Divertimenti Leaders - Spring 2007

Divertimenti Leaders

Marybeth Anderson (Artist’s & Travel Journals) is a retired art teacher with a passion for Way-Too-Many-Things, consequently she has been cleaning her basement for the last 35 years. Her current loves entail some form of travel, thrift store exploring, silver jewelry making and knitting. She is absolutely her happiest when she is learning or “making things.”

Donna Belber (Knit Wits & Beading Buddies) is a retired middle school teacher and financial assistant.
She loves having more time for her friends and dog, golfing, supporting the
Dumb Friends League, and enjoying classes with the Academy. She loves to travel, especially to Italy, but never during ski season.

Diane Carrick (Yes, You Can Draw!) taught junior high school art classes for eight years in Ohio. She has published poetry in Windows to the Soul, and her art work and articles about art have appeared in 5280 and elsewhere. She enjoys taking Academy classes and teaching art to small groups in her home. She’s currently in the process of writing her life story as she charges on to another adventure.

During the last five years, Priscilla Dunbar (Yes, You Can Draw!)
has been learning the joy of art in the studio of Diane Carrick. She began with watercolor, moved to pastels, and is now branching out to oil. During her free time, Priscilla enjoys Tai Chi, needlework, meditation, and taking Academy classes.

Ellen L. Hughes (The Art of Self-Hypnosis) took a class on self-hypnosis over twenty years ago. The more she practiced, the more she noticed how powerful it was in changing her behavior. She then started teaching it. To learn more about how the brain worked, she studied to become a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist. She currently has a practice in Denver and continues to teach others the power of their own minds and how to harness the mind through self-hypnosis. Ellen is a professional lecturer and published author.

Joseph Kandel (In Praise of Idle Time) has an Ed.D. in education and has taught more than two hundred classes in aging, interpersonal relationships, stress/time management, and death and dying at Denver-area colleges. He believes that “successful aging means more than just hanging in there: there’s also involvement in life, challenging yourself, and taking care of your needs.”

Rose Kauffman (Yoga: Get Healthy Now) has been a yoga practitioner for more than twelve years. She is a registered yoga teacher with the Yoga Alliance and has been teaching for four years in various nonprofit organizations in Denver. She teaches beginning and intermediate students and works with specific therapeutic applications of yoga. She has studied and practiced various styles of yoga including Iyengar, Anusara, and Kripalu.

Bridge nut and art groupie Sally Kneser (Intermediate Bridge Comparison) is always ready to learn something new and help teach others. “I love to learn, and it’s so much more fun with friends around.” Sally is a Life Master in bridge and enjoys explaining the basics to others.

Before founding The Lab, Adam Lerner (Belmar Lab Field Trip) was the Master Teacher for modern and contemporary art at the Denver Art Museum. Prior to coming to Colorado in 2001, he was the curator of the Contemporary Museum, Baltimore. He received his doctorate from the Johns Hopkins University and his masters from Cambridge University and he was a Fellow at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (1997-8). Since the early 1990s, Lerner’s scholarship has focused on the relationship between art and the public. Lerner co-edited the book Reimagining the Nation including his own essay on nineteenth century sculpture and French nationalism. He wrote his dissertation on early twentieth century American monuments, emphasizing the career of Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of Mount Rushmore.

Ralph Plimpton (The World is Flat Discussion) was a manager and Vice President of Human Resources with Arco and Amoco until the early 80’s. Until retirement in 2003 he founded and operated an outplacement consulting firm serving corporate clients in 17 states in the Mountain States and the West. During that period he and his associates worked with thousands of individuals in developing their best skills and capabilities in the process of finding new opportunities or careers.

Jeanenne Stepelton (Knit Wits) is a retired elementary teacher who is really enjoying retirement. Knitting is a relatively new endeavor, but she's attacking it with gusto. In addition to the Academy's knitting group, Jeanenne has been taking classes on knitting sweaters and ponchos. Her sweaters and scarves keep her warm on the ski slopes.

Linda Van Dyke (Hearing Loss: Fixes, Cures, & Miracles) is a nationally certified audiologist with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Speech and Hearing from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Her Master of Arts Degree in Audiology was earned at the University of Northern Colorado in 1977. Linda has over twenty years of experience in educational, medical, and private practice settings. Arapahoe Hearing Associates, her private practice, focuses on the needs of hearing impaired adults and children. Linda’s newsletter, Hear Ye, Hear Ye, is available at no charge upon request.