ACF: Art Center Faculty

We sadly acknowledge the passing
of dear friend and artist Reid Galey:
(click)

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SUMMER FACULTY 2010

Craig Arndt
B.A., Visual Arts at North Dakota State University. He is the Sculpture Teacher at the Perpich Center for Arts in Education where his has taught in several art content areas, including painting, ceramics, media, and methods of printing. Currently, he is completing his Masters of Arts in Education at Augsburg College. A working artist who has sold his work privately, continues to exhibit, and participants in art festivals.

Carl Beihl
A practicing artist and photographer from the age of 9, Carl is truly a product of the Art Center and its culture of artist development. Beginning in the early 1970s, he continued the artist's journey, first juggling Art Center classes with jobs in big business and consulting and for the last ten years, becoming a full time visual artist with emphasis on photography and ceramics.

Robert Bowman
B.A., St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN. Bob exhibits at Northern Clay Center and many area shows and art fairs. Winner of prizes and commissions, he is the Exhibits Director for the Art Center and also co-manages the ceramics studio.

Elspeth Carlstrom
Elspeth received her Bachelor of Fine Art in painting from Minnesota State University, Mankato. She is a practicing artist whose work focuses on printmaking, collage and mixed-media art. Elspeth exhibits her work around the state.

Patty Carmody Smith
Patty has a B.S. in Art from the University of Wisconsin at River Falls. She has shown her fiber and mixed media sculpture regionally since 1995. Patty has a passion for the creative process and the role it plays in living a creative life. She has developed a unique sculptural technique that utilizes lightweight air-drying materials.

Connie Cohen
Connie studied Art and Business Administration at the University of Minnesota where she received her Bachelor of Science degree. For many years she worked in advertising as both a production manager and graphic designer. She continued her art education and received a Masters of Architecture from SCI-Arc in Southern California. Connie comes to mosaics using her background in graphic design and architecture and has attended workshops and seminars with international mosaic masters in both Ravenna and Venice Italy.

Michele Combs
Michele has indulged her passion for painting and pursued it as a career. She has trained in classical realism at the Minnesota River School of Fine Art. She has participated in courses, workshops, and seminars with nationally recognized artists throughout the United States. Michele prefers to paint from life as it is the best way to capture subtle beauty. When painting an image Michele attempts to do more than simply reflect the combination of individual elements. She uses light, form, perspective and color to lead your eye through the image in a fashion that accents, enhances, and makes a unique viewing process. She has been teaching since 2005.

Sara Commers
Sara is a JA certified Bench Jeweler with nearly ten years of experience in repair and custom designed jewelry. She operates Studio C Designs in St. Louis Park. Sara received her professional jewelry and metalsmithing education from Stewart’s International School for Jewelers, the Gemological Institute of America and the Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts. Recent achievements include First Place in Design awarded by the MN/ND Jewelers Association and she received the 2008 Shining Star Award presented by the Women’s Jewelry Association. Sara serves as Secretary on the WJA Twin Cities Chapter Board of Directors and has been teaching jewelry classes since 2002.
www.studiocjewelry.com

John Currie
John is a graphic and concept designer, creating restaurants, package graphics, surface textile design, corporate IDs, collateral, publications and books for clients in the US and Europe. He studied Fine Art at the University of Minnesota (the Bad Art classes were full), followed by sculpting classes at the Art Center with Nick Legeros, Roger Junk and Heidi Hoy. He studied studio painting with Clea Fehlein, finger painting with his nieces and plein air painting with Armond Cabrera and his mentor, Reid Galey. With Reid, he was one of the founding members of Outdoor Painters of Minnesota, being colorful while saving electricity. He is a member of Society of Minnesota Sculptors, National Sculpture Society and AAA, and has been a Sculpture Studio Assistant at the Art Center. His work has been in juried shows and fairs in the US and is exhibited in galleries, plus private collections in France, Belgium, Peru and the US. More can be found in the closet in his studio.
www.fineart.currieworks.com and www.currieworks.com

David B. Erickson
David is a traditionally trained working artist who specializes in portrait, figurative, and imaginative drawings and paintings, as well as stained glass design. His paintings and drawings are represented in private collections and his stained glass designs are in churches in the west metro area of Minneapolis, MN.

Risë Ferster
B.A., Empire State College, M.F.A., SUNY College at New Paltz, and the Maine Photographic Workshops. Risë has been an Artist-in-Residence in the Minneapolis Public Schools and recipient of a Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship.

Terry Genesen-Becker
B.F.A., University of Minnesota. Terry’s 28 years of teaching experience include the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, the Minnesota Museum of Art School, Grand Marais Art Colony and the University of Minnesota’s Compleat Scholar. As a nationally exhibited watercolorist she has been awarded signature status in the Transparent Watercolor Society of America, the Red River Watercolor Society and Watercolor USA’s Watercolor Honor Society. Terry’s work was recently included in national invitationals curated by the University of Minnesota and Parkland College, Champaign, IL. Her work and process have been featured in WATERCOLOR magazine. Her watercolors are regularly shown in national juried exhibitions and museum collections which include the Minnesota Museum of American Art, St. Paul, MN, Neville Public Museum of Brown County, Green Bay, WI, Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, MO and the Muskegon Museum of Art, Muskegon, MI.
www.terrygenesenbecker.com

Jeffrey Goetz
Jeffery has been the Director of the Arkansas Institute for Building Preservation Trades, a Vice President of the American College of the Building Arts in Charleston, the Technical Director for Inspired Partnerships in Chicago and taught at the Building Preservation Technology program at Belmont Technical College. While at the college he administered an Army Legacy Grant for window restoration projects at West Point and Fort Drum and participated in an exterior restoration project at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater. He studied Italian stained glass techniques at the Vetrate Artistiche Toscane, in Siena, Italy and has been twice honored in the juried state-wide competition by the Palmetto Hands Artisans Exhibition in Charleston, SC.

Brittany Howe
Britt is an illustrator / sequential artist living in Plymouth, Minnesota. She received her B.F.A. in Sequential Art at The Savannah College of Art and Design, and thrives on illustrating comics and books involving animals, adventure and fantasy.

Heidi Hoy
B.A., Studio Arts, Hamline University. Heidi began taking sculpture classes at the Art Center in 1988, and taught from 1995-2002, and returned in 2008. She has exhibited her work in galleries and museums nationally and has created many public works. Her work reflects her love of the female form in dramatic poses.

Asa Hoyt
Asa graduated with a B.F.A in ceramics and sculpture from the University of Michigan in 1996. He has been creating custom metalwork for the last14 years in WI, CA, and MN for a variety of clients. Currently he runs his own blacksmith atelier in Southeast Minneapolis and created the Sculpture Grotto, a new venue for contemporary sculpture in the Twin Cities.

Reiko Ito Shellum-Koeck
Reiko was born in Japan and graduated from Futaba Jo Gakuin where she began her studies in Sumi-e painting of the Nango School. She continued her studies under Nanga masters until 1952 when she immigrated to the U.S. A teacher’s teacher, Reiko has instructed Sumi-e to teachers and students of pottery, oil and watercolor painting, fabric design and batik. She has taught at many area art schools including the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the University of Minnesota Duluth and Macalester College. Her work has been widely exhibited.

Cynthia Kath
B.A., in Fine Arts, and is currently working on a Master of Liberal studies at the U of M in Fine Art, Architecture and Horticulture. She has studied at Parsons in Paris, and privately with Stephen Burr, a renown pastel artist on Maui. She has studied Flemish portrait painting with Jeff Hurinenko, and is presently studying plein air oil painting with Joe Paquet. She has taught watercolor painting at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and at Como Park Conservatory, and has been showing her work in both one woman shows and group juried exhibitions in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Hawaii and France.

Christopher Kelly
Studio Artist; Owner FK Art Glass; Teaching Assistant / Studio Tech ARCC Glass Department 1996–1999; Nationally Juried Artist 1999–2002; Commission Work 2003–Present. Teaches Classes in Glass Blowing, Fusing, and Equipment Design & Building.

Annie Kennedy
B.A. from Bethel College in Business. After exploring drawing, painting, wood carving, knitting crocheting and more, Annie Kennedy found her passion in rug hooking. She has been “hooking” since 2000 and has exhibited her rugs at the annual Rug Hooking Week at Sauder Village for the past five years. In addition to teaching rug hooking she has an on-line rug hooking business, AJ Creatives.

Keren Kroul
Keren grew up in Israel, Mexico, and Costa Rica, and currently lives and works in Minneapolis. She received a BA in Fine Arts from Brandeis University in Waltham, MA, and an MFA from the Parsons School of Design in New York, NY. She has exhibited at the Art Museum of the University of Memphis, TN, the Revolving Museum in Lowell, MA, and recently at the Soo Visual Arts Center in Minneapolis. She has held residencies at the Vermont Studio Center and Chautauqua Institute. Her work is included in the Drawing Center’s Viewing Program in New York City.

Katie Landeck
B.S. Art Education from Minnesota State University, Mankato. Currently, she has been working with various community programs through the Minnetonka Center for the Arts. She is also a swim coach for a local swim club.

Bonnie Lauber-Westover
M.A., Illinois State University, B.A., University of Iowa. Artist and educator, Bonnie teaches at Minneapolis College of Art and Design as well as the Minnetonka Center for the Arts. She has an extensive background teaching in high schools, middle schools, colleges and art centers. Bonnie exhibits and has won awards throughout the Midwest.

Jeff Lohaus
Jeff is a mid-career artist living and working in Northeast Minneapolis. He is a painter and sculptor, and maintains a studio in the Northrup King Building. Jeff is primarily a metalworker and creates sculpture that is both fabricated and cast in sizes up to larger than life. He has extensive experience casting in the University of Minnesota foundry.

Susan Lyman
B.A., University of Minnesota, majored in Studio Art, Sociology and Anthropology. Susan has worked as an art director in major advertising agencies. She has been involved with the Art Center for the past 15 years as a student and as an instructor. Her own work in sculpture is primarily figurative and often life size. In teaching she enjoys nurturing students to develop their skills in stone sculpting.

Ernest L. Miller Jr.
B.A. in Three-Dimensional Studio Art, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL. A ceramicist and sculptor, he has extensive experience teaching adults and children in Minnesota and Illinois. An exhibitor and award winner in many juried shows, his work is widely collected.
www.ernestmiller.com

Judd Nelson
Judd has been creating welded and forged animal sculptures since he was 17. He completed his formal training in art at the University of Minnesota were he was taught sculpture and bonze casting from some of the most widely recognized Midwest instructors. He has taught at the Minneapolis Institute of Art as well as in Native American and public schools around the country. He has been on “Hometime,” a National Public Television show as a set builder and technical advisor as well as in front of the camera. His studio was featured in a recent “Hometime” episode.

Carey Netherton
M.F.A., in Sculpture, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. He holds a B.A., in 3-D Studio Art and Philosophy, Eastern Illinois University. Carey worked for over four years as a fine art foundry technician and supervisor at the Johnson Atelier Technical Institute of Sculpture in Mercerville, New Jersey. His work has been shown in numerous exhibitions, has won a variety of awards and is a part of many private collections.

Dorothy Odland
M.F.A. and B.F.A., University of Minnesota. Exhibitor, award winner and show juror. Gallery lecturer for 22 years at Walker Art Center. Founding member and mentor with W.A.R.M. (Women’s Art Registry of Minnesota). Her work is in many corporate and private collections.

Lee Persell
University of Minnesota. Lee is the ceramics studio manager for the Minnetonka Center for the Arts. She exhibits in shows and galleries in the Midwest. She has extensive experience in ceramics and design consulting.

Frank Picos
Associate in Applied Science degree in Construction Technology, New York City Community College. Part-time artist, teaching assistant and student with focus on stone carving and bronze casting. Member of Society of Minnesota Sculptors.

Ellen Richman
B.F.A. University of Minnesota. Ellen has exhibited extensively and had work in Art in America and other publications. Her work is represented in collections in the U.S. and Mexico. She is the winner of several awards and has also held positions in several museums, photography and design organizations.

Colleen Riley
B.A. in Journalism, Drake University, Des Moines, IA. Primarily a self-taught potter, Colleen began her ceramics studies at the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis, and has worked with numerous potters in the region. She teaches adults and teens at the Northfield Arts Guild, and exhibits her soda fired porcelain at galleries and art fairs throughout the region.

Karen Rognsvoog
has been dyeing natural fibers and growing plants for dye since the mid-1970s. After some hands-on experience, she began teaching natural plant dyeing classes in schools and community centers in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and at the North House Folk School in Grand Marais, Minnesota. Karen is always on the lookout for new and interesting dye stuffs, so don’t follow her closely on the road, since she “brakes for roadside weeds!”

Kevin Showell
B.A. Crown College. Kevin completed a five-year apprenticeship and eight years of journeyman work under Master Carver Chrisostimos Effremethis. He is a professional woodcarver and his work includes large scale sculpture, architectural carving, antique repair and replication carving, both public and private.

Holly Stone
B.S., Wayne State University, Detroit, MI. Holly is an artist-educator who has taught oil painting acrylics and watercolor locally since 1998. Involvement in the arts has included work as a scenic designer/actor/musical director for a local theater troupe for four years, mural painting, and numerous art shows. Her work may be seen in commercial and private collections. She uses her occupational therapy background to assist people of all abilities to find expression in the arts.

Frank Wetzel
Frank works in oil, watercolor, pastel and drawing in the creation of portraits, figures and landscapes. He is the winner of numerous awards including 1st Place in the Minnesota State Fair for his life size painting: “Portrait of Earl Nelson at 80.” His work is in national and international collections. Frank was primarily trained in the classic tradition at the Lack and LeSuer Ateliers. He has taught the above mediums and subjects for 10 years at the Minnesota River School and for 5 years at Art Studio Schools. In addition he has taught workshops in Europe and throughout the U.S.

Foster Willey Jr.
B.F.A., Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI, the Naguib School of Sculpture. Earns commissions and exhibits works in stone, bronze, concrete, wood and steel.

Arlene Zimmerman
began taking sculpture classes at the Art Center in 1993 where she studied until 2002. She was a teaching assistant from 1995-2002. She has exhibited her work in galleries and at the Museum of American Art. The uniqueness of being a woman permeates her work. Her sculptural figures celebrate ethnicity.

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