Over the last couple of week, two more creatives have been featured as CoalCreative’s #NEPACreative of the Week: Dr. Sara Moore of Forty Fort and Steve Tippins of Plains.

Last week, Moore was highlighted as CoalCreative’s ninth NEPA Creative. Moore is a professor at Wilkes University. In addition to this role, she wears many more hats. She is currently conducting UX (user experience) design and research that meets accessibility standards, while teaching others about accessibility issues. She has already conducted qualitative research on disadvantaged college students, helped share their stories, and gave them a voice in the research community.

When asked what else she is involved in, Moore said, “I design crazy, fun socks for a local company called Hocsocx and I founded a program called Flourish Wilkes-Barre that encourages disadvantaged people to become confident through creative processes, workshops and events.” To learn more about Sara and her creative work, visit her website at www.saramooredesigns.com.

Next up is creative Steve Tippins who brings creativity to the area through haircuts for women, men and kids. Steve began cutting hair six years ago while he was in the military simply because everyone needed haircuts.

“I became ‘that guy’. It gradually progressed into something bigger than I ever expected,” Tippins said. He was also excited to announce that he recently became an officially licensed barber in Northeast Pennsylvania.

An important aspect of this entire series is that CoalCreative believes creativity is a broad term that cannot be easily confined within the walls of one simple definition. When asked what being creative means to each of them, they expressed the following:

“To me, being creative means that you have a written or visual voice, a power … with a certain responsibility to society, to inspire others to make the world better,” Moore said.

“To me, being creative means using your wits and imagination to ‘create’ something from scratch,” Tippins said.

When asked how it felt to be more than two months into this project, Emily Bellanco, the project lead of this series and intern from Wilkes University said, “It’s amazing to get to meet and work with all of these insanely talented people in our community, and shed light on their impact in our area.”

When being considered as an NEPA Creative, individuals are asked to explain how they bring creativity to the area, how long they have been doing it and why, and finally what being creative means to them. Once chosen, the next step is to bring each creative into CoalCreative’s studio space to be filmed for a 60 second video that is shared every Wednesday across social media platforms. The series plans to highlight creatives throughout the year. There are no limits to who could be considered. Photographers, musicians, barbers, magicians and improv artists are just a handful of the submissions CoalCreative has received so far.

Creative Sara Moore
http://www.theweekender.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_Sara-Moore-Final.jpg.optimal.jpgCreative Sara Moore Courtesy of CoalCreative

Sara Moore designs crazy, colorful socks for Hocsocx.
http://www.theweekender.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_socks-sara-moore.jpg.optimal.jpgSara Moore designs crazy, colorful socks for Hocsocx. Courtesy of CoalCreative

Sara Moore is a professor at Wilkes University and helps students develop their voices in the research community.
http://www.theweekender.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_FirstGenResearchSaraMoore.jpg.optimal.jpgSara Moore is a professor at Wilkes University and helps students develop their voices in the research community. Courtesy of CoalCreative

Sara Moore designs crazy, colorful socks for Hocsocx.
http://www.theweekender.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_HocSocx.jpg.optimal.jpgSara Moore designs crazy, colorful socks for Hocsocx. Courtesy of CoalCreative

Steve Tippins cuts the hair of one of his clients.
http://www.theweekender.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_TippinsHair.jpg.optimal.jpgSteve Tippins cuts the hair of one of his clients. Courtesy of CoalCreative

Steve Tippins is a recently licesensed barber in NEPA. He expresses his creativity through designs he cuts and shaves into people’s hair.
http://www.theweekender.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_TippinsHair2.jpg.optimal.jpgSteve Tippins is a recently licesensed barber in NEPA. He expresses his creativity through designs he cuts and shaves into people’s hair. Courtesy of CoalCreative

Steve Tippins is a recently licesensed barber in NEPA. He expresses his creativity through designs he cuts and shaves into people’s hair.
http://www.theweekender.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_TippinsHair3.jpg.optimal.jpgSteve Tippins is a recently licesensed barber in NEPA. He expresses his creativity through designs he cuts and shaves into people’s hair. Courtesy of CoalCreative

Creative Steve Tippins
http://www.theweekender.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_TippinsHair4.jpg.optimal.jpgCreative Steve Tippins Courtesy of CoalCreative
Steve Tippins and Sara Moore are the latest creatives to see the spotlight

By Holly Pilcavage

For Weekender

To be considered for the series, submit a consideration form at www.coalcreative.com/are-you-a-nepa-creative or send an email to holly@coalcreative.com.