Faculty Profiles
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Leonore Alaniz (fiber arts) “inquires into relationships we have with each other, with nature and the things we create and consume.” She is particularly interested in combining artisanship with yoga. She has designed fabrics for Weave Corp., Cynthia Norton Accessories, Deepa Thomas Fabrics, Gibson Palermo, and her own company, Leonore Alaniz Textile Atelier. She directed Hartford Artisans (Connecticut), a textile art center for the visually impaired, and has taught fiber arts after school in Western Massachusetts. She earned her degree in Textile Design from Germany's Master School for the Weaving Trade.
Shana Alexander (visual arts/children) has over ten years experience teaching art at West End House (Allston), the Jewish Community Center (Newton), Solomon Schechter Day School (Newton), Woodland School (Weston) and elsewhere in both Israel and Greater Boston. Her own artwork has often reflected political – particularly anti-war – themes. She has exhibited her sculpture, installations and video at Starr Gallery (Newton), Beit Ha’Omanim (Tel Aviv) and Arad Artists’ Quarter (Arad, Israel). As a singer, she received a fellowship from Radcliffe College for training in vocal performance. She holds an MAT in Art Education from Tufts University/School of the Museum of Fine Arts, a BA in Government from Harvard University, and initial licensure (grades PK-8) in Art Education.
Stephanie Allen-Krauss (fiber arts) owns and operates Green Mountain Hooked Rugs (Montpelier VT) with her family. She claims she was “raised on dye spoons, wool dust and fabric scraps.” Stephanie's great-grandmother, Philena Moxley, created stamped embroidery and rug patters from 1865 to 1882 at her shop, PC Moxley Dry Goods (Lowell). Her mother, Anne Ashworth, a nationally recognized rug hooker and freelance custom dyer, founded Green Mountain Hooked Rugs in 1981. Stephanie runs two rug schools each year at Vermont Technical Colleage and Vermont College of Fine Arts. In 2010 she received the Vermont State Governor's Heritage Award as best traditional artist of the year.
Cindy Arias (comics) is a comic artist and illustrator who has worked for Blurred Books and ProVockative V. She has self-published mini-comics including Wulf, a version of Little Red Riding Hood. She is also the Office Assistant at the Eliot School. She earned her BFA in Cartooning from the School of Visual Arts, where she studied under the direction of David Mazzucchelli, Jessica Abel and Matt Madden.
Beverly Arsem (fiber arts) creates functional and decorative quilts and fabric arts. She has taken classes at DeCordova Museum School, Danforth Museum, Fuller Museum and elsewhere. She is a Senior Associate in Construction Administration at Pinck & Co. and holds a BS in Architecture from Washington University.
Seymour Beckford (upholstery) started his apprenticeship at age 15 in Jamaica, doing both automobile and household upholstery. He continued as a professional upholsterer in a manufacturing plant there before founding his own company, MasterCraft Upholstery. Relocating to Boston, he worked at Majestic Upholstery in Kenmore Square. In 1980, he taught woodworking to children with physical and mental disabilities at Little People's School (Newton). From 1990 through 2012, he maintained Seymour's Upholstering, a small storefront business in Mattapan.
Ellen Berrahmoun (visual arts/children) has over twenty years experience in art teaching, curriculum design and community-based programming. She has taught art for our School Partnership Program at Conley, Mozart, Philbrick, Henderson and Winthrop Elementary Schools. A certified teacher of Visual Art (preK–grade 9), she has also taught art with Boston’s Arts in the Parks program, Roxbury Community College’s Kids to College program, Boston Children’s Museum, Boston Public Library, Children’s Hospital Boston and elsewhere. She has often worked with children for whom English is a second language, and is fluent in Spanish. Ellen is a professional flutist and has acted with community theater. She holds an AA in Music from Prince George's Community College (Maryland), a BA in Liberal Studies from Lesley College, and a Masters in Arts in Education from Harvard University. 
Terry Boutelle (painting) has been a painter for over 30 years, working primarily in acrylic and mixed media. President of Jamaica Plain Artists Association and an active member of the Cambridge Art Association and Fort Point Arts Community, she exhibits her work throughout New England. he has studied art at Boston College, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Massachusetts College of Art & Design and the Fine Arts Work Center (Provincetown). She is currently completing the Low Residency MFA program at Massachusetts College of Art & Design.
Celine Browning (fiber arts) works in various media including metal, plastic and wood, as well as many two-dimensional techniques. She has taught students from middle-school to university level at several locations including State University of New York at New Paltz. She has shown her work nationally, and was recently named Kingston Gallery’s Emerging Artist of the year. She holds an MFA in Metals from State University of New York at New Paltz, a BFA in Metals/Crafts and a BFA in Art History from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Maggie Carberry (photography, visual arts) is a printmaker, jeweler, painter, photographer and teacher. She has taught art at Dorchester Collegiate Academy, Winsor School (Boston), American School of Brasilia (Brazil), SouthEast Academy of Scholastic Excellence (Washington DC), Newport School (Kensington, MD), and at her kiosk at Faneuil Hall. She is a member of Galatea Fine Arts Gallery (Boston). Her art has been exhibited at Boston City Hall, in Brazil, London, and elsewhere. She has served as Coordinator of the Eliot School’s Summer Program for Children and previously as Summer Camp Director at The Wianno Club (Osterville, MA). She earned her BA in Art Education from Catholic University of America and her MA in Printmaking from University of the Arts (London), where she won a Marlborough Fine Arts Award.
Jodi Colella (fiber arts) combines design, science and social engagement, using a range of materials. She takes traditional handwork techniques to new levels of abstraction and complication, creating sculptures that take on biomorphic gestures and emotions. She taught sculpture at the DeCordova Museum & Sculpture Park from 2005–11, and fiber workshops at numerous locations. Her temporary public art installation, STASH, was on view last fall in the trees of Union Square, Somerville. Her work is shown widely, with recent exposure at World of Threads Festival (Ontario) and shows at Nave Gallery (Somerville), Concord Art Association, and Danforth Museum of Art (Framingham). She received the Pollack-Krasner Fellowship from Vermont Studio Center among other awards. She holds a BA from Boston University, with additional study at Massachusetts College of Art & Design and School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.
Sarah Coyne (silkscreen) designs, produces and sells handmade illustrated goods through her own company, Egg-A-Go-Go. She also designs and plans events for Small Craft Advisory and Bazaar Bizarre Boston. She has taught silkscreening to friends using her own kitchen sink and broom closet.
Leah Craig (visual arts/children) incorporates performance, printed matter, painting, drawing and audience interaction in her art, and is passionate about helping artists develop skills and articulate their ideas. She teaches visual arts at Mozart Elementary School and British School of Boston through our School Partnership Program; she is a Post-Graduate Teaching Fellow at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, introducing first year students to contemporary art and critical theory; and she has developed and taught an after-school art program for Tufts Literacy Core. She co-founded and co-directs Howard Arts Project Space (Dorchester). She was Gallery Coordinator for Bentley University, and won a St. Botolph Foundation Emerging Artist Award in 2012. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, with recent shows in New England, Las Vegas and Iowa City. She holds an MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston/Tufts University, and a BFA from University of Nevada/Las Vegas.
Alison Croney (woodworking/visual arts) combines coopering and bending techniques to create objects that encourage interaction. She teaches woodworking and visual arts at Dever McCormack K–8 School through our School Partnership Program. As the Education & Outreach Coordinator for the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver (Denver CO), she developed, managed and taught art programs for all ages. She has also been Wood Shop Assistant at Anderson Ranch Art Center (Snowmass Village CO), Catalyst Arts Fellow at Rhode Island School of Design, and Fabrication Assistant for Situ Studio (New York City). As Education Director for Red Rabbit (New York City), she developed and led interactive cooking and gardening programs for teachers, parents and children to foster healthy lifestyles. She holds a Preliminary License to teach Visual Art to Grades 5–12. She earned her MA in Sustainable Business & Communities from Goddard College and BFA in Furniture Design from Rhode Island School of Design.Dora Cruz (sewing) has been a seamstress since her mother taught her at age 12; her mother worked as a seamstress in their home. She says, “My passion for fashion is life–long. If I don't have a sewing machine at home I am not complete.” She loves to pass along her skills to children, teens and adults and loves to help people save money by altering clothes as they or their children grow or pass clothes to each other. She created custom costumes for Riverside Theatre (Hyde Park) for twelve years; she also teaches private sewing and embroidery lessons in Westwood and Boston.
Lucilda Dassardo–Cooper (visual arts/children) is a painter who transcends barriers of race, culture, language, national origin and religion to muse on universal themes, employing cross-cultural icons. She represented the United States at India′s 9th Triennale with her Veiled Presence series of paintings of sari-clad women. In Egypt, she painted Cairo streets overlaid with ancient imagery to unite past and present. Her paintings have been shown locally and internationally in museums, galleries and at art fairs. She has taught art at Mass Bay Community College, Roxbury Community College and Fillmore Arts Center (Washington DC), and led workshops at the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Art (Boston), Hamilton College (New York) and elsewhere. She also teaches yoga. She earned her BFA from Massachusetts College of Art & Design.
Paul DeVito (upholstery) graduated from Everett Vocational High School, where he majored in upholstery. He has worked for Borges Upholstery and Possick Upholstery. Currently the lead upholsterer at Melo & Sons Upholstering, he has been practicing his trade for over 20 years.
Marco DeVito and Paul DeVito III (upholstery) are upholsterers in training.
Nancy Dick-Atkinson (gilding & frame restoration) has specialized in restoration of gold-leafed objects for over two decades. She serves on the Continuing Education faculty at Rhode Island School of Design and is a member of the New England Conservation Association. She apprenticed with master gilder Nils Johnson at the Eliot School. She holds a BS in Art Education from the State College of New York at Buffalo and an MFA in Painting from Maryland Institute College of Art.
Teo Drake (woodworking/children) works with Blue Collar Artisans, a two-person company that creates custom steel and wood pieces such as belt buckles, lamps, coffee tables, desks and hand rails. He has taught martial arts and yoga to children for many years. For the Eliot School, he teaches children's woodworking classes both in our schoolhouse and through our School Partnership Program.
Sean Dunstan–Halliday (painting/visual arts) makes watercolor paintings and illustrations, lately exploring highly detailed animals and composite imaginary creatures. His art has been shown at Perry Rubenstein Gallery and SVA Gallery (New York City). In addition to his work for the Eliot School, he teaches painting to adults at Art Institute of Boston, and art to children at Brookline Arts Center, Arlington Center for the Arts, and elsewhere. He earlier taught at Wingspan Arts (New York, NY), Mary McDowell Friends School (Brooklyn, NY) and elsewhere. He holds a BFA in Painting & Drawing from Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA in Painting from the School of Visual Arts.
Jerel Dye (graphic narrative) is an artist and designer working in drawing, illustration, video and new media performance. His art has appeared in children's books, exhibitions throughout New England, comics and animation. He is developing his first graphic novel. He works as Media Arts Manager for Grassroots International and a freelance illustrator. He earned his BFA at UMass Dartmouth and his MFA at Massachusetts College of Art & Design.
Eva Eckles (fiber arts) says, “We used to visit my grandmother in Oklahoma every summer. She was always quietly making something, and she put these pretty things into my hands. At age 5, I made a cross-stitch pillowcase: God Bless this House. She taught me needlepoint, bargello, knitting and crochet all through high school.” As an adult, Eva joined Monday Night Ladies, a quilting group in rural Virginia. She has taught needlework to many friends over the years, and currently teaches at JP Knit & Stitch as well as at the Eliot School.
Daniel Embree (drawing) draws on personal symbols and experiences to create paintings, drawings, prints, artist's books, texts and live actions. Fascinated by the beautiful, incidental shapes of the human body, he uses gestures and dramatic poses to convey the intent and emotion of his subjects. He is particularly interested in negative shapes and lines -- the space around his subjects and the marks and textures that come from subtractive processes such as sanding, wiping paint away, erasing and scratching through surfaces. Embree teaches printmaking at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. He exhibits work in Utah and New England, including the Springville Museum of Art (Springville UT) and 13 Forest Gallery (Arlington MA). He graduated from Brigham Young University with a BFA in painting and drawing, and is currently pursuing an MFA from Tufts University.
Anthony Feliciano (comics) is an artist at Demiurge Studios and also a freelance illustrator and painter. His art has been shown at Fourth Wall Project, Boston Figurative Art Center and Lincoln Arts Project. He holds a BFA in Illustration from Massachusetts College of Art & Design.
Matt Files (woodworking) is Technology & Engineering Teacher at Duxbury High School, with previous experience as Assistant Plant Manager at New England Casket Co. His original furniture has been showcased in galleries locally and abroad. He earned his BFA in woodworking and furniture design from Rochester Institute of Technology's School for American Crafts, with additional study at the University of Copenhagen's Design School.
Ifé Franklin (fiber arts, drawing) creates textiles, drawings, photographs and video. She has taught Adire dyeing at Massachusetts College of Art & Design, the Revolving Museum (Lowell), Suffolk House of Corrections and elsewhere. She has taught art to children since 1995, most recently through Kids’ Day/MSPCC. Her art has been shown at Ethos Fashion Show (Wellesley), GASP Gallery (Brookline), Center for Latino Arts (Boston), New Art Center (Newton) and elsewhere. She holds a Diploma from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, with additional studio work at California College of Arts & Crafts and Minneapolis College of Art & Design.
David Fricke (photography/woodworking) is a carpenter’s apprentice at Wells Development (Arlington). He has taught photography at Betelem Parents’ School (Uganda) in a residency through Both Your Hands, and has assisted our woodworking teachers at the Philbrick Elementary School, Murphy K–8 School, and Sociedad Latina. He also takes photographs on commission for the Eliot School. David studied photography at Art Institute of Boston, and is currently a student at Massachusetts College of Art & Design.
Pablo Friedmann (painting & drawing) is a painter whose work explores color and narrative. He has taught at Boston University, Newbury College and Cambridge College, with additional experience at Emerson Umbrella (Concord), and through our School Partnership Program at UP Academy Charter School and other Boston Public Schools. He has also taught art in prisons and with disabled children and teens, encouraging emotional expression through painting. He has enjoyed solo shows of his work at Casa de la Cultura/Center for Latino Arts (Boston), Sherena Cedar Gallery (London), Polyforum Cultural Siqueiros Art Gallery (Mexico City), among others, and group shows in the US, Mexico, London and Paris. He earned his Masters in Painting from Royal College of Art (London) and his BA in Painting from La Escuela Nacionál de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado, “La Esmeralda” (Mexico City).
Julio Fuentes (woodworking) has taught woodworking for the Eliot School’s School Partnership Program at Philbrick Elementary, UP Academy Charter, Murphy K–8 and other Boston Public Schools. He is a Scoutmaster and Cub Scout Den Leader in West Roxbury. He also leads home improvement workshops for North Bennet Street School in conjunction with Boston’s Dept. of Neighborhood Development. For 14 years, he worked as Construction Supervisor at The Classic Group (Burlington, MA), a design-build firm focusing on high-end construction and remodeling. He is a graduate of the Preservation Carpentry Program at North Bennet Street School.
Kathleen Gaskin-Holland (upholstery) is proprietor of Decorator’s Workroom (Jamaica Plain), an upholstery shop, which she founded in 1990. She grew up in Trinidad, where her father was a joiner and carpenter, and her mother a seamstress and chair caner. She is proud to follow in their footsteps. Kathleen has received numerous awards for her contributions to Jamaica Plain and the City of Boston, including the 2009 Local Hero Award from Vinfen, 2010 Award for outstanding contributions to Boston's neighborhooods from Action for Boston Community Development, and 2005 Community Leadership Award from Spontaneous Celebrations. Kathleen first taught at the Eliot School in 1991 and 1992.
Erik Gehring (photography) is a professional and fine art photographer whose work has been shown at galleries throughout New England, including the Arnold Arboretum’s Hunnewell Building. Erik has taught for the Arboretum, Roslindale Arts Alliance and Hyde Park Art Association.
Michael Gleason (furniture finishing & restoration) has made custom cabinetry and furniture at Gleason, Hendrick & Devine since 1981. He made custom furniture and did antique restoration with Nils Johnson at A.G. Johnson & Son from 1972 to 1981.
Cristina Hajosy (photography, book & paper arts) has taught at New England School of Photography, Cambridge Center for Adult Education and Fuller Craft Museum. Her work has been shown at Aidekman Arts Center at Tufts University, Cambridge Art Association and elsewhere. Her most recent fine art project was shown at Carroll & Sons’ Boston Drawing Project and can be seen at Unfairest of Them All.
Elisa Hamilton (drawing/painting) has taught Issues & Images at Massachusetts College of Art & Design’s Summer Studios and Studio Foundation Program, at Harvard University Summer School, Artworks (New Bedford) and Arlington Center for the Arts. Recent solo exhibitions include Peering In at the Mayor’s Gallery (Boston City Hall), Welcome at Newton Free Library and Ordinary Bliss at SoPas Gallery (South Pasadena, CA). Her blog of ‘everyday drawings’ shows her delightful use of vibrant color through her exploration of daily experience. She is a member of Fort Point Arts Community and Chair of the Alumni Leadership Council at Massachusetts College of Art & Design, where she earned her BFA in Painting.
Pamela Hart (painting) uses painting and collage to explore color and figures. Her recent work explores innocence and loss between childhood and adulthood. She has taught drawing and painting at Brookline Community & Adult Education, and has exhibited her work at Bromfield Gallery, The Hallway, FPAC Gallery and elsewhere. She holds an MFA and BFA from Massachusetts College of Art & Design.
Dey Hernández-Vázquez (visual Arts/woodworking) is a teaching artist, an architect and a puppeteer. She has taught Visual Art and Woodworking through our School Partnership Program at Hurley School and Sociedad Latina, as well as for AgitArte (Puerto Rico/Boston), where she merged popular theater, visual arts and collective creation to engage people of diverse ages in community issues to further struggles for social justice. She has been an active member of Papel Machete, a workers' theater collective in Santurce, PR, where she designed and built puppets, masks and objects for street performance. She has a Masters degree in Architecture and a BS in Environmental Design from the School of Architecture, University of Puerto Rico, and a Certificate in Patrimonial Studies/Architecture Heritage from Universitat Pasquale Paoli/Corsica.
Amy Hitchcock (mixed media) is a self-taught artist with a degree in art history. She has been making assemblages since 2002. Her work has been shown at Fuller Craft Museum, Arlington Center of the Arts, and in the Salem Arts Association show Ode to Cornell: What Would Joseph Do? in conjunction with the exhibition Joseph Cornell: Navigating the Imagination at Peabody Essex Museum.
Ron Horion (seat-weaving) owned and operated GHNK Caning Supplies for 17 years in North Quincy. He taught caning for over 35 years both there and at local colleges. His fine craftsmanship has been exhibited at historic museums including Monticello, Sturbridge Village, Plimouth Plantation and Eric Sloan Museum. He has lectured at many local historical societies and clubs.
Lisa Houck (mosaics, tiles) uses color and pattern in ceramics, mosaics, etching and paint to create strong, vibrant images. The Boston Globe called her work “a crowded, cacaphonous landscape inhabited by flowers, fish, trees, numbers, raindrops, symbols and dots like in aboriginal paintings.” Her art has been exhibited widely and is in numerous public and private collections including those of the Boston Athenaeum, Brigham & Women′s Hospital, Children′s Hospital (Boston), Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Fidelity Investments and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. Houck holds a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA from Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts.
Jenn Houle (visual arts/children) paints and draws North American wildlife, focusing on cycles of energy in nature. Her love of nature stems from her childhood in New Hampshire, summers camping and winters skiing. She continues to travel to natural areas, most recently Baxter State Park, where she was inspired by watching moose. Her work has been shown most recently at 808 Gallery (Boston), Gallery 263 (Cambridge), Lynn Arts (Lynn, MA) and Lincoln Art Project (Waltham). She has been educating children in the arts since 2003, with experience at McGlynn Middle School (Medford), Linnaean Community School (Cambridge) and the Children's Art Centre (Boston). She holds a BFA in Painting from Massachusetts College of Art & Design, and recently attended the Vermont Studio Center on an Artist's Residency.
Jennifer Erin Hughes (book & paper arts) has taught printmaking, artists’ books, bookbinding and drawing for over a decade, including at DeCordova Museum, Muskat Studios, the Eliot School, and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, where she is currently Area Tech for Prints & Paper. She has studied with master printers including Judith Solodkin and Keiji Shinohara. She earned her BA in Art from Wellesley Collage and her MFA from the University of Iowa.
Beth Ireland (woodworking) has been turning wood and making sculpture for 28 years. Her company, Beth Ireland Woodworking, specializes in architectural and artistic wood turning. Her sculpture explores the idea of memory locked in objects. In 2011, with Jenn Moller, she founded Turning Around America, outfitting a van with a miniature wood turning shop and tiny living quarters, then traveled around the United States, teaching people to make wooden objects at schools and art centers. Beth has taught at Penland, Anderson Ranch, Arrowmont, Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, the Museum of Art and Design and elsewhere. She holds an MFA in Sculpture from Massachusetts College of Art & Design and a BA in Art Education from State University College at Buffalo.
Diane Ivey (yarn) has a passion for knitting, spinning and dyeing yarn. She has 8 years of knitting experience and has been spinning and dyeing yarn for over five years. She also teaches and sells her hand-dyed yarn, under the name Lady Dye, at JP Knit & Stitch and other Boston-area yarn stores. She likes to adapt the colors and exuberance of graffit to her yarn dyeing, and is particularly interested in finding alternatives to dye yarn and wool without chemicals. Diane is also Special Projects Coordinator for Eliot School events. She holds a Masters in Public Administration with a concentration in Non-Profit Management from Suffolk University.
Kymberlee Keckler (soapmaking) is a chemical engineer whose talents include bookbinding, silversmithing and soapmaking. She has been making soap since 1985 and teaching soapmaking since 1997. Her soap is sold locally at Fire Opal in Jamaica Plain and on-line at Soaporama.
Nancy King (woodworking/children) works for the Commonwealth during the week helping low-income children and families. For fun, she is an avid woodworker. A long-time student at the Eliot School, she now shares her skills here with children.
Kelly Knight (fiber arts) has been weaving since 1988. She has worked as a production weaver for Nantucket Looms, and in the studio of the late Margareta Grandin Nettles, where she wove large-scale wool tapestries and Swedish rag rugs. In her own studio, she weaves custom blankets for interior designers, and wearable hand-woven items which she sells at craft shows and fine craft galleries. Her work can currently be found at Left Bank Galleries (Wellfleet & Orleans, MA). She also knits and dyes fabric and yarn. Kelly is the Eliot School's Registrar. She majored in Textile Design at UMass Dartmouth.
Melissa Kulig (mixed media) plumbs ideas about women’s appropriate (and inappropriate) behavior since the 19th century through drawings that employ digital distortion and Victorian costumes. She teaches collage and other forms of art at Brookline Adult & Community Education and New Art Center, and private lessons at her Waltham studio. Her exhibition history includes Amazing Things Gallery (Framingham), Artist Foundation Gallery (Boston), Limner Gallery (Hudson, NY) and most recently accepted at Soho20 Chelsea Gallery (New York City). She earned her MFA from the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University and her BFA from Emmanuel College.
Natalie LaChall (sewing) teaches courses in sewing and fashion as Adjunct Professor at Newbury College, and has led children's classes in textiles, performance and fine arts at Charles River Creative Arts Program (Dover) and Camp Exploration (Southborough). She is a Costume Shop stitcher and draper for the Boston Conservatory, and has worked as a drapery stitcher and installer for Mary Bright, Inc. (Brooklyn, NY) and Costume Shop stitcher and draper for Opera Boston. Her fashions and performance pieces have been shown at Torrance Art Museum (Los Angeles), GARFO at the Visual Art Institute (Salt Lake City), Artpool Gallery (St. Petersburg FL), and elsewhere. She holds a BFA in Sculpture from Massachusetts College of Art & Design, with a focus in Costume Arts, and a Certificate of Textile Arts from University of Rhode Island.
Megan Ledbetter (fiber arts) is a photographer and fiber artist who teaches photography at Massachusetts College of Art & Design. Her work has been shown at Houston Center for Photography (Houston TX), Ring Cube Gallery (Tokyo), Photographic Resource Center (Philadelphia), and the International Stuffed Plush Exhibition (Asheville NC). She holds an MFA in Photography from Massachusetts College of Art & Design, a BFA in Photography from East Tennessee State University and a BA in Anthropology from Auburn University.Keith Lewis (woodworking) is a master carpenter/construction supervisor with 17 years of experience in the construction trades, a teacher and musician. He recently taught construction to at-risk youth as part of the LEEDS Platinum renovation of an 1839 church as the new headquarters of United Teen Equality Center (Lowell), and continues to teach workshops there. In addition to working for himself, he has been a finish carpenter for Shawnlee Construction (Plainville) and Castagna Construction (Newburyport). He is completing his training at YesterMorrow for Sustainable Design-Build Certification. He also continues to practice music therapy with mentally and physically disabled teens and, at SES School (Lawrence), with children with autism and Downs Syndrome.
Katie Li (comics/writing) has dedicated herself to developing her skills as a writer, artist and educator. Her literary interests include unconventional and international contemporary fiction, children’s literature, fairy tales, manga and graphic novels. She has received training by working in alternative education and therapeutic settings at Germaine Lawrence School, Project Joy, Writers' Express and Northstar Learning Center for Teens as well as Linnaean Community School (Cambridge). Her writing has been featured in Write from Wrong, The Nexus and Slateblue, as well as in performances by local theater company TC2: The Next Stage. She is a contributor to Zenith Literary Magazine's advice column, “Writers on Writing.” She attended Hampshire College, where she created her own curriculum in Creative Writing, Literature and Cultural Studies.
Ken Lindgren (wood turning) makes functional and abstract objects from trees that have fallen due to death, disease, storm or construction. He says, “My pieces are all handcrafted to show the beauty that results when people and nature are in harmony.” Ken's professional career was as a chemical engineer. A member of the American Association of Woodturners, he has taught woodturning at Fuller Craft Museum and elsewhere. He sells his turned bowls and other works of wood art throughout New England.
Kevin Mack (woodworking) designs and builds 17th to 19th century reproduction furniture and one of a kind originals at Kevin Mack Fine Furniture (Melrose). He also has worked as a carpenter from 1990 to today, building and remodeling houses. He won Best in Show at the Providence Fine Furniture Exhibition in 2007 and 2009; his work has been shown at the Concord Museum (Concord, MA) and is on permanent display at the Deerfield Museum (Deerfield, MA). He has taught woodworking through our School Partnership Program at Manning Elementary School and Sociedad Latina. Kevin earned his Diploma in Fine Furniture & Cabinetry from North Bennet Street School.
Sarah Magaril (visual arts/children) teaches Visual Arts through our School Partnership Program at Murphy K–8 School, and assists in our classes at Irving Middle School. She is a Gallery Learning Instructor in the Family Program at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and Community Walls Program Coordinator for Hostelling International-Boston, where she facilitates art curriculum for youth organizations. In addition, she works as Studio Assistant for sculptor Donna Dodson. She earned her BFA in Fine Art from New England School of Art & Design at Suffolk University.
Rachel Maguire (comics) teaches art after school at the British School of Boston through our School Partnership Program. She has taught art classes at Bridgewater Art & Custom Framing (Bridgewater), and designed characters, props and backgrounds for the PBS programs WordGirl and SciGirls at Soup2Nuts Animation Studio (Watertown). She holds a BFA in Illustration & Animation from Massachusetts College of Art & Design.
Jeffrey Martin (woodworking) owns Jeffrey Martin Fine Woodworking (Salem), building custom cabinets and fine furniture, and currently builds custom cabinetry and architectural elements for Kenyon Woodworking (Jamaica Plain). He has taught woodworking at the Eliot School and, through our School Partnership Program, at UP Academy Charter School, Sociedad Latina and elsewhere. He gained a decade of experience through employment with Walter Lane (Ward Hill), Charles Webb (Woburn), Mark Richey Woodworking (Newburyport) and Safeway Stair (Stoneham). He has studied cabinetmaking at North Bennet Street School and the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship.
Julie Martini (drawing/visual arts) is a visual artist whose work explores how science impacts our worldview. In addition to teaching at the Eliot School, Julie is an Instructor at the Museum of Fine Arts and is Boston Director for Artistic Noise. She has taught at UMass Dartmouth, Fuller Craft Museum, and MassArt. She has been an Artist-in-Residence at the Barbara McInnis House, through the Eliot School and hopeFound at the Kitty Dukakis Treatment Center at Shattuck Hospital, at Pine Street Inn, and at the Cancer Center at Massachusetts General Hospital. Her work has been featured in numerous exhibits and she has received residencies at Petrified National Forest, Women’s Studio Workshop and Vermont Studio Center. She earned her Bachelors degree in Studio Art at Carleton College and her Masters in Fine Arts at Massachusetts College of Art & Design.
Joetta Maue (fiber arts) is a full-time artist primarily using photography and fibers. Her most recent body of work is a series of embroideries and images exploring intimacy, love and family. Her work has been shown widely; she has shows in 2012 at Textile Arts Center (Brooklyn, NY), Oasis Gallery (Michigan) and Arts Place. She authors the textile arts blog Little Yellowbird and contributes to the Textile Arts Center blog and the on-line journal Mr. X Stitch. She is also an active curator. She received a BFA from Ohio State University and an MFA from University of Massachusetts.
Henry Miller (woodworking) founded and runs Community Architecture Lab (CAL, Inc.), a non-profit architecture and design studio dedicated to STEM education at the elementary school level. For ten years he owned and operated his own design/build firm, where he designed and built full-scale commercial and residential renovations and products for the national and international marketplace. He currently works at Olson Lewis Dioli & Doktor Architects (Ipswich). He has taught design and construction methodologies to college, high school, junior high and elementary school students. He earned his Masters in Architecture from Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute.
Michael Molinari (woodworking/children) worked as a carpenter and cabinetmaker for over 25 years at Scott & Duncan, F.B. Curry, Barnett Bros. and elsewhere. He represented the United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners throughout the country for ten years. He has taught woodworking through our School Partnership Program for COMPASS School, Fifield Elementary School and Murphy K–8 School.
Dan Noyes (woodworking), a professional wooden boat-builder, does business as Dan's Dories (Newbury). He has built and repaired boats since 1997 with Lowell's Boat Shop (Amesbury), Pert Lowell & Co. (Newbury) and Transfusion Boat Works (Ipswich). His work has been featured at the Wooden Boat Show (Mystic, CT), in Wooden Boat Magazine's Small Boats edition, and at the Antique & Classic Boats Festival. He earned his Graduate Certificate in Industrial Design from Massachusetts College of Art & Design.
Anthony Nunes (woodworking/children) has taught woodworking at Milton Academy, Agassiz School (Cambridge) and Shady Hill School (Cambridge). At Camp Shohola for Boys (Greeley, PA), he served as woodworking teacher, woodshop director, art department head and counselor from 1988–2010. He has been Academy Director at Orchard Gardens Pilot School, Assistant Headmaster at Neighborhood House Charter School, Teacher-in-Charge at Harrington Extended Day Program, and Acting Assistant Principal at Peabody School (Cambridge). He earned his BS in Early Childhood Education and his MS in School Leadership from Wheelock College.
Mary O'Malley (drawing) draws upon her fascination with nature's wildness and unpredictability in her recent art, in detailed, ornate drawings using metallic ink on velvety black paper. She teaches at the DeCordova Museum School and the Studios at Porter Mills. Her work has been shown most recently at Sam Lee Gallery@The Pacific Design Center (Los Angeles), Carroll & Sons Gallery and Miller/Block Gallery (Boston). She has received two Artist Grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and two Boston Art Awards. She holds an MFA in Painting from the School of Visual Arts and a BFA from Massachusetts College of Art & Design.Angela Outlaw (comics) is an aspiring writer and artist. She began her teaching experience in Colorado’s Summer Scholars Program, where she helped children achieve excellence in reading. By the time she graduated from Boston Arts Academy, she found a home among the faculty at Ellis Memorial House. There she played a key role in various programs from music and movement to comic design and fashion. As a manager of COMICOPIA, a specialty book store, Angela works primarily in marketing and sales for all things nerdy. She often plans events and attends industry functions, which have fueled her love/addiction for pop culture. As a writer, she is a frequent pundit on the We Got Issues web series and comic blog as an expert on graphic novels, fashion and women in comics.
Carla Pataky (video) co-founded and ran Ecocomunidad, developing education programs in Mexico with an emphasis on human rights, art, creativity and the environment, from 2007–12. Their pedagogical methodology, called Yo Soy (I Am), was implemented in communities along Mexico’s Pacific coast. She earlier co-founded Galatea Audio/Visual, where from 2000–07 she edited, produced and worked as director of photography for over 50 documentaries for Mexican public television in the context of Bulbo TV, a weekly program on border issues and culture. She has also worked as Program Coordinator at Comunicación Comunitaria (Mexico City), a non-profit organization promoting the right to information and freedom of speech, and with other human rights NGO’s. She has taught video and film production at Universidad Autónoma de Baja California School of Arts & Humanities (Tijuana), and children’s art and documentary production for Voces y Visiones (Querétaro). She holds a BA in Visual Arts (Film & Video) from University of California, San Diego.
Frank Pettorossi (woodworking) started as a cabinetmaking apprentice in Naples, Italy at age 14. After moving to the US, he graduated from Boston Trade, joined Cabinetmakers Local 51, and worked in architectural millwork shops throughout the Boston area. His experience as a cabinetmaker and carpenter spans five decades. 
Ellen Shattuck Pierce (visual arts/children) has exhibited her prints and wall installations at Francesca Anderson Fine Art (Lexington), Little Gallery Under the Stairs (Lynn), 13 Forest Gallery (Arlington) and throughout New England. Her recent work has explored contradictions of domestic life. She has taught and developed art curriculum at Park School’s summer program, Pierce School, Roxbury Prep Charter School and Nunavut Arctic College (Alaska). Through our School Partnership Program, she has taught art at Philbrick Elementary School, Murphy K–8 School, Irving Middle School and elsewhere. She earned her BA in Art and Women’s Studies from the University of Massachusetts and her MFA from York University.
Barbara Poole (fiber arts), a contemporary felt artist and figurative painter, creates handmade wearable art from wool, silk and beads. She has held residencies at Virginia Center for the Arts, Vermont Studio Center, Banff Center for the Arts (Canada) and Radgale (Illinois). Her work has been featured in solo shows at Bromfield Art Gallery (Boston) and Hera Gallery (Wakefield, RI), and included in group shows at Copley Society, Mills Gallery, A.I.R. Gallery (New York City) and throughout New York and New England. She holds a BFA from Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and a Masters in Art Education from Massachusetts College of Art & Design.
Carol Price (sewing) designs and sells her own line of women's apparel, pillows, drapes, backpacks, handbags and dolls. Her current project is making elegant purses and bags that incorporate material from recycled coffee sacks.
Robin Radin (photography) has photographed the cultural and natural landscape of Jamaica Plain for 30 years. Her work draws inspiration from JP’s diverse street life and the beauty of its green spaces. Her photographs have been published and exhibited nationally, including shows at Institute of Contemporary Art, Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Museum of Anthropology, Center for Photography, Marcuse Pfeifer Gallery, Nexus Contemporary Art Center, The Dean's Gallery at MIT, and The Print Club. In 2003, she was awarded the Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Grant in Photography. She has served on the board of the Jamaica Plain Arts Council for many years. Her photographs appear in Breaking Bread: Stories and Recipes from Immigrant Kitchens, a collaboration with local writer Lynne Anderson. She earned her BFA from Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, and her MFA from Massachusetts College of Art & Design.
Edie Read (drawing/painting) has been a working artist for thirty years and teaching has been an integral part of her practice for two decades. She has held positions on the faculties of Assumption College (Worcester), Massachusetts College of Art & Design and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. She has also taught at Boston College. Read’s recent work generates from her interests in the body and the effects of shaping space in two and three dimensions. At an Albers Foundation residency in 2011, she began to develop the work for her exhibition, A Space Opens Up, on view at the Danforth Museum in March 2012. Her exhibition history includes one-person shows at Hartje Gallery (Boston), Washington Art Association (Washington Depot, CT), Les Yeux du Monde (Charlottesville, VA), and elsewhere. She earned her BA in Art History from Boston University, a diploma from School of the Museum of Fine Arts, and her MFA in painting from Massachusetts College of Art & Design.
Elizabeth Rocha (visual arts/children) has done illustrations for Whootie Owl, Calliope Magazine and other publications and companies. Her costume and prop design credits include Behind the Mask Theater, Prometheus Dance Company and Company of Fools. She has taught art at Brookline Art Center, Lexington Preparatory School, Haggerty Elementary School (Cambridge), for Mad Science, Behind the Mask Theater Co. and, through our School Partnership Program, at Henderson Inclusion Elementary School. Her interests range from puppet-making and sewing to architecture and folklore. She has studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and Rhode Island School of Design.
Mario Rubio–Ospina (woodworking/children) retired recently from Park School (Brookline), where he taught woodworking for a decade to grades K–9. A graduate of the Cabinet & Furniture Making Program at North Bennet Street School, he designs and builds unique custom furniture for individual clients. He also worked for years as a commercial painter, with a degree from Butera School of Art.
Steven Sackmann (woodworking) has taught woodworking in Fenn School's Summer Program, and assists our School Partnership Program at Philbrick Elementary School. He owns and operates his own studio, Steven M. Sackmann Furnituremaker (Amesbury), creating high-end custom furniture, architectural elements and traditional restoration. He has also made fine furniture for Thomas Cummings Woodworks (Maynard). He trained in chemistry at State University of New York at Potsdam, and in Period Furniture & Cabinetmaking at North Bennet Street School.
Henriette Scherft (visual art/children) teaches art at North Hill Retirement Community (Needham) and the Art Loft (Newton), as well as through our School Partnership Program at Mozart Elementary School (Roslindale). She has also worked as a freelance illustrator and pet portraitist. She believes strongly that arts and crafts are an essential part of a child's education. She earned her bachelor's degree in Illustration and Printmaking from the Academy of Arts (Rotterdam, the Netherlands).
Asia Scudder (drawing) divides her time between art and sustainable landscape design. She is known for figurative storytelling as expressed through her wire sculpture. Her art has been shown at the 2001 Venice Biennale (in collaboration with poet Skip Largent), Leslie Powell Gallery (Lawton OK), Untitled ArtSpace (Oklahoma City), and has been chosen for several years for inclusion in Oklahama Visual Arts Coalition's Biennial exhibition. She is represented by Mainsite Gallery of Contemporary Art (Norman OK), MA Doran Gallery (Tulsa OK) and Pickard Art Gallery (Oklahoma City OK). She owns and operates Native Landscapes, a landscape design company, and previously worked for The Nature Conservancy in Nebraska and Oklahoma. She holds a Masters of LIberal Studies from University of Oklahoma and a BA in Biology from University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Robert Siegelman (drawing/painting) teaches at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, in workshops throughout New England and in his own annual summer program in Amsterdam. His work is in the collections of the DeCordova Museum, the Fogg Art Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. He is represented in Boston by Gallery NAGA. He holds a Diploma and Fifth Year Certificate from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts.
Joe Stanewick (woodworking) has been associated with the Eliot School since 1984 as a student and instructor. He learned cabinetmaking at Wentworth Institute and North Bennet Street School, and worked as a furniture restorer at Trefler & Sons.
Laura Evonne Steinman (mixed media/visual arts) has always made art with community members of all ages and walks of life, including for five years in Poland. She teaches art at Gifford School in Weston to students with emotional, learning and behavioral challenges; she previously taught at the British School. On weekends and evenings, she organizes community-based art projects and sews what she calls Colorful Matters. She earned her BFA from Rhode Island School of Design and her Masters in Art Education from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
David Sturtevant (painting) focuses on the urban landscape. He says, “My work explores the relationship between architectural elements and their natural and built surroundings. While many of my paintings are rooted in a specific place, they seek to examine the boundaries between realism and abstraction, emphasizing the visual impact of forms as shapes on the surface of the painting.” His paintings have been exhibited in San Francisco and greater Boston. He is Associate Director of Operations & Collections Management at the Davis Museum at Wellesley College.
Charlie Tardanico (woodworking) started his cabinetmaking apprenticeship in Italy at age 10. With over 45 years of experience in cabinet and furniture making, he has been employed at Scott & Duncan, F.B. Curry and Laing & Casson.
Peter Thibeault (wood carving) has operated a studio furniture and sculpture studio in the Boston area for three decades. He has taught design at Rhode Island School Design, Northeastern University, Wentworth Institute, and currently Suffolk University, UMass Dartmouth, and Massachusetts College of Art & Design, where he is helping to develop a furniture design certificate program in collaboration with North Bennet Street School. He earned his BFA at Rhode Island School of Design and his MFA at Art Institute of Boston.
Jamal Thorne (drawing/visual arts) first learned basic drawing, painting and photography techniques through his experiences as a street artist in the Washington DC area, which he later honed under the tutelage of Guy Jones, Eric Briscoe, Kenneth Royster and others. He is now a Post-Graduate Teaching Fellow at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, introducing contemporary art practices and Critical Theory to first year students. He has also taught drawing at both the Museum School and Northeastern University. He earned his BA in Photographic Media from Morgan State University, and his MFA through a cooperative program between Northeastern University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, where he received the Joan Mitchell Foundation MFA Grant award.
Jac Van Loon (woodworking) trained as a furniture maker in Holland, where he also attended college for interior design. With over 30 years experience in woodworking, he teaches in Wentworth Institute's Industrial Design program.
Susan Vannini (woodworking/children) has studied woodworking at the Eliot School and North Bennet Street School for over a decade. She now passes her knowledge on to children.
Diane Vezeau (sewing) has taught sewing, alterations and quilting at Newton Community Education and Snow Farm as well as the Eliot School. Diane also sews privately by appointment. 
Lynn Waskelis (mixed media) has co-taught literature-inspired art workshops at the Eliot School and elsewhere, based on the War and Peace Project, a collaborative art project. She is a founding member of JP Reads, a community-wide literary celebration, administrator for the Jamaica Plain Tuesday Club/Loring-Greenough House, and an architect by training.
Brigid Watson (drawing) has taught drawing and painting at Boston Center for Adult Education and Wentworth Institute of Technology. She has exhibited her work on three continents. She earned her BFA from Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, and her MFA from New York University.
Deborah West (sewing) has been in the sewing and fashion business for over 30 years. Owner of Dwest Designs, she has taught sewing at Robert Gould Shaw House, YWCA Aswalos House, for Family Services of Greater Boston's Teen Living Program and elsewhere. She has sponsored and produced fashion shows in the corporate and private sectors. In the 1980s, she co-owned Collage Ltd, an image consulting firm whose clients included Dover-Sherborn School, Carver High School and MCI Framingham. She is past Mass. State Director of the Make it with Wool Contest and has judged sewing contestants at 4-H Middlesex County Fair.
Tam Willey (woodworking/children) teaches at Mozart Elementary School and British School of Boston through our School Partnership Program. She is an adult adviser at BAGLY and Production Manager of The Theatre Offensive’s True Colors: Out Youth Theater Troupe. She teaches drums at Girls Rock Camp Boston. She plays mandolin in a local contra dance band. Under the name HandyTam, she has also worked since 2005 as a local handyperson in Jamaica Plain. She is a graduate of Massachusetts College of Art & Design, where she studied Sculpture and Film.
Robert Worth (woodworking/children) teaches art at Dorchester Collegiate Academy, and has taught art and woodworking through the Eliot School Partnership Program at Sociedad Latina, Science Club for Girls and Manning Elementary School, as well as Chestnut Hill School (Brookline) and elsewhere. A furniture designer, sculptor and craftsman, he holds a Masters in Art Education from Tufts University/School of the Museum of Fine Arts and a BFA in Sculpture from Massachusetts College of Art & Design.