Meet Our Instructors

Heather Accurso Received her BA in Studio Art from Mundelein College and an MFA from the University of Chicago. She has worked as an art instructor with emphasis on drawing and painting for the last ten years at both colleges and community learning centers. She spent 2006 as a guest instructor in Cologne Germany and exhibits throughout the Mid-West. Currently teaching: Figure Drawing I & II & Drawing I & II: Inspired by the Collection & Drawing Fundamentals
Susan Amstutz For Susan Amstutz, painting is an obsession. Oil and mixed media paintings show the variety and depth of her vision, from richly textured, mysterious abstractions to lush midwestern landscapes. They are a visual treat. Amstutz, a Michigan native, received a B.F.A. from the University of Michigan in Painting and Drawing. She currently juggles painting and teaching Graphic Design at Washtenaw Community College. Currently teaching: Painting 101 & Intermediate Painting & Workshop: Relief Printing & Abstract Painting NEW!
Michelle Baker Michelle Baker received her BFA from the University of Michigan in Scientific Illustration, and her MAT in Interdisciplinary Arts from Columbia College Chicago. She has worked as a classroom art teacher in the public school system just outside of Chicago. Michelle is the owner and principal designer of Elevated Press, a letterpress stationery studio, based in Ann Arbor. She enjoys working in a variety of media including: graphite, ink, colored pencils, chalk pastels, gouache, acrylic, collage, and clay.
Cathy Barry Cathy Barry received her BFA (Painting) from the University of Michigan and an MFA (Painting) from Eastern Michigan University. She currently teaches at Washtenaw Community College, Chelsea Center for the Arts and now at the Ann Arbor Art Center. Cathy also maintains a studio and an active exhibiting schedule.
Ericia Bartels "Metal mirrors my urban life. Its sleek surface gleams a cold sheen over the hard mass, a result of soulful repetitive motion. I enjoy working beside my city. Its pulse surrounds me as I transform chaos into structure, sometimes structure into chaos. I submit to the arduous, sustained cadence of its urban hum. Creativity is not enough; like Detroit, metal requires patience, diligence and honest criticism of one's actions. I respond to that. It's where I come from. Though it is my hope that each piece projects my personality and love for the city, I invite the viewer to share the mere visual pleasure in each form. As my voice matures, I find the need to incorporate relevant issues from the present social construct, again melding with what goes on outside my studio windows."
Josie Bockelman Josie Bockelman has a BA with an emphasis in ceramics from Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA.She has been teaching figurative sculpture to youth and adults and working in community arts education for seven years. She has taught at the Seward Park Clay Studio and Gage Academy and was a recipient of a "Grant for Artist Projects" award from Artist Trust while living in Seattle. Josie began throwing pots in high school and has been hooked on clay ever since. She has been working with the figure for the last twelve years and is fascinated with trying to convey emotional and pyschological experiences through the human form.
Francesc Burgos A Barcelona-born ceramist, designer and architect, Burgos received a MFA in ceramics from the University of Utah, Salt Lake City and a Masters in Architecture from University of California, Berkeley. He currently makes one-of-a-kind ceramic and mixed-media sculptures and his work has been shown nationally in both solo and group exhibitions. He has taught ceramics at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) and at the University of Utah (Salt Lake City).
Emily Chiesa Since graduating from Eastern Michigan University with a B.F.A. in painting, I have continued to make paintings and drawings. Recent projects incorporate recycled, printed papers and acrylic paint into portrait drawings. With so much to see and learn, my artistic ambition is to diligently pursue sensitivity to both the world around me and to the materials that I use to make art. This curiosity, together with study, teaches me to see. As an instructor, I share this appetite for seeing and learning by providing the opportunity to explore and experiment with art materials and processes, both new and familiar. My goal is to guide students toward developing creativity and knowledge through the projects that they create.?
Susan Clinthorne Since receiving a BFA from EMU, Susan has enjoyed painting in her studio and at "plein air" outings. She works in watercolor, gouache, and pastels - switching from one to the other or combining. Her subject matter includes flowers, landscape, figures and still life subjects. She is compelled to try too capture the beauty she sees and preserve the essence. "I always feel I am one of the luckiest people in the world because I look at things from an artist's point of view. I may see colors in the trees that no one else sees or I may see a huge drama played out in the simple form of a flower." Currently teaching: Watercolor I & II & Exploring The Masters Workshop Series & Watercolor Painting I
Aaron Cole Cole received his B.A. in Art from Spring Arbor University in Jackson, Michigan. While at the university, he received top honors in ceramics for two consecutive years in a regional multi college art competition. After graduation he followed his passion for clay which lead him to co-found the Jackson Pottery and Clay Guild shortly before leaving to work with Pewabic Pottery in Detroit, MI. He is currently employed at the local Motawi Tileworks.
Celina Contreras de Berenfeld With Bachelors and Masters degrees in Art Conservation and Restoration, Contreras de Berenfeld is currently a visiting scholar in the Department of History of Art at the University of Michigan. She is also an accomplished artist and experienced instructor whose intellectual pursuits inform and deepen her relationship to her artwork. Currently she is offering a mixed media class that combines digital photography, fiber, and embroidery.
Jerzy Drozd Comic art professional, Jerzy Drozd, has taught the art of comics to kids and lead professional development workshops for teachers in many venues around Michigan and United States including: the University of Michigan, the Ann Arbor District Library, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. His publishing credits include Antarctic Press and Glencoe-McGraw Hill. Currently teaching: Teen Graphic Novel Academy NEW! & Graphic Novel Academy NEW! & COMICS: A PATHWAY TO LEARNING new! & MAKE A MINI-COMIC new! & DYNAMIC VISUAL STORYTELLING new! & CHARACTER DESIGN new!
Deb Esper Received a BFA and Michigan Teaching Certification from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan. "I began teaching with Community Arts Partnership while at CCS and discovered that I enjoy teaching and that it challenges me as an artist." Esper's primary concentration is Ceramics which includes hand built and wheel thrown work. Currently teaching: Potential Potters & Potential Potters for Home Schoolers & Wheelthrowing for Teens & Basic & Continuing Ceramics
Kristine Haddox Received a BFA in sculpture from the University of North Texas and a MFA from Texas A&M University?Commerce in metalsmithing. She taught as a college professor of metals, ceramics, design, art history and humanities for over ten years in Texas before relocating to Michigan. She has been in numerous exhibitions and has been the recipient of many awards for her work. Currently teaching: Jewelry/Metalsmithing I & Advanced Jewelry with Casting & Jewelry Making and Metalsmithing
Laura Jajko Instructor: Laura Jajko, VP Sales and Marketing, www.americanframe.com. Laura is a second generation executive American Frame Corp., the nation’s leading online custom picture framing company serving artists, photographers and value shoppers since 1973. Laura learned custom picture framing literally from the ground up, working with her dad at his shop from the time she was 15, then on and off throughout her college years. After earning a degree in International Business (UW) and spending many years in general industry, she returned to the family business as VP of Sales and Marketing. Her current focus is on product and service development, pricing, volume framing services, and consumer education. www.americanframe.com Currently teaching: The Fundamentals of Do-It-Yourself Custom Picture Framing
Patricia Johnson Pat received her BFA with a concentration in painting plus teacher certification K-12 from Eastern Michigan University, and a Master of Education, Art Education degree from The University of Toledo. She has worked as an Art Instructor for the Young Artists at Work Program in Toledo Ohio, taught painting at galleries in the Monroe Michigan area, is an Art Adjunct at Monroe County Community College, and is now teaching at the Ann Arbor Art Center. Currently, landscape painting is her passion, which includes oil, acrylic, watercolor, and mixed media. She maintains a studio, and is currently exhibiting works in several galleries throughout the state of Michigan. Currently teaching: Drawing Into Painting & Mixed Media Collage NEW!
Christy Kelly-Bentgen Kelly-Bentgen received a BFA in Painting from St. Mary's Notre Dame followed by graduate work at the University of Notre Dame and a BA in Art Education from University of Detroit, Mercy. Having traveled and studied in Mexico, Italy and Egypt, she brings a unique cross-cultural perspective to her work. A life long learner, she has continued her studies through diverse courses and workshops in fine arts, art history and education. Currently teaching: Mixed Media Workshop Series & Jumpstart Your Creative Engine: An Exploration of Process & Possibility
Daria Kim By creating art, I hope to inspire sympathy and provoke thought in others as I have been passionately inspired myself. If my art has moved at least one person's thought and feeling, I could not be happier. Not meant to be just abstract, cold pieces of museum-work, mine is meant to be like the surging waters of a river, like the blood that pumps and sustains your body, moving pieces of life that have been interpreted by me into art. "There is only one thing that I know, and that is that I know nothing." Socrates. Refuting my favorite quote from Socrates, I think that people can make something out of nothing, even if they know or haven?t learned about it. That is what I think of when I make art out of clay, simply dirt and mud. Art starts from a blank state in the mind, where its creativity cannot be seen at first. It cannot be learned, it comes from the soul, and its originality cannot be studied. Art makes something out of seemingly nothing, something only you could have imagined, a pure piece of art made from you and from nature?s basic building block of clay. My passion for art stems from this basic premise, something from nothing, and the hope that the only pre-requisite for art is a spark of creativity.? Currently teaching: Basic & Continuing Ceramics
Janet Kohler Received her MFA from Eastern Michigan University. She has previously worked as an art instructor and graphic designer. She specializes in painting and drawing, more specifically charcoal and pastel. She has exhibited her work at many locations across Michigan and in Colorado and Illinois. Currently teaching: Figure Painting I NEW! & Plein Air Painting in The Gardens
Kristin Kovak Received her BA in Studio Art and Art Education from Mercyhurst College and is currently pursuing her MFA in painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art (low-residency). She has worked as an art instructor with emphasis on drawing and painting for the last ten years and exhibits her work here in Michigan as well as throughout the Mid-Atlantic.
Kristen Kowalski Kowalski earned her BFA in Ceramics from the Columbus College of Art & Design and her Masters in Art Education from University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. She has taught and shown at galleries, museums & schools throughout Ohio, Illinois and Michigan.
Christine Laginess Christine Laginess is a local sculptural artist from Brighton, MI. She has a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts from Marygrove College where her major focus was ceramics and sculpture. Christine is the former owner of the Quilter's Shoppe were she also conducted classes in quilting. She has taught ceramics as an outreach teacher for Pewabic Pottery and is currently teaching ceramics at Schoolcraft College and Yourist Studios. Christine has a passion for art and loves teaching.
Brigitte Lang Brigitte trained as a ceramic artist in Germany. Since arriving in the US from Germany in 2006, Brigitte has been working at the Potter’s Guild in Ann Arbor, MI. Having been a full-time potter for 25 years and teaching since 1998, ceramics has always been a very important part of her life. "I am charmed by this material and I love to feel involved in its continuity and tradition." Currently teaching: Intermediate Wheelthrowing - A Focus on Technique
Cara Levine Received her BFA from the University of Michigan in Art and Design. She is originally from Los Angeles, where she first fell in love with clay during high school. At 18 she moved to Spain to apprentice for a ceramic artist. There she honed basic throwing techniques, but also learned slab construction, firing techniques, stone carving, and worked some with plastics and metal. While ceramics has always been Cara's first love, her own work has evolved into other mediums. During college she continued study of sculpture in Kyoto, Japan. Last year she spent time working in the studio of The Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia. There, Cara was able to collaborate with established and emerging artists on very non conventional art projects. She is interested in collaboration, invention and curiosity. Cara's current work is sculpture in fabric and paper. She explores ideas of permanency, repetition, illusion and humor through watercolor, paper folding, sewing and performance. She is always open for exploration and curiosity of material.
Colleen Malone Received her BA in Education/Arts and her MFA from University of Toledo. ?I believe personal artistic expression to be the oldest and fullest way that we have to express what it means to be human. The process of becoming a visual artist was for me a deeply emotional and intellectual journey. At first, it was a path of deconstruction. Then for me, as for anyone with enough diligence and more than enough desire, it becomes one of creation. We can then begin to reconstruct all that we have learned about our craft, about Nature (our true primary subject) and about ourselves that which we feel we can add to this mix and present to the external world (our ?audience?). As a guide to anyone timorous enough to take the first steps, I emphasize traditional methods: the fundamentals of technique and design principles, in the media of drawing and painting.?
Kim McGowan Kim has been presenting children's art programs since 1993. She continues to develop and expand her knowledge of art based programs by eagerly participating in a variety of ongoing continuing education classes. She graduated from Central Michigan University with an Applied Arts Degree in Interior Design and is a member of the National Art Education Association, the Michigan Art Education Association, and the Jackson Civic Art Association.
Inge Merlin "When I first sat at a potters wheel it was as if someone had turned on a light inside of me. Learning to use this fascinating tactile material with it's endless possibilities for form was and continues to be a profound experience. I throw high fired functional pieces designed for daily use and I construct wall pieces which represent a stylized interpretation of nature. I continue to explore new firing techniques, forms and patterns; and I am still in total awe of clay!" Inge Merlin received a BFA from Eastern Michigan University and has been a member of the Ann Arbor Potters Guild since 1990. Currently teaching: Exploring the Handbuilt Form & Tilemaking
Michele Montour A Graphic Artist by trade, Montour is also a successful fiber and jewelry artist. Felt making, wire knitting, silk dying, all come together to make beautiful works that revel in color and texture. Currently teaching: Dye and Nuno Felt a Silk Scarf & Nuno Felted Iridescent Silk Scarf & Silk Scarf Dyeing & Shibori Silk Scarf Dyeing
Karim Motawi Received his BA from the University of Michigan. He works with sister Nawal at Motawi Tileworks in Ann Arbor, where he runs the production studio and teaches tile-making classes. He creates tiles which can be functional entities or art pieces.
Bob Ongaro Studied commercial art at the American Academy of Art in Chicago. He has figure-sculpted for over twenty-five years, and has taught both informally and formally figure-sculpture techniques. He enjoys helping others discover the pleasure and joy in sculpting.
Russ Orlando Received his BFA at Wayne State, and his MFA at the Cranbrook Academy of Art. He actively participates in local and national juried exhibitions, and is represtented by Conrad Wilde Gallery in Tuscon, AZ. "Through working in organic materials like encaustics, beeswax, raw wool, and resin, I’ve become fascinated by what can be captured in the medium, how something physical can be culled from the intangible, or conversely, how the tangible leaves behind a remnant of having been there at all."
Louise Palmer Louise Palmer received her BFA from the University of Michigan in Ceramics. She is currently employed at Motawi Tileworks in Ann Arbor. Her interest in ceramics focuses on hand built objects and tile making.
Emily Parsons Emily Parsons graduated from Central Michigan University with a BA in Art and Speech Education. At CMU Parsons concentrated on creating ceramics and studied abroad in Italy to experience the roots of Western art. It is important to her that each lesson plan she creates will teach students about art criticism, history and aesthetics. "My passion lies in helping kids develop their own appreciation for art and having fun while making it!"
Harold Philbrook Performance and installation artist with a dual BFA in Scuplture/Performance, and Graphic Design from the Maine College of Art, Philbrook is also passionate about teaching art to others. The co-founder of the Blissfield Center for the Arts, Harold will be teaching UMMA workshops this fall.
Melissa Phythian Native Detroiter, Melissa Phythian received her BFA in Industrial Design from Wayne State University. After working in the board sport industry in San Diego and automotive industry in Detroit, she traveled the North Eastern US to do community service. Upon returning to Detroit, she continued her Fine Arts and Design education with the College for Creative Studies, where she teaches with the Artists in Education, Community Arts Partnership. Her preferred media includes 3-D modeling, oil painting and marker illustration. "To me, art is the backbone of the community. It is the common thread of human expression which brings us together when nothing else can. As a teacher, my goal is to inspire and be inspired by this energy. Art that makes me smile the most is made by those whom I teach." Currently teaching: Introduction to Oil Painting
Suzanne Poulton Colorado native, Suzanne Poulton holds a master's degree in education from the University of Connecticut. She has cultivated her skills and techniques throughout the years with ceramic classes at Northern Arizona University, UCONN and the Boston Center for Adult Education. She has taught various levels of wheel-throwing classes and workshops for the Boston Center for Adult Education in Massachusetts where she was also their studio manager for three years. Suzanne moved to Michigan in July ?07 with her fianc? and is the current ceramic studio manager and instructor for the Ann Arbor Art center. She enjoys making simple pots that aid and showcase her interest in glazing techniques. Currently teaching: Wheelthrowing 101 & Intermediate Ceramics - Wheel Thrown Projects
Alex Pratt Pratt has a BA in Studio Art from the University of Michigan and has been a member of the Potters Guild since 2004. He is an experienced instructor and is passionate about clay and giving friendly and enthusiastic instruction.
I.B. Remsen Received his BA in Art and Anthropology from Antioch College, and later obtained an MFA at the University of Michigan in ceramics. He founded his studio in Ann Arbor in 1971, and has been working out of it ever since, producing works of works of functionality, beauty, and excellence.
Dick Scheer After years in academia, he became the co-owner (along with his wife and partner Sally Scheer) of Village Corner in Ann Arbor. Scheer has been a well-known wine educator in the Ann Arbor/Detroit area for the past 44 years.
David Shkolnick "My work is committed to the study of human form and gesture, to which I have dedicated the bulk of my artistic learning and doing. Working in mediums today referred to as "classical", or "traditional" (clay, plaster, wood), I am primarily concerned with the fundamental relations between space and movement, mass and volume, structure-geometry and structure-surface plane; in short, with this puzzling, often perplexing question, as to what forces need be at work in a piece of art and how to set them in motion, in order for it to achieve organic-like properties and reveal itself to our gaze as ever becoming and ever changing."
Ron Sober Ron Sober is a wine educator, consultant and certified international wine judge. He has judged wine competitions across North America (including the California State Fair, Indy International and Michigan Wine and Spirits competitions). While living in Canada, he was a regular newspaper columnist for the Kitchener Record, an educator for the local college and was a guest speaker at many food and wine events. Ron now works as a Training Specialist at the University of Michigan. He also consults and teaches classes exclusively for Everyday Wines, in the Kerrytown Market.
Nancy Solo Nancy Solo received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Michigan, earning a major in painting, a minor in ceramics, and a teaching certificate. She later took graduate level classes in oil painting at Eastern Michigan University and has studied privately with a variety of artists, primarily in watercolor. She taught art at Brighton High School for several years, as well as adult education classes in drawing, painting and ceramics for Brighton Schools and also at the Chelsea Center for the Arts. She has also pursued a passion for art tile, inspired by growing up near the Moravian Tileworks in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. She worked for several years for Motawi Tileworks in Ann Arbor where she was able to participate in helping design many custom installations, including the murals on the front of the Art Factory. She also worked in her own art tile studio in Ann Arbor and completed a number of commissioned installations, including a community project for the Stockbridge library. Solo also participated in the creation of the Pathway to Renewal mosaic in Chelsea as an artist in residence. She has been a member of the Ann Arbor Women Painters and has shown her work in many local shows. Her most recent work has been in watercolor, but she also works extensively in oils and pastels, and enjoys experimenting in all media. Nancy Solo is committed to teaching the basics through an understanding of the fundamental elements of art, and also to helping each student discover their own unique artistic vision and ability.
Emily Stokes Emily Stokes received her BA in Art and English from Wellesley College, and her MFA in printmaking from Arizona State University. She has taught undergraduate courses in Color Theory at Arizona State, and maintains an active exhibition record. Using a combination of drawing and printmaking techniques, Emily infuses her images of transitional landscapes, landmarks, and people with humor and imagination. Currently teaching: Figure Drawing for Teens & Drawing & Painting Fundamentals
Joseph Van Kerkhove Joseph M. Van Kerkhove is an experimental printmaking and ceramic artist. He received his B.F.A from Columbus College of Art and Design and his M.F.A. in printmaking from Indiana University and currently resides in Toledo, OH. He has shown his work at galleries and universities in Ohio, Missouri, Indiana, New Jersey and Georgia. Van Kerkhove is a traditional printmaker with unconventional methods. By editing, slicing, and reassembling the prints and combining them with objects of everyday reality he creates new images. It involves the viewer as an accomplice in the work, since the fragments can only come together when the act of looking becomes as important as the act of creating. He brings dynamics in a two dimensional format with depth and perception of common forms.
Elizabeth Walther Elizabeth Walther works with glass beads, wire, sheet metal, found objects and polymer clay to form imaginative jewelry. Her former textile background (sewing, weaving and basket making) emerges in her wire and metal creations. Since 2000, she has been blending beads and mixed media into fun jewelry pieces. She teaches jewelry and textile classes for the Greater Ann Arbor Quilt Guild, Wayne-Westland Community Education and the Ann Arbor Art Center.
Sarah Winter Winter received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Eastern Michigan University in painting, as well as K-12 teaching certification in art. She has taught art to children, teens and adults at the Art Center, in the Ann Arbor Public Schools system and with Ann Arbor Recreation & Education. She especially enjoys working intensively with a single group of teens each summer through the Art Center?s ArtMakers program. Sarah makes art in many media - digital, 2D, and 3D; and has a particular interest in oil paints and art history.
Barb Yerace Barbara Yerace has been refining her glass-blowing and expanding her art into sculptures with bronze, re-used wooden objects and hot glass to create strong, visually compelling pieces. Yerace was educated at the Studio of Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York, Ohio State University, Pilchuck Glass School, Seattle, Washington and has a B.F.A. from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. Currently teaching: Bead Making I