CLASSES AT THE ARTS CENTER

SUMMER ARTS SAMPLER 2008

YARD ART MAKING

PAINTING FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

PORTRAIT DRAWING

PLEIN AIRE WORKSHOP

"FOUND OBJECT" MOSAICS

FIGURE DRAWING WORKSHOP

WATERCOLOR

WATERCOLOR

Past and Present Instructors

Alice Olsen

Alice is a former resident of Pennsylvania, where she started studying art at Mountain View, the Everhart Museum and the Wyoming Valley Artists League. She now resides in Tennessee, is a former member of the Tennessee Artists Association and current member of the Community Artists League, where she has won several awards for her work. Alice has been developing her watercolor techniques for over a decade and looks forward to sharing her creative discoveries with others.

Allen Hampton, Instructor
Allen has 23 years experience in making pottery. He sells his work through shows and galleries throughout the region.

Amber Williams, Instructor
Amber holds a MFA in Costume Design from Ohio University. She has designed costumes for theater groups in San Francisco, Santa Fe, small towns in Texas and Ohio, and Japan. Most recently she has worked in the costume shop at the Clarence Brown Theater at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Beth Simpson

Beth Simpson has been creating and developing specialized movement education programs for the past two years and has worked with individuals and groups. She is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner who also holds a M.A. in Speech-Language Pathology.

Chris Ingram, Instructor
With a Bachelor's in Fine Arts with a Concentration on Studio Drawing and Painting from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, Chris works professionally as a graphic artist and routinely sells commissioned artwork to clients.

Clint Cooper
Clint is a professional illustrator and cartoonist who has worked freelance for newspapers and magazines. He is a graduate of Ringling School of Art and Design with a B.A. in Illustration and a minor in Graphic Arts. Currently a resident of Athens, he has resided in New York and Florida previoulsy.

Elaine Guffey
Elaine has 30 years experience in teaching all forms of dance in her studio. She holds a B.A. in Dance from Butler University and a M.S. from UTK. She is the dance program director at Pellissippi State and dance instructor at TWC.

Geri Forkner, Instructor
Geri Forkne taught art for many years in Atlanta and now has a teaching studio, Weaving Arts Studio, in Tellico Plains, TN. Her innovative work as a weaver, spinner, and felter has been featured in exhibits throughout the Southeast. She is a member of the Southern Highlands Craft Guild.

Hank Ray
Hank Ray has been a professional artist for over 30 years and has taught for 17. He has won numerous awards for his work and pieces are in private and corporate collections world-wide. Having recently relocated to the area, he works in various media, including pyrography, silver point, handmade/cast paper, and scratchboard.

Heather Lattimore
Heather currently teaches art at Walker VAlley High School in Bradley County. She is a graduate of UTK with a BFA in Fine Arts/Ceramics and a Masters in Education. She began doing mosaics a couple of years ago and does a variety of mosaic projects with her high school students.

Hildreth Rinehart, Instructor
Hildreth Rinehart has been teaching theater and voice for over 10 years. She holds a BA in Theater Arts and Education and has also been certified to teach English as a Second Language to adults. Originally from Toronto, she now resides in Decautr.

Jenny Bennett

Jenny Bennett has been spinning and knitting lots of interesting yarns for 20+ years, from alpaca, sheep, rabbits, and dogs to cotton, silk, bamboo, and flax. She also teaches spinning at the John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, North Carolina.

Jerry Hagaman, Instructor
Artist, teacher, owner of Athens Art and Frame: Jerry wears many hats in the local arts community. He earned his B.F.A. from East Tennessee State University and his M.F.A. from the University of Kansas. He currently teaches drawing and design at Tennessee Wesleyan College.

John Studdard, Instructor
John is a founding member of and guitarist/singer for Hiwassee Ridge (www.hiwasseeridge.com), a well-known local bluegrass group. He has taught guitar for a number of years in local schools and his home. For the past 10 years John has worked with Steve Kaufman providing bluegrass bands and acoustic sound systems for Steve's annual Acoustic Kamp At Maryville College.

Karina Edwards, Instructor
Karina Edwards is originally from England and now lives in Decatur, TN. She studied art in her home country and has been involved with teaching children's art classes in a variety of settings.

Kathryn Hunter
Kathryn Hunter is doing double duty at The Arts Center this session. She learned to speak Spanish in Honduras as a Peace Corp Volunterr and has since lived and worked in Paraguay and in the International Office of the US Forest Service for Latin America and the Caribbean. Kathryn has also been contra dancing since 1979 and even met her husband, who may assist her, at a contra dance. She has taught the dance form around the world as she travels to various countries to work on international forestry projects.

Kristin Harrison
Kristin Harrison has a masters degree in early childhood education from Berry College. She has taught kindergarten and is currently working with Athens City Schools in a reading program for K - 1 students.

Lizz Harris, Instructor

Lizz Harris received her BA from Tennessee Wesleyan College, has taught art here at The Arts Center since its opening and many other places, and has been involved with artistic projects for AACA and many other community groups.

Mary Whittle

Mary Whittle began sharing the art of non-toxic printmaking over 15 years ago. She holds a BFA in drawing and printmaking and has done graduate work in England and Italy. The non-toxic method is the result of research done over many years.  She is member of the Southern Highlands and Foothills Craft Guilds, TACA, and the Florida Printmakers Society.

Oneta Wright
Oneta Wright has been playing and teaching the guitar for many years. She also plays regularly at many venues around the area and continues to give private lessons in her home studio.

Pat Armstrong, Instructor
Currently the Program Director at the Arts Center, she has dabbled in assorted arts and crafts all her life. While she has taught and demonstrated for children for many years, this is first outing as an Arts Center instructor.

Ron Brown, Instructor
Ron has been a collector of early American traditional music for over 30 years. The emphasis of his collection has been on 1920's-1930's era country, blues, and Cajun recordings. He has collaborated on several country and Cajun reissue projects and has conducted research on lesser known 1920's era recorded musicians.

Rusty Patterson

Rusty Patterson has taken lessons from several area instructors over the years and has competed with many area clogging teams in competitions throughout East Tennessee and Georgia. He has also performed at various venues, including the 1982 Worlds Fair and  Silver Dollar City.

Sandy Brown, Instructor
Sandy holds a degree in art from Northeastern Illinois University and has done post-graduate work in studio art and art history. An award-winning watercolorist, she has given workshops in Illinois and Wisconsin and has taught at The Arts Center since its opening.  

Teri Gergen
Teri is an occupational therapist by profession. She has a life-long passion for combining function with beauty. Teri is owner of Woolly Bugger Farm Soaps, established in 1997, and is a juried member of the Foothills Craft Guild.

Vickie Blair

Vickie Blair began drawing in 1998 while experimenting with other mediums. By 2000 she began to work exclusively with graphite and now teaches non-credit courses for Cleveland State Community College. Her award winning portraits have led to numerous commissions. She is a member of the Community Artists League.

Classes will take place at the Athens Area Center for the Arts, 320 N. White Street, Athens, Tennessee. Call 745-8781 to register OR complete and send the registration form with payment to AACA, PO Box 95, Athens, TN 37371-0095 OR register online at www.athensartscouncil.org.