Danforth Art faculty consists of part-time teaching artists who are dedicated to the creative process. Click on the instructor’s name to learn more about them.
Angela Ackerman
Angela Ackerman received a B.F.A. in Illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design. She worked as a product designer at Hallmark Cards in Kansas City, Missouri where she designed cards, gift wrap, books, and related products. Later, she started her own successful design firm which included clients such as The Washington Post, Psychology Today, Avon, The Family Therapy Networker and Random House. Angela’s images have appeared on numerous products, including calendars, mugs, ornaments, sweaters, gift bags, tea pots, music boxes, home decor, baby bedding, stamps, photo albums, fabric, and social expression products. In addition to her Danforth classes, Angela currently teaches Design at the McAuliffe Regional Charter Public School in Framingham, MA.
Andrea Alyse
Andrea is a nationally known bead artist and educator. In addition to teaching both nationally and locally, she has won numerous beading contests. Among these contests, most notably, is one sponsored by the country’s most popular bead magazine, Bead and Button Magazine. Andrea’s formal education includes a graduate M.B.A. from Babson College and an undergraduate degree in Business, as well as an undergraduate degree in Art. She has studied extensively under numerous nationally known bead artists. Andrea’s work can be seen in several galleries in the Boston area.
Adria Arch
Adria Arch is a painter whose work is represented in many corporate and private collections including the DeCordova Museum, Fidelity Corporation, the Boston Public Library, the Federal Bank of Boston, and Hale and Dorr, LLP. Adria has taught at venues in and around Boston including Montserrat College of Art, Endicott College, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and the DeCordova Museum of Art. She is also a Golden Acrylic Paint Working Artist. Adria recently completed a public wall installation at Lesley University. She will have a solo show at the Bromfield Gallery in October of 2011 and her work will be featured at the Art Complex Museum in Duxbury, MA, in 2013. www.adriaarch.com.
Ellie Bento
Ellie received her B.A. from Framingham State College where she majored in Painting and minored in Education and Economics. She has taught a wide variety of children’s classes at Danforth Art and other art centers in the Boston Area. Ellie is a working artist and creates and sells unique hand painted crafts from her home outside of Boston.
Carol Davis Blackwell
A Boston artist, Carol works in several mediums: printmaking, collage, painting, and box assemblage. Her work has been exhibited at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School, First Expressions Gallery, Danforth Art, Harvard University’s Radcliffe Institute, Perkin’s Gallery, Brickbottom Studios, Heywood Gallery, Nave Gallery, DeCordova Museum School Gallery, Newton Library, Art 3 Gallery, Clark House Gallery, and at Ste Marie del Pi, in Barcelona, Spain.
Her work is in the collection of Massachusetts General Hospital, JCI Communications, Danforth Art, the Elinor M. and Arthur Chovnick Collection, Metrowest Hospital Collection, Arax Corporation, and the Lydenberg Collection. Florida collector Darryl T. Clark owns paintings, boxes, and prints, as does Maine collector Linda Gordon. She is represented by ART 3 Gallery, Manchester, NH, and Clark House Gallery, in Bangor, ME. Most recently, the Boston Athenaeum acquired one of the paintings from her on-going series “Line/Mind,” as well as two other collage paintings. www.cblackwellart.com.
Wilber Blair
In sharing his varied experiences and passions for the visual arts, Wilber hopes to both encourage and challenge each student on their very individual journeys. After earning a B.F.A. in painting at Boston University in 1974, he continued his studies, earning an M.F.A. in painting from the University of Michigan in 1978. Working in NYC at the Museum of Modern Art retail stores, freelance commercial work, and a career in art and antique restoration are a few of Wilber’s experiences over the years. Painting and teaching are certainly his most rewarding work, though. He has taught at Montserrat College of Art since 2003 and Danforth Art since 2006.
Catherine Carter
Catherine Carter has taught drawing and painting to beginners, graduate students, and K-12 art teachers in the Metrowest Boston area for the past 10 years. She is currently an instructor at the Danforth School of Art, Framingham State University, and the Worcester Art Museum. She holds a B.A. from Lesley University and an M.F.A. from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Catherine’s paintings have been on view at national and international venues including the United States Embassies in Cameroon and Oman through the Art In Embassies Program. She is the recipient of a grant from the St. Botolph Club Foundation, and her work is held in numerous public and corporate collections including the Boston Public Library’s Print Department. She lives in Holliston. CatherineCarterArt.com and CarterTeaching.blogspot.com.
Caroline Cockrill
Caroline received her B.F.A. in Ceramics from Massachusetts College of Art in 1967. Since then, besides marriage and two children, she has been building a studio, teaching and making pottery. Caroline works in a variety of materials from stoneware to porcelain, both slab and wheel work. She has taught at the Holliston after-school program and Danforth Art. Caroline exhibits at local craft fairs and is a long time member of the Clever Hand Gallery co-op in Wellesley, MA. Besides painting on pots, she does watercolors, pastels and oils, and sells some of her paintings in galleries as well. www.cleverhandgallery.com.
Jodi Colella
Jodi Colella is a mixed media sculptor who creates abstractions of natural forms, transforming ordinary materials and traditional needle art techniques into unexpected objects that both attract and repel. She received a B.A. from Boston University and studied at Massachusetts College of Art and School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She has taught fiber workshops at The DeCordova Museum School in Lincoln, MA, Surface Design Association National Conferences, Society for Contemporary Craft and several private venues. Her award-winning work is in many private collections and has been in national exhibitions including FiberPhiladelphia 2012, Philadelphia, PA; The Textile Museum, Washington, D.C.; The Textile Center, Minneapolis, MN; Eastern Michigan University, Ipsilanti, MI; New Art Center, Newton, MA; NK Gallery, SOWA, Boston, MA; and Danforth Art, Framingham, MA. She has been featured in publications including Huffington Post Art and Culture, BU Today, 500 Felt Objects by Lark Publications, Making the Art Seen and World of Threads; and a recipient of a Pollack Krasner Artist Fellowship Vermont Studio Center and a 2012 Somerville Arts Council Fellowship Award.
Robert Collins
Bob received his B.F.A. and M.F.A. in Painting from Boston University. He began his career as an industrial and commercial designer and illustrator, and now paints and teaches full time. Bob has taught at Boston University, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, and the Brookline Art Center. In addition to Danforth Art, he is an adjunct faculty member at Rhode Island College and is currently the anatomy instructor at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Bob has exhibited throughout New England at galleries including the Bernard Toale Gallery and the Bromfield Gallery in Boston, at the DeBloise Gallery in Newport, RI, and as a New England Currents artist at Danforth Art. His work is included in many private and corporate collections including Hallmark Inc., Sears Roebuck & Co., and AMI/Verilyte Corporation. Bob was inducted into Who’s Who in America 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008 for contributions in the areas of Painting and Industrial Design. www.robertcollinspaintings.com.
Marc Cote
Marc Cote is a professor of studio art at Framingham State University and currently serves as the Chair of the Art and Music Department there. He is a Board Member and former President of the Boston Printmakers, an international artists group. He also sits on the Board of Danforth Art in Framingham. Cote received his B.F.A. from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA. He earned his M.F.A. from the University of Connecticut in Storrs. Cote’s solo shows include the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, Poland, the Conwell Gallery in Provincetown, the Perrin Gallery in Brookline, the Kingston Gallery in Boston, the Amazing Things Art Center in Framingham, and Bentley College in Waltham. He has been juried into numerous group exhibitions in local, national, and international venues such as the 13 Forest Gallery in Arlington, the International Print Center of New York, William Patterson University in NJ, Louisiana State University, the Santa Cruz County Art Museum in CA, and the Kyoto International Woodprint Association in Japan.
Jill Curtis
Jill earned her B.F.A. in Painting and Art History from Framingham State College. She has taught at various art institutions in the Boston area including the Worcester Art Museum, the Arlington Center for the Arts, and the Southborough Art Center. Currently, Jill teaches children’s classes and runs the Birthday Party Workshop Program for Danforth Art. In her spare time Jill plays the banjo and paints.
Lynne Damianos
Lynne Damianos of Damianos Photography specializes in architectural, product and people photography for business, with over 30 years experience in the field. She received her B.S. in Photography from RIT, and has received numerous image awards. She teaches at the Hopkinton Center for the Arts, Assabet After Dark, Keefe Tech and in her studio, plus presents photography seminars throughout New England. Lynne has published two books and now helps other authors get publishing. She has developed a line of products to aid photographers and videographers in achieving accurate color/white balance. Visit DamianosPhotography.com, DamianosPublishing.com and DigiGreyShop.com for more information.
Leigh Faramarzpour
Leigh holds an M.F.A. from Massachusetts College of Art and an M.A. from Framingham State College. She has worked as a professional artist, fine artist and teacher for over 35 years. Her professional experience includes work in the commercial art field, directorships, and public and private commissions from portraits to wall murals. Her art work has been exhibited at Danforth Art, DeCordova Museum, Concord Art Association, Jam Gallery on Newbury Street, The Boston Arts Festival, and in numerous exhibitions in Jamaica Plain, Brookline and MetroWest over the past 20 years. She has taught privately, at the Art Institute of Boston, and in the public schools of the MetroWest area in both art and special needs. The creation of original art curriculum and its importance to special needs populations have been of great importance to Leigh over her teaching career.
Nan Hass Feldman
Nan received her B.F.A. from SUNY at Buffalo and completed an M.A. in painting at Goddard College and an M.F.A. at Vermont College. She has taught at a variety of art institutions including the Worcester Art Museum, the DeCordova Museum, and Danforth Art (which she helped found) as well as Framingham State College. For the past five years Nan has also taught painting in France, a source of inspiration for many of her recent landscapes. Nan works in a wide range of mediums such as painting, serigraphy, collography, and collage. Over the past thirty years she has had twenty-eight one or two-person shows, and received numerous awards on the national, state, and local levels. Nan’s work is represented in numerous corporate and private collections throughout the United States, Japan, and France. www.nanhassfeldman.com.
Robert Freeman
Robert Freeman has been showing nationally for over 30 years, and has been included in the collections of the National Center for African American Artists, Boston Public Library, Brown University, DeCordova Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
In addition to numerous gallery shows, his paintings have been featured in exhibitions at DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA, Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA.
He earned his B.F.A. and M.F.A. from Boston University. In 1997 he earned Boston University’s Distinguished Graduate Award.
Known for his vivid and powerful figurative paintings, Robert Freeman has traditionally focused on the interactions between people in his work. In couples and crowds, the characters in his paintings betray their emotions with expressive faces and body language. Skillful, brave use of color and gesture are the trademark of Freeman's work. www.robertfreemanart.com.
Nancy Galligan
Nancy Galligan has been a professional, freelance calligrapher for over 20 years and a recent teacher at the DeCordova Museum School. She is an active member of Masscribes, the local guild for lettering artists, and she has exhibited her work in student and juried shows at deCordova and with the guild. Her clients include Wellesley College and Boston College. In 2010, she was invited by Masscribes, host of the annual International Gathering of Lettering Artists, to be one of the artists to create a piece of work for an exhibit regarding the songs of singer/songwriter Cheryl Wheeler, which is found in the book, NICE RENDITION: Cheryl Wheeler’s Lyrics in Calligraphy. Nancy holds a B.A. from Boston College.
Howard Gerstein
Howard has been making art since childhood, and it continues to be a passion. He received his B.F.A. from the University of Cincinnati and has been working in clay since 1985. Howard currently teaches ceramics at Mudflat Studio, Boston University (since 1993), and Danforth Art. His work is included in the recently published Lark Book 500 Animals in Clay, and was chosen for the juried show “The State of Clay, 2007.”
Melanie Gillis
Melanie Gillis earned a B.F.A. in graphic design from Boston University, completed a Graduate Post Baccalaureate Program in Initial Licensure at Bridgewater State College, and is licensed to teach grades K - 12. During the school year Melanie teaches art at Sharon Middle School. She continues to add to her education, recently taking graduate level courses in Ceramics and 3D Design & Animation, and her latest explorations are into ceramics and textiles. When she isn’t in the studio creating or teaching, Melanie is often off on a photography assignment: www.melaniegillisphotography.com.
Dara Goldman
Dara Goldman received a bachelor’s degree in fine art and art history from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. A freelance illustrator for the last 20 years, her spirited artwork has appeared in numerous publications from Your Big Back Yard Magazine to the New York Times. She has illustrated 18 children’s books and written and illustrated four. The Hiccup Cure was translated into six different languages and Warm At Home received a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly. To inspire children, Dara also visits schools and libraries to show children step-by-step what it takes to put together a picture book. www.daragoldman.
Jane Goldman
Jane Goldman describes herself as a “lyrical realist” who works from a combination of free association and direct observation. As a painter, printmaker, and public installation artist, her influences include her home state of Texas, which she sees as a land of light and shadow, and flatness and air. Her inspiration comes from the natural world—fauna, flora, weather, and water. Goldman received her B.A. from Smith College and her M.F.A. from the University of Wisconsin. In 1987, Goldman co-founded Mixit Studio, in Somerville, MA, with artist Catherine Kernan. Her public art installations include three aquatic-themed terrazzo floors at Logan Airport. She has taught at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, the University of California Los Angeles, Rice University, and the University of Hartford, and she has also been a visiting artist at Harvard University and Artist Proof, South Africa. www.janegoldmanartist.com. Now on exhibition at the Danforth through November 4, 2012.
Jason Gura
Jason has a diploma in studio art from the School of the Museum of Fine Art, Boston, and a B.S. in psychology from Boston University. He also studied illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence. After a number of years in Web design, doing commissions as a freelance artist, and doing fine arts research, he returned to school and recently received an M.F.A. in painting from the University of The Arts in Philadelphia. His work has been exhibited in New York and Boston. Jason currently lives in Boston.
Debbie Hagan
Debbie received an M.F.A. in creative nonfiction from Goucher College, studying under Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tom French. She was editor-in-chief Art New England magazine, managing editor of New England Home magazine, and editor-in-chief of Preview Art magazine. For a decade she ran her own writing, editing, and art marketing firm, Hagan Creative Arts, and she regularly wrote for Boston Globe Magazine. She is the former marketing director and show manager of Artexpo NY and LA, and co-founder of the International Gallery Invitational show in Chicago She is currently Director of Marketing & Communications at the Danforth.
Lisa Houck
Lisa invents new ways to play with color and patterns as she works in watercolor, oil on wood, ceramics, mosaics and etching. She graduated from Rhode Island School of Design (B.F.A.) and Tufts University/School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (M.F.A.). Her artwork has been exhibited widely and is in numerous public and private collections, including the Boston Athenaeum and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Cheska Komissar
Cheska Komissar earned her undergraduate and master degrees from Boston University. She teaches a variety of children’s ceramics classes as well as children’s workshops. Cheska is a working potter.
Anne-Marie Z. Kott
Anne-Marie Z. Kott is a ceramic artist and teacher who lives and works in Dover, Massachusetts. Anne-Marie holds a B.F.A. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and an M.S. in Art Education from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston. Anne-Marie has worked as a ceramic artist and a teacher in the Boston area for years, having taught in local public and private schools and art centers as well as the Potter’s Shop and School. Anne-Marie’s sculptural ceramic work is shown in galleries throughout Massachusetts.
Ron Krouk
Ron holds an M.F.A. in Printmaking and Painting from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts/Tufts University and a B.A. from Brandeis University where he studied printmaking with Michael Mazur. He has taught at Mass Art and the Museum School and has twice in his life left and then returned to studio art. His prints are mostly still lives and interior spaces and his paintings often include interiors and buildingscapes. As a teacher he is especially interested in art and visual perception and in helping people use what they already know to explore what inspires them at the same time as they learn the basics.
Aija Kusins
Aija Graduated with a B.F.A. in Textile Design from University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. She works with various aspects of textile design, weaving, color and prints. Since 1977 she has designed high-end, hand woven apparel and upholstery as well as supervised a specialty company that produces fabrics. In 1991 Aija began freelancing work making machine woven, high-end fabrics for such companies as Kravet, Beacon Hill and Schumacher. As well, she is the colorist for Brookline Textiles. Aija has taught weaving and craft classes to all ages and loves to see the joy a person has when they make a piece. With her own work she is fascinated with color; what color does and how color changes.
David LaPierre
David LaPierre has been working in clay for more than 35 years. He received his B.F.A. from the University of Connecticut after which he apprenticed in pottery with Jim Cresswell in Milton Keynes, England. David set up a clay program for teens of the Navaho Nation in Window Rock, Arizona, where he worked for four years. He also set up a production pottery studio for a business in Curacao, where he streamlined the business creating glazes for a utilitarian line of pottery. Back in Massachusetts, David was part of the technical support staff for Dimitri Hadzi for almost two years and has taught at Mudflat Studio since the mid-nineties. His elegant claywork is wheelthrown, using porcelain and stoneware. David works in series of variables of the same form while manipulating the surfaces. His teaching includes learnings from Zen yoga and the physics of clay.
Michelle Lougee
Michelle Lougee is an environmental artist, sculptor, and ceramist. She is a member of the Boston Sculptors Gallery, and her artwork has been shown in many New England museum exhibits, including Chesterwood, The Art Complex Museum, Danforth Art, and the Fitchburg Art Museum. In addition, she teaches sculpture and ceramics to adults and children. She holds an M.F.A. and a B.F.A. from Boston University. www.mlougee.com.
Cynthia Maurice
Cynthia earned a B.F.A. and M.F.A. from Boston University, and a second M.F.A. from the School of Visual Arts in New York. Cynthia has taught at numerous art schools including the Art Institute of Boston, Brandeis University, and Danforth Art. Cynthia works primarily from observation and has shown her paintings and drawings in many individual and group shows throughout the North East, and her illustrations have been published in periodicals such as the Boston Globe, New York Times, and the Washington Post.
Peggy McClure
Artist and photographer Peggy McClure combines traditional photography with alternative photography, digital photography, monoprinting, and drawing, to create new mixed media artwork. She teaches beginning photography/darkroom and pinhole camera at Danforth Art. As an art major, Peggy received her B.A. from Framingham State after attending Massachusetts College of Art, and has taken numerous classes and workshops at Mass Art, DeCordova Museum School, Danforth Museum School, School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and Lesley University. She shows her artwork in her Saxonville studio and in the Boston and Metrowest area. www.saxonvillestudios.com.
Louise Melton
Artist Louise Melton’s colorful satirical paintings have been included in many exhibitions across the country, most recently in the Main Street Gallery’s “Artooning” show in Groton, NY; the “Lucky 13” show at the Mesquite Fine Arts Gallery, Mesquite, NV; the Arsenal Center for the Arts’ “Laugh” exhibition in Watertown, MA and in the national touring exhibition, “Speaking Volumes: Transforming Hate” curated by the Holter Museum, Helena, MT. Currently working exclusively as a fine artist, Melton has taught studio classes in drawing, painting and color theory at Franklin Pierce College, Rindge, NH and at Danforth Art, Framingham, MA. She has also published widely, both fiction and articles, and is the author of a cover article on majolica glazing techniques that was selected for inclusion in The American Ceramic Society’s 2002 book, Exploring Electric Kiln Techniques. Melton holds an M.A. from Temple University, Philadelphia and a B.A. from the University of Miami.
Katherine Downey Miller
Katherine Downey Miller was born and raised in the Boston area. She graduated from Skidmore College with a B.S. in Fine Arts/ Painting and received her M.F.A. in Illustration from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She was a teaching assistant in painting and drawing at the Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass Village, CO, and lived in Florence, Italy with a teaching scholarship to teach painting and drawing at Studio Arts Center International. Katherine has twice been a fellow at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vermont. In 2010, she was a finalist for the Fulbright Nehru Award involving working with women in India, raising their self-esteem through involving them in painting and drawing. Katherine currently teaches studio classes in watercolor at the Danforth’s Art School. In the past, she has taught at Skidmore College, The Boston Architecture Center, the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Studio Arts Center International, The Arlington Center for the Arts, the New Art Center and privately. Katherine has exhibited her work in Massachusetts, New York and Italy, and is represented by Galatea Fine Arts in Boston, MA. Her artwork has been viewed in many juried shows and most recently in Danforth Art’s Community of Artists exhibit 2011 and 2012. www.katherinedmiller.com.
Jill M. Pottle
Jill M. Pottle is an artist from Worcester County and she exhibits her paintings and pastels locally and nationally. In 1977 she graduated from Syracuse University with her B.F.A. and in 1989 she graduated with her M.F.A. from the Museum School in Boston. Jill won two grants from the Somerville Artists lottery and has published in the Artist’s Magazine. Her works have been included in shows at the Fowler Art Gallery, Provincetown Artists’ Association, the East End Gallery in Provincetown, and she has had a one woman show of still life paintings at the Attleboro Art Museum. Her work can also be seen at the Powers Gallery in
Acton, L’attitude Gallery, Boston and at the Walside at Fruitlands Museum, where she is an artist in residence through November 2011. Collections include: Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for the Aged in Roslindale, MA, Sterling Drug Inc., and Fidelity in Boston. You can view more of her work on her web site, www.pottleart.com and on her blog, jillpottle.blogspot.com.
Edie Read
Edie Read 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, which was on view from March through May 2012 at Danforth Art. 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 B.A. in Art History from Boston University, a professional diploma from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and her M.F.A. in Painting from Massachusetts College of Art.
Hana Reilly
Hana Reilly has a Degree in Professional Ceramics from the School of Arts and Crafts in Prague, Czech Republic. She has been a studio potter, and has taught classes for adults and children in both Europe and the United States, most recently at the Potters School in Needham, MA. She exhibits and sells her work locally. She currently teaches ceramics at Danforth Art.
Rhoda Rosenberg
Rhoda earned a Four-Year Certificate from the Pennsylvania Academy of Art, a B.F.A. at Temple University, and an M.F.A. in Printmaking at the Museum School/Tufts University. She has participated in various shows including "Book as Art," National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.; National Traveling Book Art, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia; and Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA. Select awards and grants include: Cresson European Traveling Award, Finalist for Printmaking and Drawing, and Massachusetts Council of the Arts. She was a visiting artist at Artist Proof Studio, Johannesburg, South Africa, and a panelist/juror in works on paper for the New England Foundation for the Arts.
Nan Rumpf
Nan earned her B.A. from the University of Iowa. She is a watermedia artist, who teaches watercolor, drawing, painting and printmaking in her home studio.
Nan has written and illustrated a book on puppetry and stagecraft, and run dramatic arts workshops in schools and libraries for many years. She is a signature member of the New England Watercolor Society and paints in her home studio in Wellesley. www.nanrumpf.com.
Ruth Scotch
Ruth Scotch received her M.F.A. and B.F.A. at Boston University in painting and a B.A. in Art History at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Beside painting full time since graduating, Ruth has taught at Boston University, Kendall Center for the Arts, and Danforth Art. Ruth has exhibited her paintings throughout New England. Her current focus is portraits. Her website is www.ruthscotch.com.
Zachary Shiff
Zachary Shiff studied Illustration and Animation at Rhode Island School of Design, where he received his B.F.A. He is currently pursuing his Art Education License at Framingham State University, where he both taught and developed curriculum for digital, introductory and advanced visual art courses within the public school setting (grades 5-12). Zachary also worked as an Arts and Crafts Counselor for campers ages 6-13, as a teacher’s assistant for Rhode Island School of Design, and as a freelance illustrator creating logos and artwork for a variety of clientele, from rock bands to hospitals. Zachary specializes in commercial art and design theory and digital art development.
Tracy Spadafora
Tracy holds a B.F.A. from Boston University and an M.F.A. from the State University of New York in New Paltz. She is a painter who teaches studio art classes at colleges and museums and provides private painting instruction in her studio in Somerville, MA. Tracy has received grants from the Frances A. Kinnicutt Foundation, the Blanche E. Colman Foundation, the Somerville Arts Council, and the St. Botolph’s Foundation. Her artwork has been exhibited throughout the U.S. and is featured in several books, including The Art of Encaustic Painting by Joanne Mattera and Mixed-Media Collage by Holly Harrison.
Lois Tarlow
Lois is a painter, writer, printmaker and teacher. She has explored a wide variety of artistic styles, ranging from realistic still-life and landscapes to canvases combining natural materials with paint. She has exhibited in New England for more than five decades, and in the Southwest since the early1990’s. She has conducted classes and workshops in both regions on an ongoing basis. From 1979 to 2005, she published scores of interviews with artist colleagues in Art New England magazine. She currently offers artist residencies with workspace in Taos, New Mexico, and teaches in Newton, MA. Lois’ 2008 exhibitions include the Carney Gallery at Regis College and the Pepper Gallery in Boston.
John Thompson
John Thompson is a painter and printmaker based at Lincoln Studios in Waltham. He teaches printmaking at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. He exhibits regionally and internationally. John holds art degrees from Syracuse, University of Wisconsin-Madison and MassArt. www.JohnThompsonArt.com
Sarah Tomkins
Sarah earned her B.F.A. from Framingham State where she studied drawing and painting. She began interning for Danforth Art while an undergraduate and, once graduated, became a faculty member for children’s education programs and semester courses. Sarah plays rugby and basketball and loves the show “Lost.”
Pat Walker - Director of Education
Pat studied studio art at Queens College in NY and at Yale at Norfolk. She received an M.F.A. in Painting from Boston University, where she studied with Philip Guston and James Weeks. She has taught drawing, painting, watercolor and mixed media at a variety of institutions in the Boston area including the Museum of Fine Arts, Danforth Museum School, the Brookline Arts Center, Regis College and Pine Manor College. In 2001, she became the Education Coordinator at Danforth Art, and was twice named Museum Educator of the Year by the Mass Art Education Association. Pat has served as the Director of Education for Danforth Art since 2006.
Susan Parker - Senior Education Consultant
Susan, with a B.S. in Fine Art from Skidmore College and an M.Ed. from Lesley University, is the former director of the Department of Fine Arts, Medfield Public Schools. She has thirty years experience in curriculum design and teaching art at all levels, with a particular interest in drawing and its role in the development of observation and awareness. She has taught in the graduate program for Art Education at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, and in the Emmanuel College program for pre-service art teachers. From 1996-2008, she was associated with the education department at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, working with visitors in looking at art, and teaching studio classes in connection with special exhibits. She is currently participating in the development of the Critical Thinking and Art forum, a consortium of museums, universities, and school programs in Massachusetts. Susan has been working with Danforth Art in her current role since September 2010.
Ashley Occhino - Art School Manager
Ashley holds an M.F.A. from Savannah College of Art and Design in Fibers, with a minor focus in Museum Studies. She received her B.F.A. from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Her background is in art-based education programming and community arts management. While with the Fuller Craft Museum’s Education Department, she managed the Museum’s studios and Community Gallery, and directed efforts to enhance the Museum’s outreach programs and the facade of downtown Brockton through partnerships with schools, colleges, and non-profit organizations. Ashley is a working artist who specializes in sculptural weaving and with a background in printmaking. She has taught art to all learning levels through studio classes, hands-on cultural events and weaving demonstrations. Her artwork has been featured at SURTEX in New York City and on DoubleACS, as well as in publications by the Attleboro Arts Museum, Fuller Craft Museum, and The Sun Chronicle. Ashley currently serves on the Board for the City of Attleboro’s Art Walk and The Marble Collection (a Massachusetts high school magazine of the arts). She joined Danforth Art in July 2012.
Catherine (Katy) Taricano - Art School Registrar
Katy began studying Film, Photography and Visual Arts at Ithaca College prior to transferring to University of Massachusetts, Amherst where she received her Bachelor’s degree in Art History. After college, she interned in the Adult Education Department at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston where she helped manage the museum’s lectures and seminars. She took her experience there and applied it to coordinating financial education workshops. Currently, Katy is enrolled at Anna Maria College, studying for her graduate degree in Art Education. She has experience in drawing, charcoal, stained glass, printmaking and 3-D design. Katy became the School of Art Registrar in August 2012.
Martha Gold - Ceramic Studio Coordinator
Martha Gold worked as a production potter in Oregon and Connecticut from 1974 thru 1987. After an eighteen year break, Martha now enjoys creating one-of-a-kind clay pieces without the pressure of production schedules. Function is still very important in her work, from kitchen and tabletop ware to Asian-inspired lanterns. Martha received a B.A. in Art History from Boston University. Martha became the Ceramic Studio Coordinator at Danforth Art in spring 2012.
Kathleen Berger - Art School Assistant
Kathleen graduated Summa Cum Laude with Distinction from Boston University with a B.M. in Woodwind Performance (Flute) and Music Education, graduated with a Masters in Creative Arts Education from Fitchburg State University and, most recently, earned a Digital Photography Certificate from Middlesex Community College. Since BU, Kathleen has worked in a variety of roles as teacher, director, conductor, flutist, docent, photographer, and mother. She has worked as a general music and instrumental music teacher in the Shrewsbury Public Schools, an Instrumental Director at Lincoln-Sudbury High School, a conductor of the Worcester Youth Concert Orchestra and as a flute choir director and flute teacher at Assumption College. Currently, she teaches flute in the Wellesley Public Schools, conducts the Colleges of the Fenway Orchestra, and is a docent at Danforth Art and an avid photographer.
She has been working at the Danforth as a weekend School of Art Assistant since January 2011.
Carolyn Melbye - Art School Assistant
Carolyn Melbye received a B.F.A. with a concentration in ceramics and a B.A. in legal studies from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She interned at Danforth Art one summer, a position which drew her into museum collection registration. She worked as the Assistant Registrar for the Fidelity Investments Corporate Art Collection from 2006 to 2010. During her first year in collection registration, she continued to volunteer for the Danforth, monitoring the ceramics studio and helping out with events. Currently by day, she is pursuing her Masters of Arts in Expressive Therapy at Lesley University, and on Monday evenings (and varied times), Carolyn can be found in the School of Art office, where she began in September of 2011.
Brian Colby - Art School Assistant
Brian currently works as the evening assistant.
See also the contact page for additional information about other Danforth Art staff members.
Some faculty listed here may not be teaching during the current term. This page was last updated on April 22, 2013.
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