Alexander Casiquez
Marketing Intern
I am a dedicated marketing intern at TBEY Arts Center. I am passionate about using creative strategies to promote the power of performance and the arts. With a strong foundation in social media management, digital marketing, and graphic design, I thrive on creating impactful campaigns that connect diverse audiences and support TBEY’s mission of empowering youth through the arts. As a student pursuing a BBA and MBA in Marketing, I bring academic knowledge and a fresh, innovative approach to my work. I am deeply committed to storytelling and leveraging digital platforms to elevate TBEY’s initiatives and events. My goal is to continue contributing to the center’s success by showcasing the transformative power of art and inspiring community engagement through creative marketing efforts.
Daniel Cha
Visual Art Instructor
Daniel Cha is the Visual Arts Instructor at TBEY Arts Center. He is a portraiture artist. He graduated from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design with a Bachelors in the Fine Arts of Painting. Daniel is currently working at Milwaukee Public Schools to help spread art around greater Milwaukee and bring a positive message through art.
Chancie Cole
Dance Instructor | Lead Choreographer
Chancie Cole’s unique form of talent started while attending Milwaukee High School of the Arts, where she majored in dance and discovered her true passion. Cole studied ballet, modern, African, jazz, and hip-hop and continues to perfect her craft by taking classes. Chancie has been the lead dance instructor and choreographer for TBEY, Inc. for over 10 years, and has helped design dance curriculums for our dance programs. Cole is also the lead coach/choreographer for TBEY’s Dance Team “SuperNova” that performs at several events throughout the year. She is well known for her huge role as the lead choreographer for TBEY’s Annual Summer Dance Production “A Journey through Dance” since its inception in 2009. Chancie is active in the dance community and still performs as a member of two professional dance performance groups. Working with TBEY, Inc. Chancie has experience working with youth during and after-school hours. Chancie is a mentor, instructor, choreographer, entertainer, team player and strong leader.
Myesha Cole
Program Director | Visual Art Instructor
Myesha Cole is responsible for developing and implementing our youth art education programs that support TBEY’s mission and aligns with the creative needs of the community and occasionally develops lesson and instructs the Visual Arts classes. She makes sure that our teaching artists have the resources they require to sustain quality arts programming. As a visual artist in Milwaukee, Myesha is an advocate for youth engagement in the arts. She has helped create TBEY and assisted in shaping it as a fixture for creative outlets in the community. Myesha has a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She has participated in organizing several arts campaigns as a member of the Board of Directors and has steered the Programming Committee as Chair. Her work history includes Office Manager at the Peck School of Arts at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee and voluntarily conducts drawing workshops for Interfaith Senior Center. For over 15 years her volunteer service and work experience involves organizing several events, projects and campaigns.
Desmond Cotton
Dance Instructor / Lead Choreographer
Desmond Cotton graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in December 2015 with a BFA in contemporary dance and performance choreography. He is a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and began his formal training at Milwaukee High School of the Arts. Cotton has a passion for dance as well as providing dance education/training for children. He firmly believes in cultivating dance throughout the Milwaukee community; thus, inspiring and enriching the lives of his students. Desmond has been a dance instructor, choreographer, sharing his passion with Milwaukee youth at TBEY for over 11 years. He has also designed dance curriculums for TBEY dance programs. Cotton is also the choreographer for TBEY’s Dance Team “SuperNova” that performs at several events throughout the year. He helps lead and choreograph TBEY’s Annual Summer Dance Production “A Journey through Dance” since its inception in 2009.
Debrasha Greye
Dance Instructor | Teaching Art Lead
Artist and Arts Administrator, Debrasha Greye has been nurtured through her involvement in various Milwaukee area dance and theatre arts programs including Art In Motion, City Ballet Theatre, Modjeska Youth Theatre, Lincoln Center of the Arts, and Milwaukee High School of the Arts. In her early 20s, Greye was presented with teaching and performance experiences with Mad Hot Ballroom and Tap, the United Performing Arts Fund (UPAF), public and private school residencies, and various local and national performance venues. Dedicated to expanding her artistic repertoire, Greye has studied dance in studios from Latin America to Germany. Her myriad of dance experiences and commitment to the arts led her to further express her creative tenacity through administrative support to arts organizations, nonprofits, and creative entrepreneurs through business administration under Debrasha Greye, LLC. She remains connected to her artistic roots through teaching dance and collaborating with community-based organizations. Always committed to promoting progressive ideologies and artistic development, in 2023 Greye announced The Beautiful Dancer Initiative with the intent to encourage brown-skinned dancers to wear TRUE flesh-toned apparel and shoes while they learn and perform.
Donna Lewis
Music Instructor/ Teaching Artist Lead
Donna Lewis is a Milwaukee local musician, entrepreneur and alumna of TBEY Arts center 13’. She participated in several performing arts programs as a child, however discovered her passion and gift for music in high school, leading Riverside’s Gospel Choir and several Multicultural programs. In college, she taught herself how to play guitar and has always had the natural ability for rhythm. Donna also sings, songwriters and composers music. She is heavily inspired by 70 soul music and often infuses this in her content creations. Artists like Patrice Rushen, Marvin Gaye, Earth Wind & Fire and Michael Jackson have heavily influenced her music abilities. Donna is the daughter of late local Jazz Trumpeter and educator Don Lewis. Donna realized her true calling and purpose to be a musical artist during college, as she often found herself being alone and music oftentimes was her centerpiece connection. In the 2020 pandemic, she spent much time creating and developing her skills as a musician in her dorm. She even collaborated with a producer named Ambrozia, who is based in the Netherlands to produce her debut single “I Won’t Try”, under her stage name Donna Re’nee. She has vivid memories of spiritually connecting to west African drums at 7 years old, which guided her current mission to follow the beat of her heart and pursue music. Alongside Donna’s rich musical history, she is passionate about working with youth, through arts and education. Donna is eager to contribute to TBEY’s mission of inspiring youth to be creative and push them to their fullest potential.
Breanna Taylor
Program & Outreach Manager
Breanna Taylor is a Milwaukee-based interdisciplinary artist and dreamer. She’s passionate about dance, film, content creation, and writing, specializing in film impact work and production. Breanna is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and New York University with a B.A. in Afro-American Studies with an arts emphasis and a Masters in Performance Studies. In 2020, she co-designed Langston League’s HBO ‘Lovecraft Country’ Unofficial Syllabus as well as the 2021 Companion Guide for Nia DaCosta’s ‘Candyman,’ which was in collaboration with Jordan Peele’s MonkeyPaw Productions and NBCUniversal.
She also co-wrote the curriculum for the Emmy Award-Winning Documentary ‘When Claude Got Shot.’ Breanna’s recent work includes co-writing a reparations toolkit and discussion guide for Colorfarm’s documentary, ‘The Big Payback,’ and the discussion guide for Netflix’s ‘African Queens: Njinga.’ To stay true to her love for horror, she wrote the curriculum for ‘The Angry Black Girl and her Monster,’ which was screened during the 2023 Milwaukee Film Festival. Most recently, Breanna served as the associate producer and curriculum coordinator for the short film documentary, ‘Black Strings’ directed by Milwaukee filmmaker Marquise Mays. She has previously served as the film co-facilitator for the Black Lens’ youth program, ‘Souls of Young Folks.’ She is a former participant of the 3rd cohort for Milwaukee Film’s ‘Focus Finder Accelerated Film Program,’ where she began working on her horror short film, In Holding, which is set to be released in the latter half of 2025!
Zakia Wells
Visual Art Instructor
Milwaukee born and raised Zakia Wells is an intuitive artist, art educator, reiki practitioner and spiritual mentor with a focus on spirit and catharsis in her artwork. She has turned her love of art, spirit and enjoying the journey of becoming into her first business “Zakia Wells Art & Spirit”. She includes energy work in her artwork from bookmarks to murals. Her favorite mediums are watercolor, acrylic and collage art. Each piece of art is unique and intuitively created instead of completely planned out. In her work as an art educator, she focuses on inspiring children and adults to be themselves and express themselves in full. As a young human in her mid 20s she understands that she is still growing as an artist,spiritualist and person; she applies this philosophy to all she meets. Everyone is growing and changing; just like art & spirit.