ELKINS, W.Va. – The Davis & Elkins College Student Education Association (SEA) will present Mike Artell, an award-winning author, illustrator, musician and professional speaker, at 11 a.m. Tuesday, March 14,
in the Community Room of Booth Library on the College campus. The event is free and open to the public, and those in the art and education fields are encouraged to attend.
The SEA also will host Artell in two programs for youth at Third Ward Elementary School on Monday, March 13 and Midland Elementary School on Tuesday, March 14. The presentations will include an overview of his books, interactive wordplay and step-by-step cartooning instruction, showing how cartoons can help improve reading, writing and thinking skills.
Over the past 25 years, Artell has shared his techniques for thinking, writing and drawing more creatively with hundreds of thousands of students and teachers. As a platform speaker, he has addressed the annual conferences of groups such as the American Society for Training and Development, American Society of Veterinary Medicine, Pennsylvania School Boards Association, Prevent Child Abuse Texas, Library of Michigan Foundation and many other business, education, health care and association groups. His topics include creativity/innovation, communication, using humor to reduce stress and build community within organizations, and the power of perspective.
Artell began a his career as a freelance writer/illustrator/cartoonist in 1987 and also hosted his own television show on WWL-TV, the CBS affiliate in New Orleans. Each week his show attracted more than 50,000 viewers and was No. 1 in the market in the time slot. He also created cartoons for many national publications including The Washington Post and Entrepreneur Magazine.
Artell’s first children’s books were published in 1990 and since then, he has written and/or illustrated more than 35 books, many of them award winners. Most recently, his book “Petite Rouge – A Cajun Red Riding Hood” was named 2009 Read Aloud Book of the Year by the National Association of Elementary School Principals.
Artell graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University in 1972 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in marketing and spent the next 15 years in sales and marketing primarily with technology-based companies. He has also repossessed cars, and sold color-coded filing systems to doctors (even though he’s color blind), restaurant supplies, and lumber and building materials. He has extensive experience marketing products and services to organizations involved in real-time data acquisition and control, artificial intelligence/expert systems, oil/gas exploration, electrical power generation/distribution, high speed simulation and business applications.
He also has a background in customer service and training applications for several companies, has served on the board of two small technology companies and has provided freelance marketing consulting services to a number of organizations including Texas Instruments.
For additional information, email Dr. Jennifer Tesar at [email protected].
Related to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Davis & Elkins College is located in Elkins, 2 hours east of Charleston, 3 hours south of Pittsburgh and 4 hours west of Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit the College website at www.dewv.edu or call 304-637-1243.
