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’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 water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

(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 Associate Professor of Alternative Programs and University Partnerships within 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 ...

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 organizatio ...

, , - , 2003 , Young Adult Institute , 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 , Education Update Award , , - , 2017 , 38th Annual Flushing Town Hall /

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 filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

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 any web page whose content is identified by a common domain name and is published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, educatio ...

, 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 Bibliography

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 (; : curriculums or curricula ) is the totality of student experiences that occur in an educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view of the student's experi ...

– 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!'' (2025)

Young Adult

* '' Pieces of Ice'' - with Kristin Walsh (2009) * ''W.T.h. is a Sage Doll?!'' (2025) * ''

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...

#Star80+ A Celebration of 80 Gowns, Dolls & Years!'' (2025)

Personal life

Bellavia was born May 1, 1971, in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, 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 the ...

and Staff Sargent David Bellavia the recipient Congressional Medal of Honour. He graduated from

Roberts Wesleyan University Roberts Wesleyan University is a private Christian university in suburban Rochester, New York, United States. Anchored in the liberal arts, it was the first educational institution established for Free Methodists in North America. Roberts is ac ...

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, and earned an MFA from

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. He then moved to

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

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 ( ; born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Known for her distinctive image, featuring a variety of hair colors and eccentric clothing, and for her powerful four-octave vocal range;Jerome, ...

, before landing a job as a curator at the

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

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 under the State University of New York, in New York City. It focuses on art, business, design, mass communication, and technology connected to the fashion industry. It was founded in ...

's Creative Enterprise Ownership Program 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.

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

The T.I.M.M_E. Company, INC. was founded in 2000. The T.I.M.M.-E. Company is the publisher of ''We Are All the Same Inside'' and has developed curriculum with dolls featured in Bellavia's children's picture books. In 2003, Bellavia presented his curriculum at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

on the International day of Tolerance in co-operation with the Anti-Defamation League and the

We Are Family Foundation We Are Family Foundation (WAFF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded by musician Nile Rodgers and his life partner, Nancy Hunt. Based in New York City—and established in the wake of the 9/11 attacks—WAFF recognizes, funds, and mentors ...

. 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 pay-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 cover ...

and

TruTV TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable Television channel, channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts reruns of Television comedy, comedy, Reality television, docusoaps and reality shows, with a rec ...

. 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 (more commonly known as New York City Publ ...

celebrate our common humanity 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 is a Muppet character on the PBS 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 Street''’s 37th season, when she moved ...

and some Honkers. Other

Sesame Workshop Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization and Television station, television company that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's ...

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 television series '' Doug'', which was later the basis for a feature film. Jinkins also created '' PB&J ...

, 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 Ca ...

''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 ima ...

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

Motown Records Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

producer

Sherlie Matthews Sherlie Mae 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. Mirwood Employing her as bot ...

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 co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. It employs the Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) standard and was capable of hol ...

. 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 of Brooklyn, history. Th ...

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 Associate Professor Timothy Bellavia in partnership with the

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer. He started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. Hancock soon joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of ...

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 ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

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

Diana Ross #Star80+ A Celebration of 80 Gowns, Dolls & Years

A digital storytelling celebration honoring the iconic singer

on the eve of her 80th birthday - #Star80+ A Celebration of 80 Gowns, Dolls, and Years was conceived, produced and directed by Timothy Bellavia. The

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

web series was a multi-platform event featuring interviews, fan tributes, and fashion-focused content including the 80 plus We Are All the Same Inside ® Sage dolls created by Bellavia himself of Ms Ross' iconic gowns. Interviewed by

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

based talk show host Davi Davenport on her regional TV program Davi Davenport LIVE

#Star80+ aimed to spotlight Ross' enduring influence on popular culture. The project gained significant traction through

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

, where fans and celebrities alike shared their admiration for the legendary

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

recording artist and actress. Notable participants in the #Star80+ web series included Gossip Columnist

Michael Musto Michael Musto (born December 3, 1955) is an American journalist who has long been a prevalent presence in entertainment-related publications, as well as on websites and television shows. He is best known as a columnist for ''The Village Voice'', ...

Television Producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon acce ...

Patrick L. Riley,

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

-winning song-writer

Frannie Golde Francine Golde, better known as Franne Golde or Frannie Golde, is an American songwriter, musician, singer and writer. She is Songwriter's Hall Of Fame nominee and her songs have appeared on more than 100 million records sold worldwide. Golde h ...

and Writer, Producer and Motown Historian Andrew Skurow.

Discography

* ''We Are All the Same Inside ® 10th Anniversary'' - with

(2010) * ''The Grass is Stone'' - with Dan Giangiobbe (2024) Demo

Recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...

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

Davi Davenport LIVE!

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