Teacher Bios
Robert Adzema Painter and Sculptor. Known internationally for his incorporation of the functional aspect of sundials into his sculpture. His work is in the permanent collections of the City of New York, The New York and New Jersey Port Authority, the Museum of Fine Arts of Indiana University and the Everson Museum in Syracuse, New York. He has been an artist-in-residence both here and abroad.
A. Anupama has published her poetry, translations, and articles in several literary publications including The Bitter Oleander, Monkeybicycle, The Alembic, and Numéro Cinq Magazine. Her manuscript collection placed her as a semifinalist in Tupelo Press's 2011 First or Second Book Poetry Contest. She received her BA from Northwestern University and her MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts, where she studied with poetry mentors Jen Bervin, Jody Gladding, Leslie Ullman, and Ralph Angel. Her poetry blog features her photography, too — www.seranam.com.
Sarah Byrne received a BA in Art History from the University of South Carolina and an MS in Art and Design Education from Pratt Institute. She is currently the Museum Educator at the Newark Museum in Newark, NJ and a student teacher at The Brooklyn Latin School. In 2012 she was a Graduate Assistant for Saturday Art School at Pratt Institute as well as a student teacher there in 2011. Sarah has also been an art nstructor at the Manhattan Plaza Youth Program and the registrar at Winston Wachter Fine Art in NYC. A few of Sarah's experiences include having taught artistic development in 2-D and 3-D art, stop-motion art work; she has organized an open studio exhibition for students to showcase their artwork at Pratt's Saturday Art School and she has administered IB Visual Art classes at The Brooklyn Latin School.
Jeanne Carreau has been working with clay for more than 40 years. She was trained as an apprentice in Japan and received her MA from UC Berkeley in East Asian Studies. Her MA thesis compared the ceramics traditions of Bizen and Hagi. She has published both translations and original articles on Japanese ceramics. She has taught children and adults in California, Hong Kong, and New York, including those with special learning needs, and has shown her work in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and New York. She currently teaches at the Clay Art Center in Port Chester as well as the Pelham Art Center. Her own work is primarily wheel thrown. She enjoys making simple large forms that are both graceful and powerful, glazed to accentuate the movement and serendipity inherent in the firing process.
Jennifer Cherpock Professional Potter. She studied under widely-recognized potters Susan Beecher and Sara Peterson. She is a current artist member of the Clay Art Center in Port Chester, NY and a former children's outreach program educator. Her work has been included in group exhibitions at the M.T. Burton Gallery, the Bruce Museum, the Montclair Art Museum and numerous other fine art exhibitions throughout the Northeast.
John Creagh has worked as a designer and painter for over 20 years. He has studied at the prestigious Arts Students League in New York City and has a MFA from Lehman College of the City University of NY. John has taught at the Pelham Art Center, the Wallkill School and at the Westchester Art Workshop in Peekskill. A native of the Bronx and long-time resident of the Hudson Valley, John's paintings, including his urban works and his plein air pieces, have been influenced by the work of Edward Hopper. He incorporates his lifelong experiences in the visual arts into his classes and shares his unique vision and expertise with his students.
Alexis Darro currently teaches Fine Art to Pomona Middle School of the East Ramapo Central School District. She received a BFA in Sculpture in 1997 from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MSED in Special Education from St. Thomas Aquinas College in 2006. In addition, she interned at Hasbro Toy Group in 1996 as a toy prototype sculptor. Alexis has also been awarded 4 grants during her teaching career through Target Field Trip Grants in both 2007 and 2009, the Innovator Grant from Southern Westchester BOCES in 2004, and the East Ramapo Cultural Competence Grant in 2005. Also, she has been a member of The National Art Education Association, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of art for the past 15 years.
Sally Lipton Derringer was a manuscript finalist for the Poets Prize from Fordham University, a manuscript finalst for the new issues Press Poetry Book Series, a finalist for the Glimmer Train Poetry Open, an honorable mention in the Pablo Neruda Prize, an honorable mention in the poetry competition of the National Writers Union, a runner-up for the Grolier Poetry Prize, and a semi-finalist for the Paumanok Poetry Award. Her publications include Poet-Lore; SLAB; The Los Angeles Review; The St. Martin Press anthology, A More Perfect Union: Poems and Stories about the Modern Wedding: The Quarterly; The New York Quarterly: Nimrod; and the Prose Poem Project: and Memoir. She has a MA in creative writing from Antioch University, and has taught English at Rockland Community College.
Dan Dugan A former assistant to Professor Roger Hendricks at SUNY Purchase, he has been widely exhibited in the NY/NJ area and taught in Montreal, Canada, Cairns, Australia and Eastchester, New York.
Karen Edelmann, painter, received her BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University, her Master of Fine Arts from Syracuse University, and today is Emerita Professor of Art at St. Thomas Aquinas College. Karen is a landscape artist who brings over two decades of college level art teaching to ROCA, plus insight gained from teaching and planning painting and drawing programs in the US, France and Italy with Artists Abroad and Afield, Inc. Students have regularly named her to Who's Who Among America's Teachers. Her work is in corporate and private collections in the US and Europe, and is shown in galleries from New York to the Gulf Coast. She is a member of New York Plein Air Painters, the National Arts Club and other art organizations in the Hudson River Valley. You can see Karen's work at KWEdelmann.com/gallery.
Shari Fischberg is an assistant professor of Art and Design Education at Pratt Institute. With over 15 years of experience in the field, she has held many positions in teaching and art administration including The Studio in a School Association and The New York City Department of Education. She has a BFA in sculpture from The School of The Museum of Fine Arts Boston, a BA from Tufts University in Art Education, and an MFA from Queens College. She is currently serving on the committee for Rockland County Art in Public Places.
Daly Flanagan is currently the School Director at the Rockland Center for the Arts. She has over 15 years experience in art education and administration including positions as Director of the Craft Students League/YWCA and Coordinator of School and Family Programs at the American Craft Museum. She has a Masters of Science in Education and Administration with a visual arts focus from Bank Street College of Education and Parsons School of Design and a BFA in painting and printmaking from San Diego State University.
Jane Herold Full-time Potter. Produces wood fired functional stoneware at her Palisades studio. Apprenticed in England with Michael Cardew. Her work is in numerous collections and thousands of homes. Her ceramics have been featured in the New Yorker, Ceramics Monthly, Studio Potter, and Ceramics, Art and Perception. BA, Sarah Lawrence College.
Lauren Doner Hirn has a degree in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design. She has been a member of the scenic artists union for over twenty years. Her career includes painting for the Metropolitan Opera House, many Broadway productions, television and feature film work. Some recent projects include Spiderman, Sex and the City, I am Legend, Sherlock Holmes, S A L T , Arthur, and Men in Black 3.
Khader Humied was trained as an architect and has worked in NYC, Westchester and Rockland Counties during the last 12 years. He has taught himself woodworking skills and began the adventure of furniture making. His special interest is designing buildings that are green, sustainable, simple and effective. He has been teaching and inspiring children and young adults to build and create space for several years. He taught at Sarah Lawrence College, Pratt Institute and worked with the Hudson River Museum.
Paula Madawick CPSA Artist. Apprentice to Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, studied at the School of Visual Arts, Cooper Union and SUNY where she received her BA. She has exhibited her colored pencil drawings at Castelli Gallery, Matthew Marks, The National Arts Club, Silvermine, Blue Hill Corp., and the Hopper House; is in the collection of Chase Manhattan Bank, NA, Rutgers University and the Bergen Museum. Madawick has received numerous awards and was an invitational instructor for the Color Pencil Society of America's National Convention. She was also the former Executive Director, Edward Hopper Art Center, Nyack, NY and former Gallery Director of Center Gallery, Demarest, NJ.
Stephanie Maddalena has a BA in Fine Arts, St. Thomas Aquinas College; also studied at Peter's Valley Craft Center, Brookfield Craft Center, Old Church Cultural Center, taught for Syracuse University and the Craft Students League; exhibits throughout the region; owns and operates Foxcroft Beads in Haverstraw, NY.
Colleen McGowan was the owner of Fiberworks (a wearable art boutique) in Nyack, NY for many years. Her work in applied and collaged clothing and accessories has been featured in museum shops and wearable art galleries throughout the country. She works in contemporary, free form crochet; creates one-of-a-kind jackets and scarves; and teaches workshops throughout the region.
Stephanie Maddalena has a BA in Fine Arts, St. Thomas Aquinas College; also studied at Peter’s Valley Craft Center, Brookfield Craft Center, Old Church Cultural Center, taught for Syracuse University and the Craft Students League; exhibits throughout the region; owns and operates Foxcroft Beads in Haverstraw, NY.
Colleen McGowan is a certified New York State Art Teacher (K-12) and has her bachelors degree in Visual Arts Education from SUNY New Paltz. Based out of Haverstraw, NY, she recently had a solo exhibition at the Arts Alliance of Haverstraw entitled "Animalia". Her specialty is drawing and painting. Her work centers around human and animal relationships in a quirky whimsical style. She is currently attending Lehman College in pursuit of her MFA. You can see her work at www.colleenmcgowanart.tumblr.com or her facebook page www.facebook.com/colleenmcgowanstudio.
Eleanor Miller Painter. She received the Best in Show Award from the Museum of Fine Arts in Springfield, MA. and the Anna Hyatt Huntington Bronze Medal from the National Arts Club in New York City. She has had numerous exhibits ranging from the Broome Street Gallery to the Fells Point Gallery in MD. She is currently represented by: Fieldstone Fine Art in Ramsey, NJ, Fredericks Galleries in Allenhurst, NJ, and Renaissance Gallery in Orangeburg, NY. Member of the Salmagundi Club, NYC. Her current faculty positions are: RoCA, Pelham Art Center and Saint Thomas Aquinas College (adjunct), NY.
Maria Pia Minichiello Ceramic Artist and Fashion Designer. She attended Parsons School of Design, where she studied fashion design and illustration. Maria owned and operated a fashion design company in NYC for 10 years, selling throughout the US, Europe and Japan, launching major fashion shows in the U.S., London, Berlin, Milan and Tokyo. She has been creating with clay for more than 20 years and shows locally and throughout the United States. Her teaching credits include Greenwich House of Pottery, Rockland County and New York City School Systems. She was nominated in 2004 & 2005 for the Rockland County Executive Awards for Visual Artist. Some of the venues where she has exhibited include Greenwich House of Pottery, Rockland Center for the Arts and Valley Cottage Public Library. She is currently affiliated with the ceramic art group "Clay Arts".
Patti Mollica has been a professional illustrator and fine artist since 1980. Her artwork is licensed and sold as posters and prints in retail stores nationally, such as AC Moore, Pearl Paint, The Hobby Lobby, and many more. It is also featured on book and magazine covers, annual reports, wine labels, calendars, greeting cards etc. Many pieces are held in private corporate collections such as Mellon Bank USA, Societe Generale, Sheraton Hotels, RCA Records and others. Galleries include The Chasen Gallery in Richmond VA, Ruggerio Gallery in Stamford, CT, Elizabeth Kerr Gallery in Sussex, NJ and 21st Century Gallery in Nyack, NY. She has participated in many solo and group exhibitions throughout the tri-state area. Patti’s style of painting is noted for its uninhibited use of color and bold brushwork.
Mari Ogihara is a ceramic sculptor based out of Port Chester, NY. After receiving her MFA from Tyler School of Art of Temple University in 2006, she was awarded a year long residency at the Clay Art Center in New York. Currently, Ogihara is a ceramic instructor at Silvermine School of Art in New Canaan, CT and at the Clay Art Center. Her work can be viewed in regional and national exhibitions, and she continues to develop a body of work inspired by female ornamentation and rituals.
Brooke O’Neill is a certified art educator (K-12) whose teaching experience includes substitute teaching art in the Rockland County Public Schools and the Art Association of Oswego, NY. She has a Masters in Art Education and a Bachelors of Fine Arts from the State University College at Oswego, NY.
Barbara Pollitt Designer. Has won a Drama Desk Nomination for her design of Caucasian Chalk Circle and an Obie Award for her performance in Epidog. Her masks have been seen on Broadway in The Tempest and Jelly's Last Jam. She recently exhibited her masks at the Charter Oak Cultural Center in Hartford, CT. Her work was exhibited at Lincoln Center as well as other venues in New York City. She was an artist-in-residence for the past two years at Nyack High School and has also taught at Manhattanville College.
Diane Rosen studied at the Art Students League in New York City, and the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris after winning a French Government Fellowship for her pastel work. She has taught studio art privately and at Parsons School of Design, Birch Wathen School, and School for Pastels at the National Arts Club. Articles about her work have appeared in American Artist, The Pastel Journal, and Pure Color: The Best of Pastel. She has participated in many solo and group shows in the tri-state area, winning numerous awards including: CLWAC Award, 2010 PSA Annual Exhibition; First Place Mixed Media, 2008 Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club; Gold Medal for Pastel, 2003 Allied Artists of America Annual. A Master Pastelist with the Pastel Society of America, she is known for sensitive portraits as well as dynamic figure compositions.
John Rosis Painter, has MFA from Hunter College New York, BFA, School of Visual Arts, New York. Teaching experience includes Westchester Community College, Art Students League and Rockland Center for the Arts. Exhibitions include Hopper House Art Center, Vermont Center for the Arts, Berkshire Art Museum, Holter Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Paul Sharpe Gallery and Rockland Center for the Arts. Grants include the Pollock Krasner Foundation and the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation Residence Program. Work in public, private and corporate collections. John is represented by the Gerald Bland Gallery in New York City. Website: www.johnrosis.webs.com
Elizabeth Sayles has illustrated more than 20 books for children including "Mother's Song" and "The Goldfish Yawned" which she wrote as well as illustrated. She also illustrated "I Already Know I Love You" written by Billy Crystal which was a NY Times #1 best selling picture book. Her work appears on book jackets, as well as other projects including for Delta Airlines, Lands' End, American Girl, Peaceable Kingdom Press and Sony/BMG Music. Her artwork has been on display at the Society of Illustrators in NYC, The New York Public Library, The Columbus Museum of Art in Ohio, Every Picture Tells a Story gallery in Los Angeles and Chemers Gallery in Orange County, CA. She is an adjunct professor of Illustration at the School of Visual Arts in NYC and of Illustration & Cartooning at SUNY/Rockland. Her work can be viewed at www.elizabethsayles.blogspot.com.
Jim Shaughnessy is a self taught potter making ceramic vessels and sculpture for more than a decade. He has studied with local, as well as nationally known clay artists. His work can be found in a number of galleries in the surrounding area. In 1999 and in 2001 his work was selected to serve as the Rockland County Executive Awards given to artists and supporters of the arts. In 2002, one of his pieces was used as an award given to Nobel laureate author Toni Morrison. In 2003, his work was featured in silent auctions to benefit the American Cancer Society and the Nuyoricans Poets Café. In 2004, the Human Rights Commission selected to use one of Jim's sculptures in their annual fundraiser event held at the Waldorf Astoria in NYC. Also in 2004, Jim's work was selected to serve as awards for Rockland County Congresswoman Sue Kelly and Nita Lowey, as well as for New York State Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton.
Marla Silverstein is currently the Education Program Coordinator at Rockland Center for the Arts. She has a BFA in Photography from the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, NY and has participated in many solo and group photography shows including The Mentor Show at SVA's Visual Arts Gallery in Chelsea, Manhattan, NY. As well as being an employee at RoCA, Marla is currently working as a freelance commercial/fashion photographer and digital technician at All Photographic Services photography studio in Orangeburg, NY.
Jennifer Stein Professional Potter. She has been working in clay since 1994, studying under various renowned potters and clay sculptors. She's been the president of the Potters' Guild of NJ since 2009 and has taught private lessons and classes at Wortendyke Studio in Midland Park, NJ, at the JCC in Washington Township, and Barnert Temple Preschool. She also led numerous workshops for the Potters' Guild of NJ. Her work is represented in several galleries from Ithaca to Providence, from Guilford CT to Virginia. She is an artist member of Gallery 23 in Blairstown, NJ. Her current body of work is primarily wheel-thrown porcelain mid-fired in oxidation, with delicately sculpted bass-relief rims. Her pots have been exhibited at the Clifton Art Center, The Sally D. Francisco Gallery at Peter's Valley and The Clay Place at Standard, among others. She has a BA – Vassar College, MA Yale University. Her work can be seen at www.JenSteinStudio.com.
Georgia Tenore as a professional potter has been working in clay and teaching for thirty eight years. She studied with several nationally known potters and apprenticed at Scargo Pottery on Cape Cod. She has taught at the Katonah Art Center, the Pelham Art Center, Katonah Museum and Chappaqua's Kipp Street School as well as in her own studio. She has been an associate artist and teacher at The Clay Art Center for the past fifteen years with students of all ages at all levels. Her work, mostly thrown, focuses on making pleasing, functional objects for everyday use and has been shown at numerous galleries and venues in the tri-state area.
Margery Theroux BA, New York University. Also studied: Montserrat College of Art, MA; NY Studio School; private study with Sam Feinstein, NYC. Former gallery committee member & curator at Hopper House, NY & Center Gallery at TASOC. Exhibited at various locations in the tri-state area & New England; included in private collections nationwide. Workshop presenter & art teacher for 20 years.
Colleen Vanderhoef started her career with an Associate's Degree in Graphic Arts from Rockland Community College. She then received her Bachelor's in Art Education, K-12 & Elementary Education, N-6 from Saint Thomas Aquinas College. In 1988, Colleen received her Master's in Art Administration with a concentration in museums, galleries & education from New York University (Paris & Venice). She currently has tenure teaching art full time at the East Ramapo School District in Spring Valley, NY. She was the co-chair to the Cultural Arts Committee & Environmental Club 2000-2011. She is also a Cultural Arts Teacher for a multi-age classroom at the Art Alliance of Haverstraw, Haverstraw, NY. Colleen has a variety of experience ranging from being Vice President of the Hopper House Art Center to many years teaching art to children as well as the Rockland Conservatory of Music's mural painting on the outside of their building. She has been a curator as well as owner/director of Colleen Greco Gallery, Inc. She won Artist of the Year in 2011 for her outstanding work in the community.
Andre Voumard is currently the facilities manager at RoCA. His past teaching experience included the Blue Rock School. Andre is an exhibiting artist whose past shows include the Outside In Gallery in Sparkill, NY, GAGA, RoCA and local libraries. His Mobiles are currently on view in the Sculpture Garden at the Hopper House in Nyack, NY.