Information on Instructors:  Our instructors are carefully chosen through an application process and we require artists to have a pertinent educational degree, professional teaching and /or artistic experience in the area being taught.  Our current artists are all local to Upstate New York and have valuable creative information to share with you!  We will continue to bring in different guest artists to teach classes, so keep checking our sight!

Current Artists / Instructors:

Heather Jones: 

Heather is the owner and manager of the studio.  She has a BFA from Alfred University and an MFA at Rochester Institute of Technology, specializing in sculptural fine arts and art education.  Formerly the Camp Director at Camp Stella Maris, she was responsible for year-round programming.  Heather has taught art for 12 years, including Livonia School, Dansville School, and she has worked as an adjunct professor at Empire State College and RIT.  Currently, she is teaching drawing, painting, 2D design and photography at Genesee Community College.

Paula Jones:  Paula has a BFA and MA degree from Geneseo State College specializing in art education and fine arts.  Her experience encompasses teaching a variety of art subjects and ages, with 25 years of teaching experience.  She is an art teacher for Dansville High school, teaching drawing, painting, 2D design, and photography. 

Ross Chirico:  Ross has a BA and AS degree from Rochester Institute of Technology specializing in art and design.  He is now the owner and creative director of Chirico Design Associates.  He is a nationally renowned artist working in industrial design and fine arts for over 30 years.

Jeannie Nutting:  Jeannie has a BA from Geneseo State College, in Studio Arts.  She is the owner and artist for Drafty Rafters Studio, a local pottery business.  A professional artist for 25 years, her experience includes work in photography, painting, and ceramics.

Ruth Ann Polito:  Ruth Ann has been an avid yoga practitioner for 25 years.  After graduating with a BA in Studio Art from SUNY Geneseo College, she continued her yoga studies, interning with Angela Caplan and Jackie Macausland.  She completed two 200 hour Anusara Teacher Training courses and has actively participated in yoga education all over the nation working with renowned instructors.  She currently teaches mixed and beginner level classes at the Shakti Yoga Center and BOCES.  Her classes are empowering, accessible to all levels and reflect her 25 years of personal application and practice of yogic attitude, philosophy and postural alignment to every day activities.

Nikki Applin:  Nikki Applin has a BA in education and a Master’s Degree as a reading specialist.  She has taught for many years in Pennsylvania, Missouri, and New York. She presently teaches remedial reading at Dansville Primary School.  Basketry has always interested her, and over the years she has attended basketry conferences and workshops to develop her basketry techniques.  Nikki has been teaching basket weaving workshops out of her home since 2000.  She develops many of her own basket designs and offers to teach these unique designs to participants. 

Cami Schill:  Cami received her undergraduate BA degree from the University at Albany's English Honors department, with a concentration in poetry. She later attended Syracuse Unversity's graduate school of Library and Information Studies, and is currently a Library Media Specialist at the

School of the Arts in Rochester. Cami also teaches modern dance and ballet at the Valley School of Dance in Geneseo.

  Heather Jones

  Ross Chirico

  Jeannie Nutting

  Ruth Ann Polito

  Nikki Applin