Luther is delighted to introduce our Arts in the Summer, Jr. Arts in the Summer, and Luther Under the Lights faculty for 2009. All of them are highly qualified instructors with many years of experience. Please enjoy reading about them below. They are listed in alphabetical order.

Leslie Basso graduated from the University of Louisville with a B.S. in early and elementary childhood education. She has taught children from preschool through the fifth grade. Currently she is a preschool teacher in Hanover County. When not teaching, Leslie keeps busy with her three children and is an active volunteer for United Way, Junior Achievement, and the JB Speed Art Museum.

Mo Bennett received her BFA in Art Education from VCU, taught art classes at Good Sheperd Episcopal School from 1991 – 1999, and has since been teaching at Richmond Montessori School. Over the last 12 years, her summers have been spent teaching at St. Catherine’s, Luther Memorial School, and Richmond Montessori School. Her set design credits include The Pirates of Penzance, Annie Jr., Midsummer Night’s Dream, Wind in the Willows, Metamorphose, Noises Off, How To Eat Like A Child, Fiddler on the Roof, Annie Get Your Gun, and Godspell Jr.

Paul Deiss is a 1986 graduate of JMU, where he majored in Music Education. Paul is the current Resident Music Director at Swift Creek Mill Theatre, and an Associate Music Director for Theatre IV and Barksdale. He was written over 30 original one-act musicals, as well as The Magic Flute, which enjoyed a successful run at Barksdale Theatre; Song of Mulan, which ran at Theatre IV’s Empire Theatre; and Magicadabra! (book and lyrics by Tom Width) which premiered at Swift Creek Mill Theatre. His adaptations of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and The Elves and the Shoemaker have toured with Theatre IV, and his original pop-opera, Rumpelstiltskin, has been produced at Swift Creek Mill. Paul was the 2004 recipient of the Theresa Pollak Prize for Excellence in Theatre.

Dave Gau has been performing improv comedy with ComedySportz Richmond for over eleven years, and has been seen on stage at several places around Richmond, including Chamberlayne Actors Theatre and the Richmond Funny Bone. He has taught teambuilding and innovation training to many corporate groups and has led countless improve workshops for local schools. Dave received a B.S. degree in Film and Video Production from the Rochester Institute of Technology. He is a proud father, published cartoonist, award-winning animator, and the owner of ShaveFX, a Shockoe Bottom computer animation company.

Michelle Hoffman holds a masters degree in Art Education from Virginia Commonwealth University and a B.S. degree from Radford University. She has over twenty-five years of teaching experience throughout Virginia. She has taught preschoolers through adults in her long career. Mrs. Hoffman is a practicing artist and has exhibited in galleries across Virginia including the Virginia Museum. She is a member of The Virginia Collage Society and The Metropolitan Richmond Artist Association. Currently, Michelle shares the art teaching position at Our Lady of Lourdes School with Amore Wren.

Marla Hood studied drama at West Virginia University and English at the College of William and Mary on the way to earning two B.S. degrees from VCU, one in Mass Communications and the other in Secondary Education. She has worked in advertising, written a magazine column (“The Top Ten” for Richmond Lifestyle), and taught theater classes for students at the early childhood, elementary, secondary, and senior (Elderhostel) levels. Currently a preschool teacher and admissions director at Luther Memorial, Marla looks forward to summer as a time to explore new subjects, travel, and spend lots of time with her grandchildren.

Mad Science® is the world’s leading brand of fun science. Its entertaining and engaging activities spark the imagination of children aged 3-12 with presentations conducted in schools, camps, homes and theme parks. Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, The Mad Science Group has developed over 200 hours of original science content with more than 2,000 unique interactive activities for children, delivered through an extensive network of over 150 franchised offices in 20 countries. The company annually conducts over 150,000 shows in 13,000 public and private schools in North America, reaching over 5,000,000 families.

Cindy McNamara has a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has over twenty years of experience teaching art to students in Kindergarten – twelfth grade. Her students have won numerous awards for pieces they have created under her direction. Currently, she keeps busy as an International Baccalaureate art teacher at Hanover High School.

Janine Russo received her B.F.A and M.F.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University where she taught acting, voice and speech, and public speaking courses as adjunct faculty for the Department of Theatre. She now teaches drama full-time at Orchard House School during the school year and spends her summers directing shows for Luther Memorial School. Janine has performed with Barksdale Theatre, Theatre IV, Dogwood Dell, and a variety of theatre companies in New York City, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Florida. Her most recent Richmond appearances have been at Barksdale Theatre in The Full Monty, and with Paul Deiss at Swift Creek Mill in the musical I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.

Amore Wren received her BA degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in the fields of Painting & Printmaking, Art History and Art Education. She has been a working artist for more than thirty years. Amore is currently working as an art instructor at Our Lady of Lourdes School. She also has a business background including management, sales, and marketing of computer training services, and has published articles in that capacity in local newspapers.