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
George Anastos (summer vacation weeks/children) teaches art at Advent School to grades K–6. He has taught art to children for over 15 years at KidsArts, Spontaneous Celebrations, and elsewhere. George says, “My artistic skills are growing from my work as an educator. Teaching children gives me the confidence and strength to reflect on my own work and allow it to grow.”
Cindy Arias (comics/children) is a comic artist and illustrator who has worked for Blurred Books and ProVockative V. She has self-published various mini-comics including Wulf, a version of Little Red Riding Hood. 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.
Rebecca Arnoldi (drawing/painting/community partnerships) has combined her interests in art and nature for over a decade, teaching at the Arnold Arboretum, Harvard Museum of Natural History, Cape Cod National Seashore, and elsewhere. At Earthworks and the New York Botanical Garden, she has taught teachers to lead programs in ecology, botany and horticulture. She holds an MFA in Studio Art from Massachusetts College of Art & Design and an MS in Environmental Education from Antioch New England. Her art has been shown at the Schoolhouse Gallery (Provincetown, MA), A.I.R. Gallery (New York City), Arad Museum (Israel), and elsewhere.
Juan José Barboza Gubo (painting) is a painter and sculptor whose work has been shown in museums and galleries in Peru, Japan, Italy, Greece and the US, including Boston’s Nielsen Gallery. He teaches drawing, painting and sculpture at Massachusetts College of Art & Design, where he earned MFAs in Painting and Sculpture. He earned his BA from Pontifical Catholic University in Peru
Jonathan Bechard (woodworking/children) carves sculpture from wood and stone. He has exhibited his work at Kathryn Schultz Gallery, Open Studios at The Distillery, and The Carving Studio & Sculpture Center in West Rutland, Vermont. He has taught visual arts for Very Special Arts at Oliver Wendell Holmes Elementary School in Dorchester, and stone carving at George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum in Springfield. He earned his BFA from Massachusetts College of Art & Design, and is currently pursuing his Masters in Arts Administration from Boston 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). Since 1990, he has maintained Seymour's Upholstering, a small storefront business in Mattapan.
Chris Boginski (writing) is in the process of finishing his first book, a memoir that explores the influence of the past upon the present in everyone from himself to Camus. He teaches English at Suffolk University and earned his MFA from the University of Washington, where he taught creative writing and English as a second language.
Terry Boutelle (drawing/painting) has been a painter for over 30 years, working primarily in acrylic and mixed media. She has studied art at Boston College, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Massachusetts College of Art & Design and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. 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.
Laura Soul Brown (writing/adults and teens) directs Books of Hope, a community-based arts program that trains youth in creative writing and publishes their work. She has also conducted workshops and served as a writing coach for Grub Street's Memoir Project. An experienced writer, arts programmer, media producer and educator, she has taught and directed programs for arts groups in Boston, New York and beyond. She also hosts Griot House, a world music program on 106.1 FM.
Jeff Citro (woodworking/children) is a life-long carpenter and a recent graduate of the Cabinet & Furniture Making Program at North Bennet Street School. Influenced by the Shaker Style, his furniture seeks to evoke beauty through simplicity and sound construction. An associate professor in the Elementary Education Department at Hellenic College, he also Director of their Office of Social Ministry, where he helps students engage in meaningful social service projects throughout Boston. He has used woodworking to enhance math and science learning at Agassiz Elementary School. He also finds time to make furniture on commission. Jeff holds graduate degrees in both Counseling and Divinity and is interested in the role of creativity in a person's development and expression of the human spirit. 
Debka Colson (writing) writes short stories, poetry, and creative non-fiction. Her work has been published in North American Review, NEWN (where she won the 2005 Flash Fiction contest), The Maine Progressive, and other small press magazines. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing at Lesley University and is currently working on her first novel. An experienced educator, she has led workshops in group process, conflict resolution, fiber arts, and the creative process. She works for the American Friends Service Committee, where she initiated a youth empowerment program and gleans inspiration for her writing.
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.
Paul DeVito III (upholstery) is an upholsterer 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.
Helen Duncan (fashion design/children) brings her irrepressible creativity to bear in teaching a wide variety of skills, including design, sculpture, photography, video and all kinds of three-dimensional media. She is an artist educator at the Institute of Contemporary Art, where she works with Boston Public High School students. She also teaches at Somerville Public Schools, Lesley Ellis School (Arlington), Cloud Foundation/Federated Houses of Dorchester, and Cambridge Community Art Center. Until recently she was Artistic Director at Spontaneous Celebrations, where she was responsible for costume design, mask and puppet making in preparation for Wake Up the Earth and First Night parades. She holds a BFA in Product Design from Limerick College of Art.
Mary Ellen Ehrenreich (mixed media/children) is founder and director of Kids Together in the Arts, a multi-disciplinary after-school and summer arts program. She is art teacher at Meridian Academy and has taught art throughout the Boston area in settlement houses, alternative schools, after-school programs, for home schooled children, and with patients at Dana Farber Cancer Institute. She is a graduate of Boston University's Studio Teaching Masters Program.
Matt Files (woodworking) is Assistant Plant Manager at New England Casket Co. in East Boston. His work 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.
Cecilia Galluccio (woodworking) uses pyrography to decorate furniture and household objects with intricate, compulsive doodling. She sells her work on etsy.com. Cecilia also works as a paraprofessional with special needs children in Arlington. She studied Art Education at Massachusetts College of Art & Design and earned her BA from Lesley University.
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.
Gay Gillies (mixed media/children) has taught art to children privately since 2004. Her paintings, bronze sculptures, and clothing designs have been shown at Johnson Gallery, Cambridge Art Association, Clifford Smith Gallery, Mobilia Gallery, and elsewhere. As owner of von Henneberg Millinery, she designed and manufactured hats and accessories for national distribution to department and specialty stores. She studied art at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts; fashion design at Fashion Institute of Technology, Parsons School of Design, and Hampshire College; and dance at Merce Cunningham Studio. 
Michael Gleason (furniture finishing) 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/adults and children) 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 current fine art project can be seen at Unfairest of Them All and at Carroll & Sons’ Boston Drawing Project.Charlotte Halloran (quiltmaking) is co-chair of Proper Bostonian Quilt Guild.
Elisa Hamilton (mixed media/children) has taught Issues & Images at Massachusetts College of Art & Design’s Summer Studios as well as in their Studio Foundation Program. Additionally she has taught at Artworks (New Bedford) and Arlington Center for the Arts. Her work has been shown at the Drawing Room (Portland, ME), and Library Arts Center (Newport, NH). Her blog of ‘everyday drawings’ shows her delightful use of vibrant color to depict domestic spaces. She is a member of the Fort Point Arts Community and sits on the Alumni Leadership Council at MassArt, where she earned her BFA in Painting.
Melissa Hanes (summer vacation weeks/children) has taught art to children for seven years. Her paintings were featured in the summer 2008 edition of New American Paintings and she has exhibited in Boston and New York. Much of the inspiration for her art comes from habits and play experiences from her childhood: dolls, doodling on magazines, and braiding. She holds a BFA from Boston University and an MFA in Studio Art from American University.
Amy Hitchcock (mixed media/green craft) is a self-taught artist with a degree in art history. She has been making assemblages since 2002. Her work has been seen at Jamaica Plain Open Studios, First Thursdays (JP Centre/South Main Streets), SoWa Art Walk, the Arlington Center of the Arts, and the Salem Arts Association show Ode to Cornell: What Would Joseph Do? in conjunction with the exhibition Joseph Cornell: Navigating the Imagination at the Peabody Essex Museum.
Ron Horion (seat-weaving) owned and operated GHNK Caning Supplies for 17 years in North Quincy. He taught caning for 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.
Ashley Hosler (drawing/painting) teaches art at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and is Arts Coordinator at East End House. She exhibited her work in Maryland and Florida before moving to Boston in 2008. She earned her BFA in Painting and her Masters in Art Education at Maryland Institute College of Art.
Jenn Houle (drawing/painting/children) enjoys working in many mediums, including 2D, 3D and performance art. Painting is her primary means of expression. She has been educating children in the arts since 2003 and has taught art at the McGlynn Middle School (Medford), Linnaean Community School (Cambridge) and the Children's Art Centre (Boston). She holds a BFA in Painting with a concentration in Printmaking from Massachusetts College of Art. Her classes incorporate multi-media projects and utilize a multi-sensory approach to education.
Jennifer Hughes (drawing, printmaking, books) has taught printmaking, artists’ books, bookbinding, and drawing for over 10 years, currently at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and DeCordova Museum. She has studied with master printers including Judith Solodkin and Keiji Shinohara, and earned her Masters in Fine Arts from the University of Iowa.
Jen Ingram (visual arts/children) is a graphic designer for the Mass. Dept. of Conservation & Recreation, where she is in charge of Interpretive Programs at Walden Pond State Reservation. She has taught art at Hardy Elementary School (Arlington), the East Arlington Public Library, and Borderland State Park (Easton). Her work has been shown at the Cambridge Art Association, Bernard Toale Gallery, Arlington Center for the Arts, and elsewhere. She earned her BA from Brown University and a Diploma from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, where she was a Traveling Scholar.
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 4 years. She is particularly interested in finding alternatives to dye yarn and wool without chemicals.
Kariné Kadiyska (drawing/painting) is a figurative sculptor, painter and draftsman, and an adjunct professor at Newbury College and Massachusetts College of Art & Design. She earned a bachelor's degree in painting in 1999 and master's degree in sculpture in 2001, both from Boston University. Prior to her undergraduate studies, she received a solid academic art training from one of the best art schools in Moscow, and after finishing her graduate studies, she spent two years in Carrara, Italy studying marble carving from local craftsmen. Her work is in permanent collections at New England School of Art and Design at Suffolk University (Boston), Watertown Free Public Library (Watertown), and Carrara Academy of Fine Arts (Carrara, Italy).
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) is a lawyer and avid woodworker. A long-time student at the Eliot School, she now shares her skills here with children.
Katie Li (writing/comics/children) has dedicated the past ten years 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. Katie currently teaches at Linnean Community School (Cambridge) and is working on her first novel. She studied theatre at Boston Arts Academy, then 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/children) 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). Kevin earned his Diploma in Fine Furniture & Cabinetry from North Bennet Street School.
Julie Martini (drawing/painting/community partnerships) works primarily in handmade paper and drawing. She has taught at UMass Dartmouth, Creative Arts, Fuller Craft Museum, and Massachusetts College of Art & Design. In 2007-08, she was Artist-In-Residence at Barbara McInnis House, where she taught weekly art classes to homeless individuals in a wide range of mediums, including bookbinding, printmaking, clay, drawing and painting. Since 2007, she has also been an Artist-In-Residence at the Cancer Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she makes art with patients with cancer. In 1997, she conceived her first community art project, The AIDS Book. Over the course of nine months she worked with individuals living with HIV to create an edition of 125 handmade books that featured their writings. Julie earned her BA in Studio Art at Carleton College and her MFA at Massachusetts College of Art & Design.
Charles McEnerney (marketing for artists) has worked in marketing and editorial roles at media and entertainment companies for more than 20 years, including at HBO, Fast Company, ArtsBoston, WGBH Boston, MovieMaker magazine, the Seattle International Film Festival and in film, audio and music production. Since 2002, he has been host and producer of Well-Rounded Radio, a music interview podcast with over 15,000 listeners each month from around the world. He is also a social media educator and strategist for clients in the arts, healthcare, education and technology industries.
Matt McKee (marketing for artists) has been creating photographic illustrations for over 18 years. His award-winning photographs have been published and collected internationally. His extended formal education took him on a tour of business, technology and fine art, finally earning him a BFA from the Rochester Institute of Technology. He has served on the Board of the Jamaica Plain Arts Council since 2004, helping to produce Jamaica Plain Open Studios. Raised by teachers and now married to one, it was only a matter of time before he found himself in a classroom again.
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.
Randy Nehila (photography/prints), a painter and printmaker, is a graduate of Massachusetts College of Art & Design and a student at the Painters Workshop in Stonington, Maine. His work is in private collections across the US.
Ashley Oates (photography/prints) works with alternative photographic processes, drawings, sculpture and mixed-media installation. She has taught photography, foundation art, printmaking, puppetry, and papermaking at the University of Alabama, Watkins College of Art & Design (Tennessee), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a BFA from Memphis College of Art.
Annie O’Connor (visual arts/children) has taught art at Benjamin Banneker Charter School (Cambridge) and The Children’s House (Los Altos, CA). She did her student teaching in Stowe and South Burlington, Vermont. She is currently working toward a Masters in Art Education from Massachusetts College of Art & Design, where she earned her BFA in Painting. Her art work is a response to her surrounding environment and daily encounters through painting, drawing, and photography.
Jen Paulousky (sewing) designs and sells knitwear and other clothing through her company, Blue Alvarez Designs. She has shown her fashions at Rockin’ Runway, Craftland Providence, Seamless (Boston Museum of Science), and elsewhere. She holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from McGill University, with additional training at Rhode Island School of Design.
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), and throughout New England. She has taught and developed art curriculum at Park School's summer program, Pierce School, Roxbury Prep Charter School, and Nunavut Arctic College (Alaska). Her recent work has explored the experience of raising small children. She earned her BA in Art and Women’s Studies from the University of Massachusetts and her MFA from York University.
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/teens) 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 will be included in the book Breaking Bread: Stories and Recipes from Immigrant Kitchens, a collaboration with local writer Lynne Anderson, to be published in May 2010 by University of California Press. She received her BFA from Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, and her MFA from Massachusetts College of Art & Design.
Marlene Richey (marketing for artists) has navigated a 30–year career in jewelry, running a wholesale design business and a retail gallery and participating in hundreds of shows. She consults with artists nationally and internationally, teaches (including at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York) and writes the Business Savvy column in Art Jewelry magazine. Her book, Profiting by Design, is available from MJSA Press. Marlene won the Contemporary Design Group’s Designer Advocate Award for 2009. She serves on the board of directors of the Society of North American Goldsmiths. She received her BA in Art from Central Washington University.
Lynne White Robbins (drawing/painting) is an illustrator and visual artist. As an educator in the Boston Public Schools, she plans to continue to share her passion for drawing and the visual arts as a moderator/member of the Friday & Sunday evening artists’ group at the Eliot School. She earned her Masters in Art Education from Massachusetts College of Art & Design.
Elizabeth Rocha 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. And she has taught art at Brookline Art Center, Lexington Preparatory School, Haggerty Elementary School (Cambridge), and for Mad Science. 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.
Merav Rosen (woodworking/children) has taught woodworking to children at Newton Montessori School since 2007, and New Art Center (Newton) since 2008. She practices her craft in Woodworking Open Shop classes at the Eliot School, with additional training at North Bennet Street School. An accomplished interior designer, she has worked for Kitchen Living (Boston), W.B. Wood (New Providence, NJ), La Belle France (Menlo Park, CA), and Blumenfeld & Pinchuch (Tel Aviv), and designed children’s furniture and toys for Mirit Fisher, Givat Hashlosha, and other companies in Israel. She holds an AS degree in Interior Design from Canada College, with additional studies at Ort Technological Institute (Jerusalem). Merav believes that children love and need to work with their hands. Woodworking provides a great opportunity to satisfy this need. It creates fun and meaningful work, independence, and a great sense of accomplishment.
Maurice Rucker (summer vacation weeks/children) has been a visual and performance artist for over 20 years, and a teacher and creator of summer and after-school art programs for over 15. He is the former director of the Neighborhood House After-School Program in Dorchester and currently teaches art after-school at John Ward School in Newton. He is also a blues musician.
James Russell (furniture design) is a former IT executive and college physics and mathematics instructor who has been designing and building unique room and cabinet solutions for 30 years and making American period furniture for ten years. Jim uses modern computer tools like Sketchup to develop detailed designs and produce shop drawings for his woodworking projects. He is a member of the Eastern Massachusetts Guild of Woodworkers and the Society of American Period Furniture Makers.
Mitch Ryerson (furniture design/School Partnerships) is one of Boston's best known furniture designers, known for the color, liveliness, and light-heartedness of his finely crafted work. His public furniture graces Forest Hills Cemetery, Cambridge street corners, and (through his work with the Eliot School) the Irving and Sumner Schools in Roslindale. Mitch has designed furniture for over 25 years. His work has been shown at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Boston Public Library, Mint Museum, and Gallery NAGA; he has won an Artist's Award from the Society of Arts & Crafts and been featured in American Craft magazine. (Photo courtesy of Forest Hills Educational Trust)
Charles Sandler (woodworking) has over 40 years of experience in woodworking and 37 years teaching in the Boston Public Schools. He has worked as teacher, Director, and Superintendent of the Eliot School for over 40 years.
Carlos Santiago (sewing) majored in Fashion Design at Massachusetts College of Art & Design. He served as a Compass Program Mentor at MassArt, exposing local high school students to college and assisting them with multi-media projects.
Linda Scharf (yarn) spins sculptural yarns, weaves, and has a passion for ancient textiles and those who created them. Her goals are to offer deep knowledge in a playful way and give students the inspiration they'll need to continue learning after classes end. She shows and sells her handspun yarns, unique hats, jewelry, and fuzzy goods on-line at Stoneleafmoon.
Howard Shrobe (woodworking) is Principal Research Scientist at the Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a long-time participant in the Eliot School's wood shop.
Robert Siegelman (drawing/painting) teaches at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and has taught workshops throughout New England and in his own annual summer program in Amsterdam. His work has been collected by the DeCordova Museum, Fogg Art Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. He is represented in Boston by Gallery NAGA.
Joe Stanewick (woodworking/adults and children) 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/adults and children) has always made art with community member of all ages and different walks of life, including for five years in Poland. She currently teaches art at Gifford School in Weston to students with emotional, learning and behavioral challenges. 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.
Sandra Storey (arketing for rtists) is publisher of the Mission Hill and Jamaica Plain Gazettes. She is also an accomplished poet.
Laurel Stroman (dolls, visual arts/adults and children) tells tales of her life, hopes, dreams, and the world around her through dollmaking. She combines sewing, fashion design, fine art/mixed media, beadwork, and needle/fiber arts to make dolls and to teach creative arts to adults and children. She says: “My mom and I started out making dolls as toys for little girls. After her death, I began experimenting with combining different media and techniques and began creating art dolls. Later, I began focusing on the concept of creating something from nothing and using recycled items and found objects.” Laurel has sold and exhibited her dolls at the Women's Educational & Industrial Union, South End Settlements, and the Black Doll Convention. She now splits her time between teaching and designing dolls and wearable art made from recyclables.
David Sturtevant (drawing/painting) is an oil painter whose work is focused on the urban landscape, exploring the boundaries between realism and abstraction. His paintings have been exhibited in San Francisco and the Boston area. He lives in West Roxbury and works for Harvard Art Museums.
John Sullivan (woodworking) specializes in New England Federal-style furniture and clocks, featuring inlay and veneer. With over 25 years of experience, he has transformed his grandfather’s boat shop into Starling Furniture, in Braintree. He has twice been named among the 200 Best Craftsmen in America by Early American Life Magazine, and has appeared on New England Cable Network’s New England Dream House, building a grandfather clock and a Heppelwhite table. He has built reproduction period furniture for the Senate Reception Halls at the Massachusetts State House, and for many private homes.
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), a studio furniture maker and sculptor, has operated a 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.
Jeannette Tobin (quiltmaking) is co-chair of Proper Bostonian Quilt Guild.
Christine Tran (sewing) has worked as Technical Coordinator for Armani Exchange and as Technical Designer for the Boston Apparel Group. She has experience in both men’s and women’s clothing and is currently starting her own apparel company. She holds a BFA in Fashion Design and Photography from Massachusetts College of Art & Design.
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, Snow Farm and elsewhere. She returns to the Eliot School after a gap of a few years, and we are happy to welcome her back. Diane also sews privately by appointment.
Brigid Watson (drawing/painting) has taught drawing and painting at Boston Center for Adult Education and Wentworth Institute of Technology. She has exhibited her work on three continents, with solo shows most recently in Toronto and Singapore. She earned her BFA from Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, and her Masters in Fine Arts from New York University.
Natalie Whittington (sewing) has worked as a designer and in many aspects of the fashion industry, both privately, with her own line of cocktail and evening wear, and through Sabella Couture, Daniel Faucher Couture Design and Lisa Micheel. She has taught sewing, alterations and fashion design at Brookline Adult & Community Education, Stitch House and elsewhere. She earned a Certificate from the School of Fashion Design, specializing in French draping, pattern making and technical design. She strives to give her students fundamental skills and the knowledge and understanding that will maximize their freedom of creative interpretation and expression.
Dawn Wilson (mixed media, Green Crafts) has exhibited her art since 1984 in galleries and museums throughout the world. Working as a Graphic Designer, Girl Scout leader, wife and mother, her artwork is her creative outlet. She makes paper quilts, journal books, tin collage, and other objects. She graduated from Framingham State with a BFA in Fine Arts in 1989.
Shunsuke Yamaguchi (visual arts/children) is a freelance photographer who supplies images that provide the environments for video games. He has done photography for Nippon Sports Publishing, animation for Olive Jar Animation, and taught art in the Arlington Public Schools and Studio 221. His paintings, murals, animation and photographs have been shown at the New Museum (New York City), Somerville Theater and many other venues. He earned his BFA jointly from Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, where he was a 5th Year Traveling Scholar.