Leana, the artist-teacher. Sculptor, ceramicist, mother, daughter, teacher, creative. Starting early in life, Leana has loved delving into creative work with whatever media she could get her hands on. Born and raised in rural northern Missouri, her love for all things art was encouraged by her own creative family. Fostering her love of art, Leana the teacher earned her Bachelor of Science in Art Education degree in 2009 from Missouri State University. As she learned her art, she also held a love for helping others. For the past 12 years, Leana has been sharing her love of art as a middle school art educator in the Lebanon, Missouri school district. In 2012, Leana was awarded teacher of the year for her dedication to the arts and her students. Leana’s teaching philosophy is one of authenticity and independence. Leana encourages her students to create from themselves utilizing a choice-based pedagogy rather than from a cookie-cutter, one size fits all approach. For Leana the artist, art is a way to visually and emotionally process and connect to the struggles and challenges in her life stemming from past trauma and several rare medical conditions. Through her art, she wants to bring awareness to some of these struggles to educate, process, and heal. Using her artwork and creative perspectives, Leana loves teaching others and continues to pursue and evolve her own art in response to life. Leana’s vision for the future is to continually pursue art as a lifelong endeavor; always learning, always growing.