Lora Garcia-Carreras is a Georgia native who, along with her husband of twenty-three years and their four children, moved to Greensboro for its small-town, community feel.  Lora was inspired by the arts from a young age, clogging with her brother as a preschooler, and singing and dancing with her mom. These abilities were honed in Rockdale County's Class Act Show Choir, numerous theatrical performances, and the color guard at Rockdale County High School.  After college, she went on to work with differently-abled, as well as typically-abled students, where she came to appreciate more fully what each individual had to contribute to those around them.

At 19, Lora, launched her first dance program in Conyers, supported by Conyers' first clogging teacher, Carol Brown.  Lora specializes in Appalachian-style Clogging, America's national folk-dance. As the program grew, she developed a focus on Clogging For a Cause - using the talents of the group to raise funds for hurricane and tsunami victims, filling food pantries, and buoying the spirits of those in nursing homes and care facilities. Over the years Lora has choreographed shows for Woodward Academy, Heritage High School, Class Act and Eastminster School; taught music at the Montessori School of Covington; directed original theater productions and assisted Mary Lynn Luke at Eastminster School. She now is the award-winning director of Lake Oconee Academy's theatre department.

Lora had the opportunity to represent the United States overseas several times in Folk Dance Festivals through her participation with Special Edition Cloggers.  Lora's own clogging troupe, Sole Momentum (formerly known as Toe Jam Time) has represented the US at The RIFE International Children's Folk Festival in France. In addition every summer, Sole Momentum entertains at Kirk Cameron's Camp Firefly, a retreat for critically-ill children and their families in Callaway Gardens.

Her love of service and the arts has led Lora to embark on a vision of serving the Putnam, Greene, and surrounding counties  through programs offered at The Arts Barn.

Sarah has been involved with The Arts Barn since it came to be in 2016.  Like the Garcias, she made the permanent move to Greensboro from Conyers when the school they were all a part of closed in 2015.  Reflecting on the studio’s history, Sarah says, “The Arts Barn is so much more than a studio offering some performing arts classes. It is a place actively committed to growing and supporting every aspect of an individual’s development, and to that end, making positive contributions to our community.  The Barn is family!”  When not tending to Arts Barn business, Sarah can likely be found enjoying the company of her grandkids (and their parents!).

Bio coming soon!

Seth Wicker is an Eatonton, GA native and currently serves as the theatre teacher at Putnam County Middle School. He’s been in local productions including Godspell (Judas) and Seussical (Horton). He also enjoys performing at the local Coffee House events, and helping the middle schoolers with their Coco House event. When not in the theatre or at school, you can find him enjoying a good football game, spending time with his cats, or taking a nice long nap. 

Anenaca Simpson is a local multi-instrumentalist, singer, actress, and director who enjoys branching out into different areas of the arts. She enjoys playing twice a week for Harbor at Harmony Crossing Assisted Living Facility. In her free time, she loves taking on the challenge of learning new instruments. Anenaca loves being involved in the local arts scene and is looking forward to seeing it continue to grow!

Jessica thrives in the creative world; it's her happy place. She started dancing at the age of 4 and has done many forms of dance throughout the years. As she got older, her primary focus became clogging, and she started competing in competitions. In high school, she became a junior instructor, which led to teaching her own classes. Jessica graduated high school and attended the Aveda Institute of Atlanta. She gained her master's cosmetology license and began her career. Jessica also attended the Aveda Advanced Academy in NYC, which opened the door for her to start working in New York Fashion Weeks. On top of building her clientele, Jessica became an instructor within her salon and began teaching new stylists. In 2015, Jessica got married, and in 2018, she started her family. Today, Jessica has put her salon career on hold to be home with her daughter. She is still teaching dance and finds herself helping out The Arts Barn's theatre program by doing hair and working with wigs... still feeding her creative outlet. 

Magen Allen is a Georgia native who began dancing with Sole Momentum (formerly Toe Jam Time) when she was four years old. She began competing and placing at state competitions with the competitive clogging group and individually by the age of eight years old. She uses her 23 years of dance experience and her love of dance to teach beginner clogging classes and to choreograph new dances for the studio. She loves building relationships with her students and seeing them grow not only as dancers, but also into amazing young ladies and gentlemen. In her spare time, she lives to spend time with her husband, family and fur babies. She also enjoys community activities and Georgia football. Go dawgs! 

Elisa Garcia-Carreras is a freshman at the University of Georgia. She has been clogging with Sole Momentum at The Arts Barn since she was two. She has been playing instruments since she was six and enjoys learning new ones. She has been able to put these talents to use by teaching the beginner clogging class and heading up ukulele and guitar lessons with The Arts Barn. When she's not dancing and singing, Elisa enjoys writing music and participating in school shows. She won "Best Actress" at the 2022 State One Act Competition in her school's production of Mockingbird. Other shows she's been in include: Quilters, Once Upon a Mattress, Life Changers, Silent Sky, Godspell, and You're a Good Man Charlie Brown. She is majoring in music therapy and minoring in Spanish at UGA.

Helen Garcia-Carreras is a junior at Georgia College and State University pursuing a BA in Theatre and a minor in Dance. Helen is an avid dancer, singer, instrumentalist, and actress. She has filled many roles in theatrical productions including sound designer, musician, director, choreographer, prop mistress, asst. set builder, set painter, and of course, actress. Local theatrical appearances include Puffs, Seussical, Godspell, Big Fish, and Quilters {1A Public Best Actress} {1A Public State Champions}. Choreography credits include Beauty and the Beast Jr., Shrek the Musical Jr, Rats! The Story of the Pied Piper, and Stone Soup. Directing credits include Behind the Desk, and scenes from Camp Broadway productions past.

As a director, Kara's mission is to expand people’s hearts and minds through education, laughter, and drama. She hopes to engage with the local community through the arts and inclusion. Cara received her BFA in Musical Theatre with a minor in Cinematic Arts from Young Harris College and an MFA in Theatre Directing from University of Essex: East 15 School of Drama.