AVA Faculty Members

Gregory Albright earned a BFA in Film from the San Francisco Art Institute. He was a founder and longtime teacher at the Upper Valley Waldorf School. Over the years, Greg has painted and sculpted when not teaching; now, when not painting, he can often be found building furniture, toys, and houses inspired by Gothic cathedrals. www.albrightart.com

Lynn Ambrosi, a longtime supporter of AVA, has been the owner of Lebanon Floral and Plants since 1990. She is leading workshops here for the first time this Fall. www.lebanonfloral.com

Gerald Auten holds a BFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Iowa and an MFA in Painting from Washington University-St. Louis, as well as a degree in Architecture from the University of Milwaukee School of Architecture and Urban Planning. He teaches in the Studio Art Department at Dartmouth College. His work is on display at the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, NH, through September 13, 2009.

Derek Bell earned a BFA in Painting from Rhode Island School of Design and works in sculpture, printmaking, and drawing. His work won first place in the 22nd Annual Congressional Art Competition and second place in The Artists Magazine annual competition. www.dbellart.com

Penelope Bennett was born in London and came to the U.S. to attend Hunter College and Cooper Union in New York. She has worked in design for several years. Some of her past commissions include an animated movie, various murals, and editions of graphics. Her works are in collections in England, Spain, Mexico, and the U.S.

Jason Berard earned his BFA from Boston University School of Fine Art. He has been picture framing since 1993 and started Yankee Frameworks in 2007. Jason finds the contrast between the sometimes mysterious process of making art and the craftsmanship of picture framing gratifying.

Todd Binzen is a painter, sculptor and teacher who lives in Strafford, VT. He works with all age groups, ranging from preschoolers to their grandparents. His projects promote creativity, collaboration and fun.

Adam Blue earned his MFA from the California College of the Arts; he has shown work in multiple disciplines. In addition to teaching, Adam currently serves AVA as Education Director. www.adamablue.com

Jennifer Blue teaches English at Kimball Union Academy and has been a lifelong practitioner of Pysanky. She hopes you will make it part of your family's traditions.Andrea Brownell

Andrea Brownell has been an active participant in AVA's stone-carving community for the past six years; she has been both an apprentice and assistant to Winkie Kelsey. She is currently completing her BFA in Sculpture at Colby-Sawyer.

Sam Carbaugh is a recent MFA graduate of the Center for Cartoon Studies and currently lives with his wife and dog in Vermont. Most days he spends his time drawing comics and reading. www.samcarbaugh.com

Patty Castellini has been teaching children's classes at AVA for several years. A multi-media artist, she has studied and apprenticed with many local artists, often working with children. She has exhibited her monotypes throughout the Upper Valley, including a solo show at AVA in 2002.

Gen Cole earned a BFA in Glass and Ceramics from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia in 1995. Since then, she has worked primarily with glass, both as a glass blower in France and for Simon Pearce in Philadelphia. For the past five years, she has lived in the Upper Valley, serving as the Executive Director of The Vermont State Craft Center (2005-2006), teaching, and creating custom glass art pieces for private collectors.

Margaret Dwyer holds BFA and MFA degrees in the visual arts. She works in several 2-D and 3-D mediums, and specializes in both traditional and experimental approaches. Her work has been included in national juried exhibitions and has been published in Splash 8: America's Best Watercolors, Splash 9: The Best of Watercolor, and How Did You Paint That? She has been an art educator for many years. www.margaretdwyer.com

Sara Dykstra received her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art. She has taught art classes for children and adults at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, MI. While a visiting artist at Dartmouth Medical School in 2005, she created a mural cycle commemorating the institution's history. Sara recently completed a mural series for the Grosse Pointe Public Library in Grosse Pointe, MI. www.saradykstra.com

Edward Fielding has been working with kids and technology on a Maine island for the past four years, mentoring robotics teams and teaching creative programming. He believes, as in "They Might Be Giants," that robots should ". . . obey what the children say." http://imaginecreateplay.blogspot.com

Johanna Finnegan-Topitzer was trained in bookbinding at the North Bennet Street School in Boston. Her business, Selkie Bindery, is located in Rollinsford, NH. She creates hand-bound books and combines her skills as a bookbinder and artist to create one-of-a-kind, limited-edition sculptural books. www.selkiebindery.com

Carrie Fradkin graduated from Temple University, attended Parsons School of Design, and took post-college classes at Moore College of Art and Pennsylvania School of Arts. She taught K-12 art, graphic design at the local colleges, art theory at AVA, and mosaic classes at the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen. Carrie began working in mosaics in 2003. She works at her studio at AVA, where she also paints in pastels and has a graphic design business.

Fay Gerber has worked locally with flowers and plants for the past 16 years. She is the owner of Woodland Flowers. She is leading workshops at AVA for the first time this Fall.

Roger Goldenberg earned a BFA from the University of New Hampshire and an MFA from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. Roger shows regularly in Boston's South End and Newbury Street as well as throughout New England. His work is in the permanent collections of children's museums throughout the U.S., including the Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich, VT. www.rgpaints.com

Dan Gottsegen taught for 20 years at the California College of the Arts in Oakland and San Francisco, teaching all levels of painting and working with graduate students. He also ran the painting program at UMass Lowell. He has exhibited nationally, including one-person shows at the Prince Street Gallery in NYC and the Whistler House Museum in Lowell, MA. Gottsegen's awards and fellowships include a Vermont Arts Council Individual Artist Creation Grant, the University Teaching Excellence Award at UMass Lowell, and a Ucross Foundation Residency. He has an MFA from California College of the Arts. www.dangottsegen.com

Henry Homeyer is a UNH Master Gardener, a lifelong organic gardener, and the author of three books on gardening. He writes a weekly gardening column for ten New England newspapers and has written for the New York Times as well as various magazines. He is also a gardening commentator for VPR.

Larry Howard ran a gallery and studio on Rocky Neck, Gloucester, MA, in the 1970s. He is a member of the New England Watercolor Society, the Rockport (MA) Art Association, and the New Hampshire Art Association. He has been a member of AVA's faculty for a number of years, and his watercolors were exhibited at AVA in 2008.

Aya Itagaki studied traditional calligraphy in Japan for over 20 years before moving to Hanover, NH, in 1964. Since 1976, Aya has taught calligraphy in the U.S.; she is the author of The Brush from Your Heart. She has been involved with AVA since its inception in 1973 and has had several solo shows.

Antoinette Jacobson earned a BA from Bennington College and a graduate degree in Sculpture from St. Martin's School of Art in London. She has taught French and art and is a sculptor, blacksmith, and filmmaker. Her sculptures were exhibited at AVA in 2002.

John Joline holds a BA in Studio Art from Dartmouth College and an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania. A specialist in cubism, he has taught studio art as well as art history and architectural design. John is a longtime AVA faculty member and had a solo show at AVA in 2006.

Anzell Jordaan is a graphic designer and art teacher, currently completing an MFA in Illustration with majors in Botanical Illustration and Picture Books. She trained under Vicki Thomas, a former botanical illustrator for the British Royal family, at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. Anzell's works have been exhibited in several major international botanical exhibitions, including the Kirstenbosch Bienalle in Cape Town, South Africa.

Winkie Kelsey holds an AB from Smith College and studied art at Harvard University and Dartmouth College. Her work has been exhibited extensively, including at AVA, and she is the driving force behind AVA's Stone Carving Studio and its resident artists, The Uncommon Chiselers.

Christine Kjier has been teaching young children for over 20 years and in the Upper Valley for the last 11 years. She graduated from Colorado State University with a BA in Speech and Theater Arts. She especially enjoys working with young children in exploring the creative arts.

Michael D. Kraatz holds a BS in Art from the University of Wisconsin and an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. He has been a roster artist with the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts for many years, completing numerous Arts in Education residencies in public schools. He works both in 2-D and 3-D and is particularly well known for his blown glass. Michael's work has been shown both nationally and regionally, including at AVA. www.kraatzrussell.com

Kiku Langford studied studio art at Dartmouth and worked as a special instructor in the Studio Art Department at Dartmouth in 2007. She has been AVA's Exhibition Coordinator since 2007. Kiku's work focuses on building personal relationships and community through the creation of art in non-traditional venues.

Mary Mead works in sculpture, printmaking, and drawing. She received an undergraduate degree in Fine Arts from the University of Wisconsin/Madison and an MFA from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Awards include a 2007 Artist's Opportunity Grant from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts. Mary headed Two Rivers Printmaking Studio in White River Junction, VT from 2003 to 2006. She specializes in both traditional and experimental approaches to printmaking and oversees AVA's printmaking studio, which focuses on "green" printmaking processes. Mary will have an exhibition of her work at AVA, September 17-October 19, 2009.

Polly Motley has been making performances and teaching dance since the early 1970s; she earned an MFA from the University of Colorado and is the recipient of NEA grants for her experimental video/dance pieces. Her work has been presented in New York by The Asia Society, Danspace Project, The Kitchen, Dance Theatre Workshop, and Movement Research at Judson Church. It has also been presented at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival and the Indonesian Dance Festival, among many other national and international venues. She has been on faculties that include the University of Houston and Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. Motley teaches performance-making and improvisation in North and South America, Europe, and Asia.

Murray Ngoima is an art educator and mixed-media artist who, for many years, has taught in local schools and at AVA, where her children's Summer Art Camps are legendary. She has painted murals, designed theater sets, and taught children's workshops in Boston, Woodstock, and Nairobi, Kenya. Murray is also Studio Manager of AVA's seven recently renovated teaching studios.

Robert O'Brien has worked in the watercolor medium for 30 years. Since moving to Vermont in 1977, he has focused his work on the landscape and architecture of New England. He has studied with James Whatford, Tony Couch, and the late Marshall Joyce, and travels annually to the south of France to paint.

Aline Ordman, freelance illustrator and artist, has a BFA from Cornell University and a BFA in Illustration from the Academy of Art College, San Francisco. A member of the Pastel Society of America, she is a longtime AVA faculty member; she has also taught at the Academy of Art College and Lebanon College. www.alineordman.com

Ann Peck, a resident of Topsham, VT, taught art for five years at the Kodaikanal International School in southern India, and also holds a Masters in Painting and Drawing from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. She spends her time between Vermont and India, where she works as a director of the nonprofit Help-Kids-India, Inc., starting schools for impoverished children and leading service-learning trips for high school and university students.

Liz Ross is a product designer and design consultant. Big Trike Inc, a company she owns with her husband David Westby, designs and manufactures custom snow globes for clients like Orvis, the New York City Ballet, The Metropolitan Opera and The New Yorker. The collection may be viewed at: www.bigtrike.com

Lia Rothstein has BA and MFA degrees from Boston University. She has been a professional photographer for over 25 years and has taught digital photography at several local colleges. Lia's work is found in many private and corporate collections, including the Polaroid International Photography Collection. www.liarothstein.com

Rick St. Hilaire serves as the Grafton County Attorney, the chief prosecutor and senior law enforcement authority in northwestern New Hampshire. St. Hilaire teaches Cultural Property Law at Plymouth State University's School of Graduate Studies, works with the international law enforcement and museum communities to publicize crimes against culture and art, and serves as a consultant to journalists and others investigating antiquities trafficking. He earned his BA, magna cum laude, from Columbia University and his JD from Georgetown University Law Center.

David Westby, as an artist, is often concerned with areas in and concepts of transition. He has worked in film, photography and painting. His work may be viewed at www.davidwestby.com and www.lucentfilms.com

C. Stuart White was a founding principal of Banwell White & Arnold in 1971 and president of Banwell Architects from 1995-2003. He has lectured widely on architecture and the environment. He currently serves on the Board for the Jordan Institute and has served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Environmental Studies program at Dartmouth College. He has been published internationally, and several of his projects have received regional and national design awards. He was the lead architect of AVA's renovation. www.banwell-architects.com

Seano Whitecloud has taught and practiced art making since graduating from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. He believes that each art project has its own unique expression and that crossing media boundaries can be exciting and important to the artist's creative process. Seano has exhibited in the United States, Europe and Africa, a recent multimedia work can be found online at: www.thegreendot.info

Elizabeth Wood has her BA from Skidmore College in English Literature and has been working with children in the Lebanon School system for the past 16 years.

Bert Yarborough is an Associate Professor of Fine and Performing Arts at Colby-Sawyer College in New London, NH, and has taught Painting and Drawing at Harvard University and other institutions. He has received two New Hampshire State Arts Council Grants in Painting, an NEA Fellowship in Sculpture, and a Fulbright Fellowship to Nigeria, also in Sculpture. He is represented by artStrand in Provincetown, MA, and McGowan Fine Arts in Concord, NH. www.bertyarborough.com

Michael Yatsevitch earned his BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, MD. He has been an active member of the AVA community for many years and is instrumental in AVA's Life Drawing Open Studio offerings.

Josh Yunger is a painter, printmaker, and musician. He began classes at AVA at age 14. He received a BFA in Printmaking and Sound Design from The Art Institute of Chicago in 1998 and had his first solo show at AVA the same year. His linocuts appear in The Gardener's Companion book series (Globe Pequot Press). www.joshyunger.com