Courses

Creative Writing with Maggie Pahos

The physical world is a writer’s best friend and holds the key to making a piece of writing come alive—the song of rain on a car roof, a whiff of fresh paint, the sweetness of a cinnamon donut, a dog’s silky ear, the blue of a spring sky. In this course, students will practice engaging with the environment around them to evoke powerful writing, combining strong physical detail with emotional resonance. We will practice careful observation of the earth and will learn to move through space with a writer’s eye, collecting pieces of the world to transform into captivating poetry and prose. Students will leave the week with a greater understanding of transferring prose onto a page, and what goes into comprehensive, clear, and impactful writing. Final pieces will be presented and the academy’s showcase at the end of the week.

Maggie Pahos is a writer and teacher living in Portland, Oregon. Her writing has appeared in the Rumpus, Brevity, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and elsewhere.

She has written a memoir about the year she spent traveling with her boyfriend through Ghana, South Africa, and Europe following her mom’s death from breast cancer when she was twenty-two. She is also at work on a collection of short stories focused on grief and belonging, as well as a novel, The Olive Theory, which follows four friends in their early 30s in Portland, Oregon, as they navigate personal tragedy.

Theatre with Dana Strothenke

Throughout this course, students will work in concert with theatre faculty and collegiate theatre students to explore the basic tools of the actor – body, voice, and imagination.  Everyone has the ability to move throughout the course of the day, but the actor has to understand how to use their body to express not only emotions but also the action that drives the story forward.  As the physicality of an actor develops, the voice works in close conjunction with the physical choices to emote the nuisance and subtext of a moment on stage.  The imagination is the glue that holds these elements together – energizing the body and voice with the intangible spark of inspiration.  Over the course of the week, students will work to apply these tools to both scripted and original works developed by the other participants of the Academy.  All of this exploration culminates in a unique, collaborative performance that will be presented at the end of the week. 

Dana Strothenke is a theatre educator, director, and actor with a passion for nurturing young talent.  Originally from Wauwatosa, WI, Dana earned a comprehensive degree in Theatre Arts from UW–Eau Claire.  She has since worked in artistic administration with the Glimmerglass Festival, a renowned opera company in upstate New York, and at Sunset Playhouse, a community theatre in the suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Now based in Minneapolis, MN, Dana serves as the Education Manager for Character Kids, a theatre education program offering classes to over 2,000 elementary students each year.  Beyond her work onstage and in the classroom, Dana has acted in, directed, and produced numerous short films throughout the Midwest.  She finds great joy in watching her students grow their confidence and creativity through theatre!

Dance with Tara Lynn Steele

Move through movements and elevate your spatial awareness throughout this dance inclusive course. The coursework will primarily focus on ballet, jazz, and modern dancing with an in-depth look at each. Along with movement exercises, the course will be structured around taking a more advanced look at all elements of dance, including stage terminology, spacing, blocking, and more. We will move through our physical lessons and coursework to achieve a better understanding of the art of dance, and work towards a comprehensive choreographed piece presented at the showcase at the end of the week. Build your ability to create meaningful motion, and leave with a higher understanding of dancing basics. 

Tara Lynn Steele lives in Harlem and teaches for AbunDANCE Company, which she cofounded with 2 other wonderful women. Check out social media to find out more! She also teaches dance at Bay Ridge Ballet in Brooklyn and runs two businesses: Steele Mobility (where she coaches folks on their joint health and range of motion) & Unleash Your Superpowers (in collaboration with Coach Korra), where they unveil the SUPERPOWERS of the menstrual cycle.

Music with Dr. Chiayu Hsu

The course is intended for students who wish to explore sound and music through both instrumental and vocal projects. Our goal will be to investigate the expressive uses of sound shaped through time as well as discover the expressive possibilities of performance and composition. Students can apply to perform with their preferred orchestral instrument, compose an original piece, or take part in both aspects. By the end of the week, participants should recognize the application of various music elements including harmonies, melodies, and rhythm, be able to compose short yet cohesive compositions with various stylistic techniques, perform compositions with different styles, and have a broader understanding of music. The week will close with pieces composed throughout the course being performed by music students themselves at the final showcase. Prior composition experience is preferred but not necessary. Please note that an ability to read music score is required.

Dr. Chiayu Hsu was born in Banciao, Taiwan, Chiayu is an active composer of contemporary concert music. Her orchestral works have been performed by the London Sinfonietta, the Detroit, the San Francisco, the Spokane, the Toledo Symphony Orchestras, the Nashville Symphony, the American Composers Orchestra, the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra in Taiwan. Currently an associate professor at UW-Eau Claire, Chiayu received her Bachelor of Music from the Curtis Institute of Music, Master’s degree and Artist Diploma from Yale University and Ph.D. at Duke University. She has also studied at the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Chamber Music Conference and Composers’ Forum of the East, the Atlantic Center for the Arts, Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, the Aspen Music Festival, Fontainebleau Schools, and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival.

 Visual Art with Kathryn Rulien-Bareis

All forms of art involve experimentation with design, materials, and process. In this course, students will explore the visual arts through various mediums and materials centering on abstract and impressionistic ideas. Our coursework will include piecing materials together to create a narrative. We will learn about the properties of various materials and discuss how we can express ourselves and our thoughts through pattern, color, texture, shape, form, and collaboration. While most young artists at Midwest Artist Academy will share their talents through performance, young visual artists will create a share a piece of their art with others. We will culminate in collaboration with other students and artists in unique performances that includes visual art, music, writing, theatre, and dance.

Kathryn Rulien-Bareis is an art educator, designer and artist.  She grew up in Altoona, graduated from UWEC with a BA in Art Education and BS in Elementary Education.  She worked on her graduate work at St. Norbert College in DePere, Wisconsin where for ten summers she taught and was a site coordinator for the Young Artist Workshops.  Her thirty-eight years of teaching included teaching within six different school districts, ages three years to adults.  The majority of her teaching was at DeLong Middle School in Eau Claire until her retirement last fall.  Her passion working with students who have special needs pushed her to invent tools that could allow for more independence.  She holds 5 US patents for her art tool inventions.  During her learning through this process, she taught entrepreneurship to her students and started Prime Products a student run business.  In the twenty years students worked with Prime Products they gave back over twenty thousand dollars to community charities.

Executive Director, Professor Arthur Grothe

Professor Arthur Grothe received his M.F.A. in Acting from the University of Florida and has both a B.A. in Communications and Theatre Arts as well as a B.A. in English from Heidelberg University. He has also had additional training from the Stanislavsky Summer Institute, The Lessac Summer Institute, and in Meisner Technique. At UWEC, Arthur has directed The Three Sisters, Roustabout: The Great Circus Train Wreck, Shipwrecked! An Entertainment, Urinetown: The Musical, The Tempest, Waiting for Godot, She Kills Monsters, and A Doll’s House. He has also been seen around Wisconsin as “The Beagle” in Mike Perry’s Population 485: On Stage. Prior to joining The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Music and Theatre Department, he worked as Director of Theatre and Fine Arts Department Chair at the University of West Alabama. During his time in Alabama he directed All in the Timing, Almost Maine, Intimate Apparel, Godspell, Twelfth Night, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Eurydice, Spooky Dog and the Teenage Gang Mysteries, and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Social Media/Outreach, B.J. Hollars

Professor B.J. Hollars is the author of several books, most recently Wisconsin for Kennedy, Year of Plenty, and Go West Young Man: A Father and Son Rediscover America on the Oregon Trail.

Hollars is the recipient of the Truman Capote Prize for Alabama’s Distinguished Writer of Literary Nonfiction, the Anne B. and James B. McMillan Prize, the Council of Wisconsin Writers’ Blei-Derleth Award, and the Society of Midland Authors Award.  He is the founder and executive director of the Chippewa Valley Writers Guild, a columnist for the Leader-Telegram, and a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. 

Community & Inclusion Coordinator, Sarah Jayne Johnson

Project Manager, Mark Lundin