Southwest Florida Music Education Center students

Southwest Florida Music Education Center celebrates ribbon cutting Nov. 7

On Monday, Nov. 7 at Artis – Naples, Southwest Florida Music Education Center (SWFLMEC) will host a ribbon cutting event to celebrate the grand opening of its newly renovated, state-of-the-art facility. SWFLMEC provides first-of-its-kind post-secondary music certificate classes focusing on core areas of musical skill development for students who learn differently than their typical peers. The grand opening program begins with a presentation at 10:30 a.m. at Artis-Naples Rowe Learning Center, followed by a ribbon cutting and open house at Artis-Naples Toni Stabile Education Building, adjacent to the Artis-Naples campus.

“We are thrilled to celebrate this exciting step in development of this truly unique music education opportunity,” said SWFLMEC Vice President Jennifer Clark. “This is just the beginning of a transformational program that will be life changing for our students and our community.”

The first students in the 2- and 4-year music certificate programs, a collaboration with Berklee Institute for Accessible Arts Education (BIAAE), began taking classes in September at the Artis-Naples space. Together, with music instructors who have been trained by BIAAE experts, SWFLMEC students are building a path toward independence, inclusion, and employment.

To RSVP for the event, please visit SWFLMusic.org/GrandOpening or call 239-205-8258.

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Dr. Teresa Taylor

Dr. Teresa Taylor

Consulting Director of Mental Health

In her role as consulting director of mental health, Dr. Teresa Herrero Taylor will provide behavioral and program support to student musicians and staff. Born and raised in Boca Raton, FL, Taylor has practiced as a licensed psychologist and doctoral-level board certified behavior analyst for over 15 years, conducting evaluations and providing individual, group and/or family intervention and therapy working with both children and adults with anxiety, depression, ADHD, executive functioning weaknesses, autism spectrum disorder, social skills weaknesses, behavioral difficulties at home or school, and/or other life adjustment needs. An experienced, independent, motivational leader, she is passionate about mission-driven work and is excited about empowering neurodivergent young adults to be at the center of change through music and the arts. She has been an adjunct assistant professor in the Graduate Psychology Department at Rider University for the past nine years and has worked in New Jersey public education for more than 20 years, overseeing behavioral, social skills, and mental health assessment, intervention, and programming across multiple school districts as a director of special services.