Timothy Bellavia (born 1971) is an American children's author, fabric artist and educator. Bellavia is best known for his education research through his We Are All the Same Inside children's book series and accompanying Sage doll.

Career

Once an aspiring fashion designer, Timothy Bellavia turned his attention to arts education / pedagogy through dolls and has collaborated with several non-profit organisations including Sesame Workshop, Mattie J.T. Stepanek Foundation, and the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz. He was a recipient of

Education Update ''Education Update'' is an American non-profit monthly newspaper, published in New York City. It focuses on issues related to education and has a circulation of approximately 100,000. The publisher, retired education professor Pola Rosen, bega ...

’s Outstanding Educator of the Year Award, won several arts and digital education awards and served as an integral part of the five-year research project to highlight the importance of integrating

STEAM Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

(Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) topics into elementary school's curriculum. The five-year research project, entitled Young Academic Music (YAM) was funded through an Education Innovation Research (EIR) grant from the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE). Timothy is an assistant professor of the graduate school of education at Touro University in New York Cit

Awards and nominations

, - , 1997 ,

Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture is an artists residency located in Madison, Maine, just outside of Skowhegan. Every year, the program accepts online applications from emerging artists from November through January, and selects 65 t ...

Artist Residency , Fellowship Grant Award , , - , 2001 , We Are All the Same Inside ,

Christopher Award The Christopher Award (established 1949) is presented to the producers, directors, and writers of books, films and television specials that "affirm the highest values of the human spirit". It is given by The Christophers, a Christian organization ...

, , - , 2003 ,

Young Adult Institute YAI, previously known as Young Adult Institute, is an organization serving people with Intellectual and developmental disability (IDD), Intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in the United States. YAI launched as a pilot program at a s ...

, YAI Educator of the Year Award , , - , 2009 , Pieces of Ice ,

Lambda Literary Foundation The Lambda Literary Foundation (also known as Lambda Literary) is an American LGBTQ literary organization whose mission is to nurture and advocate for LGBTQ writers, elevating the impact of their words to create community, preserve their legaci ...

Award , , - , 2016 , Outstanding Educator of the Year ,

Award , , - , 2017 , 38th Annual

Flushing Town Hall Flushing Town Hall is a historic Town Hall located on Northern Boulevard at Linden Place in the Flushing section of the New York City borough of Queens. Formerly, it served as the seat of government of the village of Flushing, established as Vlis ...

Smithsonian Affiliate Smithsonian Affiliations is a division of the Smithsonian Institution that establishes long-term partnerships with non-Smithsonian museums and educational and cultural organizations in order to share collections, exhibitions and educational stra ...

Gala , Honouree: Abundant Heart Award , , - , 2021 ,

New York Foundation for the Arts The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is an independent 501(c)(3) charity, funded through government, foundation, corporate, and individual support, established in 1971. It is part of a network of national not-for-profit arts organizations ...

, City Artist Corps Grant Award , , - , 2021 , Non-Broadcast Short Form Web Video for "Treble Leads the Class" , Viddy Award , , - , 2021 , Creative Art Direction for "Treble Leads the Class" , MarCOM Gold Award , , - , 2022 , Outstanding Digital Animation Creation (Platinum) for "Treble Leads the Class" , Ava Digital Award , , - , 2022 , Video Creativity / Outstanding

Animation Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

for "Treble Goes A'Go-Go" , Hermes Creative Award , , - , 2022 , Motion Graphics / Design for "Treble Catches the Rhythm Train" , Telly Award , , - , 2022 , Non-Broadcast: 2-D

for "Treble Catches the Rhythm Train" , Telly Award , , - , 2022 , Outstanding Education

Website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google Search, Google, Facebook, Amaz ...

, dotCOMM Award , , - , 2022 , Outstanding Writing for Animation Short for "Treble Catches the Rhythm Train" , Emmy Award , , - , 2022 , Outstanding Animation Education Short for "Treble Catches the Rhythm Train" , Emmy Award , , - , 2022 , Arts Educators' Learning Lab: Celebrating the Creation of Culturally Responsive Practices in Education Spaces , New York City Arts in Education Roundtable Grant , , - , 2022 , Outstanding Education Animation for "Treble Catches the Rhythm Train" , MarCOM Platinum Award , , - , 2022 , Creative Art Direction for "Treble Goes A'Go-Go" , MarCOM Gold Award , , - , 2023 , Outstanding Digital Animation Creation (Platinum) for "Treble Goes A'Go Go" , Ava Digital Award , , - , 2023 , Outstanding Motion Graphics (Platinum) for "Treble Catches the Rhythm Train" , Ava Digital Award , , - , 2023 , Non-Broadcast: Not-for-Profit nimationfor "Treble Goes A'Go-Go" , Telly Award , , - , 2023 , Finalist: Male Entrepreneurial Leader of the Year ducation Champion Award , ACEEU Triple E: People's Choice Award , , -

Selected works

Children's picture books

* '' We Are All the Same Inside'' (2000) * ''Come and Abide'' (2002) * ''Theo and the Sisters of Sage!'' (2003) * ''Sage Goes to Kindergarten'' (2006) * ''Paper, Scissors & Magic - Seven Ways to Get Kids to Love Books'' (2007) * ''The Inside Story – Commemorating the 10th Anniversary of Sage'' and acclaimed doll-making workshop (2009) * ''La historia por dentro'' (2011) * ''Vu de l'interier'' (2011) * '' We Are All the Same Inside

Curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...

– Activities, Stories, Doll Patterns and More!'' (2018) * ''Tales at Luv Micheal: The Big Idea'' (2020) * ''Treble Leads the Class'' - with Susan Courey (2021) * ''Treble Catches the Rhythm Train'' - with Susan Courey (2021) * ''Treble Goes 'A Go-Go'' - with Susan Courey (2022) * ''The Sage Doll Through the Years - An Illustrated History, Paper Dolls and More!'' (2023)

Young Adult

* '' Pieces of Ice'' - with Kristin Walsh (2009) * ''W.T.H. is a Sage Doll?!'' (2023)

Personal life

Bellavia was born May 1, 1971, in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

, and grew up in Waterport, New York. He is the third of four siblings, including singer-songwriter Rand Bellavia of

Ookla the Mok (band) Ookla the Mok is a filk band fronted by Rand Bellavia and Adam English (b.1970). The two met as undergraduates while attending Houghton College in 1988, and the majority of their performances have been at science-fiction conventions or in thei ...

and Staff Sargent

David Bellavia David Gregory Bellavia (born November 10, 1975) is a former United States Army soldier who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Second Battle of Fallujah. Bellavia has also received the Bronze Star Medal, two Army Commendation ...

the recipient

Congressional Medal of Honour The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. T ...

. He graduated from

Roberts Wesleyan University Roberts Wesleyan University is a private Christian university offering liberal arts and professional programs in Rochester, New York. It was the first educational institution established for Free Methodists in North America. Roberts is accred ...

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

, and earned an MFA from

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was ...

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. He then moved to

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

working as a teaching artist, model, and as a

backup dancer A backup dancer also known as background dancer is a performer who dances with or behind the lead performers in a live musical act or in a music video. Their movements (especially where there are many moving together) improve the visual aesthetic ...

for

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album ''She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achi ...

, before landing a job as a curator at the

Lower East Side Tenement Museum The Lower East Side Tenement Museum, located at 97 and 103 Orchard Street in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, is a National Historic Site. The museum's two historical tenement buildings were home to an estimated 15, ...

in New York City. Bellavia was awarded a scholarship fellowship grant to attend

in 1997, completed

Fashion Institute of Technology The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) is a public college in New York City. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) and focuses on art, business, design, mass communication, and technology connected to the fashion industry. It ...

's Creative Enterprise Ownership Program (M.B.A.) in 2000 and is the author of several children's picture books, including ''Treble Leads the Class'', ''Paper Scissors and Magic: 7 Ways to Get your Kids to LOVE Books'' and the award- winning ''We Are All the Same Inside''. Bellavia married production designer and writer Dino DeGuiceis on November 8, 201

T.I.M.M.-E. Company

The T.I.M.M.-E. Company. Inc. (Tolerance in Multi Media Education) was founded in 2000 by Bellavia to promote peace, tolerance and acceptance. The T.I.M.M.-E. Company is the publisher of ''We Are All the Same Inside'' and has developed an early childhood human diversity school curriculum with tolerance-teaching dolls featured in Bellavia's children's picture books. In 2003, Bellavia presented his curriculum at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

on the International day of Tolerance in co-operation with the

Anti-Defamation League The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...

and the

We Are Family Foundation The We Are Family Foundation (WAFF) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2001 by musician Nile Rodgers in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Its mission is creating and supporting programs that inspire and educa ...

. The theme of his address was Educating Our Children For A Safer World. His presentation to the United Nations council was also later broadcast by

Court TV Court TV is an American digital broadcast network and former cable television channel. It was originally launched in 1991 with a focus on crime-themed programs such as true crime documentary series, legal analysis talk shows, and live news cove ...

and

TruTV TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts comedy, docusoaps and reality shows. The channel was originally launched in 1991 as Court TV, a network that focu ...

. The T.I.M.M.-E. Company has conducted workshops in conjunction with the

New York City Department of Education The New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) is the department of the government of New York City that manages the city's public school system. The City School District of the City of New York (or the New York City Public Schools) is t ...

to teach tolerance, peace and acceptance to New York City's school children while integrating the arts into the literacy curriculum. Continuing a partnership that began in 2004 with Sesame Reads Annual Literacy Day, the T.I.M.M.-E. Company participated in celebrating the 105th anniversary of CLC (The Children's Learning Center) on September 21, 2007, in Stamford, Connecticut. The highlight of the event was an appearance by Rosita,

Abby Cadabby Abby Cadabby, mostly referred to as just Abby, is a Muppet character on the PBS/ HBO children's television show ''Sesame Street'', performed by Leslie Carrara-Rudolph. On August 14, 2006, Abby made her debut in the first episode of ''Sesame Stree ...

and some Honkers. Other

Sesame Workshop Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's programs—including its first and best-know ...

speakers included the award-winning animator

Jim Jinkins James Jinkins (born August 8, 1953) is an American animator, cartoonist, and children's author. He is best known as the creator of the animated '' Doug'' television series which was later the basis for a feature film. Jinkins also created ''PB&J O ...

, creator of Global Thingy and

Pinky Dinky Doo ''Pinky Dinky Doo'' is an animated children's television series created by Jim Jinkins. It was produced and co-owned by Jinkins' Cartoon Pizza and Sesame Workshop. The series was made in association with Discovery Kids Latin America, and the Canad ...

''We Are All the Same Inside''

We Are All the Same Inside is a 2000 children's picture book by Timothy Bellavia, which earned a

nomination for Best Children's Picture Book. 2010 marked the tenth anniversary publication of ''We Are All the Same Inside'' and the Sage doll-making workshop. A special 10th anniversary version of the book was released in 2010. The reissued

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

featured paper doll patterns, teacher curriculum, a 10-year chronology, and rare photographs. To commemorate the anniversary, singer, songwriter and former

Motown Records Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmant ...

producer

Sherlie Matthews Sherlie Matthews (born November 10, 1934) is an American singer, songwriter and former Motown Records producer, best known as a backing vocalist for pop, R&B and rock groups from the mid-1960s to the present time. Early life Matthews started ...

co-wrote and co-produced a special children's multi-track

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...

. The

Brooklyn Historical Society The Center for Brooklyn History (CBH, formerly known as the Brooklyn Historical Society) is a museum, library, and educational center founded in 1863 that preserves and encourages the study of Brooklyn's 400-year history. The center's Romanesque R ...

hosted a ''We Are All the Same Inside'' Sage doll-making workshop on October 24, 2010.Sherlie Matthews in Broadway World
/ref>

''Sage Doll''

A patented

doll A doll is a physical model, model typically of a human or humanoid character, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have also been used in traditional religious rituals throughout the world. Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and ...

invented by Timothy Bellavia in 1998 consisting of interchangeable fitted coverings onto which alternative characters have been sewn, painted, silk-screened or otherwise attached. The Sage doll has illustrated internal organs and lacks any of the identifiable external characteristics such as a human would have, including skin, hair or clothing. Alternative coverings, which may be added to the doll, portray different characters with characteristics of sex, race, religion, nationality and personality. The Sage doll is intended for use as an educational tool to demonstrate the interrelationship between the inner anatomy of a human (heart, lungs, internal features) and the outer anatomy (skin, hair and facial features). The Sage doll demonstrates to both children and adults that while outer appearance may vary greatly, the dolls and by analogy, human beings, are substantially the same inside

Young Academic Music Research Group

Young Academic Music and Computational Thinking (YAM) was a five-year research project funded through an Education Innovation Research (EIR) grant from the United States Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE). The project highlights the importance of integrating

(Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) topics into elementary school's curriculum. The curriculum, notably features a series of children's picture books and animated videos: "Treble Leads the Class" (2021), "Treble Catches the Rhythm Train" (2021) and "Treble Goes A 'Go-Go" (2022) all written, conceived and produced by P.I. (Principal Investigator) Susan Courey with Touro University Assistant Professor Timothy Bellavia in partnership with the

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he help ...

Institute of Jazz.

, himself narrates the three whimsical stories of music notes, which come alive to attend school together. The award-winning education series was created by the collaborative efforts of Mika Shino (producer), T.I.M.M.-E. Company (design concepts), Atomic Kid Studios (animators), CJ Emmons the principal singer of ABC's ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

'' (voice overs), and Nick Vayenas (music).

Filmography

Notes

References

:Martinez, Michael. "Sherlie Matthews sings on We Are All The Same Inside, CD Launch Held 10/24." Broadway World :Bellavia, Timothy D. ''The Inside Story – Commemorating the 10th Anniversary of Sage and acclaimed doll-making workshop'' (2009)

External links

Timothy Bellavia website

''Pieces of Ice''

Talent Spotlight Magazine

''T.I.M.M.-E. Co. INC.'' website

Professor Timothy Bellavia Presents Sage Doll Test at Education Conference'' website

''Prof. Timothy Bellavia: Beyond Skin Deep'' website

TEACHING ARTIST: Timothy Bellavia'' website

''US Patented Doll with Interchangeable Parts''

''Timothy Bellavia Honored at Smithsonian Affiliate Gala ''

''Timothy Bellavia Receives Outstanding Educator of the Year at Harvard Club of New York''

''Courage, Humour and a Life Saving Decision''

''YAM''

''The Sage Doll''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellavia, Timothy David American children's writers American educators Living people Roberts Wesleyan University alumni 1971 births Fashion Institute of Technology alumni Pratt Institute alumni Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture alumni