Faculty Biographies

Robert Armstrong is a PhD candidate (ABD) in American history with interests in urban, cultural, and intellectual history. He is the Preservation and Development Specialist for the Fairmount Park Commission, has served as historic site manager/guide and has taught at Lehigh University. He is also an architectural tour guide for the Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks.

Laurence Bach is a professor at The University of the Arts in the Graphic Design department. He holds a BFA from Philadelphia College of Art (now UArts) and completed his graduate certificate in Design at the School of Design in Basel, Switzerland.

Anne Bair holds an MEd, is a reading specialist in the School District of Philadelphia and provides professional development for parents and staff.

Barbara Bassett
holds an MSEd and a Certificate in Museum Education. She is a Curator of Education at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Emily Cajigas
holds a BS in Mathematics and a MEd in Instructional Systems/Training Design and Development. She has created innovative approaches to teaching mathematics, including infusing computer technology into the curriculum.

Bruno Circolo
is a graduate of Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts with a certificate in Painting. He has extensive experience in computer graphics and is Senior Art Director at DSC Advertising, specializing in corporate advertising.

Raye Cohen
is the Education Programs Director for the Philadelphia Arts in Education Partnership and an adjunct assistant professor at The University of the Arts. She received her BA from the University of Pennsylvania and her MA from UArts.

Charles Conwell
is a professor at The University of the Arts who earned a BS from Northwestern University and an MFA from Brandeis University. He created the Stage Combat program at UArts in 1985, which is now the most extensive of its kind in the United States. Professor Conwell is a member of the Society of American Fight Directors and has directed fight scenes for the Metropolitan Opera, the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Opera Delaware, the Walnut Street Theater, the Philadelphia Company, Hartford Stage, the McCarter Theater and the Pennsylvania Ballet.

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Chris Darway
is a faculty member in the Crafts department at The University of the Arts, where he received his BFA. He travels nationally to teach courses in precious metal clay.

Christopher Davison
has an MFA in Printmaking from Tyler School of Art and a BFA in Drawing from the University of Central Florida.

Carmella Derry
holds an MEd and BA and has over twenty years of classroom teaching experience. She was a medal winner for the Voyager Universal Reading Program and is a trainer for the School District of Philadelphia.

Larry Donahue
holds an MEd and is an adjunct associate professor in the Crafts department at The University of the Arts. His work has been displayed nationally.

Scott Duggan
holds an MEd from West Chester University. He has taught with the Unionville Chadds Ford School District and is currently a technology instructor at Unionville Elementary School. He has worked as an adjunct professor with West Chester University teaching Introduction to Educational Technology Integration for pre-service teachers.

Heather Mae Erickson
holds an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art and a BFA from The University of the Arts. She is a faculty member in the UArts Crafts department and at Rowan University. A ceramic designer, Fulbright Fellow, and current Resident Artist at The Clay Studio, Erickson was featured as the cover story on the February 2008 issue of Ceramics Monthly magazine. She was awarded an Independence Foundation Artist Fellowship 2008-2009 for a residency at The International Ceramic Research Center in Denmark for the summer of 2009. Her work has appeared in numerous national and international exhibitions.

Carol Kane
, MEd, is a technology coordinator and curriculum designer for the Philadelphia School District and has received multiple awards and grants. Her courses have been instrumental in attracting area women into technological careers.

Gabrielle Kanter
received a BFA from The University of the Arts and MFA from Cranbrook Academy. She has taught in the Fibers departments at UArts and Tyler, as well as Bucks County Community College and the Mercer Museum. She has created large-scale wall hangings and floorcloths as group projects through artist-in-residence programs at local public schools. She completed a residency in 2007 at New Hope-Solebury Upper Elementary School, creating collaborative art projects with 125 third graders.

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Alec Karros
holds an MFA from Rhode Island School of Design and a BFA from Philadelphia College of Art (now UArts). He is a visiting assistant professor in the Crafts department at UArts and exhibits nationally.

Kenneth Kay
, MSEd, received his MS in Instructional Technology from Rosemont College. He is currently an instructor at Philadelphia University’s Multimedia and Design department and the University of Pennsylvania’s Literacy Network.
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Marlene Kessler
completed her graduate study at Temple University with an MA in Foundations of Education and an MA in Elementary/Secondary School Counseling. She taught in the Philadelphia School System, was an elementary guidance counselor and has written a curriculum guide for school counselors.

Lucartha Kohler
attended Carnegie Mellon University, Moore College of Art, Rowen University and Penland School of Crafts with a Glass concentration. She is Crafts faculty member at The University of the Arts. Her work in glass has appeared in many solo and group exhibitions, as well as in private and public collections. Her work appears in her own books, Glass: An Artist’s Medium and Women Working in Glass.

Barbara Korb
earned an MFA in Book Arts/Printmaking from The University of the Arts and an MBA from Philadelphia University. Her creative work evolves from mathematics and incorporates text, patterns and found objects. She is a professor at Bucks County Community College.

Lorraine LeStorti
holds a BFA from Moore College of Art and a Certificate in Creative Studies from SUNY. She is a partner in Ideatects, Inc., a company that specializes in marketing and graphic design. Its clientele includes Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, Cooper Hospital, Genuardi Family Foundation and Gwynedd-Mercy College.

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Martisa Lovelace
earned an MEd in Elementary Education and a BA in Communications. With a background in corporate marketing, she transitioned into elementary teaching and has developed various science lessons and projects.

Sandra L. McClurken
received her BA and MBA from Temple University and an MS in Instructional Systems from Philadelphia University. She is certified as an Instructional Technology Specialist with the State of Pennsylvania and is currently employed as an Educational Technologist with the School District of Philadelphia. She has also taught for Philadelphia University and Saint Joseph’s University.

Brad O’Donnell
holds an MA in Environmental Education and a BS in Elementary Education. A Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year semi-finalist with over ten years of classroom teaching, he has served as a peer mediation coordinator and has presented many programs on integrating technology in teaching.

Tom Palumbo
holds an MEd, is an educator, author of award-winning activity books on children’s literature and appears in Who’s Who in American Teachers. He has been a classroom teacher, mathematics collaborator and an instructional advisor for special education where he designed programs for students, parents and teachers.

Debby Pearl-Souders
holds a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art and an MFA from Towson State University. She is an instructor at Maryland Institute College of Art, has shown in solo exhibitions in Baltimore and Washington, DC, and national juried exhibitions.

Donna Popp
holds an MEd and BS from West Chester University. She is a member of the Society of Urban Scholars, Pennsylvania Department of Higher Education, and National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and has over 30 years of classroom teaching.

Ellen Priest
is a painter whose work is based on jazz. She received a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant, has taught art in private and public schools, and wrote an at-home studio art program for elementary-age students titled Eyeball It! She has a Master of Divinity from Yale University and a BA from Lawrence University.

Susan Rodriguez
holds a BFA and MEd, is an exhibiting artist and an art educator. She holds an honorary doctoral degree from Moore College of Art. She teaches in the Art Education department at The University of the Arts and is the author of The Special Artist’s Handbook: Art Activities, Art Smart!, slides and art activities for teaching art history, and Culture Smart! a multicultural book and program.

Jude Robison
received her MFA in Book Arts/Printmaking from The University of the Arts and is currently designing and installing book exhibits at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society Library and the University of Pennsylvania Rare Book & Manuscript Library. She is a Co-founder and President of the Philadelphia Center for the Book and occasional Book Artist–in-Residence at the Rosenbach Museum & Library. She teaches book arts to children and adults in schools, colleges and community settings.

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Kathy Rose
is a senior lecturer at The University of the Arts. She holds a BFA in Film from Philadelphia College of Arts (UArts) and an MFA in Animation from California Institute of the Arts. She has had solo performances at the Museum of Modern Art, Hirschorn Museum, Baltimore Art Museum, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, “Serious Fun” at Lincoln Center, Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, Hiroshima Animation Festival, as well as Austria, Paris and Berlin. Rose has also had video installations at the Aldrich Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum.

Douglas Rosentrater
holds a BA from the University of South Florida, an MA from Northwestern University and ABD from University of Hawaii-Manoa. He is a professor at Bucks County Community College and chairman of its Communications department. He is also a commonwealth speaker for the Pennsylvania Humanities Council.

Pearl Schaeffer
is the Executive Director of the Philadelphia Arts in Education Partnership and an adjunct associate professor at The University of the Arts. She earned a BS from Drexel University and an MFA from the Philadelphia College of Performing Arts.

Dan Schank
holds a BFA from Tyler School of Art, an MFA from the University of California and was a residency participant at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. His work has been exhibited across the country.

Christine Stoughton
holds an MEd in special education, a PhD in counseling psychology and a Certificate in Sculpture and Printmaking from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. She has exhibited throughout the region and has taught at numerous studios.

Joe Sweeney
earned a BFA from Philadelphia College of Art (now UArts) and an MA in Art and Architecture from Pennsylvania State University. A renowned landscape painter, he has taught classes at UArts, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the Wayne Art Center. He has shown with Gross McCleaf Gallery and has received the Catherine Gibbons Granger Award from the Fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

Patricia Wertman
teaches at the Beverly Hills Middle School and the Delaware County Intermediate Unit, is a RN and holds an MS.

William Ziegler
holds an MSEd in Special Education from Trenton State College. He has been an assistive technology specialist at Bucks County Intermediate Unit for 25 years and was an instructor in the Instructional Technology program at Philadelphia University.

 

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