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!

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!

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 earned a B.A. from Oberlin College in Studio Art and Art History and an M.F.A. in Painting from the Tyler School of Art where she spent one year studying in Rome, Italy. Kruvant worked as a community muralist and scenic painter in New York City before focusing on her studio practice in painting.

Chrissie is a singer, songwriter, and pianist. After receiving her degree in Music Education from Temple University in 2005, Chrissie has been teaching piano and voice lessons, choir, and general music classes to people of all ages and various settings. She uses her energetic, imaginative style to encourage participation, develop musicianship, and inspire love for the universal language of music. Chrissie has also recorded several albums and completed national tours with her band!

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.

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.

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.

Jacqueline Yvonne Tull holds a master’s degree from the University of Delaware’s Master of Fine Art program, where she also taught undergraduate sculpture courses and studied material culture theory. She attended the Maryland Institute College of Art and completed her Bachelor of fine art degree at the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design, in addition to studying plein air painting at the Mount Gretna School of Art, and the Rome Art Program, in Rome, Italy. She has now moved her studio practice to Philadelphia and also teaches at Lincoln University.