Faculty

Janet Ashton is one of our Moms, Dads, & Tots teachers. A long time performer of Celtic and traditional music at the Colonial Tavern Museum, Janet also performs historical concerts in character and costume.

Lauren Blais Lauren Blais earned her BFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design with a concentration in small metals. Named “Best of Boston” by the Improper Bostonian—an honor by a great publication--Lauren currently works from her studio at Joy Street Studios in Somerville, MA

Mike Clement is a graduate of the Massachusetts College of Art and Design where he studied ceramics. He is working as a studio potter in Boston.

Nicole Gsell is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in Fine Arts Illustration. Nicole is a Creative/Marketing Director for an independent children’s book company Pinwheel Books in Brookline, MA. 

Peg Kane holds a BFA in Painting from Massachusetts College of Art and a MA in Painting from Pius XII Institute, Florence Italy. She teaches additional art classes at the Cape Cod Conservatory and has shown her work at many galleries in the Boston area.

Leonie Little-Lex has a BFA in illustration (‘09) and a Masters of Arts in Teaching from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design (’12). She also teaches in Cambridge and is a returning instructor in the Massart Summer Youth Programs. She works in and teaches a variety of media; she specializes in both illustration and painting. 

Ashley MacLure has a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. She is an illustrator and educator.

Marc Mancuso is a ceramics artist who makes bright, fun and detailed work. He teaches workshops, classes and camps for children and adults. 

Susan Mannix has a BA from Boston College in English and Studio Art. 

Karenna Maraj graduated with a BFA in Jewelry and Metalsmithing from RISD. She creates & sells her own jewelry: “Washers and Sticks”. Recently she opened a gallery in Belmont, Karenna Maraj Jewelry Collection, where she displays her work and that of other local artists.

Tom Norton earned a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design. Shortly thereafter he established Apparel Decor in New York City, making costume jewelry out of machine parts. In the nineties, he invented Walnut Drawing Ink® and the Walnut Drawing Stick, selling those products to over 200 art stores across the Country. His work has appeared on the cover of Harpers Bazaar and can be seen in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Danforth Museum in Framingham, the Addison Gallery of American Art, the Stedeliik Museum in Amsterdam, and the Museum of Modern Art, NYC. 

Elizabeth Rocha studied at the Rhode Island School of Design and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and has an ALB from Harvard's Extension School. She teaches in several programs in the greater Boston area and has been working as a children’s illustrator for the past ten years. Her costumes and mask designs were featured in a production by Prometheus Dance. 

Casey Scarry is an enegetic teacher for many of our youth programs. 

Merrill Smith is a graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and has been teaching young children in the Moms, Dads, & Tots program at the Center for many years. She founded the ArtReach program at the Brookline Housing Authority in 1990. She has been honored with BAC's Art Treasures Award.

 Anne Steinman  is a native of New Orleans and now resides in Revere, Massachusetts.  Her artistic style consists of a harmonious blend of both Western and Oriental techniques and ranges from realism to impressionistic expression. 

George Summers received his BFA from UMass Dartmouth and has been working in batik for over 20 years. His work has been exhibited in from Massachusetts to Key West, Florida. George's batik work is profiled in The Crafters Book of Angels and The Ultimate T-Shirt Book by Deborah Morgenthal, and was recently featured at the Society of Arts and Crafts in Boston.

Ashley Vick earned her BFA in metals from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston. Utilizing the techniques of electro-forming, lost wax casting and various methods of fabrication, Ashley creates sculptural jewelry that is inspired by forms and colors found in nature and minimal, bold, clean lines. In addition to creating her one-of-a-kind pieces, Ashley created Filomena DeMarco Jewelry, a production line of jewelry named after her great-grandmother, Filomena DeMarco. Ashley currently has a studio in Somerville, MA and lives in Providence, RI.

Heather Wang received her BFA in Jewelry and Metalsmithing from Rhode Island School of Design. She graduated from the Royal College of Art in London, England with a MA in Goldsmithing, Silversmithing, Metalwork and Jewelry in. She owns and operates her own business.

Jane Zell received her BA from Framingham State University with a concentration in education and ceramics. She is also an art instructor at West Boylston Middle High School.