Meet Our Instructors

Kelley Booze is a painter from Springfield Ohio. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Columbus College of Art and Design and recently completed a Chateau d’Orquevaux International Artist Residency in France. Kelley also teaches art classes at the Springfield Museum of Art.

Cynthia Bornhorst-Winslow is a ceramics artist. She also serves as a faculty member and ceramics production assistant at Sinclair Community College.

Nancy Boss is a multitalented and longtime instructor, teaching a variety of youth and adult dance classes. She has been teaching various dance styles for decades, and began teaching at Rosewood Arts Centre in 1985. She has studied dance with Jorg Fastings from the Columbus Ballet Company and at Ballet Arts in New York City.

David Brand and Sandra Picciano-Brand are a husband/wife team of Dayton-based jewelry artists. They exhibit at national-level juried art shows and have won numerous first place and best-of-show awards for their jewelry and sculpture.

Shelly Burden began working with clay at Riverbend Art Center 1989. Her experience includes teaching classes at Greene County Career Center for 16 years.

Teresa Connair is a professional actress with credits in stage, television, movies and voice-overs. Since earning her B.F.A. in Acting from Wright State University she has acted in and directed over 150 productions. She is the founder and director of her own theatre company, Undercroft Players in Dayton Ohio, and also teaches acting at the Oakwood Community Center.

Sammie Sue Edmondson has taught both youth and adult dance classes for the City of Kettering for over 30 years. She studied dance with the New York City Ballet, at Sinclair Community College and with renowned dance instructor, Jorg Fasting, of the Columbus Ballet.

Annica Damico received her BFA from the Columbus College of Art and Design.  She has taught art and art therapy classes in health care facilities in the Dayton region.

Alison Fawcett received her BFA in ceramics from Ohio University.  She currently teaches at Stivers School for the Arts and Rosewood Arts Centre.

Shannon Fent has been Kettering Children’s Theatre’s director for the since 2007 She has Associate’s degree from Sinclair Community College in Theatre Production.

Brooke Griffin received her BFA in printmaking from Wright State University.  She has taught at Stivers School for the Arts and the Springfield Museum of Art and is a tattoo apprentice at Peach Tree Tattoo in Dayton.

David Kirchner has a degree in art from Cedarville College. He also studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. David operates the H. David Studio/Gallery in downtown Dayton. He has worked in clay since 1984.

Donna Kuszpa has studied wirewrapping with John Kleber in Columbus. She has taught wirewrapping since 1993 at Riverbend Arts Centre.

April Lemaster has been studying ceramics for over a decade. She has attended numerous workshops and conferences for ceramic techniques around the country. She has exhibited her ceramic work and received awards in the greater Dayton region.

Brandon Lowery holds a BFA from the University of Dayton and an MFA from Miami University in ceramics. Lowery teaches ceramics classes at Xavior University and is currently serving as the Ceramics Studios Coordinator at Rosewood.

Tracy McElfresh is the owner of Tracy’s Sewing Studio, a small independent business specializing in clothing alterations, custom creations, clothing replicas, costumes and group lessons for the beginner to the advanced. Since 2004 she has been making custom dresses and teaching the art of sewing. Tracy wrote a monthly fashion column for the Dayton Daily News as well as her own sewing blog, which received the 2018 Best Sewing Bloggers on the planet award.

Mary Patterson has worked for over 40 years as a master goldsmith and artist. She received her BFA specializing in Crafts, from Bowling Green State University. She did graduate work at Wright State University, Miami University and Sinclair. Mary was an instructor at Riverbend for decades, taught classes at Rita Caz Jewelry Studio and continues to teach privately and to lecture on jewelry making across the state. Her goal as an instructor is to give back as much as she has been given by her past teachers and students.

Nicoletta Serenata  and Giacomo Flora own the company When I Am in Rome, focused  on preparing Americans for doing business in Italy. Serenata received her MA in Italian from Ohio State University, and has lectured throughout the United States at universities and businesses. She is a volunteer for the Sons and Daughters of Italy in addition to many other nonprofit organizations.

Hiroko Matsumori Schierman taught Japanese to high school students for over twenty years and has a background in the performing arts.

Nicki Strouss grew up on a horse farm in Lexington, KY and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Columbus College of Art and Design, and is a certified yoga instructor. She works at Stiver’s School for the Arts teaching ceramics and running the ceramics studio. She has an interest in fibers, the outdoors and traveling both to learn and teach.

Leonard Williams is best known for his vibrant watercolor scenes. His paintings have been recognized in numerous juried shows, both locally and nationally, featured in private and corporate collections across the country. His work can be seen in “The New Creative Artist” by well-known artist/author Nita Leland and he is a featured artist in her newest book Confident Color. In addition, his drawings appear in a series of learning and activity books for children in grades one through five produced by Children’s Historical Publishing.

Claire Zook began her dance training with Terre Manning at Terre’s Dance Workshop and the Miami Valley Dance Company, she then went on to study Dance and Choreography at Mercyhurst College. Claire has performed as a dancer on an international tour of Elmo’s Superheroes! Claire currently serves as Facility Coordinator at Rosewood Arts Centre and Associate Artistic Director for the Miami Valley Dance Company.

Close window