ABOUT Big Sea Talent

You can’t spell heart without art, and Dare Coulter has worked to create a career that focuses around heart-felt presentations of the human experience, life, joy, and resilience. 

Dare is an award-winning professional sculptor, artist, muralist, and illustrator. Her mission is for her artwork is to create positive imagery of Black people and families. Her most recent notable work includes a 200ft mural (with Kotis Street Art) in Greensboro honoring oft-unmentioned black cowboys and  a commission of a painting of Nina Simone from the National Trust for Historic Preservation that was used to raise funds to restore Nina Simone's childhood home. 

She has illustrated nine children's books, including Kwame Alexander’s  An American Story. While Dare is pursuing her dream of creating monumental sculptures to black joy all over the world, she is having a great time visiting schools and painting murals, and sharing her passion for art with the world.

She was born in Augusta, GA and raised in Lorton, VA. For the second half of her life, she has lived in and around Raleigh, NC, where she is currently based and the bulk of her public artwork has been created. She graduated from North Carolina State University with a Bachelor’s in Art + Design, but considers herself a graduate of Meredith College’s art program, as well.  Learn more about her work at darecoulter.com.

Growing up in the used-to-be tiny town of Manassas, Virginia, Ann Marie Stephens spent a lot of time outside on her roller skates and bike. Claiming the role of detective, she collected clues (a.k.a. random discarded objects) to solve neighborhood mysteries she totally made up. Sometimes, she misbehaved, but being sent to her room wasn’t all bad. When her punishment was over, she usually came out with her latest story, construction-paper characters, and a portable stage curtain. In fifth grade, she decided to become an author after writing about the death of her

dog, which made her teacher tear up. That was proof that words can be powerful. 

Ann Marie is a former award-winning elementary teacher and mentor with over 30 years in the classroom. While teaching, she received several grants for her inventive literacy projects. She’s taught dozens of original writing and education-based workshops and is a seasoned presenter for both children and adults. Now she is a full-time picture book author of the Arithmechicks books, the Catastrophe books, and upcoming titles in both series. Ann Marie’s poetry and literacy work has been featured in Bon Appetit Magazine, Instructor Magazine, and on NPR. She was a contributing author for Kwame Alexander’s The Write Thing, and a co-writer for Scholastic’s Trait Crate Plus for third and fifth grade.

Ann Marie is a graduate of Virginia Tech and a member of Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). When she isn’t putting pen to paper, (yes, she still writes the old-fashioned way), Ann Marie likes to scuba dive, practice yoga and travel the world (with a goal of seeing all seven continents). Learn more about her work at annmariestephensbooks.com.