About Us
Mission Statement
Alphabet Arts blends a variety of art forms, including poetry, puppetry, human theater and music, to create innovative, quality live performances for both youth and adult audiences. Through multi-genre performances, educational programs and curriculum, Alphabet Arts educates, challenges and inspires individuals to become engaged thinkers and agents of change in their communities.
Co-Founder’s Biographies
Amber West is a poet, playwright, dramaturge, and teaching artist from California. Her poems have been published in journals such as Yerm Ahm and Opium, and in a chapbook entitled Ordinary Language. She has performed her poetry in a variety of east and west coast venues, and two of her plays, The Princess & The Pea (a verse play adaptation) and Taping Ducks, have been produced by San Francisco theater companies. West was a Regents Scholar at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she earned a BA in Literature/Creative Writing in 1999. After college, she served in Americorps’ Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) program, creating a mentoring program for at-risk middle school children in Richmond, California. Since then, she has taught creative writing to diverse K-12 students through a variety of nonprofit organizations. She recently completed her MFA in Creative Writing at New York University. The Department of Education awarded her a prestigious Jacob K. Javits Fellowship in 2007. Currently, she is a doctoral student in English at the University of Connecticut where her studies focus on poetry, theater, puppetry and creative writing pedagogy, as well as a volunteer adult literacy tutor at the Brooklyn Public Library.
Kirsten Kammermeyer is a puppeteer and arts educator living in Brooklyn. Kirsten is a graduate of San Francisco State University where she received her BA in Theatre Arts with a double minor in Dance and Recreation/Leisure Studies. She works with Basil Twist’s puppetry company, performing in Behind the Lid (2007), Petrushka (2008), and Arias with a Twist (2008). She has also worked with Drama of Works in Warhol (2005). She was a co-founder of 16 Tons Theatre Company, creating and performing in Eternal Struggle of Man Vs. Heavy Object (2004), Ghost Stories (2005), and The Rise and Fall of 16 Tons (2006) at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. Kirsten worked with Liebe Wetzel’s company, Lunatique Fantastique, on several productions including My Dinner With Lunatique, Brace Yourself, and Snake in the Basement, while living in San Francisco, where she also performed for youth across Northern Califorina through Kaiser Permanente’s Educational Theater Program. She is currently a Resident Puppetry Artist with Arts Connection teaching puppetry in the NYC public schools, as well as a Drama teacher with the Creative Arts Studio in Brooklyn.
Sarah Engelman has worked as a producer and production manager in variousindustries for several years. After graduating from San Francisco State University with a Theater degree, she worked with Intersection for the Arts on a production of Howard Korder’s The Lights, with an original score by jazz bassist Marcus Shelbey played live by a 15 piece orchestra. Here, Sarah was introduced to music production by her hero, David Coffman, and was soon hired as the Production Manager under his direction at SFJAZZ, a leading international organization focused on jazz creation, presentation, and education. After several years at SFJAZZ, Sarah moved to New York and became the Company Manager for Dan Zanes and Friends, a Grammy© Award-winning family music folk/rock band. After touring the US and Australia for a few years with DZAF, she became an Associate Producer at Festival Network, a world class music festival production company, where she helped produce the Newport Folk Festival, Newport Jazz Festival, JVC Miami Jazz Festival, JVC New York Jazz Festival, and began work on the International Music Festival in Abu Dhabi. Sarah is currently the Production Coordinator for PROJECT, a fashion tradeshow produced in New York and Las Vegas twice a year featuring the most influential and directional advanced contemporary brands in the marketplace today. As a member of Alphabet Arts, Sarah merges her production skills with her passion for the arts.
