Long Island Teacher and Artist Showcase
November 15, 2025 | 11:00 am-1:00pm | FREE to attend
Westbury Arts | 255 Schenk Ave., Westbury, NY
Welcome to the CCC Showcase.
Experience important local artforms and learn what happened when educators included guest artists in their classrooms this fall.
Find out what students learned and enjoy artists’ sharing.
Thank you for attending today!
Meet the Artists
Angie Hernandez – Angie Hernandez is a singer, poet and multi-Emmy Award-winning journalist and producer who currently serves as a national correspondent for Spectrum Noticias. She covers breaking news and sheds light on critical issues, including immigration, education, and climate change. Hernandez holds degrees in the arts, communications, and broadcast journalism, as well as a master’s degree in journalism with a concentration in international reporting from Columbia University. In addition to her journalism work, Angie is the producer and host of “Action with Angie”, and “Let’s Talk with Angie – Hablemos con Angie”, that foster dialogues on culture, social issues and community impact. She is also the founder of Angie Productions LLC, through which she offers journalism workshops to the youth and a range of media-related and personalized services designed to empower people across generations. Her mission is deeply rooted in her own journey as an immigrant from the Dominican Republic. Arriving in the United States at the age of 19, Hernandez learned English, pursued her education, worked multiple jobs, and supported both herself and her family back home. Angie Hernandez is a testament to how education and discipline can open doors and create lasting impact.
Oluwaseyi (Shayee) Awoyomi – Shayee is a multifaceted Nigerian artist, born into a family of visual and performing artists. She started at the tender age of three, dancing, singing, and doing textile and painting alongside her mother, Nike Okundaye. She has always found a way to infuse her artistic background and talent in every area of her life. She grew up in an artist village and can remember vividly following her mother to different textile markets in search of unique Adire cloths. Shayee derives energy from the patterns in the traditional Adire of the Yoruba people, carrying on their unspoken communication language patterns in all of her works.
Juan Uribe – Is a Colombian musician and recording engineer living in New York, he has played with La Cumbiamba Eneye, Rebolu, Edmar Castañeda, and the United Nations Orchestra. After earning his degree in Jazz Performance (Saxophone) from City College of New York, he began working at Sean Sweeney Recording Studio, where he continues to collaborate with Juilliard students and graduates. Alongside his recording work, he teaches music workshops on Long Island, introducing children to the African and Indigenous roots of Cumbia and its traditional instruments.
Zaman – Mohamed A. Amin is a queer Indo-Caribbean, Guyanese Muslim artist commonly known as International Dancer Zaman (he/him/they) and the drag-centric activist Sundari The Indian Goddess (she/her/they). He uses performing arts to promote Caribbean Arts & Guyanese Culture along with the multiple, intersectional identities of LGBTQ Caribbean immigrants in the diaspora.
Chris Hale – Chris Hale is a master craftsman specializing in traditional wooden boats and half models, a maritime art once common on Long Island. Since the 1990s, he has worked at Weeks Boatyard in Patchogue and has experience in several boatyards across Long Island, from Shelter Island to East Quogue.
Denise Silva-Dennis – Denise (WeeTahMoe) is a multidisciplinary artist and educator based at the Shinnecock Nation in Southampton, New York. Denise is currently the workshop coordinator/ beadwork instructor at Ma’s House, a BIPOC art center founded by her son, Jeremy Dennis. Denise also presents her Shinnecock/Hassanamisco culture through her artwork which includes life-size figurative paintings, historical murals, beadwork, regalia, talking sticks, dreamcatchers, and other artifacts.
Tristan Japsi – Tristan is a steelpan musician and member of Steel Sensation, ADLIB Steel Orchestra, and Supernovas Steel Orchestra of Trinidad and Tobago. As the son of Ian Japsi, well-known New York-based drummer and band leader of Steel Sensation – Tristan has always been around the steelpan instrument. Among his many accomplishments, Tristan is the first person to play a steelpan instrument within the confines of a New York school marching band.
Paul Rodriguez – All of the art I make – be it children’s books, theater, or dance – is inspired by ideas that may help someone in some way. The idea is to be proactive, not reactive. I want to help children learn the life skills they need to avoid life’s pitfalls rather than be forced to learn those skills from life’s pitfalls. Accordingly, I believe that the greatest lesson we can teach our children is how to teach themselves. I believe that social-emotional learning makes all other learning possible, and I believe in empowering children with the infinite wonder of their creativity.
Thank you for Attending the Culture, Community, and the Classroom showcase! This program happens because of the support of many important funders and individuals like yourself. Please consider donating to support these programs.
About the project
Three teachers in school districts around the region participated in a summer workshop with nationally recognized faculty from Local Learning: The National Network for Folk Arts in Education. These educators were selected to host artists in their schools. Learn from these local teachers and traditional artists who participated in this national initiative to incorporate diverse cultural arts and knowledge into classrooms in a lively showcase. Learn more about the summer workshop here.
Thank you to these funders who made it possible to offer this as a free professional development opportunity for teachers and artists: The National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, and individual donors to Local Learning.
We are grateful to our local colleagues Violet Baron and Adriana Devers-Rodriguez for their help in planning this professional development series. We also want to acknowledge the support of Ellen McHale and New York Folklore.
Local Learning’s Culture, Community, and the Classroom programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
