ArtPlay Administrative Staff 
KIMBERLY KIRKLIN
ArtPlay DIRECTOR
Kimberly came to the Alys Stephens Center in 2002 and became Director of Education and Outreach in 2005. An Alabama native, she graduated from Indian Springs School and has a B.M. in Musical Theatre from the University of Miami and a M.A. in Arts Administration from Goucher College in Baltimore, MD. Kimberly, a recent nominee for the Children’s Advocate’s “Friend of Children” Award, makes it her mission to foster creativity in everyone through the programming of ArtPlay. She is an active actress in Birmingham’s theatre community and a mother of two.
HEATH MIXON
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
Heath is an actor, director and songwriter who has worked with children and youth for over twenty years. He now has the opportunity to combine his love for the arts with his passion for education. He served as program coordinator for five summers at Camp Sumatanga, served on various youth and theatre related boards in the Birmingham area, as well as serving for many years as project manager for Shelby County’s Economic Development Authority. He is a graduate of the University of Alabama with a degree in public relations and has completed continuing education courses with an emphasis on teaching theatre.
JENNY HAYES – EDUCATION COORDINATOR
CHAMSIE PHILLIPS – EDUCATION ASSISTANT
ARTPLAY TEACHING ARTISTS
Alicia Johnson
Alicia Johnson is an actress, director, producer and teacher. Alicia has a MFA in Theatre Management and has served as the Director of Marketing and Communications for the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. She has been an Arts Mentor for Alys Stephens Center Educational Programs and an Audience Development Consultant for both the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and the Birmingham Museum of Art. She is currently an advisor to the President of Miles College.
Antonio Mincy
Antonio Mincy is a designer, writer, actor, but most importantly a dancer. He has been dancing for 10 years and for the last 4 as a part of M.A.D. Skillz Dance Company where he is the assistant choreographer to Winston Strickland. Antonio specializes in hip hop (intermediate and advanced). Antonio has been a part of many projects locally as well as nationwide. Dancing is what he loves and knows. “It’s not a hobby, it’s life,” is his motto.
Carlos Pino
Carlos Pino is a Jazz guitarist, composer and educator. A graduate from the University of Alabama (B.A.) and Rutgers University (M.M. in Jazz Studies), Carlos has shared the stage with Ellis Marsalis, Claudio Roditi, Oteil Burbridge, Col. Bruce Hampton and Bill Kruetzmann. He spends much of his time in musical theatre performing regularly with Red Mountain Theatre and Alabama Shakespeare Festival. In addition to performing, Carlos has been teaching guitar lessons privately for over a decade and is adjunct faculty (jazz guitar) at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Carrie McGrann
Carrie McGrann is currently the art instructor for Simmons Middle School in Hoover. She earned her Master of Arts in Art Education from the University of Montevallo and is a National Board Certified Teacher. She enjoys working in many forms of art with children, but will be focusing her classes primarily on painting in acrylics and beginning techniques. She also teaches children’s classes at the Birmingham Museum of Art.
Charles Tortorici
Charles Tortorici is a teaching artist, poet, and songwriter living in Birmingham. He is a former special education teacher. Charles conducts residencies in creative writing (poetry and song), musical rhythms, and performance in the Birmingham metro area through his partnerships with the Alys Stephens Center’s ArtPlay, the Cultural Alliance, and the Shelby County Arts Council. He also has partnered with the Alabama Institute for Education in the Arts to conduct residencies in Dallas, Perry, and Choctaw counties in south central Alabama. Charles has performed his poems and songs at schools and for audiences at City Stages, various events at the Alys Stephens Center, and at festivals in and around the Birmingham area. He has a 2007 children’s CD titled “Thicket Dweller Tales” from a Fellowship grant in Performing Arts/Music awarded by the Alabama State Council on the Arts. He is presently working on another children’s CD of poems and songs celebrating nature, the environment, and creative expression through music and the literary arts.