Teacher Biographies

CAMP AND CLASS INSTRUCTORS

James Adkins has been exhibiting figure drawings and paintings nationally for over 25 years. He's won many prizes including three Maryland Artist Fellowship Grants and has been featured in articles in American Artist publications four times in the last 15 years. He is the Director of Visual Arts at Howard Community College and is a resident at HCCA. He teaches drawing and color at HCC.

Julia Ball has been performing and working in visual arts from a very young age, and is excited to share her passion with her students. Her comic, Carl and Ruby, appeared in her college newspaper, The Captain's Log. She has been seen performing locally at the Red Branch Theater, The Patchwork Players Theater, and the Kennedy Center, and can always be found singing show tunes to her hubby and her poodle.

Amanda Barrett graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BS in Art Education from Towson University and is a practicing painter and draftsman. After teaching beginning, intermediate and AP drawing courses at Northwood High School for two years, she currently teaches art at Potomac Elementary School, an arts-integrated model school.

Joan Bevelaqua earned her B.A. in Art from Anna Maria College and an MFA in Painting from Towson University . A painter who works primarily in watercolor and oil, Joan has held teaching positions, juried art exhibitions, exhibited widely and directed several art galleries. She has been teaching at UMUC since 2000 and is now full time faculty. Her work has earned numerous awards and honors. She currently paints in her studio at Howard County Center for the Arts.

Elaine Brandes lives, works and creates art in the Baltimore area. She holds a BA in Fine Art from Hofstra University and a MAJE from Baltimore Hebrew University. She currently teaches art at The Shoshana S. Cardin School. She exhibits in the greater Baltimore area and is a member of the Mid-Atlantic Plein Air Painters and the Womens Artists’ Forum.

Debbie Braun is a local dance artist who teaches extensively, co-directs and performs with the Ellicott City Can Can Dancers, and directed the Hip Hop kids who performed at the Preakness Celebration. She was awarded a scholarship with the Maryland Ballet and studied jazz and tap with Wally Saunders, Tim Roberts and Paula Lynn. Her acting credits include “Runaway Bride”, “Cecil B. Demented” and numerous TV commercials.

Elise Burns was formerly on the art faculty of Virginia Commonwealth University and now works and resides in Baltimore. She is past president of the Virginia Women's Caucus for Art, served on the Arts Council in Richmond, Virginia, and received her MFA from Maryland Institute College of Art. She has shown her work in New York at The Horn Gallery and The Joanna Dean Gallery, and in a solo show in Washington, DC at Gallery 10. Most recently, Elise has been teaching Painting and Drawing to adults through CCBC. Class discussions often include new discoveries about how the brain perceives the visual world and she is constantly updating teaching methods that reflect a new awareness of brain plasticity.

Sue Carrera studied Art Education at Mansfield University and has taught art in Howard County for over 25 years. She has been nominated for a Howie and the Agnes Myer Award and her students have been recognized with state awards for computer generated art numerous times in competition. Sue currently teaches art at Worthington Elementary School.

Margot Chaffee is a graduate of the Reading Specialist Program at Towson University and teaches first grade at Laurel Elementary School. She was Howard Community College’s alumnus of the year for 2008 and has been involved with the Howard County Future Educators of America at Centennial High School for the past seven years.

Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, founded in 2002, is an arts organization in residence at HCCA. CSC strives to produce energetic productions of Shakespeare and other classics, and to challenge the notion that such works are boring, dated, or inaccessible. Their lively and creative work has earned praise and awards from throughout the regional theatre community. Website.

Gary Edward Cuddington earned a BFA in Illustration/Painting at Kendall College of Art and Design in 2003 and an MFA in Fine Art Painting at Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts in 2005. Gary is comfortable and experienced in a wide range of media including charcoal, acrylics, oils, enamels and mixed media. His work has been shown in a variety of shows nation wide and he currently works as a fine art and decorative painter.

Bobby Dietrich is a current art student pursuing his degree in Art Education with a minor in Psychology at Howard Community College. For the past five years, Bobby has worked as the Art Specialist and has assisted with the “No Boundaries” drama group for the Howard County Recreation and Parks. He also works part time at Cedar Lane substituting in different classrooms working with special needs children with various disabilities. Bobby has had the honor to be featured in Gallery 1448 in Baltimore with his work from his 3-Dimensional Art class at Howard Community College.

Downey Dress, an accomplished watercolorist, received her BA from the College of Notre Dame and her M.Ed. from Towson University. She is a retired art teacher with over twenty years experience in public and private schools in the Baltimore region.

Amy Estell studied traditional Korean papermaking and paper crafts while working as a teacher in Seoul for two years. Impressed by the endless design possibilities of paper, Amy uses her art experience in photography and graphic design, along with traditional paper craft techniques, to create beautiful decorations and household items from handmade paper. Amy has a BA in French and photography and an MA in Teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages. Her paper crafts can be seen at PaperReIncarnated.etsy.com.

Jillian Finnamore has performed lieder, oratorio and opera across the country and abroad. She gives private lessons to students of all ages at her home studio, specializing in voice coaching and vocal technique for musical theatre, as well as audition and musical expression workshops. She has music-directed, assistant music-directed, and accompanied for a variety of musicals, including Silhouette Stages' Disco Inferno and Blood Brothers.

Kathleen Fritz received a BA from St Mary's College of Maryland and worked for over 20 years drafting and rendering for a civil engineering firm before opening Bead Soup in Savage Mill. She specializes in seed bead stitching and enjoys needle felting and kumihimo. She teaches an evening class at HCC, beading classes at various senior centers in Anne Arundel County through AACC and for the City of Rockville, and summer camps through Howard County Rec. and Parks.

Meghan Fugate received her BFA in photography and MA in teaching from the Maryland Institute College of Art. She also studied at the Pratt Institute in New York and has exhibited and taught throughout the Baltimore region. Meghan exhibits and teaches throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.

Ilene Gold is a widely published photographer and graphic designer. She holds a degree in advertising and design from the University of Maryland and has studied at Maryland Institute College of Art. She also studied at the Pratt Institute in New York and has exhibited throughout the Baltimore region.Ilene has many years of experience teaching community arts programs throughout the region and at HCAC for 9 years.

Alexandra "Sasha" Gonchoroff received a Masters in Art Education at Virginia Commonwealth University. Currently an art teacher at Lansdowne High School, she has taught in numerous camps and schools throughout Virginia and Maryland and enjoys working a variety of media with all ages.

Karen Graff is a fine artist with experience in traditional plein aire painting and mixed media, as well as fashion design. She has taught middle and high school art, including AP Studio Art and Art History. Karen teaches at Annapolis High School, working with advanced students through studio courses and the National Art Honor Society. She received her BA in Art Education from Millerville University and completed graduate work there and at Towson University.

Jane Halliwell Green is a nationally known textile designer who teaches throughout the United States and Canada. She was the first instructor to offer traditional rug hooking at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC. She is the author of two books on Pictorial rugs. Jane is also a signature member of the Baltimore Watercolor Society and is an expert in negative painting. She is a graduate of the Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. Jane’s work can be seen at www.rugandwool.com and www.paintpencil.com.

Elizabeth Gross holds a Ph.D. in Art History from USC, a M.A. in Film Studies at the University of Arizona, a M.A. in Art History at Bryn Mawr College, and a B.A. in Art History at Oberlin College. Elizabeth served as the Curator of Education at Flint Institute of Arts in Michigan and has lectured in the Education Department at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

Suzanne Herbert-Forton has been a working artist in Baltimore for over twenty-five years, creating mixed media pieces using hand embroidery, ceramics, and found objects. She teaches all levels of children and adults, has been a residency artist for the Maryland State Arts Council Artist in Education program for several years, and is active in arts integration curriculum.

Art Landerman is an experienced artist, illustrator and portrait painter who draws on over thirty years of experience in fine art, commercial art and graphic design. He graduated from MICA and is comfortable and experienced in a wide range of media including watercolor, oils, pastels, charcoal, acrylics, colored pencil, gouache and mixed media. website

Pegg Poff has worked for over thirty years as an artist and educator, eighteen of them teaching visual and performing arts at St. Elizabeth School. She currently teaches in the Anne Arundel county public school system where she works daily to integrate the arts into her special education classroom. Her community teaching experience includes both visual art and drama programs for populations ranging from elementary and pre-school-aged summer campers to senior center patrons. Pegg earned her B.A. from Towson University and her M.S. in Special Education from Johns Hopkins University.

Liz Rees studied at Wesleyan University (BA) and Boston University (Masters in Creative Writing). For over 15 years, she taught creative writing and literature full-time at the US Naval Academy, Johns Hopkins University, Howard University, and Harvard. She has been poet-in-residence for Maryland State Arts Council since 1994, and has also taught for HoCoPoLitSo, the Maryland Humanities Council, and The Writer’s Center. Three of her four published chapbooks have won national contests and she has published over 250 poems in such magazines as Agni, Kenyon Review, Partisan Review and New England Review.

Rebecca Rubock graduated with honors from Towson University, receiving her bachelor’s in Art Education; she is currently working towards her Masters Degree in Art Education. Rebecca has been teaching art for 6 years at Bellows Spring Elementary School in Howard County, Maryland. She is passionate about teaching  and loves to help guide her students as they express their ideas and creativity through art-making. 

Phyllis Stanley earned a BA from Oberlin College, studying piano, voice, dance, and acting. She has worked as Music Director/Pianist for performers of all ages from K-12 and community theatres to the Fabulous 50+ Players. She has worked as actor/keyboardist throughout the Baltimore area and is currently an actor/musician for the Baltimore Playback Theatre Ensemble and teaches private piano.

Cheryl Teter received her BA in Art and Heritage Arts from Salem College in West Virginia and an MFA in sculpture from Towson University. She has worked with many different media, including welded steel and wood. A long-time teacher with HCPSS, she has been a camp instructor with HCAC for many years.