Instructors

Madeline Bartley Gambacorta was born in Louisville, Kentucky and attended Murray State University where she received her B.F.A. in printmaking and drawing. She earned her M.F.A. in studio arts from Syracuse University’s College of Visual Performing Arts. She has exhibited her work in solo and group shows including exhibitions at the Hand Held Gallery (Melbourne, Australia), Walnut Ink Projects (Michigan City, IN), The Rogue Space (New York, NY), and the Museum of Latin American Art (Long Beach, CA).

madelinebartley.com

Sarah Barry is a mixed media artist who began her obsession working with painting during the pandemic. For her, painting is a meditative process. It is a break from the monotony of day-to-day life and a chance to relinquish control—“I let the movement of paint begin the story and use line work to complete the narrative. My artwork is fluid, ethereal, and playful.” Sarah’s inspiration stems from her love of Folk Art, dreams, and the softness and spontaneity of the natural world.

https://sarahjanebarry.com/about

Clarimar Galarza is a high school art teacher in Buffalo New York. She attended Buffalo State College where she received a BFA in Art Education with a concentration in Ceramics and Painting. Her work consists of functional ceramics with a focus on surface design.

https://clarimargalarza.wixsite.com/artist

Nicole Galuszka is a mixed media artist, designer and illustrator based in Buffalo, NY. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication Design with a minor in Art History from Pratt Institute. With over six years in educational technology as a visual designer and illustrator, her creative journey bridges art and design, utilizing digital as well as physical media.

https://www.nicolemgaluszka.com/about-me

Shanel Kerekes is a painter from Buffalo, New York. As a graduate of Villa Maria College, she majored in Integrated Arts and obtained a BFA degree in 2019. Photorealism is the style that she continuously aspires to achieve in her work. Kerekes was exposed to a culturally diverse environment early in life, which later instilled a fascination with individuality, preestablished societal standards, and the ever-changing dynamic between the two. By having the position of being a woman in today’s world, Kerekes uses the tribulations that they are commonly confronted with and attempts to build a visual representation of the many obstacles women may face within their lifetime which can include objectification, sexualization, and exploitation.

www.shanelkerekesart.com

Bethany Krull has been working in clay for over twenty five years, having received her BFA from the State University College at Buffalo and her MFA from the School for American Crafts at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Her practice is expansive and includes the exploration of a wide variety of materials that often make their way into her work, which is rooted in formal aesthetics, love of nature, and the fears and desires around the ways in which our species impacts the environment and other creatures. She loves to teach in both community and academic settings, maintains an active home studio, and exhibits nationally and internationally.

https://www.bethanykrull.com/

Brianne Nightingale earned her B.F.A in Art Education at Daemen University and her M.S.Ed in Art Education at Buffalo State University. She is currently an art educator in the Ken-Ton school district. Her work explores traditional drawing and painting with a focus on photorealism.

Ruby Merritt is a passionate visual artist and educator with over 11 years of experience in higher education teaching and mentoring. Merritt brings a thoughtful approach to teaching, drawing on her deep understanding of painting techniques and methodologies to foster versatility, guide experimentation, and help students develop their artistic abilities and creative voices.

Merritt earned a BFA in Drawing and Painting from the State University of New York at New Paltz and an MFA in Visual Studies from the University at Buffalo in 2013. She is an active teaching artist for several organizations, including the Western New York Book Arts Center, CEPA Gallery, Buffalo Arts Studio, and Papercraft Miracles, where she conducts hands-on workshops. She remains actively involved in the arts community, sharing her expertise through collaborative workshops and initiatives that support the growth of the creative field.

Laike Palermo resides in Buffalo, painting from her studio located in the Niagara Frontier Food Terminal. After attaining her BFA in Painting from Daemen, she has been specializing in the human figure and portraits, recently working through a personal series to fight against depression and anxiety to raise awareness of the battle of self-doubt but knowing there is still beauty within yourself. 

Andrea Pawarski is a ceramic studio artist at the Buffalo Arts Studio and elementary art teacher at the Charter School of Inquiry. She earned a BFA in Art Education and Ceramics from Syracuse University and a MA in Multidisciplinary Studies from SUNY Buffalo State College. Her ceramic work is inspired by geological formations and can be found on her website.

www.andreapawarski.com

Christina Riccio is a ceramics artist and educator from Buffalo, NY. She earned a BA in Visual Arts and New Media from SUNY Fredonia, studied art education in the post baccalaureate program at Buffalo State College, and earned her MFA in Studio Art (Ceramics) from the University of Utah. Her work explores themes of maximalism and absurdism, critiquing the mass-produced designs of late-stage capitalism through the lens of both functional pottery and figurative sculpture.

https://www.christinariccio.com/

Laura Valkwitch is a multimedia artist with a focus on oil painting. She studied fine art at Niagara County Community College and recently finished a residency at Hunt gallery in Buffalo, NY.

https://www.lauravalkwitch.com/

Sky Vance was born and raised in rural south-central Pennsylvania. She moved to Buffalo in 2020 in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Although Vance has not had a traditional art education, she has been involved in exhibitions, workshops, and projects coast-to-coast. An award winning painter, Vance keeps a studio in the heart of Buffalo and will be participating in Western New York events such as the Allentown Art Festival, The Burchfield Penney Art Center’s Art Auction and Gala, plus much more.

www.skyvance.art