Meet our instructors! 

Classes at the Edna Vihel Arts Center invite discovery, creativity, and learning. In these programs, led by local professional artists and performers, Edna Arts students enjoy the dynamic skills and passions of our teaching artists.

@apolloawakeningacademy | apolloawakeningacademy.com 
Tot Music Instructor

Alexis Edmonds is a Tempe based music therapist and music educator. Alexis is an alumni of Arizona State University, earning her Masters in Music Therapy. She is the founder of Apollo Awakening Academy, offering music therapy and music lessons to people of all ages, as well as hosting community singing circles to make music together. Alexis is passionate about the many benefits of music and is excited to bring classes to all ages.

@alimarilesceramics
Adult Ceramics Instructor

Ali Mariles Golamb is a ceramic artist from Tijuana, Mexico. Ali’s ceramic work is inspired by the cultural richness of her country. She also creates functional ceramics and encourages people to enjoy healthy, locally grown foods in one of a kind made pottery. Ali feels there is another level of satisfaction when fresh, healthy, local food is experienced and enjoyed out of a handmade ceramic dish. Her love of ceramics began in high school and she went on to graduate from ASU with a BFA in ceramics in 2007. 

@stillaroundart | alisonstillaround.com
Adult Visual Arts Instructor

Alison Auditore is a visual artist and illustrator. She is inspired by the constant state of change in life and expresses this in her art by using delicate line-work and stippling. Alison received her BFA from the Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts. She has since participated in several art shows and exhibited work in galleries across the country. When she isn’t drawing, you can find her reading, listening to music, powerlifting, or gaming. 

@lachance_amelia
Adult Visual Arts Instructor

Amelia LaChance is a multi-media sculpture artist from St. Paul, Missouri, a small rural town outside of St. Louis. LaChance attended the University of Central Missouri where she received a BFA in Sculpture and a BSE in Art Education in 2023. LaChance has exhibited in a variety of spaces across Missouri, as well as Phoenix , where she is now based and is pursuing her MFA at Arizona State University and will be graduating in 2026.

Tot Performing Arts Instructor

Anna Maurizo, a Tempe native, is currently majoring in Humanities at Phoenix College with an emphasis in Theatre and Film Studies. Theatre has been a part of her life for as long as she can remember: acting in countless school and community performances, stage managing, set striking, costuming and makeup-ing, show-going, you name it! She is excited to share her wide range of theatre knowledge and experience with her students.

 
@aribarleyart
Youth Visual Arts Instructor 

Ari Barley is a mixed-media fiber artist from Huntsville, Alabama. She received her BA in Painting with a minor in Political Science from The University of Alabama in 2018 and is currently pursuing her MFA in Textiles at ASU. She has worked as an art educator at schools in her community since obtaining her undergraduate degree, most recently as the Atelierista at a Reggio Emilia-inspired school, KLA School of Huntsville. Drawing from the history of fibers and craft practices, her paintings, sculptures and installation pieces function as personified embodiments of the process of contending with difficult histories and the legacy of violence held by the land.

Tot Visual Arts Instructor 

Ariana Gonzales is a teaching artist born in California and raised in Tempe, Arizona. Ariana is also a student at Arizona State University working towards her bachelor's degree in art history. Although she isn't studying art, she is passionate about helping others see the importance of art and how it can positively affect their lives and futures. 

Youth Visual Arts Instructor

Aunica Allred is an aspiring art educator currently studying at ASU. She expresses her artistic passion through oil pastels, acrylic paint, charcoal, and calligraphy. Her art, often nature and animal-inspired, reflects a deep appreciation for the beauty of being outside. Outside her art, Aunica finds joy in hiking, longboarding, singing in choirs, and traveling. With years of experience at summer camps, preschools, and as a respite care provider, she has loved connecting with children and building meaningful relationships. Aunica is dedicated to inspiring young minds to explore their creativity and encourage a lifelong love for the arts!

caitlynswift.com
Adult Visual Arts Instructor

Caitlyn Swift is a multimedia artist based in Phoenix, Arizona. Early in her education, Caitlyn was awarded with Best of Drawing and Best of Painting by the Luis Bernal Gallery at Pima Community College. Swift graduated summa cum laude with her bachelor's degree in two dimensional studies from the University of Arizona in 2020. Caitlyn is a published artist, and has work featured in Sandscript Magazine (2019 Edition), Polaris Magazine (Spring 2020 Issue), as well as Persona Magazine (2021 Issue, Vol, 42 and 43), two of which she was awarded first place in the visual arts category. She attended artist residency Chateau d’Orquevaux, France in June of 2022, was awarded the Denis Diderot Grant in support of the residence and has a piece in their permanent private collection. Caitlyn is a second-year MFA student at Arizona State University and is set to graduate in Spring of 2025.

@chrisvena.art | chrisvenaart.com
Adult Visual Arts Instructor

Chris Vena is a painter, photographer, filmmaker, and educator with an exhibition record spanning 25 years, 6 states and 4 countries. He received a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2003 and an MFA from Arizona State University 2017, having studied painting and drawing at The École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France on exchange in 2001. He has taught at NAU, ASU and various community colleges in the Maricopa Valley since 2014. He was a recipient of the inaugural Lehmann Emerging Artist Award in 2021 and has work in the collections of several museums and arts organizations. He currently resides in Tempe, Arizona. 

Adult Visual Arts Instructor

Christine Gin is a traditional and digital artist who specializes in realism and portraits. She is a graduate from Arizona State University with an emphasis in drawing and began teaching in 2017. Christine aims to teach others how enjoyable art can be and to help others creatively express themselves. She has taught drawing classes and has helped students explore other media such as watercolor and acrylic. In her spare time, Christine enjoys painting digital portraits and views her work as a celebration of other people's uniqueness. 

@daintist | daingore.com/
Adult Visual Arts Instructor

Dain Q. Gore is a painter, college art instructor, and puppeteer. He received his MFA (ASU) in 2009 and teaches at Phoenix College. Dain has shown his art all over the world, including Beijing, Himeiji and at Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He makes and performs with puppets at the Great Arizona Puppet Theater and the Phoenix Art Museum with collaborator Tommy Cannon: His puppetry is generally sassy. Both his paintings and puppetry are generally colorful, surreal and narrative in nature, which shows up in his hobbies, too; He's been painting fantasy/sci-fi gaming minis since 1988 and has recently won awards at GenCon and Everchosen. 

@serpetine.hearts
Adult Visual Arts Instructor

Dempsey Keenan is a teaching artist in Tempe, AZ, creating collage and assemblage art using existing and recycled materials. They specialize in 2D found object assemblage, creating images by “painting” with tiny seed beads, scavenged plastic toys, and metal objects. These artworks explore the forms of wild animals and predator-prey relationships.

@dylan.fitzart
Adult Ceramics Instructor

Dylan Fitzgibbons is a multimedia visual artist hailing from Chaska, Minnesota. Dylan has explored various fields of study before rekindling his passion for the arts during his undergraduate degree, which in turn became the reason for his move to Arizona in 2020. He attended ASU’s MFA program in ceramics and earned his degree at the end of 2023. His work varies in mediums and styles, but his themes and concepts remain persistent. Through his work he examines the play between the physical world and the imagined, primarily taking inspiration from folklore and mythology. Dylan’s sculptures play heavily with light, shadows, and perception to create unique individualized moments for the viewers. 

Youth Visual Arts Instructor

Elly Inman is an art education student currently enrolled at Arizona State University. She practices many different forms of art in her free time. She has a drive to create and to teach. Elly’s goal is to foster an environment where participants feel engaged and inspired to dive deeper into mediums they may have never used before. 

@_greenhouse_studio_
Youth Ceramics and Adult Visual Arts Instructor

Frances Garcia is a visual artist and creative reuse designer. She loves crafting functional art from upcycled materials and filling her home with plants. Frances received her BFA in Design from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago. Through GreenHouse Studio, a design brand she started during her studies, Frances has hosted DIY workshops about fibers arts, terrarium building, and spends time vending at art local fairs. When she isn’t immersed in her craft you can find her hiking, enjoying the sun, eating a tasty treat, or tending to her many houseplants.

Adult Visual Arts Instructor

Germán Benincore is a visual Artist born in Bogotá, Colombia in 1993.  He received a BFA from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in 2016 and an MFA from Arizona State University in 2024. Through his, he practice seeks to investigate the discourses, structures and material conditions in which we find ourselves suspended. Using drawing as a tool for thought and as the privileged language for the projection of ideas into matter; his work takes the form of installations and publications derived from durational processes usually inserted in my daily life. As well as actively participating in the professional art field with his work, he’s been interested in exploring the ways artwork is disseminated and experienced by different audiences. His job as a mediator and designer for pedagogical sections of art institutions and more recently as a teacher, has been key for the development of his own practice and ideas about art. Interested in finding different forms of circulation, as well as exploring the artistic possibilities of books as a format and of storytelling as a communication strategy; he’s been part of the publishing project Tormenta Ediciones since 2018, with whom he's published two titles: Dibujos robados (2019) and El espacio entre las cosas (2020). He currently lives and works in Phoenix, Arizona.

Youth Visual Arts Instructor

Giovani Ferreira

@goolam_artist
Adult Visual Arts Instructor 

Goolam Saber is a South African multidisciplinary visual artist originally from Johannesburg. He is a trained print maker whose practice has been refined by a commitment to community engagement. Goolam’s ongoing art practice is a balance between fine art where he explores process-driven experimental pieces and community-engaged art that ranges from potato prints with migrant children to commissioned murals. Each piece is relative to the space where he finds himself. In his own practice his work acknowledges the past that shaped his present using ancient elements and combining them contemporary practice. In his community-based work, he creates public workshops and works in collaboration with community members to create artworks that promote change whilst making art accessible. His mediums include graphic design, printmaking, mural design and painting, artistbooks and public installations.

@greybsalazar
Adult Visual Arts Instructor

Grey Salazar is a digital and traditional artist and illustrator local to Tempe. They graduated with a BFA in Art (Drawing) at ASU in 2020 and went on to work in informal art education programs around the Valley. From there, they transitioned from Fine Art to the Art Entertainment industry and began freelancing as a commission artist and illustrator. They are currently enrolled at the Savanah College of Art and Design and are expected to graduate in the fall of 2023 with an MA in Illustration.

@jschwarzart | jschwarzart.com
Youth and Adult Ceramics Instructor

James Schwarz is a native Arizonan who grew up in Sierra Vista. His primary focus is in ceramics and photography. James’s work focuses on contrast and connecting with others through empathy and shared experiences with physical/mental trauma. 

Youth Visual Arts and Ceramics Instructor

Jaqueline Serrano is currently pursuing an Associates in Applied Science in Animation and Time based media with an emphasis on Animation. She believes art is a great way to tell stories and express one's inner feelings and thoughts. She hopes to introduce and share methods of expression through visual art to the community.

@jaredpetersonstudio | jaredpetersonstudio.com
Youth and Adut Ceramics Instructor 

Jared Peterson was raised in Morgantown, West Virginia. Growing up in a state rich in natural resources, he has spent a lot of time thinking about all of them: from coal to rivers, animals, and trees. His current work is concerned with the conventions of fly-fishing and baseball and how they both participate or contradict conventions of gender norms, religion, and labor. Jared has been making art for his whole life with a number of materials but has a special love for ceramics. Attending residencies at The Pottery Workshop in Jingdezhen, China; Red Lodge Clay Center, in Red Lodge, Montana, and now a graduate student at Arizona State University, teaching and making ceramics has taken Jared around the world. 

@keymintt | artofkeymintt.weebly.com
Youth Visual Arts Instructor

Kelsey Phillips is a Tempe-based art educator, freelance illustrator, and public artist who works in both digital and traditional media. As a fifth-generation Arizonan, Kelsey’s work is heavily inspired by the Sonoran desert’s scenery and wildlife. Combining natural imagery with whimsical and supernatural elements, it invokes a sense of wonder about the unique environment we live in; after all, humans are not the only inhabitants of our cities. Kelsey received a BFA from Arizona State University in 2022 and has since worked for clients all over including: the City of Goodyear, the Town of Gilbert, Valley Metro, Evil Hat Productions, and Chaosium Inc.

@stubborngladness_ | kennaconnelly.squarespace.com
Adult Visual Arts Instructor

Kenna Connelly is a visual artist that specializes in printmaking, watercolor painting, and fiber arts. Their work is heavily inspired by the natural world, mythological creatures, and connections between people. Kenna is an Arizona State University graduate, with degrees in both Printmaking and Painting. In her free time, Kenna runs Stubborn Gladness Studio, where she sells her prints and paintings and runs creative workshops. Their work is on permanent display in Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport and have had the pleasure of exhibiting their work across the Valley for the past 8 years.  

@lizastout | lizastout.com
Adult Ceramics Instructor

Liza Stout is a mixed media artist from Steamboat Springs, CO, a small resort town in the Rocky Mountains. She has been a working artist for the last six years doing both fine art and design work. She received her BFA from Pratt Institute in 2016 and is currently an MFA ceramics candidate at ASU. Her current focus is large-scale, sculptural ceramics. Her work explores the human and environmental costs of tourism and the economy it fuels.

krismanzanares.com
Adult Visual Arts Instructor

Kris Manzanares is a painter and eco artist experimenting sculpturally with materials found in her home and yard — there’s so much to choose from! Trying to work in ecologically sensitive ways, she takes these materials and merges them with historic processes such as papermaking, basketry and sewing, to make things like sails out of previously loved textiles, boats out of baskets and bicycle-tire bird’s nests. In 2021 Kris collected used clothing from the Tempe community to create a 100 ft string of fabric lanterns.

rebeccapipkinfineart.com 
Youth Visual Arts and Adult Workshop Instructor

Rebecca Padilla-Pipkin is an interdisciplinary visual artist and educator living and working in Phoenix, Arizona. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Art from the University of Oklahoma and a Master of Fine Art at Arizona State University. After moving to the United States at age 10, she has lived a transient life and is influenced by the many places she has loved. Her work explores ecologies of place through a wide variety of materials and processes that index moments of interaction and connection. Over the last 3 years, she has been making site-responsive work based on her time in the Sonoran Desert. She grounds her practice in the words of anthropologist Tim Ingold, who said, “The forms of objects are not imposed from above, but grow from the mutual involvement of people and materials in an environment...we work from within the world, not upon it.”  Ultimately, she strives to make work that deepens the care and attention we give to the places in which we dwell.

Youth Visual Arts Instructor

 Sarah Hambleton

Tot Visual Arts Instructor

Sarah Love joined the Edna Vihel Arts Center as a teaching artist in the summer of 2023. She loves working with youth and watching them grow. She enjoys seeing young people’s creativity come to life through art. Outside of her work at the Edna Vihel Arts Center, she works as a teaching artist at Childsplay and a substitute teacher. Sarah is an educator, performer, musician, deviser and director. Some of her favorite experiences as a performer were working on devised Theatre and Dance for the Very Young Performances such as: “In the Way Down Deep” and “Body Brilliant” at ASU. She also performed in “Puffs” at Aurora University. She holds a B.A. in Spanish from Aurora University and a French Minor. She also holds a B.A. in Theatre from Arizona State University. Sarah is currently pursuing an MFA in Theatre for Youth and Community at Arizona State University. 

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