2022 Faculty & Staff

Please meet some of GSA's 2022 faculty members below!

Theresa Bautista (Dance)

Theresa Bautista has been hailed by the Louisville Courier Journal as a “delight to watch” and by the Louisville Arts Review as “mesmerizing” on stage. A dancer, choreographer, interdisciplinary artist, and educator based in Louisville, KY, she is the FY 2021 recipient of the prestigious Al Smith Fellowship in Choreography and a 2019 Hadley Creative. Theresa is an Instructor in the Dance Program of the University of Kentucky’s Department of Theatre and Dance and faculty at the Louisville Ballet School. She has taught for the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts for 18 years, serving as the Dance Chair for 7 years.

Dan Bernitt (Creative Writing)

Dan Bernitt is a playwright and performer whose solo performances YELLING AT BANANAS IN WHOLE FOODS, PHI ALPHA GAMMA, and MOMENTS OF DISCONNECT have been featured in venues and festivals internationally. His books, DOSE: PLAYS & MONOLOGUES and PHI ALPHA GAMMA, were finalists for the Lambda Literary Award. A 2003 graduate of GSA in creative writing, he currently is a visiting lecturer at Amherst College.

Rich Byrd (Instrumental Music)

Dr. Richard Byrd is Professor of Theory/Composition at EKU. He has a BM in trumpet performance from DePauw University and MM and Ph.D. in music theory from UK. Byrd has performed with Doc Severinsen, Al Vizzutti, Maynard Ferguson, Victor Wooten, Aretha Franklin, Temptations, Manhattan Transfer, and Mannheim Steamroller. He produced his solo CD, Portrait of a Trumpet, and recorded on the DiMartino/Osland Jazz Orchestra albums Quotient and Off the Charts. Eighth Note Publications published over forty of his compositions and his compositions can be viewed at richbyrdmusic.com. He serves as Chair for Instrumental Music and Dean of Faculty for GSA.

James Kenney (Film + Photography)

Western Kentucky University Professor James Kenney has been an educator for over 30 years. He is currently WKU’s photojournalism program coordinator and director of the Mountain Workshops. For the past 25 years he has participated in high school educational programs across the country. He is also a recipient of WKU’s University Teaching Award.

Kenney was worked at newspapers in Nevada, photographed projects overseas, photographed sports for the AP, and spent summers at National Geographic and the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Kenney has won photography awards nationwide, but his greatest reward in life is being blessed with a wonderful wife and six kids who provide him with daily support and inspiration.

Bo List (Drama)

Bo List, Drama Chair, serves as Producing Artistic Director of AthensWest Theatre Company in Lexington, as well as Director of Theatre for Sayre School. His historical dramas based on the lives of important Kentuckians can be seen throughout the region through Kentucky Humanities's Chautauqua series.

Not Pictured:

Brittany Benningfield (Vocal Music)
Will Cravens (Film + Photography)
Matthew Gaddie (Visual Art)
Donna Richards (Musical Theatre)
Mark Richards (Architecture + Design)