Priscilla Kane Hellweg, 100% Massachusetts Board Member

Priscilla Kane Hellweg is the CEO & Principal Teaching Artist of the Arts Integration Studio, a consulting firm that utilizes creativity and arts integration methods to address critical needs in education and community health. Prior to forming AIS in 2022, Priscilla was the Executive/Artistic Director of Enchanted Circle Theater, a non-profit, multi-service arts organization in Holyoke, Massachusetts, which she led for forty years, integrating arts and education to engage, enhance, and inspire learning.

Priscilla received the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network and an Excellence in Leadership Award in 2018 for her work serving students and teachers in PreK-12, youth in foster care, families in homeless shelters, and youth in residential treatment programs.  She received a Commonwealth Award, Massachusetts’ highest honors in Arts and Humanities, and a Millennium Award from the National Guild of Community Arts Educators for her commitment to making quality arts education accessible to all. 

Priscilla designed the Institute for Arts Integration, an innovative teaching hub for Arts and Education in Western Massachusetts in collaboration with the Professional and Graduate Education Program at Mount Holyoke College.  She has created district-wide arts integration initiatives to support academic achievement for Holyoke, Springfield, Amherst, Northampton, and Westfield Public Schools, and has collaborated on the development of Teacher Training Institutes with numerous partners, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, and Teaching American History grants. She’s taught Artist-in-Residence programs and Professional Development workshops for many district-wide school systems in Massachusetts and Connecticut, as well as the Wang Center in Boston, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., the History Institute at the University of Massachusetts, for the MA Department of Youth Services and the Collaborative for Educational Services in Northampton, MA.  She’s been adjunct faculty at the University of Hartford, Hampshire College, and Westfield State University.

Priscilla serves on the Massachusetts Arts Education Advisory Council, is an advisor for Rachel’s Table hunger awareness programs, and a founding board member for 100% Massachusetts, dedicated to ensuring that all families living in Massachusetts can access the 10 vital services they need to thrive. Her book, ACTIVELY ENGAGED: Using Theater Games as a Dynamic Teaching Tool to Activate Your Students’ Learning was published in 2022.