Instructor Bios

Tony Arru

At Franklin Pierce College in New Hampshire, Tony became captivated by the smell and feel of the fire from the raku kiln, sparking his lifelong passion for pottery. While there, he also fired their five-chamber wood-fired kiln, or "noborigama," and a wood-fired salt kiln, deepening his interest in the craft.
After earning a BA in Fine Art, Tony apprenticed at Cornwall Bridge Pottery in Connecticut under master potter Todd Piker, who had trained in England with Michael Cardew. Over 2 ½ years, Tony honed his skills in throwing English-style pottery, firing a 35-foot wood-fired tube kiln ("anagama"), and decorative techniques. Now, as an art teacher at Cheshire High School, Junkpot Studio, and FVAC, he shares his passion with many students each year.

Stefanie Baechler

Stefanie Baechler graduated from CCSU with a bachelor's degree in art education and English as a Second Language. During the school year, Stefanie teaches art to 3rd through 6th graders in the Winchester Public school district. Since her college years, Stefanie has been teaching youth art classes, leading art adventure programs, and instructing art parties at the Farmington Valley Arts Center. Her work focuses on capturing fleeting and spontaneous emotions through colorful abstract figures and paintings.

Dominika Bzdula

Dominika Bzdula is a former elementary art teacher currently pursuing a graduate degree in Counseling with a concentration in Art Therapy. For the past 15 years, she has engaged in painting as a means of artistic expression, finding it to be a source of personal growth and intellectual stimulation. Her artistic journey has been defined by a continuous exploration of new styles and techniques, allowing her to further develop her creative skills. Her teaching philosophy is rooted in patience and an easygoing disposition, fostering an environment that encourages collaborative artistic endeavors. She finds profound fulfillment in the creative energy that emerges within a group, whether as an instructor, a student, or a creator. The vast expanse of artistic expression continually draws her in, and she remains consistently intrigued by the endless possibilities it offers.

Maurice Casas

Maurice Casas’ art is a result of several years of experimentation and a search for identity. It is the fusion of these two disciplines plus his personal sensitivity that have given him a new vision for color and design. His work creates an environment of invented realms and is juxtaposed between past and present. He uses semi-abstract and figurative mark making to create tension between reality and fanciful. Using Pre-Columbian Art and Iconography and elements of Architecture, Maurice has developed a unique and colorful language with its own vocabulary. Originally from Colombia in South America, Maurice has attended Colegio Antonio Narino and New York City Technical College. He has lived in the United States for 35 years where he has worked as a Visual Artist and Architectural Designer. Visit Maurice's Facebook page.

Elyse Cote

Connecticut native Elyse Cote began creating art in the ballet studio, co-founding and co-directing CONNetic Dance Company. She eventually found her way to painting and ceramics and completed a BFA at University of Hartford. Since then she has been a Resident Artist at the Wellsville Creative Art Center and taught ceramics at several local studios as well as The University of Hartford. Elyse has shown her work in a number of juried shows as well as group exhibitions. Although she no longer dances she continues to bring that physicality to her delicate hand built objects and the painted canvas, combining the aesthetic of her choreography with faceted vessels and gestural abstraction.

Drew Darley

Drew Darley is a full-time potter who focuses almost exclusively on wheel thrown vessels putting a strong emphasis on a clean refined form. Drew enjoys glaze chemistry and the science behind mixing and formulating his own glazes. His current focus is on crystalline glazes. While in college Drew studied ceramics and mathematics. He found connections between the two disciplines in regards to glaze calculation and form which allows him to constantly to push the materials to the limit. Visit Drew's website.

Sharon Dvora

Sharon Dvora has 20 years of experience as an art educator, sharing her passion for creativity, art, and design with students of all ages. She is a community-based artist who is actively engaged in the practice of process painting for many years. She has trained in the process of facilitation with mentor Stewart Cubley and the staff at The Painting Experience (https://www.processarts.com). Sharon's Email: sharondvora@gmail.com

Carolann Dvorak-Brewer

Carolann has accrued an impressive list of honors and awards. A first class realist, you may come upon her work in the form of Trompe L’oeil (French for “fool the eye”) murals, faux finished walls and furniture. Carolann paints these illusory scenes in Oil or Acrylic using brushes, rags, sponges, or feathers. Wherever you find her Art, you will find it to be vibrant, happy and alive. Carolann has a BA degree Magna Cum Laude from Douglass College at Rutgers University. She has been teaching at FVAC since 1991. Visit Carolann's website.

Elena Gibson

Elena Gibson has been a practicing fiber artist and educator for over 15 years. Her work is represented by galleries in Connecticut and Massachusetts. As an experienced art teacher, Elena has run numerous workshops in CT and MA in a variety institutions including Farmington Valley Arts Center, West Hartford Art League, Mandell JCC and New England Felting Supply. Originally from Slovakia, Elena has a background in graphic design.

Monica Hewryk

Monica Hewryk graduated from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania with a Master in Fine Arts in ceramics in 2021. She received a Bachelor of Arts from Central Connecticut State University with a concentration in ceramics in 2014. Monica previously worked as the University Assistant at Central Connecticut State University, the intern at Wesleyan Potters, and a Resident Potter at Guilford Art Center. She has been exhibiting work in juried exhibition and group shows since 2013. Monica maintains a private studio at home and continues to exhibit her work nationally. Combining personal narratives about time and the human condition, Monica’s most recent work illustrates ideas of imperfection, inevitability, and disease. She intentionally leaves portions of the work visible underneath the grotesque textured surfaces on her ceramic pieces to portray what used to be. Visit Monica's website.

Paul Iezzi

Nature for Paul, is the stimulus for artistic expression - the essence of the work of art. His endeavor is unity of formal consideration, with the process or thought, spontaneity of vision is sought to achieve simple awareness of living. Harmony and balance are key components in the construction of image. Of course, a little disorientation could lead to insight. Color lays the foundation for all of his work. Whether abstract, figurative, or figuration, color emotes the possibilities of the universe. This revelation becomes clear, and begins to take shape as the work evolves. “My methods and approaches vary according to the subject. Changes happen and occur spontaneously as needed. I find media and methodology change to suit the course of life's events. Creativity is an expression of what is experienced, thought, felt." Visit Paul's website.

Karen Israel

Karen Israel is an award winning pastel artist currently serving as President of Connecticut Pastel Society. Her paintings are created as a celebration of light and color that aim to delight the eye and engage the mind. Karen’s paintings are representational but symbolism and abstraction are constantly emerging in the frame. Her work can be found in many collections throughout the Northeast and Canada. Visit Karen's website.

Edith Skiba LaMonica

Edith Skiba LaMonica has enjoyed teaching drawing and painting classes throughout her art career in New York, Pennsylvania and now in Connecticut. With her informal approach, she focuses on the basic skills of composition and color while encouraging self-expression and creativity. Edith has a BA in Painting and MA in Art History from Stony Brook University NY. She taught Design and Studio Art at The College of New Jersey Trenton, SUNY Empire State College, Suffolk Community College NY, and Tunxis Community College, Farmington. Featured in the New Britain Museum of American Art Bulletin, her exhibitions include: Artworks Gallery of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA., Five Points Gallery

Deborah Leonard

Deborah is an impressionistic and abstract painter that lives in West Simsbury Connecticut. Using acrylics as her medium, she enjoys plein air painting as well as studio work. Deborah’s love of nature, through observation and academic study has a strong influence on her painting. Her work has appeared in numerous juried shows and is in many private collections in the U.S. and Europe. Visit Deborah's website.

Andy Mars

Andy Mars is a freelance photographer, photo artist & instructor: She photographs events (formerly specialized in weddings), people, and pets. She is a photography instructor teaching classes & workshops in digital photography, iPhoneography, mixed media photography and computer file organization & workflow. Her work has been exhibited at the Memorial Arts Museum in Rochester, NY, Manhattan and CT galleries and various Soho Gallery restaurants. Visit  Andy's website.

Sergio Martinez

Sergio Martinez, a talented artist from Springfield, MA, has been studying the works of the old masters since the age of sixteen. Under the tutelage of the Chocheli Atelier of Fine Art in Pennsylvania, Martinez received a classical art education and refined his craft, developing a distinctive perspective on the world around him. The works of the old masters served as a source of inspiration, fostering a sense of wonder and playfulness in Sergio's perception of the world. Sergio's professional aspirations, as both an art instructor and a practicing painter, are to utilize these artistic influences as a foundation for the exploration of more relaxed and unrestrained approaches to artistic expression and the interpretation of nature, employing a diverse array of media, combinations, and temperaments.

Dustin Nightingale

Dustin Nightingale received his MFA in Creative Writing from Indiana University. He has taught English and Creative Writing classes for over 15 years at four different colleges and has published over 100 poems in various journals. His book, Ghost Woodpecker, is available on Batcat Press.

Erika Novak

Erika Novak is a ceramic artist and FVAC ceramics manager who focuses on wheel thrown collections of pottery both functional and decorative. Her work includes series of cups and mugs as well as vases, bottles, and hanging objects like lamps and planters. Erika pulls inspiration from patterns and textures found in Art deco architecture, early 20th-century design, as well as pattern found in American Southwestern textiles. After studying ceramics and art in college Erika now works as a full-time potter creating and selling her work at nationally ranked art fairs and showcases. Visit Erika's website.

Dana Meachen Rau

Dana Rau has written more than 350 books for children in a variety of genres. She graduated from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, with degrees in both creative writing and art history, and has worked in the publishing world as an editor, author, and illustrator. Since attending Vermont College of Fine Arts for her master’s degree in Writing for Children and Young Adults, she has also taught writing and literature classes at the University of Hartford, the Highlights Foundation, the Mark Twain House, and the Farmington Valley Arts Center. She is also a mixed media artist. Dana lives in Burlington, Connecticut.
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Email: danameachenrau@gmail.com

Sarah Schwartz

Sarah, is a multidisciplinary artist at FVAC. In her artwork, she focuses on themes of embodiment and expression, offering a unique perspective that enhances the art-making experience. Sarah is a therapeutic E-RYT specializing in mindful trauma-informed yoga. She has a BFA in painting, darkroom photography and art history. Sarah currently works in the arts and entertainment industry and is a former public school art teacher.

Deborah Velasquez

Deborah Velásquez, a Brooklyn original, lives the creative life in the wooded hills of New England with her husband and two boys. She is an award-winning artist, designer, and the author of Drawing in Black and White. She loves the mix of design, words, art, and craft. Her work is modern, sophisticated, graphic, and bold and reflects her love of nature and the simplicity of line. She makes art digitally as well as using traditional methods, including gouache, watercolor, and printmaking.

Deborah is a graduate of the Colorado Institute of Art and the University of Hartford Entrepreneurial Business program. She has studied textiles and fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York, where she received her Millinery Certification. She's exhibited her work in numerous galleries, taught workshops, and even spoke at The Smithsonian. Her artistic designs grace various products, from rugs to stationery. They've been featured in well-known magazines and are available through major retailers worldwide, including Minted, West Elm, Bed Bath and Beyond, and more.

Visit Deborah's website and follow her on Instagram