Erica Rooney

Erica Rooney is a licensed Creative Arts Therapist and Teaching Artist. For many years she was a scientific illustrator and writing teacher; she currently draws, paints and writes, primarily poetry. As a Teaching Artist, her interest is special ed populations, with focus on children on the autism spectrum. She is currently involved in two ongoing initiatives, one with Marquis Studios and the other with The Manhattan New Music Project, which train teaching artists and classroom teachers in adapting the arts to special ed populations. Her work in the classroom is decidedly multi-modal, since her background includes music, Japanese dance and poetry. She is on the Steering Committee of The Arts in Special Ed Consortium, a group whose mission is to bring together the many people – including parents – who have a stake in bringing arts curriculum to students with special needs. Erica has an MFA in Poetry from Cornell University and an MPS in Creative Arts Therapy from Pratt Institute.