NEW INSTRUCTOR! Kelvin Lopez is the new Print Studio Technician at the Athenaeum Art Center! Kelvin has a passion for printmaking and community engagement. His journey in printmaking began at MiraCosta Community College in 2012, and he has since earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) with an emphasis in printmaking. From relief to monotype techniques, Kelvin brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our studio.
Read MoreMary Manusos' intentions are to create a sense of time and space with the way she combines her subject matter, color, handmade paper, and print. She uses the print because of its aggressive nature on top of the softness of the poured, dyed handmade paper. The layers of colors and space create infinite possibilities and realities. She began teaching at Ohio University in 1972. She has shown nationally and internationally as an artist and educator for over 40 years and has been included in hundreds of exhibitions around the world. She has been visibly influenced by her travels in Latin America, their culture and their politics.
Read MoreNEW INSTRUCTOR! Kathi McCord is a printmaker and illustrator. Her politically oriented etchings titled “Toys in Peril,” received praise from local iconic art writer Robert Pincus, who describes the work as “immaculately executed” and added that “the wry tone of them is finely tuned. Her woodcuts and illustrations have received much praise, as well.
Read MoreNEW INSTRUCTOR! Bhavna Mehta works with paper—cutting and embroidering it to tell stories that combine figurative imagery with botanical motifs, text, and shadows. Using paper as skin and thread to connect and mend, using cutting and sewing to talk about exposing and hiding, she makes work about relating and remembering. Mehta has exhibited widely in San Diego and Southern California. She is the recipient of the Artists Activating Communities grant from the California Arts Council (2017, 2019) and the Creative Catalyst grant from The San Diego Foundation (2015).
Read MoreMorgan Miller III is a fifth-generation San Diegan from Point Loma. He is a graduate of Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, with a BFA in illustration. Along with Sibyl Rubottom, he organizes, sets up, and runs the Athenaeum’s Print Studio in Logan Heights. His work there includes teaching printmaking, typesetting for letterpress, linoleum block prints, and other forms of printmaking. He maintains the presses and prints various projects for the Athenaeum, as well as continuing his own art practice. Morgan appreciates the process of printmaking because of his background in illustration.
Read MoreApril Mitchell has been drawing and painting since she was able to hold a crayon. She went to Canyon Crest Academy, an art-focused high school where she was accepted into the exclusive Conservatory art program. April then went on to graduate with her associates degree in graphic design from San Diego City College, where she was selected best artist in the Illustration category of the 2013 AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) Student Portfolio Review. April is currently getting her bachelor's degree in illustration at Cal State University, Long Beach.
Read MoreLori Mitchell graduated with honors and a BFA from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. She wrote and illustrated the award-winning children’s book Different Just Like Me, for which she appeared on Oprah. She has illustrated numerous other books, including Bal Yoga for Kids, which won the San Diego Book Award. Lori’s work has been exhibited at the Cannon Art Gallery in Carlsbad, the California Center for the Arts Museum in Escondido, Fresh Paint Gallery in La Jolla, the Oceanside Museum of Art (OMA), and the Athenaeum. She is known for her creative, ever-changing lessons and positive, engaging approach.
Read MoreMichelle Montjoy is an Oceanside-based visual artist. She is one of the founders of To Do: A Mending Project, which travels to various locations to mend clothes and offer guidance in many forms of repair. Her knitted installation work has been shown locally at MCASD, the San Diego Airport, OMA, Art Produce Gallery, the Athenaeum, and more. She is the recipient of a Creative Catalyst award and a California Arts Council grant.
Read MoreThia Nevius grew up in Studio City, California. She received a BA from California State University San Jose and an MFA from Colorado State University. She went on to paint sets for the Santa Fe Opera and teach studio art at Santa Fe Community College in New Mexico. Since moving to San Diego, she has taught art for many years including at The Bishop’s School in La Jolla, UCSD Extension, The Art Department, ARTS-A Reason to Survive, and the Athenaeum. Thia has traveled extensively in Asia, Europe, and South America. Her work has been featured in numerous group and solo exhibitions, where she has won awards of excellence and Best of Show.
Read MoreDr. Cliff Oliver is an award-winning photographer, past photography instructor for the San Diego Natural History Museum, cutting-edge integrative health care professional and international workshop leader. He created and taught the first 5-day immersion iPhone photography workshop at Hollyhock, Canada’s premier Leadership Learning Center. His images have been on the cover of Wild Bird magazine, on display at Scripps Oceanography Institute, and in multiple first-place finishes in the International Exhibition of Photography Del Mar. The San Diego Natural History Museum’s, Birds of the World centennial exhibition featured several of his images.
Read MoreSusan Osborn taught art at The Bishop’s School for 17 years. Keeping a studio at home, she works in assemblage, drawing, and painting. Her work reveals a love of energy through line, texture, and color. Susan’s work is in collections in the United States, Denmark, Japan, and Spain. She is listed in Who’s Who of American Women (25th edition). Among her many awards, she has received a Visual Artists Assistance Award from the State of California, awards at SDMA, the San Diego Art Institute, Bonita Museum, and Small Image Show.
Read MoreChris Padilla is a first-generation American who grew up between Tijuana and San Diego. He holds two bachelor’s degrees from SDSU in Art History as well as Painting & Printmaking. Chris has wide-ranging experience working in the community, including 10 years as the Education Manager at The Art Kids of San Diego County. He is an experienced teaching artist who has worked in printmaking and as a leatherwork instructor at UCSD.
Read MoreNEW INSTRUCTOR! Jared Padilla-Elliott received his Bachelor’s degree in Art Education from California State University, Bakersfield. He graduated top of his department, was awarded Outstanding Graduate of Art and Art History, and was inducted into the Roadrunner Society for top scholars in the university. Padilla-Elliott has experience in after school education and enrichment programs and has held roles at the San Diego Museum of Art and at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. He currently works as an Enrichment Program Site Coordinator at the Preuss School at University of California, San Diego and as a Museum Educator at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. Padilla-Elliott is an assemblage artist with work mainly composed of recycled material and found objects. His work brings the materiality of personal and found objects into focus with 2D and 3D compositions. He has exhibited work at Bakersfield Museum of Art, Harold J. Miossi Gallery, and Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.
Read MoreNEW INSTRUCTOR! Sfona Pelah is an award-winning San Diego–based printmaker with many years of experience in the medium. She has an MFA from Rochester Institute of Technology, majoring in printmaking with a minor in photography. Sfona has been teaching fine art and printmaking at UCSD and San Diego Community Colleges for over 40 years. She has exhibited her artwork nationally and internationally.
Read MoreHans Perez is a visual artist and screen printer. He has been enamored with the craft of printmaking and honing his screen-printing skills since introduced to it in high school. In 2005 he began his professional career in custom printing, specializing in water based, discharge, and technical inks. In addition to being a production screen printer, in-house designer, and running his own printmaking business, The Prince of Prints, he has most recently developed an internal print program to test the limitations of traditional printing methods for local craft brewery Modern Times.
Read MoreVictoria Rabinowe is an American artist, author, international educator, and director of the DreamingArts Studio in Santa Fe. She has taught thousands of artists, writers, and educators around the world to create mythic memoirs and to understand the language of dreams through poetry, prose, and book arts. She is educated at Harvard, Emerson, and Pacifica Graduate Institute. Her artwork has been exhibited across the globe.
Read MoreErnesto Rivera is a San Diego–based landscape photographer whose work has been featured in local galleries and exhibitions and has had his photographs published in many publications, including the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. Ernesto graduated from California State University, Chico, where he majored in journalism and minored in photography. Ernesto’s first photography job was as the editor of his junior high school yearbook. His current day job is at Southwestern College, where he focuses on digital communications, including photography and social media.
Read MoreRobin Sanford Roberts is an artist and theatrical scenic designer working in models and mixed media. She has designed scenery for multiple theaters including The Old Globe, San Diego Repertory, Denver Center Theatre Company, Portland Center Stage, and Broadway. She holds a degree in architecture from LSU and an MFA in scenic design from UC San Diego. She also studied at the École des Beaux-Arts at Fontainebleau and at Sir John Cass School of Art, London Polytechnic. Robin currently teaches in the undergraduate theater department at the University of San Diego and at Art on 30th.
Read MoreGriselda Rosas, born and raised in Tijuana, examines Mexican culture and looks at identity, gender mores, and ethnicity. Her work is described as postcolonial, casting a spotlight on the often violent merging of Spanish and indigenous cultures. Currently a San Diego Art Prize recipient, her work was on display across the county, in 2020, at Balboa Park’s San Diego Art Institute, the Oceanside Museum of Art, and Lux Art Institute in Encinitas. Rosas received an MFA from San Diego State University.
Read MoreJune Rubin has been teaching art for over 30 years. She is a graduate of both University of California Los Angeles and Art Center College of Design with degrees in Art & Cultural Anthropology. She has an art studio in Liberty Station, Point Loma. She loves teaching art to kids—sharing her enthusiasm for art and encouraging everyone's creativity.
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