Faculty
Click on an Instructor's name for a brief biography.
Jose Anico
- B.F.A. Parsons School of Design
- M.F.A. New York Academy of Art
John Atura
- B.F.A. Tufts University
- M.F.A. School of Visual Arts
Janice Belove
- M.F.A. Queens College CUNY
- B.F.A. Maryland Institute, College of Art
Andrew Bencsko
- B.F.A. School of Visual Arts
- M.A. Teaching, School of Visual Arts
Janet Boltax
- B.F.A. University of Buffalo
Mona Brody
- B.F.A. Printmaking, Moore College of Art & Design
- M.F.A. Visual Arts, Vermont College of Art
- M.S. Art Education, Massachusetts College of Art
Pat Butynski
- Marketing Art & Design, Middlesex County College
- School of Visual Arts
- Parsons School of Design
- DuCret School of Art
- North East Watercolor Society
- National Watercolor Society
P.J. Carlino
- B.F.A. Parsons the New School for Design
Charles Cobbinah
- B.A. Montclair State University
Christina Debarry
- B.S. Fine Art, New York University
- Newark School of Fine Arts
- Art Students League of New York
Melissa Dobzinski
- B.F.A. Kean College
Garland Farwell
- B.F.A. Rhode Island School of Design
- F.I.T.
- Parsons School of Design
Dan Fenelon
- School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Pam Fenelon-Diaz
Lori Field
- SUNY College at Purchase
- School of Visual Arts
Gary Godbee
- B.F.A. Boston University
- Graduate Painting at Brooklyn College & Montclair State University
Alyce Gottesman
- B.F.A. Carnegie-Mellon University
- M.F.A. School of Visual Arts
Julie Healy
- B.A. in Painting, Montclair State University
- Art Student's League of New York
- Studied Art History at New York University
Marion E. Held
- New York University
- Montclair State University
Linda Howe
- B.A. Connecticut College
- Tufts University
- Art Institute of Boston
- Whidbey Environmental Institute for Touch Drawing Training
Nanci Iovino
- B.F.A. Syracuse University
- F.I.T.
- Parsons School of Design
Suzanne Kammin Baron
- Certificate in Art Education, Parsons School of Design
- Psychology, CUNY
- B.F.A. Painting, RISD
- M.F.A. Painting, San Francisco Art Institute
Peg Kenselaar
- B.F.A. Parsons School of Design
Catherine Kinkade
- B.A. Boston University
Roy Kinzer
- 2004 recipient of Pollock/Krasner Grant
- B.F.A. Pennsylvania Academy
- M.F.A Vermont College
Robert Kogge
- Parsons School of Art and Design
- The Maryland Institute College of Art
Robyn Kossoff
- B.F.A. School of Visual Arts
- The National Academy
- Marchutz School France
Terry Kovalcik
- B.F.A. William Paterson College
- School of Visual Arts, Illustration courses
- PMC Instructor Guild Certification
Jen Kucher
- B.A. Rutgers University, New Brunswick
- M.A. Kean University
- M.A. Montclair State University, in progress
Cassie Lewis
- M.A. Educational Leadership, William Paterson University
- B.A. Elementary Education, William Paterson University
Judith Luke
- B.F.A. Tyler College of Art
- M.A. Princeton
Rosalind Nzinga Nichol
- B.F.A. California State University
- M-Div. Oral Roberts University
- M.A. Oral Roberts University
Christina Petrilli
- B.F.A. Marywood University
- Kean University
Alex Piccirillo
- B.F.A. at the School of Visual Arts
- Brooklyn Museum Art School
- Privately with Burton Silverman
Janet Taylor Pickett
- Professor emeritus, Essex County College
- M.F.A. University of Michigan
Sharon Pitts
- B.A. University of Illinois-Chicago
- Barnes Foundation
- Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art
- Montclair State University
Ben Pranger
- M.F.A. School of the Art Institute of Chicago
- Oberlin College
Gilbert Riou
- B.F.A. Maryland Institute, College of Art
- M.F.A. City College in New York
Lisa Rosen
- B.A. Art History, Bowdoin University
- M.A. Photography, NYU & International Center of Photography
Gary Schneider
- Director of Education, MAM
- B.F.A. Parsons School of Design
- Bank Street College of Education
Elizabeth Seaton
- B.A. Rutgers University
- M.F.A. Vermont College
Jay Seldin
- B.F.A. Long Island University
- M.A. Photography, William Paterson University
Ahava Felicidad
- B.A. Temple University
Earl Speid
- B.F.A. Fine Arts, Parsons School of Art & Design
Otis Sullivan
Julian Tejera
- B.F.A. Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University
Aggie Wszolkowski
- B.F.A. Rutgers University
Diane Zimbaldi
Faculty Bios
Jose Anico
Jose received his A.A.S. from Altos De Chavon, his Bachelors of Fine Arts from Parsons School of Design and his Masters of Fine Arts from New York Academy. Currently, Jose teaches Figurative Sculpture and Life Drawing for Adults and Teens at the Yard School of Art at the Montclair Art Museum.
John Atura
Mr. Atura has taught drawing and painting at Tufts University, the Boston Museum School, and Raritan Valley Community College. He has twice received a New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship for painting and also a Rutgers Center for Innovative Printmaking Fellowship. His artwork has been exhibited at numerous venues both in New York and around the state, including a one person exhibition at The Newark Museum. In 2001 he was an Artist in Residence at The 23rd Annual International Cultural Festival, in Assilah, Morocco.
Janice Belove
Ms. Belove received a B.F.A. from Maryland Institute, College of Art (1976) and an M.F.A. from Queens College, C.U.N.Y. (1979). Her residencies include Millay Colony for the Arts (1990) and Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (2000). She exhibits in both New York and New Jersey. In addition to teaching at the Yard School, Ms. Belove is Adjunct Professor of Painting & Drawing at Bergen Community College.
Andrew Bencsko
In 1991 Mr. Bencsko received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the School of Visual Arts in New York and in 2004 he earned his Masters of Arts in Teaching. In 1997 Andrew received a Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation Grant and was a resident artist at the Vermont Studio Center. He has taught Anatomy as well as painting, drawing, cartooning and composition at Art and Design High School on New York City. In addition, he taught Photoshop and Illustrator to graduate students at the School of Visual Arts. Andrew has exhibited paintings and drawings in New York City and New Jersey most of which were works in oil paint, encaustic, oil pastel, soft pastel and ink.
Janet Boltax
Janet Boltax received her BFA from the University of Buffalo and attended the Art Student’s League for several years. Primarily an oil portrait painter, yet proficient at monoprinting and etching, Janet has been influenced by artists Alice Neel and Lucien Freud. Holding several solo shows of her artwork, Janet currently teaches art at the Jewish Community Center in West Orange, NJ.
Mona Brody
Brody is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at Pratt Institute of Art. Brody's solo exhibitions include The Montclair Art Museum (Montclair, NJ). Aljira Center for Contemporary Art (Newark, NJ). Ben Shahn Galleries, William Paterson University (Wayne, NJ). Wood Art Gallery, Vermont College (Montpelier, Vt). Treasure Room Gallery, Interchurch Center (New York, NY). Pleiades Gallery (New York, NY). New Jersey Center for Visual Arts (Summit, NJ).
She is included in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art Library (New York, NY). The Montclair Art Museum (Montclair, NJ). The New Jersey State Museum (Trenton, NJ). The Jersey City Museum (Jersey City, NJ). The Morris Museum (Morristown. NJ). The Noyes Museum (Oceanville, NJ). Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper, Rutgers State University (New Brunswick, NJ). Boleslawiec Art Museum (Boleslawiec, Poland). Southwest Minnesota State University Art Museum (Marshall, Minnesota). Zimmerli Art Museum (New Brunswick, NJ). The New Jersey State Council on the Arts (Trenton, NJ). Brody has received many honors including the NJ Printmaking Fellowship at Rutgers Center for Innovative Print & Paper in New Brunswick, NJ. The New Jersey Artist/Teacher Fellowship from the Geraldine Dodge Foundation. Geraldine Dodge Foundation Residency for the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (Sweet Briar,Va.). Visiting Artist at the 33rd International Sculpture Symposium, (Boleslawiec, Poland). Contemporary Art Center, Artist Residency Award (North Adams, Massachusetts).Foundation Residency for the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Sweet Briar, VA.
Her education includes an MFA in Visual Arts (Vermont College of Art), MS in Art Education (Massachusetts College of Art), BFA in Printmaking (Moore College of Art & Design).
Pat Butynski
Middlesex County College; School of Visual Arts; Parsons School of design; duCret School of Art. Exhibitions: Gallery Petite, NJ; Gallery One Main, NJ; Swain’s Gallery, NJ; The Louisa Melrose Gallery. Awards: The Norman Webb Award – Best Watercolor at `04&`05 Plainfield Art Festivals; 2004 Ida Wells, Clara Stroud Award from the American Artists Professional League. Memberships: North East Watercolor Society; NEWS; Garden State Watercolor Society, Associate Member of the National Watercolor Society.
"Watercolor chose me."
Pat Butynski graduated from Middlesex County College, in Edison, NJ with an Associates Degree in Marketing Art & Design in 1978. She went on to study at the School of Visual Arts, by invitation, with Milton Glaser, and The Parsons School of Design, both in NYC.
After 26 award winning years in Graphic Communications, 15 of which were in her own business, Pat packed up her Pat Garhart Design Works identity, and surrendered to full time homemaking and motherhood... or so she thought.
A year later, in 2000, Pat found an old box of watercolor paints and brushes given to her by her mother, an oil painter, when Pat was 19 years old. The paint and everything in the box, was as good as new! The dabbling began. After a year of painting everything in sight, “including the kitchen sink”... Pat sought further instruction at the DuCret School of Art in Plainfield, NJ.
During her study, Pat was recommended to Gallery One Main in High Bridge, NJ. They took her work on. Gallery Petite, the adjoining artist co-op pursued her for membership, while her fellow students at DuCret began to pursue her as a teacher. Unexpectedly, Mrs. Butynski was back in business.
With 15 shows in her first year of exhibiting, culminating in a One Woman show of her representational work called, “The Painted Year” at the Swain Gallery in Plainfield, NJ, her work entered the personal collections of many art patrons.
Eventually, Pat called a halt to the show machine, in order to paint for love, again and grow creatively. She has, selectively continued to show in venues such as “The Paper Mill Playhouse, in Millburn, NJ, Swains’ Gallery, The Somerset Art Association, the Garden State Watercolor Society,The Dupre Gallery in Montclair, NJ, The New Jersey Center for Visual Arts, in Summit, NJ, The Fredericks Gallery in Allenhurst, as well as The North East Watercolor Society in Kent Connecticut. Her work has received numerous awards.
Pat is a signature member of the North East Watercolor Society and an associate Member of the National Watercolor Society. She regularly teaches workshops and classes at the Art Center for the Visual Arts, in Summit, NJ. Ms. Butynski continues to study with international artists.
Most recently Pat has exhibited at the Monmouth Museum with the New Jersey Watercolor Society.
www.patbutynski.com Home: 732 530 2680 Cell: 908 410 8244
PJ Carlino
Mr. Carlino comes to MAM with experience as a visual artist, designer, and art educator. He has worked for Parsons New School of Design after receiving a B.F.A. in Product Design. He has taught basic drawing, life drawing, drafting, watercolor, and prototyping. His work can be seen at www.pjcarlino.com.
PJ teaches Teen Portfolio Preparation, Watercolor Techniques, and Figurative Watercolor.
Charles Cobbinah
Mr. Cobbinah has an Associate’s degree in drawing from Essex County College and a B.A. degree in Studio Art with a concentration in drawing from Montclair State University. He has worked at the Montclair Art Museum as an Associate Exhibition Designer since 1996. Charles is also an experienced portrait artist.
Christina Debarry, PSA
Ms. Debarry’s formal studies include the Newark School of Fine Arts, 3 year certificate, a B.S. in Fine Art with a minor in Art Education from New York University, the Art Student League of New York, and private studio classes and workshops. She was the President Emeritus of the Pastel Society of America (1998-2001), has been published in Who’s Who in American Art, and is an elected member (Vice President) of the Allied Artists of America. She is also a member of The Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club. In 1997, Debarry traveled to China and gave demos, as a guest of the Chinese Government.
Her awards include the 2006 Honoree Art du Pastel en France, as a featured artist in exhibition in Giverney, France, the Dianne B. Bernhard Gold Medal Award in Pastel, the Allied Artists o f America at the National Arts Club in NYC, the Gold Medal Art Spirit Foundation, Pastel Award, Audubon Artists, the Distinguished Merit Award, NJAAPL, and the H.K. Holbein Award, Pastel Society of America. She was also selected by the Pastel Journal 2009 as a juror of Competition Awards for floral and still life works.
Her work can be seen on her website, www.debarrystudioarts.com.
Melissa Dobzinski
Ms. Dobzinski received her B.A. in Fine Arts Education from Kean University. She is currently an elementary school art teacher in Bergen County, and has been working at The Yard School of Art since 2006. Currently, she is teaching the Yard School’s first course in Claymation for children.
Garland Farwell
Mr. Farwell received his B.F.A from The Rhode Island School of Design. He has worked extensively in the theatre both creating and designing Puppetry and Masks. He has collaborated with Carl Hancock Rux, MTV, Curious Pictures, The Kasbah Project and Tony Millionaire. Garland has exhibited nationally at Lincoln Center, The Museum of African American Art in Los Angeles and The Rotunda Gallery in Brooklyn. His work has been shown in Europe, Africa and America.
Dan Fenelon
Dan Fenelon graduated from the School of the Museum of Fine Art Boston MA. went on to work as a graphic designer, illustrator and fine artist. He has shown his work nationally and is currently represented by galleries in New York and New Jersey. Dan is also working on a line of youth apparel under his Wavedog Brand.
Lori Field
Ms. Field exhibits her work regionally, nationally, and internationally in many group and solo exhibitions. She is primarily self-taught, having had less than a year's formal training in visual arts at S.U.N.Y. College at Purchase. Lori left school, moved to New York City, and earned her living as a freelance textile designer and illustrator for nineteen years. She began doing fine art again in 1996 after a series of events caused her to reflect and rethink the direction of both her personal and creative life.
Lori exhibits every January with Henry Boxer Gallery at the Outsider Art Fair in New York City. She recently had a one person show at Tag Gallery in Nashville, Tennessee in June 2005 and has an upcoming solo show at Van Brunt Gallery in Beacon, NY in the summer 2006. Lori also was represented by Tag Gallery at the 2005 Affordable Art Fair in New York City.
Lori is also an arts educator. She teaches courses in Mixed Media Drawing and Collage, and Encaustics at Montclair Art Museum's Yard School of Art. In the past couple of years Lori has begun to organize group exhibitions as an independent curator. Among exhibitions she has organized (with her co-curator Elizabeth Seaton) are The Insomnia Show, Three Twins, No Word for Inhumanity, Becoming Animal and the Black and White show. In the near future Lori hopes to curate The Tattoo Show and The Bunny Show.
Lori has had her work included in the New Jersey Fine Arts Annual Cultural Exploration in 2003 at the Morris Museum. She is currently represented by Henry Boxer Gallery in London, UK, and Tag Art Gallery in Nashville, Tennessee. She was chosen as one of the New Jersey Printmaking Fellows for the year 2004 at Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper at Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts.
Visit her online: www.tagartgallery.com (click on 'Artists' to reach Lori's page)
Gary Godbee
Mr. Godbee received a B.F.A. degree in painting from Boston University in 1974 and has studied graduate painting at Brooklyn College and Montclair State University. He has taught drawing at the Art Students League, landscape and portrait painting workshops in Sante Fe for the Academy of Realist Art, and currently teaches painting courses at the Yard School of Art (since 1993) and the Somerset Art Association (since 2001).
Gary is best known for his realist landscape paintings, which often include panoramic views of northern New Jersey. His work has been shown in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Virginia and California, and can be found in collections in the U.S., Europe and Japan. His one-person exhibitions have included shows at the Cudahy's Gallery in both NYC and Richmond, VA, the First Street Gallery in NYC, and the Watchung Arts Center in Watchung, NJ. Recent exhibitions include a one-person show at J. Cacciola Gallery in NYC, the 2005 N.J. Arts Annual at the Montclair Art Museum, the NJSCA Fellowship exhibition at the NJ State Museum in Trenton, two-person shows at the Arts Guild of Rahway and the Tomasulo Gallery of Union County College (September 2003), as well as group shows at the J. Cacciola Gallery in NYC and Bernardsville, Tatistcheff Gallery in NYC, City without Walls Gallery in Newark, and the Paul Robeson Gallery of Rutgers University.
Gary Godbee has received Fellowships in 2004 and 1994 from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, exceptional merit awards from the City Without Walls Gallery in Newark in 2002 and 1995, and a merit award from the Portrait Institute in New York in 1996. He is represented in the 1998 Society of Illustrators Annual and is listed in Who's Who in America (since 2000). In 2000, he completed two twenty-foot wide murals commissioned through the NJ State Council on the Arts that are now permanently installed in the Department of Labor Building in Trenton. He is currently represented in NYC by the J. Cacciola Gallery. Visit his website: www.garygodbee.com.
Alyce Gottesman
Alyce Gottesman received her BFA from Carnegie Mellon University and an MFA from the School of Visual Arts. She has exhibited her work extensively in the New York metropolitan area including the Montclair Art Museum, Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton, and Cealun Gallery in New York. Her paintings are part of many private and corporate collections. Visit her website: www.alycegottesman.com.
Julie Healy
Julie has a B.A. in Painting from Montclair State University, studied painting and drawing at the Art Student's League of New York, and studied Art History at NYU in Paris. Her artwork has been exhibited in museums and galleries in NJ, NY, TN, France, and China. She has been teaching at MAM since the summer of 2002.
Marion E. Held
Ms. Held, a mixed media sculptor, has exhibited extensively in the US and abroad for nearly 25 years. Ms. Held’s work was included in the NJ State Council of the Arts Fellowship exhibition (Trenton, NJ) in 2006, and Medialia Gallery in NYC (Transformable Art) in 2006. Recent solo exhibitions were at Medialia Gallery (NYC), Art Resources Transfer in (NYC), the University of Wisconsin in Oshkosh, and the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts (NYC). She has shown in Tambacounda (Senegal), the Kunstlerhaus, Graz (Austria), the Morris Museum (NJ), the NJ State Museum, Aljira A Center for Contemporary Art (NJ), Pardo Gallery (NYC), Goldstrom Gallery (NYC) and the Meguro Museum of Art, Tokyo (Japan).
She is represented in many public and private collections including the city of Tambacounda (Senegal), Fundacion Valparaiso, Mojacar Playa (Spain), the Negev Museum (Israel), the city of Boleslawiec (Poland), Grounds for Sculpture (NJ), the Montclair Art Museum (NJ), the Museum of Modern Art Artist Library (NYC), The Newark Museum (NJ), the NJ State Museum, Tajimi City (Japan) and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Internationally, Ms Held was invited to participate in the TDG4 (Tambacounda/Dakar/Geneva) International Workshop in Tambacounda (Senegal), in 2004, where she created an installation in the Cultural Center of Tambacounda. She was also invited to the Fundacion Valparaiso, Mojacar Playa (Spain) in 2004, Beer-Sheva International Biennale (Israel) in 1997 and 1993, and the 33rd International Sculpture Symposium in Boleslawiec (Poland) in 1997.
In 2003 Ms. Held received her second Fellowship in Sculpture from the NJ State Council on the Arts, as well as a Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Creative Fellows Award for the Millay Colony. She is the recipient of three Dodge Foundation Grants for the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, a Ragdale Foundation Fellowship and an Aljira Emerge Fellowship. Visit her website: www.marionheld.com.
Linda Howe
Linda Howe is a visual artist, educator, muralist, writer, illustrator, and professional storyteller who enjoys building community thru the expressive arts. She is a graduate of Connecticut College and received additional training at Tyler School of Art in Rome, The Art Institute of Boston, Ma., Tufts University, and Lesley University. Her murals and paintings are on permanent exhibition at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, Ludington Library, Bryn Mawr, Friend's Central Lower School in Wynnewood, Pa., and Library of Chatham, Chatham, NJ. She is currently passionate about a mono-print process called Touch Drawing, and was trained at the Center for Touch Drawing in Langley Washington, and The Whidbey Island Environmental Institute. In addition, her equine paintings have won awards for excellence.
Nanci Iovino
Ms. Iovino graduated with a B.F.A. in illustration from Syracuse University. She studied painting and illustration at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and Parsons School of Design. Nanci has worked as a freelance painter, muralist and an interior decorator/designer.
Peter Jacobs
Peter Jacobs is a working artist and has been exhibiting his art for over 25 years both nationally and abroad, including 5 museum exhibitions. Peter Jacobs Fine Arts Imaging has provided photography, design, printing, and web services for the Tri-States area's museums, galleries, and artists for over 25 years. He has lectured on Promoting Yourself as an Artist at the Flushing Council on the Arts and Montclair Art Museum. He is on the exhibition committee and curator at The Pierro Gallery of South Orange.
Suzanne Kammin Baron
Exhibited nationally and in Canada. Adjunct Professor of Painting and Drawing at Parsons School of Design since 2000. Lecturer in Art at Caldwell College. Taught at the Art Gallery of Ontario and served as Chair of Visual Arts at Convent of the Sacred Heart. Received two Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation Emergency Assistance Grants. Undergraduate studies in painting at National College of Art and Design, Dublin, Ireland and graduate studies in painting at University of British Columbia, Vancouver Canada. New York State Certification in Art Education, Parsons School of Design. Undergraduate studies in psychology at City University of New York. BFA in Painting, Rhode Island School of Design. MFA in Painting, San Francisco Art Institute.
Peg Kenselaar
Ms. Kenselaar is a graduate of Parsons School of Design in NYC. She is a Docent, a Yard School of Art instructor, and an Education programs instructor, at the Montclair Art Museum. Peg teaches fine art techniques and the use of mixed media to children and adults. Her studio works include sculpture and large scale drawing/oil paintings. Peg teaches a wide variety of children's courses.
Catherine Kinkade
Ms. Kinkade works in oil, pastel and monotype. A graduate of Boston University, she was designated a Master Pastelist with the Pastel Society of America in 1985. Her landscapes are included in The Best of Pastels 2, Rockport Publishers, 1999. Ms. Kinkade's recent commissions include landscapes of the Champagne region in France and are also in the corporate collections of Tiffany & Co., British Airways, BASF, AT&T and Exxon. She is a founder of the Viridian Print Studio and a signature member of the PSA, Knickerbocker Artists USA, CLWAC, Pen & Brush NYC, and the National Association of Women Artists. Visit her website: www.catherinekinkade.com.
Roy Kinzer
Mr. Kinzer has exhibited extensively throughout the country, most recently at domoGallery in Summit and Metaphor Contemporary Art in Brooklyn. Museum shows include Connecticut's Slater Museum and The Montclair Art Museum. His work is represented in numerous public and private collections. He has an M.F.A. degree from Vermont College's program in Visual Culture and a Certificate of Art from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He has taught advanced and graduate level painting and drawing at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Recently he has become a Working Artist for GOLDEN Artist Colors, giving lectures and workshops on the diverse uses of acrylics. His current paintings are aerial landscapes derived from altered maps or satellite images. In 2004 he was a recipient of the prestigious Pollock/Krasner grant.
Robyn Kossoff
Ms. Kossoff received a B.F.A from the School of Visual Arts and has studied at the Art Students League, The National Academy School of Fine Arts in NY and The Marchutz School in France. A recipient of numerous awards and grants, Robyn received the prestigious McDowell Travel Grant, where she spent 5 months traveling throughout Europe. Her work has been exhibited in Florida, South Carolina, Massachusetts and New York and is in many private collections.
Terry Kovalcik
Mr. Kovalcik received a Fine Arts degree in drawing and painting. Currently, he works as a freelance illustrator with an emphasis in the children’s market. He learned the technique of Precious Metal Clay (PMC) in 1999 and was hooked. Mr. Kovalcik received Guild Certification in 2000 to teach others about PMC and was invited to become a Senior Certification Instructor for the Rio Rewards Program in 2005. His award-winning pure silver PMC jewelry has been highly recognized and featured internationally in both books and publications.
Jen Kucher
Ms. Kucher received her bachelor's degree in Fine Art and Psychology from Rutgers University, a Master's and Certification in Fine Art Education from Kean University, and is cuurently working on a Master's in Studio Arts with a concentration in painting from Montclair State University. She has taught classes at Bloomfield High School, Sparta High School, the Livingston Arts Association, as well as MAM. She has given private art instruction at both the Renaissance In Learning and Birukov Art Center in Sparta. Her latest work includes close cropped stylized composition, paintings of hands, musical instruments, and close cropped sections of the body, and remains very colorful and moody, with a focus on realistic detail.
Cassie Lewis
Ms. Lewis has an MA in Educational Leadership from William Paterson University and retired from public education after more than 30 years as an elementary educator and teacher coordinator of a g/t program. She studied Fiber Arts at WPU, and began exploring hand-made felt making after meeting felting pioneer Beth Beede. She has studied with Beth and other accomplished artist/felters at Peters Valley Craft Education Center and others. Cassie has presented workshops at The Newark Museum, Sugar Maples Center for Arts and Education, teacher in service programs, Ramapo College of NJ and at her studio in Warwick, NY.
Rosalind Nzinga Nichol
Ms. Nichol has been a mixed media artist for many years. In 1999 she relocated to New Jersey and started making paper. Her current focus is on trying to bring painting and papermaking together as a single dialogue. She believes her work is about interpreting life narratives and she uses disintegrating lace and recycled material in the process of creating texture and layers to tell her stories. Rosalind received her M.A. in Art from Oral Roberts University and her B.F.A. from California State University.
Tom Nussbaum
Tom Nussbaum is known for a variety of work including drawings, paper cuts, prints, sculpture, site-specific commissions, children's books, and functional design objects.
His sculpture and works on paper have been exhibited in galleries throughout the United States and Japan, most recently at the Nicolayson Museum of Art in Wyoming, and the Montclair Art Museum in New Jersey.
Since 1987, he has completed over 25 site-specific commissions lovated in a variety or public settings including public plazas, train stations, schools, hospitals, and environmental centers.
Nussbaum is also known for his desgin objects that are valued by collectors. Om 1985, he began The Acme Robot Company, a cottage industry producing nightlights and fixtures of his design. In 1988, he founded Atomic Iron Works, designing and producing iron hat and coat racks and other useful items. In 1992, Children's Universe/Rizzoli published his activity book, My World is Not Flat.
Nussbaum has been a visitng artist and lecturer at a number of colleges and universities, and has served on many peer review panels and juries. He was recently awarded a NJ State COuncil on the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship for 2009 and has been a three-time MacDowell Colony Fellow.
His work can be seen on his website www.tomnussbaum.com.
Christina Petrilli
Christina Petrilli received her MA in Fine Arts Education from Kean University in 2008 and her BFA in graphic design from Marywood University in 2004, with minor studies in art history and dance. She is an elementary school art teacher, a part-time dance instructor for early childhood ages at Dance Express in Warren, and does freelance work in the field of graphic design. Christina has been teaching at The Yard School of Art since 2007 in the SummerART programs.
Alex Piccirillo
Mr. Piccirillo has a B.F.A. from the School of Visual Arts. He has also studied at the Brooklyn Museum Art School, Pratt Institute and privately with Burton Silverman. Alex was designated a Master Pastelist by the Pastel Society of America. His selected exhibitions include: The National Academy of Design, The Montclair Art Museum, The Bergen Museum, The Patterson Museum, The Hammond Museum, American Artists Professional League, New England Institute of Fine Arts, The Artists Society International, The Degas Pastel Society and The New Jersey Center for Visual Arts. His work is featured in The Art of Pastel Portraiture, The Best of Oil Painting, The Best of Pastel 1 & 2 and Portrait Inspirations. Alex has taught at the Pastel Society of America, N.J. Center for Visual Arts, the Yard School of Art, The Morris County & Livingston Art Associations and Nutley High School for cultivating academically talented students. He is the winner of numerous awards and honors and his works are included in many public and private collections.
Janet Taylor Pickett
Janet Taylor Pickett graduated with a B.F.A from the University of Michigan School of Art and Design and received an M.F.A from the University of Michigan. She has also studied at Parsons School of Design, FIT, and the Vermont Studio School. She became supervisor of the Junior Museum of the Newark Museum in 1973. In 1974 she began teaching full time at Essex County College, where she became a full professor. Ms. Pickett teaches a series of Mixed Media workshops at the Yard School of Art. Additionally, Ms. Pickett is a members of MAM’s Board of Trustees.
Ms. Pickett has been an active member of the art community of Montclair for many years. She has received many awards and has had numerous exhibitions around the state as well as the country. She has also exhibited internationally. She has been the recipient of awards from:
New Jersey State Council of the Arts
Mid-Atlantic State Arts Council
Valpariso Foundation of Mojcar, Spain, as well as others.
Her work is also part of private as well as museum collections. Her most recent group exhibitions are:
Transcultural New Jersey: Diverse Artists Shaping Culture and Communities at the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum
The Monmouth Museum in Threaded Through The Fiber Arts Culture and Memories
The Noyes Museum – Icons, Symbols & Alters, The Montclair Museum–Celebrating 90 Years
The commemorative poster for the 30th Anniversary of the Newark Black Film Festival 2004
The Newark Museum Community Gallery – Art Explores Religion, and Growing Up – Childhood in Art at the Montclair Art Museum September 2003
Solo exhibition at The University of Eastern New Mexico in 2004
She has also completed a limited edition of hand colored intaglios in an artist’s handmade book called Me and Matisse which is now in the collection of the Montclair Art Museum.
You may contact her at her website: www.janettaylorpickett.com where you will find more images of her work.
Sharon Pitts
Sharon Pitts maintains a studio in Montclair, NJ and has concentrated on painting in watercolor for over 25 years. She earned a B.A. from the University of Illinois-Chicago and has studied at The Barnes Foundation, The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, and Montclair State University. She has exhibited regularly in galleries throughout New Jersey and New York as well as in corporate exhibition spaces. Her work can be found in many area collections. She is the Director of Watercolor for Allied Artists of America and President of P.S. Art Tours that provides painting holidays in the U.S. and abroad.
Ben Pranger
Ben Pranger has shown his sculpture, works on paper and installation nationally, with reviews in publications such as Artforum, Art in America, ArtNews, and Art Papers. He has participated in artist residencies at Kohler Art/Industry, Fine Arts Work Center of Provincetown, the Marie Walsh Sharpe Program, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. He has received sculpture grants from the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation. He has taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Hollins University in Virginia. He is currently based in New Jersey.
Gilbert Riou
Mr. Riou was born in Gourin, France and moved to the United States at an early age. He received his B.F.A. degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, and his M.F.A. degree from City College in New York. During his career, he has received awards from the National Academy of Design and the Salmagundi Art Club, New York. He has received two New Jersey State Council on the Arts fellowships. Mr. Riou is also a member of the Allied Artists of America. His work is in the collections of the Jersey City Museum, The Montclair Art Museum and the Museum of Modern Art in Santo Domingo.
Lisa Rosen
Ms. Rosen loves to work with photography students of all ages as they discover their visual voice. She has taught photography at The Boston Architectural Center, Phillips Academy (Andover), Trinity School in NYC and Rand School. Ms. Rosen received her B.A. in Art History from Bowdoin College and a M.A. in Photography through a joint program with NYU and the International Center of Photography. She works professionally as an event photographer and is investigating the intersection of meditation and photographic imagery in her own work.
Elizabeth Seaton
Ms. Seaton works and shows with the burgeoning New Jersey arts community, exhibiting in the tri-state area and beyond. She has a B.A. in Fine Arts and Anthropology from Rutgers University and a M.F.A. in Visual Arts from Vermont College. Her work is included in several private collections, and she has won an Oil Bar Award, the Stanfield Fine Arts Scholarship, and a Rauschenberg Fellowship through The Lab School of Washington, D.C. Ms. Seaton has been on the faculty of The Montclair Art Museum Yard School of Art since 1988. She has begun service as an adjunct art professor at Bloomfield College, and was the naming co-founder of Aljira Arts, Inc. of Newark, where she also served as a trustee.
Jay Seldin
Jay Seldin, a professional photographer and digital media artist has exhibited his artwork in numerous solo and group exhibitions nationally and abroad. Seldin is the founder of DigitalEdge Photography Studios in Montclair, NJ and aldo owns and operates CPE Workshops LLC, an international photography workshop company.
He has over thirty years experience as a professional exhibiting photographer/digital media artist and teacher of photography/digital media in high school and colleges in the NYC area, including Parsons, the New School for Design, NYC, and Bergen Community College. Currently, he is an “artist-in-residence” working at the Newark Museum and with the Newark Public School system. Jay has been selected by Canson Infinity, a digital paper company, to represent them as their “Resident Canson Photographer” in the NY/NJ Metro area.
Awards and honors include Artist-in-Residence at the Newark Museum, Newark, NJ 2006 – 2008, Fellowship award from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, 2000-2006, Adobe PhotoShop Photo Competition, Winner 2007, Summer Artist Residence Fellowship Grant, Provincetown Fine Arts Center, 2001. Distinguished Educators Award from Rochester Institute of Technology, 2003. Studied with Ansel Adams.
BFA Long Island University
MA Photography, William Paterson University
Collections:
Canson Infinity Co.
Newark Art Museum
Clear Channel Music & Radio NYC
Johnson & Johnson Co.
Shearson Lehman Corp.
American Express Bank
Time Equities Inc.
Lehman Bros. Inc.
United Envelope Corp.
WestShore Inc.
Various private collections
Ahava Felicidad
Ahava Felicidad Clermont is a Holistic Hair Healer and teaches others how to make natural body products. A native of
When the opportunity knocked to teach others this unique, yet popular craft, she opened the door and the classes began. She enjoys teaching the classes from an interdisciplinary approach incorporating holistic natural living, art, science and math. She helps people to discover soap-making as an art form, through melting, pouring, shaping, molding, mixing natural colors and additives.
With her hands as her tools of destiny and having always taken an interest in the art of hair care and healing, she became the Holistic Hair Healer whose main goal is to assist families with their natural haircare using her intuitive creativity, natural and organic products, and education. Working with all types of natural hair and teaching on a very communal, spirited level she helps others tap into natural talents and bond with each other through haircare and classes. She is a volunteer with Holistic Montclair and is also on the faculty at the
districts.
Earl Speid
From an early age, Earl Speid was destined to become an artist. At the age of 12 he painted his self-portrait, and in so doing, realized that drawing for him came naturally. Not only did he discover that he could reproduce images of people and objects around him but that he enjoyed the act and process of creating art as well. From that moment on, art had been the central focus of his life, not only a skill, but a passion. His aim is to infuse the use of knowledge with imagination, to create art that is not only useful, but meaningful as well.
Earl received his BFA in Fine Arts from Parsons School of Art and Design. He is currently pursuing a Master’s degree at Kean University in art education. He has been the recipient of several awards including the 1998 Teen Parental Responsibility Media Contest his work was exhibited in the Newark museum that year. He has also been featured in The New Jersey Start-Ledger and The North Jersey Journal on several occasions.
Earl has kept himself quite busy creating murals for hospitals, offices, and residences. He’s also shared his love of art with pre-adolescent and adolescent children at UMDNJ Hospital and is currently teaching art to children at the Newark Museum’s After School Programs. He shows no signs of slowing down, He intends to continue creating art, helping youngsters tap into their artistic creativity, and providing his clients with works of art that suit their tastes and needs. As his motto states: “Your desire is my motivation.”
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Aggie Wszolkowski
Ms. Wszolkowski was born in Poland and has been in the United States since she was a teen. She went to Rutgers University where she discovered her passion for art and earned a BA in art, with a concentration in painting and a minor Anthropology. She is a painter, printmaker, photographer and art educator. Agnieszka teaches at the Main Street School in Orange, she is also an Art Educator at The Montclair Art Museum.
Ms. Wszolkowski is a member of Gaia studio, a collective of women, for women, for the making of textiles, clothing, printmaking, painting, architecture, music, film, photography, science, the performing arts, and writing, as well as to promote environmental, social, and political activism, all things which color the lives of the women involved. They actively promote and support the work of local female artists while developing programming to reach out to and help emerging artists in need of studio space, facilities, and resources. In their pursuit of awareness they also concentrate on activism, from the issues in the local community to global issues affecting the lives of women. Gaia is based out of Hoboken, New Jersey.
Agnieszka is attending Seton Hall University to earn a Masters Degree in
Instructional Design and Technology.
