Alejandra Spruill (@newafricancompany) is a Western Massachusetts based artist, advocate and educator from the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston. Born to a family of artists, Alejandra is an alumni of Emerson College where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Visual Media Arts Production in 2019. She serves on the In-Sight Photography Project Board of Directors, a Vermont based nonprofit centering enriching the lives of teens through the photographic arts. Finally, Alejandra sits on the Board of Advisors at Artists for Humanity, a youth nonprofit in Boston, a program of which she is also an alumni. 
 

Photography and visual art instructor

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Althea Keaton (they/them) was raised in the woods of downstate New York. They work in a wide range of media, including printmaking, drawing, comics, digital art, murals, felting, and animation. They live in Greenfield with their partner and two adorable but mischievous cats.
 

Printmaking, fiber art, and youth art instructor​

Ben Eberle (he/him) is a friend of Artspace, working with us on the Community Ceramics Studio Project

Studio potter

Chloe Torri grew up just outside of Chicago and now lives in Florence with her partner and 2 cats. As an artist, she loves navigating life through color play, textural oil paintings, and immersive art exhibits.  Chloe holds an MFA in Studio Art from Arizona State University and a BFA in Painting and Community-Based Art Education from the University of Illinois.

Painter, installation artist, gallery preparator, and visual arts instructor

Cindy Ferrer is an Art Educator, Artist and Photographer who focuses on teaching the art making experience as a process of self discovery. Born and raised in NYC she earned a B.S in Studio Art and Sociology and an M.A in Art Education. Cindy is passionate about learning different soul healing modalities through expressive ways such as Art Journaling, Somatic Healing, Meditation and Visualization. In her free time Cindy loves to hike, do Yoga, inline skate and spend quality time with her family. 

Visual arts instructor

Danielle Lucier is a self employed painter, ceramics artist, teacher, and indoor plant curator from Greenfield MA. She loves making work with a lot of texture, color, and a playful sense of nostalgia. Her ceramics have been sold worldwide and her porcelain dishes are currently in use at Michelin Star restaurants in the US. She spends her time crafting and creating as much as she can, and her biggest goal is making art accessible and fun for all.

Ceramics and visual arts instructor

Egg Henrici (she/they) first discovered ceramics in the spring of 2023 and has since fallen head over heels in love with all things clay. they are the studio advisor at smith college’s ceramics club, the pottery director at a summer camp in the berkshires, and now artspace’s kiln tech! when they’re not crafting little porcelain coffins or loading kilns they’re hanging out with their four rabbit roommates and reading books and eating lots of vegan food.

Ceramics

Eloise Michael has been teaching in public and private schools since 1998. She is currently teaching middle and high school at Smith Academy in Hatfield. Eloise taught creative writing to middle school students for 14 years and also led a creative writing summer camp during
that time. Eloise was a finalist in the Poet's Seat poetry contest for two poems. She has written two regular columns for the Montague Reporter and book reviews for the Feathered Quill.

Literary arts instructor

Eveline MacDougall (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist who loves helping people create artwork from discarded or unused materials.  Eveline is also a music teacher, visual artist, choral director for Firey Hope, author, and newspaper columnist.

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Mixed media visual art, piano, voice, and violin

Heather Kasunick (she/ her) brings over 25 years of Studio Art teaching experience to Artspace including 21 years as a public high school Art educator. She continues to share her love for nourishing and drawing out the creativity in others through art making. Her own creativity and nourishment menu includes: drawing, painting, making clothes, embroidery, collage, reading, long meandering walks, talking about and making food with her spouse, continually learning about and participating in social justice, coffee dates with friends

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Youth and visual art instructor

Helen’s journey into pottery started in elementary school with Ms. Melonis, who had a clay unit each year for the students. After a very long break from making pottery, she took a class on wheel throwing in 2015, and immediately fell in love with the process. Each year she takes several classes to explore different techniques and expand my knowledge; glazing is her favorite part of the process! Helen has worked as an apprentice for 2 area potters, been an artist in residence, and has been teaching at Northampton Pottery for over 5 years now. She has also been a teaching assistant at Snow Farm for Bob Green. Making pottery and teaching has become Helen’s full time job, which allows her the opportunity to be creative, meet new people and make friends from all over. What was a hobby has become a passion and she feels very fortunate to have had the opportunities that have come her way. 

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Ceramics instructor

Jen Zera has been an art educator for 21 years!  She lives here in Greenfield with her husband and two little girls. She fell in love with clay during her senior year in high school and that is where her clay journey began. She attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst where she received her BFA in Art Education with a minor in Art History in 2005. She also received her Masters in Art Education in 2011. She currently teaches at Minnechaug Regional High school where she has been since 2005. She teaches Art 1, Clay 1 & Clay 2. She loves sharing her passion for the arts and showing students their potential. When she has the opportunity she also enjoys plain air painting and photography. 

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Ceramics and visual art instructor

My name is Jill Leger, I started my creative expression with paper quilling, that lead to cake decorating and baking that lead to wool felting, that lead to acrylic paint pouring and origami paper folding! I love birds and gardens and am building a bird and flower sanctuary around my house!

Youth and visual art instructor

Julie Steinberg has been a pottery enthusiast for 50 years. From making functional wheel-thrown pots to teaching wheel-throwing skills to selling imported handcrafted tiles and garden pottery, the majority of Julie’s professional life has revolved around pottery.
 Outside of the studio, Julie mentors young adults developing entrepreneurial skills within the craft industry and has a business importing Mexican Folk Art. She will stop whatever she’s doing to identify interesting birds, rocks, and mushrooms, or to eat chiles rellenos in Mexican markets.

Ceramics instructor

Kady Woods is an artist and educator based in Warwick, Massachusetts. A lifelong maker with an eclectic mix of creative outlets, she has found her artistic focus in block printing, drawn to the way it transforms ordinary materials, like clothing or paper, into something new and expressive. Kady teaches digital design and serves as the Associate Director of Marketing at Greenfield Community College, where she blends her creative and professional skills to support student success and affordable higher education. In addition to her studio practice, she participates in local craft fairs and leads printmaking workshops that emphasize experimentation and creative confidence. Across all her work, Kady is passionate about helping others connect with their own creativity and the joy of making.

Visual Artist

Laisa is a Brazilian-American artist currently based in Southern Vermont.  They are a multidisciplinary artist and educator, working primarily with analog photography. Laisa has a passion for ceramics, video, printmaking, drawing (especially with charcoal) and painting! Laisa holds a Master of Arts in Teaching from Maine College of Art and Design and a BFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. 
 

In my personal practice, Laisa speaks to their identity as Brazilian-American and the complexities of navigating two different geographical and cultural realities. I love teaching and sharing with students and celebrating their own voices, stories and creative spirits.

One of Laisa's biggest sources of inspiration is being out in nature and with friends and family - hiking, camping, snowboarding - and there's no better place for that than in New England!

Multilingual (English, Spanish, & Portuguese) Ceramics instructor

Laura Krok-Horton (she/her) is local pop-up card artist & paper enthusiast. She loves crafting cards for friends and family in her free time. She also works locally as an ecological designer at Regenerative Design Group, a worker cooperative right here in Greenfield.

Paper and visual art instructor

Right out of college she taught high school for five years. Since then, she has been teaching adults in many capacities. She taught week long basket classes several times in the Smith College J Term program. Marsha retired in February 2016 and was teaching basket classes in her studio in Florence until Covid forced her to let go of the studio.

Marsha loves taking classes as well as teaching and have taken many different basket classes. She loves experimenting with different materials and letting those materials dictate what happens.

She has been a member of the Northeast Basketmakers Guild for many years and was on the Board for two years. Marsha is also a member of the National Basketry Organization. My work has won several awards in several venues. I was juried into the Boston Society of Arts and Crafts virtual holiday shows for 2021 and 2022.  Many years ago the Spectrum Art Gallery in Centerbrook, CT juried in some of her work. Recently she has had work in two shows at the Fiddleheads Art Gallery in Northfield.

Basket weaving and paper arts instructor

Nina Nabizadeh (they/them) is a first generation Iranian American. They graduated from Marlboro College with a BA in Fine Arts and a MA of Art Education from Umass Amherst. They currently live in southern Vermont where they teach Elementary Art and practice functional ceramics.

Ceramics instructor

Sam Friedland is a potter, performing artist, and experimental musician living in the Pioneer Valley. As a percussionist (BA jazz studies, MFA Experimental Sound Practices) they enjoy thinking about time, and see pottery as a bridge between internal, biological time and deep, geological time. Sam’s current work focuses on teaware for Chinese and Japanese tea service.

Sam has taught private and group lessons with undergraduate students, and spent the last 6 years as a public school art and music teacher (k-8). Their teaching style prioritizes accessibility, experimentation and play!

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Ceramics instructor

Sam Staas (he/him) is a friend of Artspace, working with us on the Community Ceramics Studio Project and as a hand-building ceramics instructor.

Sam is a potter with a fascination for just about everything. A few of his interests outside of making pots are: fly fishing, reading, taking care of my garden, and exploring the natural world. He creates work that reminds him of the natural world. Pulling imagery and ideas as far back as the pre-Cambrian explosion, when complex life started appearing in the fossil record.

Studio potter, sculptor, & ceramics instructor

Lucas C. May (he/him) is a friend of Artspace, working with us on the Community Ceramics Studio Project and as a hand-building ceramics instructor.

Lucas likes to make pots that he can see himself in and can relate to. Usually, they have some kind of mark or scar, a signifier of a journey. He finds inspiration in the materials he uses, many of which he sources locally by hand, and the processes themselves. His love and appreciation for the natural environment are a driving force of his creativity. 

Ceramics and visual arts instructor

Matthew Cavanaugh (he/him) is a friend of Artspace, often volunteering his time as a photography instructor and documenting events

Courtesy of his website: "I am a Western Mass. based freelance photographer, specializing in weddings, events and editorial work. Prior to coming home to “The Valley” in 2010, I lived in Washington, DC. I spent 6 years as a member of the White House press corps. I was lucky enough to document a lot of historic events, including the election and inauguration of President Obama. My work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, TIME magazine, and The Atlantic."

Digital & Film Photography Instructor

Instructor Wade Boswell approaches teaching art as a way to help everyone discover their inner artist. (We all have one!) They have been sculpting for over 20 years and teaching working with clay for 3 years. As an artist and educator, Wade delights in helping students develop their skills along with their own style, confidence and joy of creating. Having been an elementary classroom teacher, a middle school homeschool art teacher, a mentor to college student leaders and an arts and crafts teacher in nursing homes, Wade has literally taught art to ages five to 101! Their passions include sculpting the figure, monsters and sacred altar pieces.

Ceramics instructor