder of THE CORE ORGANIZATION and a passionate advocate for inclusive arts programming access for all children. An award-winning actor, singer, producer, and director with decades of professional credits in the- ater, television, and film, Gloria’s creative pursuits extend to the classroom with her arts enrichment nonprofit serving K-12 students throughout Newport County and Southeastern Massachusetts.
“I advocate for arts as an extended edu- cational source and resource for both social emotional learning and mental wellness in children and adolescents,” Gloria continues. “Now in the post-pandemic collective, we are seeing incredible numbers of children with increased anxiety, depression, and a need to connect. Arts as education does this.”
Gloria holds a BA in sociology and com- munications, MA in holistic counseling, CAGS in creative and expressive arts, and
numerous certifications. She blogs about her creative adventures in TraumaDrama- Mama, is the proud mom of her daughter, and continues performing, producing, and directing professionally. She’s in the midst of writing and developing a one-woman show, and April will bring the debut of both a film she helped produce and screenings of two projects written by Tiverton Middle School students through a film program PEER Productions.
The best part of the job for Gloria is seeing the work her students go on to create, the self-awareness they cultivate, and the ques- tions and answers they keep probing through these artistic avenues. “I have students who reach out with news of their first play being produced, their first job in their field, their first or tenth audition, their failures as well as their successes,” says Gloria. “There is noth- ing I love more than seeing children thrive because they were given an opportunity to make theater, pick up a paint brush, bend some clay, integrate STEAM into the school day, or use their voice to be heard and seen.”
156 Highland Road, Tiverton, 401-749-1203, ThinkFeelCreate.org
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