RAC Faculty/Visiting Artist Bios

Bill Abright -  BA, MA San Francisco State University. Bill has exhibited and demonstrated his techniques throughout the U.S. and has taught Art at the College of Marin in Kentfield for the last 34 years.

Phoebe Ackley -  is currently a studio assistant for Andree Singer Thompson. She was awarded a public art project at Rosa Parks Elementary School. Phoebe teaches figure and clay sculpture to a wide audience. She exhibits her work throughout the Bay Area.

Steve Allen -  MFA, San Francisco State University. Steve teachs ceramics at Santa Rosa Junior College and has assisted with classes at SFSU including tutoring students with disabilities. He is the ceramics tech and manager of RAC. Steve exhibits his work throughout the greater Bay Area. www.sfclay.com

Clayton Bailey - began working with clay in 1959 and has spent his career incorporating humor and innovative techniques into everything he has created. Bailey has taught at California State Hayward and offered workshops around the country. He exhibits his work nationally and internationally. www.claytonbailey.com

Jennifer Brazelton -  Jennifer Brazelton - MFA, San Francisco State University. Jennifer has taught adult classes at the ASUC studio at UC Berkeley, at SFSU, Cal State East Bay and Merritt College in Oakland. She exhibits her work regionally. www.jenniferbrazelton.com

Patricia Bulitt -  an interdisciplinary artist/ dancer. Her solo work has been presented in Japan, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. Honored with grants from National Endowment for the Arts, California Arts Council, Alaska Humanities Council, Berkeley Civic Arts. Bulitt gives workshops nationally.

Martha Castillo - Martha has taught a variety of art classes for adults and children. She was first introduced to clayprinting in 2004, by way of the inventor, Mitch Lyons, in Philadelphia, PA. Martha has been teaching clayprint workshops since 2005. She
exhibits her work nationally.

Kay Coffee - BA, San Francisco State University. Kay has taught ceramics for the past 25+ years, specializing in beginning pottery and children's classes.

Shelly Cournoyer - BFA, California College of Arts Craft. Shelly is a fine art jeweler, blacksmith and sculptor. Her work integrates organic forms with found objects. She is currently developing a line of work that uses forged steel and mixed media.

Nuala Creed - BFA, California College of the Arts. Her work has appeared in numerous books and publications including 500 Figures in Clay, and 500 Handmade Dolls. Creed has completed four public art ceramic murals and is included in numerous public and private collections. She exhibits her work throughout the United States. www.nualacreed.com

Lowell Darling - is a conceptual artist. Refused Graduate Exhibition and returns MFA to Chicago Art Institute/Southern Illinois University. Found Art Center of the World (alternative space, Davis, California.) Ran for CA governor the first time in 1978. Darling lectures and performs throughout the United States and Europe.

Lisa di Prima - BFA, California College of the Arts. Lisa has taught at the S F Children’s Art Center, Berkeley Child Art Studio, Berkeley Arts Magnet, Harding Elementary and Arrowsmith High School. She is the artistic director of the Berkeley Jazz Art Program.

Connie English - specializes in both ancient and modern styles of mosaics. She has been published in the international magazine "Mosaic Now" and the Society of American Mosaic Association. Her work has been exhibited in the Bay Area and in England. She currently teaches at Civic Arts Education in Walnut Creek, CA.

Hylla Evans -  founder and paint maker for Evans Encaustics. Hylla teaches extensively in Boston, NY, SF, LA, Berkeley, and Amsterdam. She is a board member of International Encaustic Artists and the paint maker on the Technical Panel at Montserrat College of Art's First Annual Encaustic Conference. www.EvansEncaustics.com

Rebeca Garcia-Gonzalez - BFA, University of Puerto Rico. Rebeca has studied at the Arts Students League in San Juan and at the Academy of Art University in SF. Rebeca coordinates several painting groups including the East Bay plein-air group. She exhibits her work locally. www.garcia-gonzalez.com

Raymond Haywood - MA, San Francisco State University. Raymond teaches screen printing at Castlemont High School and Laney Community College. He was a 2005 Jan Hart-Schuyers Artistic Achievement Award recipient of the The Art of Living Black. He exhibits his work in the Bay Area.

Susie Hodges - has taught knitting and textile crafts for over 30 years including Straw Into Gold in Oakland and the national Stitches knitting conferences. Her video, "Multicolor Techniques for Handknitters"™ is offered in knitting shops nationally.

Bruno Kark - apprenticed to Isezaki Jun, Bizan, Japan. Bruno has taught through the Walnut Creek Civic Arts Program. He exhibits at the Asian Art Museum and Gump's in San Francisco. www.brunokark.com

Jan Langdon - BS, studied at Cranbrook Academy of Art and had a weaving business in Berkeley in the 1960’s. Jan has taught at the de Young Museum Art School, the Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design and San Francisco City College. She has work in collections including Phillips Academy (Andover, MA) and the Oakland Museum.

Edward Lay - BS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Ed has been at RAC since 1998 and is the metals studio monitor. He is a researcher on how people learn things at UC Berkeley.

Wendy McDermott - MFA, San Jose State University. Wendy also teaches at Contra Costa College in San Pablo and the Academy of Art University in SF. She also co-teaches welding and bronze work at CCC as well. She exhibits her work nationally.

Peter Ostwald - studied at UC Berkeley and abroad. Peter was founding director of the metal arts program at John O'Connell Technical Institute and has taught at Piedmont Adult School. He exhibits in New York and Northern California.

Judi Pettite - MA, CSU Fullerton, MFA, JFK University. Judi is a bay area artist and painting instructor at Berkeley City College. Using pigments without a petrochemical base led her back to traditional materials, while exploring the variations and possibilities as a contemporary art medium. She exhibits nationally. www.judipettite.com

John Powers - BA/MA Architecture, University of Illinois. John Powers is the principal of John Powers AIA, Architecture and Planning. He was also the Director of the San Francisco Center for Architecture and Urban Studies from 1971 – 1981. He currently serves as a Commissioner on the State Board of Architectural Examiners.

Kiki Rostad - BA, San Francisco State University; ECEC, Merritt College. Kiki has 27 years of teaching experience at the Oakland Museum, Head Royce School, Montclair Recreation Center and Albany Recreation Center.

Nancy M. Servis - MA, City University of New York; BA, Hiram College. Nancy teaches ceramics history at the California College of the Arts and is a published author on the subject. She is the executive director of the Richmond Art Center.

Sandy Simon - is a studio potter who studied ceramics at the University of Minnesota. She is the owner of TRAX Gallery in Berkeley, that showcases exceptional functional ware from potter's across the United States. She exhibits her work nationally and internationally.

Saadi Shapiro - has taught at Piedmont Adult School and is currently the Studio technician at Merritt College and kiln maintenance specialist at Clay People. Saadi shows his work in different venues throughout the Bay Area.

Joyce Shon - Joyce has been screen-printing for over 40 years and has produced custom commercial work, images on fabric and fine art prints. She exhibits her work in the Bay Area.

Stacy Speyer - MFA, California College of the Arts; BFA, Kansas City Art Institute. Stacy is a textile artist whose work challenges the traditional rules of weaving. She exhibits nationally and is represented in private collections, including Brandeis Hillel Day School in San Francisco. www.stacyspeyer.net

Spider - BS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Spider owns www.spiderchain.com a business that sells supplies, tools, kits and books for chainmail production. Visit Silverweaver.com to view her custom designs and hand-crafted chainmail jewelry.

Edward Stanton - is an interdisciplinary artist. He has taught at SUNY Alfred, Kansas City Art Institute, UCLA, Stanford, CCA, SFAI and others. Edward has studied, collaborated and consulted with many artists including Anna Halprin, Allen Kaprow, Meredith Monk, Robert Wilson, Kurt Vonnegut and John Irving.

Myong Stebbins - BFA, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. Myong has taught through RAC's Art Reach Program in the West Contra Costa Unified School District. She exhibits throughout the Bay Area www.myongstebbins.com

Yehuda Tassa - learned Filigree from his father, a well-known jeweler in Yemen, and worked in the family business for 16 years. After retiring from an aerospace career, he began producing filigree designs incorporating both traditional and ancient tools and techniques. Tassa teaches in Palo Alto. He shows and sells his work throughout California. www.sabrajewelrydesign.com

Hope Weiner - studied with Hadar Jacobson and obtained Level One Certification in 2004. Hope also teaches workshops at the City College of San Francisco and at Civic Arts in Walnut Creek.

Carol Wood - is a professional tailor, costumer, and milliner. Her work has been honored with awards, shown in galleries, worn to period events, appeared on the stage, and escorted down the wedding isle. She designs under the label of "Fanny Grace".

Aigin Zhou - MFA, Academy of Art University, San Francisco. Aiqin teaches brush painting at UC Berkeley Extension and also at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. She exhibits her work in the Bay Area.