Philly Art Center

Maria G. Albornoz is an artist based in Philadelphia, PA. Through her work, she seeks to reconcile impressions from her memory. Living, interpreting and making are endlessly intertwined in a tangled cycle of art and daily life. Using clay as her preferred medium of choice because of its versatility; no other material can create both functional vessels and sculptural works of Art. Ordinary, absurd and oddly familiar objects explore the relationship between line, color, textures and form. Maria hopes to create a feeling of wonder and curiosity in the viewer. And, perhaps they can construct, based on their own experiences, a narrative drawn from their own memories. Maria received her MFA from Tyler School of Art and a BFA from the University of South Florida. Born in Kansas, she lived through her late teens in Caracas, Venezuela. Her works are included in private and corporate collections like the Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art, Tarpon Springs, Florida.

Miranda is grateful to spend her life sharing her passion for art with others. She joyfully emphasizes the beauty and inherent worth of the art making process and loves to teach, learn from and collaborate creatively with her students. Miranda holds a BA from St. John’s College in Santa Fe, New Mexico and she earned her MFA at the Marchutz School of Fine Art in Aix-en-Provence, France. A painter and sculptor, her work has been exhibited nationally and abroad.

Bridget took her first pottery class as a sophomore in high school and has been in love with clay since then! She earned her BA in Studio Art at William and Mary College in 2004, where she focused on functional and sculptural ceramics. In 2009, she earned her M.Ed in K-12 Art Education at Arcadia University. Bridget believes that everyone can and should make art, and is looking forward to getting creative (and messy!) with students of all ages. When she's not in her studio, you can usually find her wandering around Collingswood, NJ, where she lives with her husband and two young sons.

Alex holds a Bachelor's degree in Game Design and Electronic Arts from Rensselaer Polytechnic in upstate New York. He loves to create artwork with digital pen and tablet, chalk pastel, and colored pencils. Alex has many years of traditional art classes under his belt and enjoys passing on his knowledge to a future generation of artists!

Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, Marina has lived in Philadelphia for the past few years and loves it! She studied abroad in Rome for a semester and earned her BFA in Fibers & Material Studies from Temple University's Tyler School of Art. Marina loves teaching kids to get creative and grow their skills in the studio! Aside from teaching, she loves biking and embroidery.

Brooke has lived in multiple cities around the country pursuing her career as an artist and exploring new places. While living in Oregon, she received her Bachelor Arts degree in Liberal Arts from Portland State University. Brooke has worked alongside many different ceramic tile artists which sparked her love for process work early on. Always learning, she has incorporated different crafts such as woodworking, painting, and sculpting to her skill set and when she is not teaching at the Philly Art Center she works as freelance artist specializing large-scale installations and displays. Brooke vividly recalls the art classes she took at a young age and attributes much of her creativity to this early exposure to techniques and artistic mediums. She hopes to pass along this joy and curiosity to all of her students!

Charlie Cunningham creates dubiously humorous and strange contradictions within his artwork. His artworks span figurative sculpture, installation, drawing and painting. His work incorporates a wide variety of mediums including, ceramic, silicone, found objects, charcoal, and urethane foam. Charlie received his BFA in painting from Lyme and Academy College of Fine Art and went on to attend The Pennsylvania State University for an MFA in Sculpture. Charlie has exhibited work at fairs and museums nationally and has received several awards and honors including a Teton Artlab Residency, Rasquache Artist Residency, and the Penn State University Creative Achievement Award. He is currently an Adjunct Professor at both Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia and Naugatuck Valley Community College in Connecticut.

Teal holds a BFA in Painting with minors in both Art History and Photography. She most recently graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a Masters in Fine Arts concentrating on Painting and Drawing. Her favorite part about teaching is the opportunity to witness the unique moment when a student artist develops confidence in their own artistic style. In her spare time, Teal can be found painting or maintaining her home plant jungle!

Kathleen holds a BFA in Painting & Drawing from The University of the Arts and an MFA in Painting from The San Francisco Art Institute. She has studied art internationally in both, Budapest, Hungary and Buenos Aires, Argentina. A Philadelphia resident, Kathleen is also an instructor at the Tyler School of Art. Kathleen has shown extensively in both Philadelphia and California, and has work included in private collections in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. Her work consists of large-scale oil paintings, drawings, ceramics and digital photographs.

Caitlin graduated from Maryland Institute College of Art with her Masters of Art in Teaching. Prior to this, she studied at Penn State University where she received her Bachelor’s in Studio Art (specializing in drawing and painting). Her artistic passion is graphite portraiture but finds endless excitement in the mixed media exploration that so often takes place in the art classroom. She has taught children from ages two to eighteen, finding their artistic understanding/know-how to be completely inspiring, but most loves the uninhibited energy and creativity of the youngest artists!

Pat is an art educator, an avid painter, and freelance comic illustrator in Philadelphia. He received his education from Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and University of Pennsylvania, where he mastered his studies in painting and illustration. Whenever he's not working on a painting or teaching adult classes, he can be found spoiling his chihuahua!

Marlise studied fine art and design at The University of Michigan, where she received a B.F.A., and then business at Georgetown University, where she received an M.B.A. She was a textile designer in the home furnishing industry for many years, and then a product developer for consumer product companies. She has been sewing for 25 years, ever since her first textile job, when she bought a sewing machine in order to create quilts with all the fabric scraps she accumulated. When she is not sewing, she is working on her childrens’ school's PTA or with the local Mothers of Multiples group. Marlise is a Cherry Hill, NJ native.

Sam graduated from Tyler School of Art with a BFA in painting. She uses installation, video and performance as a means to distinguish and poke fun at boundaries and limitations through play and humor. As a teaching artist, she puts emphasis on the individual and creative problem solving in the studio. She believes in the importance of fun when making and sharing ideas.

Originally from the Philadelphia area, Em is passionate about the art scene in this city. She received her BFA from Moore College of Art & Design and is a practicing visual artist, making humorous videos, performances, and sculptures. She is a firm believer that art happens where collaboration and conversation take place and views teaching as the most important type of collaboration!

Natalie was born in Seoul, raised in the suburbs of Philadelphia, and has lived in the city since 2009! She graduated from Temple University with a degree in advertising account management and business administration. She loves children and has years of experience in kid-focused environments. Natalie enjoys experimenting in the kitchen, exploring new cuisines, knitting, traveling and the occasional boutique cycling class! She is also a cat mom of two.

Alison Kruvant is an artist and educator based in Philadelphia, PA. She studied art and art history at Oberlin College. Upon graduation, Kruvant traveled to Poland to contribute to the reconstruction and painting of the roof of a 17th century wooden synagogue for permanent exhibition in the Museum of the History of Polish Jews. Kruvant earned an MFA in Painting at Tyler School of Art, where she spent one year studying in Rome, Italy. Through painting, she records and expands her experience of seeing.

Jill holds an MFA from the University of Massachusetts and a BFA in art education from the University of New Mexico. With a K-12 teaching certificate and over 20 years of classroom experience, Jill has taught art at every level from preschool through university. In 2004, Jill launched the flagship location of Philly Art Center in Fairmount and has worked with dedication to grow Philly Art Center, delivering on their creative mission, ever since.

Kat writes curriculum for many of the Art Center programs, manages all centers' programs, and teaches classes for students aged 1 through 14, on and off site. Kat earned her B.A. in Contemporary Art with a concentration in Modern Art History from Universities on both US coasts. Her passion to study and make art took her all over the United States before finally settling in Philadelphia with her boisterous (and also creative) family. Kat is a working artist, an Art History lecturer, and gallery curator, with her paintings exhibited both nationally and internationally. In addition, Kat has over 10 years of teaching experience, working with artists through hands-on specialty classes.

Hope Mead is a potter and educator living and working in Camden, NJ. She is the 3rd generation of potters in her family, with both her mother and grandmother being ceramic artists and art educators. She received her BS in Art Education from Messiah College. She has been working in clay since her childhood but began to throw on the wheel more seriously in her Junior year at Messiah College and has been hooked ever since. She teaches ceramics locally with BuildaBridge International, Spiral Q, Claymobile and in her own studio. She believes in creating opportunities for all people to express themselves and to find joy in working with clay. Hope has recently begun specializing in firing woodfired anagama kilns in rural Pennsylvania. She has shown her work regionally and nationally. Hope works on both specialized commissioned work and unique handmade items being sold online at local craft events and boutiques.

A Philly girl, Ruby attended Drexel University and graduated with a journalism degree. After living and teaching in China, Ruby decided she wanted to remain in the education world and has been working around kids ever since. When she's not at work you can find her sewing, embroidering, or making jewelry.

Graduating in 2015 from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, Hannah holds a degree in Fine Arts with a concentration in Painting and a minor in Art History,. She was a counselor at Hempfield Rec Daycamp in Lancaster for three years where she supervised kids of various ages; as a former member of Kutztown's tennis team, she instructed tennis there as well. Hannah is an abstract painter who believes that art is unplanned and that each mark is responding to a previous mark. Her biggest influence is Helen Frankenthaler. Aside from art and tennis, Hannah enjoys traveling and is looking forward to exploring her new home in Philadelphia.

Born and raised in Newark, New Jersey, Ali Richardson, currently resides in West Philadelphia, a vibrant and diverse community which serves as his home-base for teaching, creating, and performing music. As a co-founder of CODA Program, Ali is also lead facilitator for the Hip-hop Jazz Musicology and The Drum Circle workshops. Musically and artistically, Ali blends hip-hop, jazz, blues, and world music into his performances and plays several musical instruments, including guitar, drums, bass, keyboard, and percussion. He has experience teaching music lessons, baby music classes, and performing at children's birthday parties and events.

Meredith holds a BSFCS in Fashion Design. She spent a summer in Paris, France studying couture techniques at the Paris American Academy. She has assisted in the production of Haute Couture shows on the Paris runway for designers such as: Dominique Sirop, Elie Saab and Georges Hoebeka. She enjoys pattern making, sewing and the process of constructing a garment from a simple sketch to a fully lined garment. She loves all facets of fashion design: sewing, draping, dying, fabric manipulation and understanding the science behind textiles. In her free time, Meredith enjoys camping, cooking and traveling the world!

Meg is currently a student at the University of the Arts where she studies sculpture and art education. She specializes in work involving the human figure and biomorphism. She finds the most exciting aspects of creating to be the process, trial and error, and collaboration. Her main goal is to inspire and be inspired by children of all ages and to use art as a means of building human connections.

Haley was born and raised in Pennsauken, NJ. She graduated from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University with a Bachelors in Visual Art and Design. Her experiences include teaching at The African American Atelier, The Goddard School, and now at Philly Art Center! The best parts of being a teacher is showing kids what they're capable of, and watching their skills and confidence grow. Haley's latest work as an artist is a series of portrait style paintings influenced by one of her favorite artists, Voka.

Annemarie is a current student at TYLER school of art. She has a background in a large array of media including painting, drawing, jewelry, metalwork, bookbinding, glass, wood, sewing. She is pursuing her masters in art education so she can continue on to be a full time teacher. She loves creating with kids and has been working a the art center for almost 5 years. She has been with the art center since she was 8 years old taking classes and now teaching them. In her free times she enjoys cooking and running.

Bryan holds an M.F.A in painting from the University of Delaware, and a B.A in Visual Art from Stockton University. He has been teaching for more than 10 years at the University and Community College level, and has exhibited his artwork across the country in New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Delaware, Florida, Texas, Michigan, Maryland, and Connecticut. As an artist and teacher Bryan focuses on exploring traditional artistic skills with a sense of creativity and humor. When he’s not teaching he can be found traveling the Tri-State area in search of adventures with his wife and 3 year old daughter.

Mia was born and raised in Philly. After teaching English as a Second Language in Spain for 2 years, Mia discovered her love of teaching. She is currently working to received her Masters in Education in ESL and Literacy, while also holding a BFA in Painting from Tyler School of Art. In her free time she loves watercolor painting and practicing her Spanish.