We are a team of artists and educators that believe all students, regardless of socioeconomic status, race, or ability, should have access to creative learning experiences and quality arts education. We support sustainable partnerships with organizations, professional creatives, and educators in the design and facilitation of these experiences in schools and communities across California.
The Team
Executive Director
Keysha Baynes |
Keysha Baynes is from Pittsburgh, PA and has 20+ years in Non-Profit Organization FUND DEVELOPMENT, MANAGEMENT, PROGRAMMING and COMMUNITY LIAISON/COALITION BUILDING experience. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biology with a concentration in International Public Health from Clark Atlanta University. After graduation, she worked for the Atlanta Police Department initially as a community liaison but developed her position to include coalition building and community planning for the City of Atlanta and neighborhood communities. This was her entrance into the non-profit arena, with a focus on youth, that has spanned the United States and three additional countries. Since settling in Los Angeles in 2012, Ms. Baynes has continued her community and non-profit consulting in city and state government, private schools and community centers. In 2014, her affinity to grassroots impact and community engagement connected her with the founder of Art Active, Inc, an art and mindfulness non-profit for underserved youth in Los Angeles County.
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As Program and Partnership Director, she has expanded their service population from 300 families to over 3000 families in the South Los Angeles community and she created a multi-year plan to fund art programs in Los Angeles Unified School District locations. Keysha Baynes is committed to providing art as a tool for the silenced and amplifying the unique perspectives of BIPOC and those impacted by systems of oppression.
Chief Programs Officer
Hector Marquez |
Hector attended UCLA as an undergraduate student, graduating in 2010. He began his career in education during his undergraduate years at UCLA where he worked as a teacher's assistant and a youth mentor. In 2012, he received his teaching credential, and completed an Administrative Service credential program at Fresno Pacific University in 2016. Hector has taught elementary school for the last 8 years in both traditional and dual immersion settings in the Central Valley and North Bay areas. Hector specializes in bilingual and ELD arts integration curriculum design and implementation. He recently launched his own fashion line and is a designer and entrepreneur. Hector is a founding member of Pulse Arts.
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Resident Artistic Directors
Melecio Estrella |
Melecio Estrella has been a Bay Area performing artist, director, and teacher for the past 18 years. He is co-artistic director of Fog Beast, associate artistic director of BANDALOOP, and a member of the Joe Goode Performance Group since 2004. Recent engagements include making dances on the cliffs of Tienmen Mountain in the Hunan province of China, Art and About in Sydney Australia, The Africa Cup in Gabon, The Barents Spektacle in Kirkenes Norway, and the JFK Centennial Celebration at The Kennedy Center. His choreographies have been commissioned by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the San Francisco Opera Center, and numerous universities around the US. As a performer, Melecio has also appeared with the San Francisco Opera, Faye Driscoll, Rachael Lincoln, Scott Wells, Erika Shuch and Damara Ganley among others. Melecio is a graduate of the Moving On Center School of Participatory Arts and Research and a 2016-18 Leadership Fellow with the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP).
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Jamie Ross, AKA J. Ross Parelli |
A mother, an educator, and an award-winning recording artist Jamie Ross, aka J. Ross Parrelli, has a passion for bringing creative teaching and cultural equity to the forefront whether in a classroom or on a stage. Raised in Auburn and graduate of AUSD schools, Ms. Ross received her teaching credential from Long Beach State and is currently working towards her Master’s Degree in Policy and Leadership in Education at Mills College. Ms. Ross founded Beats Lyrics Leaders, an organization that works to empower young people through exposure to cultural arts, music production, and entrepreneurship and works alongside the California Department of Education to build a Teaching Artist Initiative to get artist in the classrooms. She is currently an Artist in Residence with the Office of Arts and Culture in Sacramento working in the Oak Park Community Center, as well as Sacramento City Unified School District and Twin Rivers School District. J Ross is Executive Strategic Planning and Artist Relations for Innervoice Media. J Ross has performed thorough out the globe giving keynote speeches, performing at Assemblies, teaching workshops, and producing Conferences for Youth and Teachers all through out the globe. Ms. Ross is dedicated to cultivating a safe, inclusive, and engaging educational experience for all students.
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Resident Teaching Artists
Wood Rowe Farguheson Jr. AKA Radioactive |
Originating from Lynn, MA, Wood Rowe Farguheson Jr., aka Beatbox Master/Heartcore Emcee Radioactive, is a lyricist, writer, painter, and community organizer. As a City Year Boston Alumni, Wood Rowe has supported the development of after school programs and youth camps across the country. Wood Rowe has worked as a teaching artist in schools throughout the bay area. As a Hip Hop performing artist he has toured extensively throughout North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan as a member of Michael Franti & Spearhead. Wood Rowe has performed for audiences in theaters and festivals upwards of 100,000 people and has appeared on national television programs such as David Letterman, Craig Kilborne and on MTV with the critically acclaimed single/video “Rock The Nation.” Along the years, he’s shared the stage with artists such as Ani DiFranco, Common, Indigo Girls, KRS-One, String Cheese Incident, Roy Ayers, Talib Kweli, O.A.R., Karl Denson, Ben Harper, Keller Williams, Trey Anastasio, Jeru The Damaja, DJ Apollo,Keaton Simons, Trevor Hall, Tyrone Wells, Pat Mcgee, Jonah Sharp and Meshell N’Degeocello. He won a Grammy in 2017 as a guest artist on the Best Children's Album for the year.
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Leon "AC" Willis |
Leon Willis has over 20 years of experience as an aerosol artist. He is a graffiti art instructor that educates people about socio-economic injustices and advocates solutions through HIP HOP culture. He is the owner of screen printing business called SledgeHammer Graffix where he mentors and offers internships to local high school students. He also teaches youth life skills through the process of mass production using the medium of screen printing. Mr. Willis is a martial artist in the Chinese martial art known as Shou Shu, a yoga teacher, and since 2013, he has been teaching ALPHABETEX, a form of body movement he created that combines graffiti art, martial arts, and conscious breathing as a tool for self-expression and conflict resolution. Mr. Willis was trained through the Prison Yoga Project to teach yoga and mindfulness in prisons and jails and he volunteers to teach inmates of Folsom State Prison. He most recently founded and co-directed a Hip Hop influenced kinesthetic learning and therapeutic arts program rooted in social emotional learning and social justice called POPS. He implemented POPS in 2019 at Oak Ridge Elementary School to at-risk K-6th grade students. Mr. Willis also trains trainers to provide community mural experiences. Above all else, Mr. Willis is committed to personal growth and development and educating others about techniques in self-realization, self- regulation, body movement, and art.
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Collaborators
Kati Kouklis |
Kati Kouklis attended college locally at California State University, Sacramento (CSUS) in 2005 and graduated in 2009 with a degree in Child Development with an emphasis in Social Work and minor in Communication Studies. She completed a Master’s in Social Work at CSUS in 2013. During her time as a graduate student she was also the mentoring and outreach coordinator for the Division of Social Work at CSUS. Kati began her career in social work as a county child welfare social worker, which she did for a couple years before coming on with the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) in 2015. At CDSS she implemented a statewide program to review child welfare cases and she earned an Award for Service Excellence in 2016 as a result of this work. She later worked on a technology project as a child welfare subject matter expert and policy analyst for CDSS. Most recently she co-directed a kinesthetic learning and therapeutic arts program. She currently works for the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office as an analyst in the Educational Services and Support Division. Kati coordinates teaching artist programs in Sacramento with Leon AC WIllis.
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Courtney Rohan |
For over 13 years, Courtney Rohan has been teaching English and yoga. During this time, she has enjoyed living up and down the east coast from New Hampshire to South Carolina, and now on the west coast, in California. She provides students with skills to create their best experience, in the classroom, and on and off the mat. While attending high school in Connecticut, where she was born and raised, Courtney attended The Academy of Performing Arts for vocal and writing instruction. She traveled to Russia as a foreign exchange student and to Ireland to read her award winning poetry. She attended Hampton and Rutgers University to receive her Bachelor's degree is English and Arcadia University for her Master's degree in Education with a specialization in reading. Courtney currently teaches English, yoga, and gender studies classes at Windsor High School. She enjoys writing inspirational blogs for Courtney Rohan Yoga and for Pulse Arts.
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Support Staff
Merlynne Godwin, Pulse Arts Secretary
Board of Directors
Keysha Baynes, Executive Director of Pulse Arts, Inc
Lawrence D. Frenzel, ESQ, Arts and Entertainment Attorney, Producer and CEO of Birchwood Pictures
David Hamelburg, CEO of Boomerang Plus
Jack Mitchell, Arts, Media and Entertainment Education Consultant
Allison Frenzel, California Department of Education
Lawrence D. Frenzel, ESQ, Arts and Entertainment Attorney, Producer and CEO of Birchwood Pictures
David Hamelburg, CEO of Boomerang Plus
Jack Mitchell, Arts, Media and Entertainment Education Consultant
Allison Frenzel, California Department of Education