Welcome
Meet S.P.O.T.
Arts Education is...
...more than craftsmanship, homage, and ability. Arts education is the development of the mind, the individual, and creativity. We have seen a steady decline in funding for arts education in the United States, causing many artists to yearn for an accessible outlet to grow themselves and their craft.
SPOT believes in integral accessibility. The idea that everyone deserves the opportunity to find their spot. SPOT believes all communities, all walks of life, all human lives are deserving of inclusive arts education. We want to raise the voices of the silenced. We focus intensely on developing individual artists with coaching methods exploring confidence, creative endurance, and outward thinking. We are a safe space for young artists to ask questions, perform a piece, and start writing, singing, dancing, and exploring their interests in any realm they find fit.
We believe in stripping out the toxicities commonly found in the performing arts, and giving students a toolset to help navigate the potential toxic environments that they could encounter. SPOT is a curated team of coaches ready to make a difference.
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~ Buddha
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Thus, we are here to make the change.
"Happiness comes when your work and words are of benefit to yourself and others."
Meet the Team
Lina Schoenwiesner
Head of Outreach
Your success in the arts world shouldn’t have to depend on your resources. If you bring in your hard work we will help you shine.
Gabrielle Filloux
Head of Marketing
It is the responsibility of educational institutions to make themselves fully accessible to all in pursuit of study.
Mary Holter
Head ofHuman Resources
Doors might seem locked against you but with the right tools you can gather the strength to kick them down
Shannon Keegan
Head of Scholarship/Grants
Arts Education has been a privilege and should be a right. S.P.O.T works to bring mentors of all genders, sexual orientations, and races to young artists across the United States.
Chantelle Vant Erve
“Teaching is the art of assisting discovery”, (Mark Van Doren) in which we must also “listen and celebrate what is both common and different”. (Pat Wadors)
Meet the Non Profit Board
Wolfe Lanier
Head of Outreach
“Art is the most intense mode of individualism the world has ever known” ~ Oscar Wilde
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​“ I believe in the power of developing artistic individuality. At S.P.O.T. we aspire to shine light on the power of unlocking creativity and expression. Art is a human right.”
Tyler Grigsby
Head of Marketing
“ Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? ” - Marianne Williamson :)
Head ofHuman Resources
"As a business coach and owner of Zahiya Online, an online dance studio, I actively stand for the accessibility of the creative arts. I strongly believe in the work of S.P.O.T. and am aligned with its' values and commitment that art is universal and should therefore be accessible to everybody."
Melvin H.C. Howell
Head of Scholarship/Grants
"The S.P.O.T mission is important to me because it provides quality arts education and opportunities to individuals, kids, students like I once was that do not otherwise have access or
resources too!"
Jesús E. López-Vargas
Head of Scholarship/Grants
"It might be difficult for some of us to accept just how preferential the systems in which we live are, for we have never been negatively affected by them - the systems placed to hold back so many talented individuals from reaching their true potential. The moment a young artist needs to quit their passion and halt the strengthening of their gifts due to the limitations of their contexts, is the moment we have all failed as a community. The arts should be accessible to all, regardless of circumstance."
Meet our Founder
Wolfe Lanier
Growing up, arts education was never something I had to worry about; it simply was. My parents enrolled me in an expensive after school program in the third grade and I began pay-to-play theatre programs by the age of eight. At my young age, I couldn’t see how fortunate I was to have the means for these opportunities. Being raised in Asheville, North Carolina, a town full of eccentric artists, I was always surrounded by creative energy and I assumed that was the way of the artistic world.
In high school, things shifted. Attending a public school that cared more about funding their sports programs than the arts, the theatre department scraped together what they could on a shoe-string budget. Meanwhile, my parents were able to continue to send me to an after school training program that led me to my college degree from The Hartt School. By no means the most expensive college training program in the country for young actors, the price tag of my education at Hartt still had me (a privileged middle class white male) asking for more scholarships, aid from family, and access to work-study opportunities just to afford my education.
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Once I left college and entered the industry, I knew it would be important for me to take classes to maintain my skills and continue to grow as an artist. This search led me to the heartbreaking conclusion that skill building classes for theatre artists are vastly expensive. These are aimed at artists who might be working two or three jobs just to pay rent, artists who don’t have monetary support from their parents, artists who can’t afford the job flexibility necessary to take time off for classes or auditions, and artists unable to afford the cost of expensive college audition coaches or the price of a BFA in the first place. These are talented individuals being left out of the conversation and the market, and I want to do something about it.
Enter S.P.O.T.
I want to create a place that reflects the values I hold, that art is universal and should therefore be accessible to everybody. I am passionate about sharing what I’ve learned—and the knowledge of our rock star team of mentors—with the artists of tomorrow at a price that won’t break the bank, in a format you can take with you wherever you go.
Here at S.P.O.T. we want to help you harness four things: Strength, Performance, Opportunity, and Transcendence. We aim to do this through authentic connections between student and teacher. We are here not just to be coaches, but peer mentors sharing what we know and offering personalized approaches to bringing your most authentic self to your chosen industry. And this is the SPOT to do it.
Let’s get growing.
Much Love,
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Wolfe Lanier
Founder/ Owner
S.P.O.T. Mentorship