Staff and Faculty of the Sawtooth Center for Creative Art

Kathy Young Albertelli - Owner/operator Kathy Young & Co. Inc., a fine jewelry/manufacturing company in NYC, NY for 20 years.

Nancy Bruce - BFA Textile Design, Rhode Island School of Design; freelance designer/illustrator.

Patrick Burger - glass artist for 30+ years; attended Syracuse Univ.; artist in residence with PA Council of the Arts. Teaches glass art extensively, youth & adults. Has work in galleries and private collections.

Dodie Campbell - BFA ceramics, Utah State University; MFA ceramics, Erlinboro Univ., PA

Jim Carpenter - Jim is an advanced-level carver who actively competes in several national bird carving competitions each year. He has won several "best of show" awards at East Carolina Wildfowl Arts Festival and Ohio Decoy Carving and Collecting Shows. He won Best of Intermediate Miniatures Division at the 1996 Ward Foundation World Champoinships where he has competed every year since 1993. Specializes in carving songbirds, raptors, waterfowl and smoothie shorebirds.

Steve Carroll - Photographer, artisan, educator.

Curtis Cecil - Owner of Crystal Palace Glass, sells work at art/craft shows in addition to custom and wholesale orders. Has work in many public and private collections worldwide.

Ginny Conaway – Watercolor artist exhibiting in numerous galleries & invitational shows. Served on Delaware Foundation for the Visual Arts board and the Rittenhouse Square Fine Arts Annual board, Philadelphia, PA. Directed Spirit of the Art Festival, a highly acclaimed national outdoor art festival in Wilmington, DE.

Nancy David - BS in mathematics, Georgia Southwest College; Masters in Child Development, Appalachain State Univ.

Ira DeKoven - owner of DeKoven Forge, is an MFA graduate of the Cranbrook Academy of Fine Arts, and a graduate in Art/Engineering of Antioch College in Yellow Springs, OH and the Hobart Institute of Welding Technology in Troy, OH. His experience includes jobs in the Charles Towne Landing and Middleton Place Gardens in Charleston, SC, and shipyards in Seattle and San Francisco. He has been a member of Piedmont Craftsmen since 1981.

Ron Embry - Studio potter, handbuilding instructor.

Clyde Lassiter - Studio potter; studied art at Chowan College and Penland School of Crafts.

Duncan Lewis - Studied sculpture and drawing at New York Studio School, National Fine Arts Institute Mexico; taught at Penland School of Crafts and WSSU.

John Martin - metal sculptor; past instructor (art therapy) at Hillcrest House, Greensboro, NC; metal casting workshops at Pocosin Arts, Colombia, NC; public school art teacher.

Walt McGervey - MFA Ohio University; artist, Auto Cadd Designer/drafter, word sparrer.

JoEllen Grubbs - AB Art degree, Guilford College; artisan in weaving, pottery, basketry & Ukrainian Pysanky; Attended John C. Campbell Folk School

Vanessa Wright Hollifield - BA Studio Art, Salem College; full-time glass artist, artist and creator of Spirit Inspired Works.

Becky Holton - Silversmith with over 15 years experience. Owner of Custom Made Jewelry by Bex.

Jack Jennings – award winning metalsmith with over 11 years of professional experience, exhibits nationally, BFA East Carolina University, additional studies at Penland School and loves tacos.

Andrea Kennington - MFA, Metals Design, East Carolina Univ., BA, Univ. of SC; member Southern Highland Craft Guild and Piedmont Craftsmen.

Anne Kiefaber - Schuler School of Fine Arts, Ecole Montparness, Member National Portrait Society and Pastel Society of NC

Betty Helen Longhi - nationally recognized metalsmith, has been exhibited at the Virginia Museum, Delaware Art Museum, American Craft Museum, South East Center for Contemporary Art and the Renwick Gallery Museum Shop as well as numerous retail galleries. She has taught at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Penland School, Parsons School of Design, Peters Valley Craft Center and others.

Carole Morse - 20+ years professional jewelry involvement including formal training in Arkansas & NC; jewelry designer.

Gaff Pearce - Studio potter, Masters in Music Education, East Carolina Univ., studied at Penland.

Julie Perry - Studio potter, studied art at Emory Univ., Atlanta, GA and Penland School of Art.

Cynthia Pratt - Artisan, educator. BFA from Reinhardt & MFA from UNCG. Teaches painting, drawing, digital and black and white photography.

Nola Rich – Quilter for 22 years, Surry Community College teacher & active in the Yadkin River Quilters Guild.

Elizabeth Randell - Art Instructor at Art Institute of Ft. Lauderdale and studied sacred iconography in Russia and Michigan

Linda Rubin - BFA, Temple Univ., Tyler School of Art with additional studies at Pilchuck School; recipient of W-S Emerging Artist Grant 1990; public school art teacher.

Michael Shoaf - 30+ years as professional photographer; President of Orion Advertising and Design, Ltd., former creative director/photographer of MSI studios.

Jack Stone - BA at the University of Maryland. MFA in painting and drawing at UNC-Greensboro.
Marilyn Schendel - Soapmaker since 1998 and marketing her products under the name of Ritual Waters. www.ritualwaters.com

Mark Spangenberg - BFA, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA; studied fresco painting Salzburg, Austria; assisted with fresco painters Ben Long and Charles Kapsner.

Mary Bailey Thomas - BA, Art Education, High Point Univ., studied at Arrowmont, Penland and others; Visual Arts/Photography instructor for Davidson Co. schools 1977-2000; SSVA instructor since 1995, Forsyth Country Day School since 2002, Salem College since 2003.

Benita VanWinkle - MFA, Cinema and Photography, Southern Illinois University, BA, Univ. of Central Florida. Photography and bookbinding instructor for past 25 years in Florida, GA, Illinois, Montana & NC. www.busybstudio.com

John Wald – Retired baker & bakery/training counselor. Self-taught basket weaver of 8 years with other interests in woodworking, furniture making, woodcarving and glass fusing. http://www.waldstudios.com

Jack White - BS, attended Concord College, Virginia Tech., & Wake Forest Univ. Experienced in woodworking & carving.

Deb Williams - BS, Guilford College, Teaching since 1989 at the Sawtooth in courses from batik to papermaking

Jeff Wilson - Self-taught artist specializing in glassblowing, stained glass, stonecarving and flint-napping.

SCVA STAFF

Executive Director
Sherri Nielson - BS in Management and MBA, Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham. Studied at Birmingham School of Law.

Administrative Staff
Kathryn Kelly-Hensley - Director of Operations, BFA UNC Greensboro in Fine Art with a concentration in design and photography, minor in english. Extensive management and design experience. Owner of KV Studios. Teaches in the photography, youth & outreach dept.

Sandra Lackey Davidson - Bookkeeper

Julie Morgan - Registrar; Lexington Business College, KY; Pianist, Storyteller, art enthusiast and community theater actress.

Studio Coordinators

Warren Moyer - Ceramics Studio Coordinator; MFA, Ohio Univ., BS in Art Education from Kutztown Univ. of PA; member Piedmont Craftsmen.

Karen Parker - Graphics Coordinator, MFA from Ohio Univ.; taught at Morehead State Univ., Elkland Art School in Todd, NC; Shown in Europe & the U.S.

Anna -Olivia Sisk - Youth Coordinator, MFA emphasis in painting from Radford Universitiy, Radford, VA; BS in Studio Art emphasis in painting and photography from Barton College, Wilson, NC; taught at the Georgia O'Keefe Museum, Santa Fe, NM and Thrive Art School, Seattle, WA.

Sara Sloan Stine - Metals/Glass/Wood Studio Coordinator; BFA in Art and Design from Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA; past metals technician at Parsons School of Design Summer Program in Lake Placid, NY. Teaches jewelry fabrication and Precious Metal Clay classes. Certified PMC instructor.

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