Susan Adams was born in Richmond, Virginia and received her MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art. Versatility, skill and attention to meticulous detail allow her to design and produce unique decorative objects ranging from jewelry, hollow-ware, commissioned projects such as movie props and wedding rings to corporate awards and commemorative gifts.

Donna Campbell Allen first gained national recognition as an illustrator for the best selling novella, The Special Guest, A Christmas Story, and recently as a portrait painter receiving the Best in Show Award in the NAP 2011 Richmond show for her painting titled “Lin”. Donna’s work has been exhibited in national and international shows including the Pennsylvania Watercolor Society International Show and in the homes of many private collectors. She has been commissioning portraits in watercolors for over 10 years. Donna graduated with top honors from the IVY School of Professional Art.

Barbara Atkinson has been a professional stained glass artist and instructor for over 30 years.

Michael D. Bartolotta is a photographic artist focusing on digital and historical processes. He holds degrees from the University of Pittsburgh and the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, NY. Michael works professionally in Williamsburg, VA as an Art Director and Photographer. His work can be found online at mdbart.com.

Ingrid Bernhardt is a graduate of the Pratt Institute.  Her bead work is exhibited nationally and she regularly exhibits at the Craft & Design Show, winning best in show for 2009. You can see her work on her website: www.ingridbernhardt.com

Lee Bloxom is pursuing a PhD in Media, Art & Text at VCU. A local writer and photographer, she holds an MA in Writing & Rhetoric from VCU and a BA in American Studies and English from Wellesley College. She has taught writing at the Visual Arts Center since 2002.  http://ramsites.net/~bloxompl/

David Camden is a graduate of Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont. He has taught ceramics classes at the Visual Arts Center since 1978.

Rebecca D’Angelo has a BFA in photography and has spent her career shooting for major publications including National Geographic Traveler, Ebony, NY Times and the Washington Post, where she is the Society Beat photographer shooting and producing a weekly column called “The Scene.”  Her Katrina images are in the Library of Congress and her art has been shown nationally.

Susan Decker describes herself as revived, renewed and unleashed as her mind has taken her to new levels in creating pieces of art from discarded sweaters. Susan is an out of the box thinker and designer of clothing and accessories, and loves to do what she does and loves it when others are amazed by it! Susan is a wife, mother and a grandma with a full-time job and a mind that wanders, dreams and envisions.

Don Dransfield is a designer/goldsmith, who received a BFA from the State University of New York at New Paltz.

Daniel Eaves is a full time professional goldsmith with over 20 years experience. He has a B.F.A from VCU and an M.F.A from Cranbrook Academy of Art.

Regi Franz is a documentary photographer who holds a MFA in Photography from VCUarts. After a successful career in film photography, she made the leap to Digital 10 years ago, and now specializes in Fine Art Printing and everything pixel-related.

Jessica Freeman is a professional stained-glass artist living and working in Richmond.

Jamie Fueglein holds an MFA in fiction from Virginia Commonwealth University where he currently teaches in the Focused Inquiry Program. He has also taught writing classes through the English departments for both VCU and the U of R. Jamie has extensive experience in leading writing workshops focused on short stories and on novel length works.

JC Gilmore-Bryan is a professional artist. In addition to teaching at the VACR, she also teaches at VCU in the MIS Art Program and at VSU. She is a member of the professional printmaking group ONE/OFF. In 2011 she received a Fullbright Scholar award to teach mural painting and do her own work in screen-printing for a solo exhibition at the National Academy of Art in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Peter Giebel is an industrial consultant and professional photographer in the technical/commercial sphere. He has a BS from City College of new York and PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has been involved in traditional, wet, black & white darkroom photography for over 50 years.

Annie Grimes Williams is a native of North Carolina, and currently lives in Winston-Salem, NC. After receiving her BFA from East Carolina University in 2003, Annie moved to Winston-Salem and worked for five years at the Jon Kuhn glass studio as an artisan, Color Core Coordinator, and Hot Shop Technician. In 2008, she started her own jewelry business, CopperTide, and in 2009 she began working with NC Black Co., a tool company based in Mount Airy, NC. Annie then moved to Richmond, VA where she began her teaching career at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond as a metals/jewelry/enameling instructor. Even after returning to NC, Annie maintains her place on the faculty of the Visual Arts Center and is now also a faculty member of the Sawtooth School for Visual Art in Winston-Salem. She makes work in her studio at home.

Robert Greene is a local photographic artist who specializes in “lith” printing.  His work has been exhibited throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Mid-South Regions and has won numerous awards.  His work has also appeared in several nationally circulated publications.  He has a B.S. degree from Louisiana State University.

Valley Haggard has written for Style Weekly, R-Home, Skirt and V-Magazine. She has a monthly column in Belle and has published stories in The Writer’s Dojo and Tarnished: True Stories of Innocence Lost. The founder and director of Richmond Young Writers, she served on the board of the James River Writers from 2008 – 2011. Visit her online at www.richmondyoungwriters.com or www.valleyhaggard.com.

Margaret Hancock combined her passion for art & design with her 10+ years of experience in the industry to open Margaret Hancock Studio. Margaret formerly served as the Director of Programs and Curator at the Virginia Center for Architecture, focusing on public outreach through exhibitions, workshops, and special initiatives. Her resume includes promoting art & design education for SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) and the University of Virginia Art Museum. Margaret also spent several years with the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington D.C., completed an internship with the National Gallery of Art, and has juried several art shows, including the Atlanta Dogwood Festival. She holds a M.Ed. from the University of Virginia and a B.A. in Art History from Duke University.

Sarah Hand is and artist and teacher who makes dolls, collages, paper mache sculptures, books, skirts and more. She believes life is more fun if you make stuff and has spent many years teaching adults and kids how to do just that. She lives in Richmond with her husband and three cats.

Phillip Hilliker is a freelance illustrator with ten years of experience across several fields, including role-playing games, comics, and children’s books. Additionally, he has spent time as a gallery curator and has participated in both national and international exhibitions. View his work at www.minotaurstudios.net.

Maripat G. Hyatt is a National Board Certified Teacher in Early Middle Childhood Art and teaches elementary art in Henrico County Public Schools. She recently completed her Master of Interdisciplinary Studies of Art with a focus in Textiles and Mixed Media at VCU. She has been an instructor at the Visual Art Center of Richmond since 2001.

Julia Janeczek is a freelance designer who holds a BFA in Apparel Design from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has traveled extensively, working in France, Guatemala and India.

Douglas Jones is a professional writer and teacher who has written and produced sets for over 30 plays.  He has a BA from the University of Chicago and did graduate work at the University of Virginia.

Shelley Jones is a professional jeweler, working with beads, felt and silver. She has a background in graphic arts and teaches locally and exhibits nationally.

Sally Kannemeyer graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BFA in Painting & Printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University. At VCU, she also studied textiles in the Craft & Material Studies department, and studied anthropology and art history throughout her coursework. Sally has taken knitting workshops with American knitting designers Melissa Leapman, and  Nicky Epstein. Painting and knitting intersect in Sally’s workshops and courses.  A confident use of color, texture, craft, inspiration, and most important, openness to happy accidents, all combine in the creation of her fun and fabulous pieces.   It’s all process – and a bit of magic, too.

Aijung Kim received her BFA in Fine Art Printmaking at Pratt Institute in 2004. She has exhibited in galleries in New York City, Portland, Oregon, and Richmond, Virginia. She sells her art online, at craft and book fairs, and in stores and gallery shops across the country. View her artwork online: www.aijungkim.com and www.sprouthead.etsy.com.

Ken Kohut has worked with metal for over 40 years and has attended numerous blacksmithing comferences in the US and Europe.  He enjoys teaching the basics to those interested in blacksmithing.

Sarah Masters is a professional artist working and teaching in Richmond.  She shows her work locally and regionally.  Sarah holds a BFA in Painting and Printmaking from VCU and a degree in Botany from Duke.  She is a VCCA fellow.

Katie McBride is an illustrator and designer who currently works for University of Richmond Communications. She holds a BFA in Communication Arts and Design from VCU and is the co-chair of the Richmond Illustrator’s Club. Her freelance clients include Richmond Magazine, Richmond BizSense.com and Editor and Publisher Magazine, amongst others. You can see her work at www.katiemcbride.com and www.katiemcbride.carbonmade.com .

Deirdra McAfee (M.F.A., fiction, The New School; M.A., literature, Georgetown) has published widely in literary magazines, most recently The Georgia Review. Her work has won national and regional awards, including New Millennium Writings‘ 2010 Short-Short Fiction Award and the 2004 STYLE Fiction Prize.  An experienced and inventive teacher, McAfee is also a trained editor; you can read her work at http://www.deirdramcafee.com/

Richard McCord is a ceramic artist and sculptor known for his strong sense of form, color, and design.  He has taught clay classes at the VisArts for more than twenty years and served as the VisArts Master Teacher of the Year in 2001.  Richard’s teaching style is ideal for the student who wants to learn the craft of clay with guided exploration, personalized direction and encouragement.  His critique of students’ work celebrates their creativity and success while posing challenges that will ensure their growth with the medium.

Kirk O’Brien is a professional freelance cartoonist and illustrator. His work can be viewed on his website at www.inkyline.com. He served as the Hand Workshop’s Master Teacher for 2003.

Amie Oliver was awarded an MFA from Bowling Green State University (Ohio) and moved here from New Orleans to pursue her studio practice and teach in higher education in the late 80′s.  Her work is included in many public and private collections and has been shown in solo exhibitions from Maine to Florida on the east coast; from Berkeley, CA to points east and abroad. For more information please visit http://amieoliver.net

Brad Pearson is a professional lamp-work artist.  He holds a BFA from VCU, and has taught and exhibited for a decade.

Emilia Phillips is the author of Signaletics (forthcoming 2013), selected as the Editors’ Choice for the 2012 Akron Poetry Prize, and the associate literary editor of Blackbird. Her poetry has appeared in or is forthcoming from AGNI, Gulf Coast, The Kenyon Review, and elsewhere. She received her MFA in poetry at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Susan Quinnild was the Hand Workhop’s Master Teacher for 2005. Susan is a jack of all trades and teaches both Introduction to Watercolor and ceramics courses ranging from throwing on the wheel to courses focusing on hand-building projects.

Lynda Ray is a professional artist whose paintings have been shown locally and nationally. Her work is included in The Art of Encaustic Painting by Joanne Mattera. She has a BFA in Painting from Massachusetts college of Art and studied at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. She has been working with encaustic since its reemergence in the 1980s. Although she works in a nonrepresentational style, she finds encaustic to be an excellent medium for all types of work.  Understanding the properties of encaustic is the first step to incorporating it into your work. www.lyndarayencausticworkshop.blogspot.com

Pamela Rose Rennolds, a professional ceramist and teacher, has a BA from Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois.

Ten years ago Travis Robertson came down the mountain with a squeegee in his hand. He now practices the mystic art of screen-printing on the northside of Richmond. Travis graduated from the Printmaking Department of James Madison University in 2003.

Jude Schlotzhauer is a full time studio glass artist with a BFA in painting and an MFA in glass working.  In addition to teaching glass kiln working at VCU for over 25 years, she has taught as a visiting artist at many universities and art centers throughout the country and in Mexico and Malaysia.  Her work is in many private and corporate collections, including Capitol One, Verizon and Chesapeake Capitol Corp.  Her public art commissions are installed locally at MCV, Randolph Community Center, Fire Station 16,  Childrens’ Museum, and VCU dining center, and as far away as a Marine Officers complex in Japan.

Jay Sharpe is professional metal smith who holds a BFA from VCU and is the proprietor of a jewelry store in Richmond.

Leslie Shiel has taught (or is currently teaching) at VCU, Randolph-Macon College, and in private workshops. Her work has been published in The Southern Review, The Sun, Poetry International, and other publications. She has been the recipient of a fellowship from the Virginia Commission for the Arts.

Susan Singer holds a Masters of Interdisciplinary Studies in Art from VCU.  She works primarily in pastels and oils and is currently creating a series of large scale oil paintings of female nudes along with a book about women’s body image.  She exhibits and sells her work in local and regional galleries.

A graduate of George Mason University, Jeanette Snyder began self-publishing in 2002. Since then, she’s worked with a variety of publishers and her fiction has appeared in numerous anthologies by Cleis Press, Alyson Books, and Lethe Press, among others. In 2010, she launched her own publishing company, JMS Books, LLC. Now self-employed, Jeanette manages all aspects of the company — submissions, editing, layout, cover design, ISBN assignment, and book creation in print and electronic formats.

Andres Soulas is an Argentine-American professional photographer residing in Richmond. His work has been recognized in over 15 countries. He studied Fine Arts at the National Art Museum in Buenos Aires and at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco. His work includes portraits, landscapes, travel, architectural and fashion photography.

Catherine Southall holds a BFA in Fashion Design from VCU and has worked in the fashion industry for over 20 years. She is currently a local teacher and a professional artist. Studio contact info: thefashionoffice@gmail.com

Tesni Stephen graduated from The Rhode Island School of Design with a degree in apparel design. She is an experienced sewing teacher, and loves teaching all ages how to sew and make art! Her favorite pastime is traveling the world and collecting textiles.

Mary Swezey has a BFA in Art History from VCU and an MFA in Fibers from Arizona State University. She has also studied textile techniques at Arromont School of Arts and Crafts and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. She has taught previously at VCU, Longwood College and the VMFA. Mary joined VisArts for the first time during this past summer’s 2011 ArtVenture program.

David Tanner is a representational oil painter, specializing in portraiture and figurative paintings as well as still-life and plein-air landscapes.  He has a BFA from VCU, and was the 2006 Master Teacher at Visual Arts Center.  View his work at www.TannerPortraits.com.

Jim Valentine has taught art in Richmond and Hanover County for 30 years. His pottery and sculpted clay faces appear in public and private collections in the U.S. and Germany.

Thomas Van Auken is a professional artist whose paintings have been shown locally and nationally.  He studied fine art at the Corcoran School of Art.

Jeff Vick is a ceramic artist who throws functional pottery and creates hand-built and slip-cast sculptures.  He received a MFA from VCU in 2006 and maintains a studio at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond.  Visit his website at www.jeffvickceramics.com

Bridget Walsh is passionate about art! She graduated from VCU with a BFA in graphic design, and also holds a BFA from JMU in Studio Arts. She began her career in non-profit art and gallery management in Alexandria, VA, and now works locally as a graphic designer. Always curious, she has explored many creative adventures in ceramics, collage, painting, printmaking and graphic design,  to name a few. In her free time, Bridget can be found training for an upcoming marathon or working in the studio on a new painting or letterpress project.

Lynalise Woodlief is a VCU graduate with a BFA in Craft and Material Studies. When not in her my studio, I work in a field where I can hone my craft by making props and jewelry. She work as an artisan in films bringing narrative to life. Her designs tend to be organic and elegant in their simplicity.

Christopher Wynn majored in fine arts at the University of Washington and the University of California Berkeley, where he graduated with a B.S. After graduating, he worked for years as an art director and creative director for numerous corporations and advertising agencies on the West Coast until he started his own company in 1992. Christopher painted in oils for many decades, but still returned to watercolor because of its purity and transparency.