MUSEUM SCHOOL FOR THE VISUAL ARTS
Staff Bios

Robert Mackay, Principal and Director of Alternative Education
Project MORE High School

Mr. Mackay has been the Director of Alternative Education in the Tucson Unified School District for the last 15 years, providing leadership for 13 different Tucson Alternative Schools.  He holds a BA in English Literature and an MA in Counseling Psychology.  He has served as a Counselor for Alternative Schools in Buffalo, New York as well as Tucson, and is a founding member and current principal for the Museum School for the Visual Arts. Mr. Mackay has spent his entire professional career creating and running innovative schools that provide options for those students whose special gifts have yet to be revealed.

Stephanie J. Coakley, Director of Education
Tucson Museum of Art

Ms. Coakley is the Director of Education at the Tucson Museum of Art, a position she has held since June 2004. Prior to moving to Tucson, she worked for five years at the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, South Carolina, as the Tour Coordinator/Education Assistant and the Public Programs Manager. She also worked as a student intern with the Curator of Education at the Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington, Connecticut. Ms. Coakley graduated from the University Of Connecticut in 1999 earning a Bachelor of Art in Art History and English.

Jane Meyers Lead Academic Instructor
Museum School for the Visual Arts

Ms. Meyers is in her ninth year as lead academic teacher at the Museum School. She has been employed by the Tucson Unified School District alternative education program for more than ten years where her experiences include teaching AIMS prep and Literacy at PASS Alternative High School; supervising tutors in a middle and high school literacy tutoring program, Literacy Exchange; and working as a central office curriculum specialist. She has also served on the Rainbow Foundation Board for nine years.

Ms. Meyer's graduated from Northern Illinois University with a Bachelor of Science in Education and a Masters of Science in Education. She holds a Reading Specialist Certification from University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse, and a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from University of Wisconsin, Madison. She has taught at every level of education from elementary through university.

Katie Samson, Manager of Youth and Family Programs
Tucson Museum of Art

Ms. Samson leads courses in Art History and administers Transcendental Meditation at the Museum School as well as serving as the Manager of Youth and Family Programs at the Museum. She began her museum career at the Philadelphia Museum of Art where she lectured for the Adult Education department and managed Accessible programs for special needs and visually impaired groups. From there, she went on to work at the Rosenbach Museum & Library as a Special Exhibition Curator and Event Coordinator. After moving to Tucson in 2004 to attend the graduate program in Art History at the University of Arizona, Ms. Samson worked as an Education and Research Assistant at the Center for Creative Photography, and taught art history at Pima Community College. Ms. Samson holds a Bachelor of Art in Art History and Anthropology from Middlebury College in Vermont and a Masters degree from the University of Arizona.

Alli Currey, Art Instructor and Instructional Specialist
Museum School for the Visual Arts

Ms. Currey teaches multiple subjects, including art, at the Museum School. She is primarily a 3D artist with a strong interest in ceramics. She's created many of her own glazes and is proficient in the firing process. In addition to ceramics, Ms. Currey has also studied and is interested in welding, painting, printmaking, and most recently glass working. She received her Bachelor's degree in art education from the University of Montana, Missoula where she also worked at a leadership camp teaching at-risk and homeless youth.