Deborah Beck
Deborah earned a BA with Honors in Fine Arts from Brandeis University, receiving a special departmental first prize award in painting. She went on to complete her MA in Art Education from New York University, then continued her art studies at the Art Students League, Parsons School of Design, and the School of Visual Arts, as well as at numerous workshops. Believing in the transformative power of art in peoples’ lives, Beck taught art and drug prevention education in the public schools for many years, and continues to conduct art residencies and workshops in a variety of educational settings for both children and adults, as a teaching artist through such organizations as Arts Westchester. She is an active member of a number of art organizations, including National Association of Women Artists, Pen and Brush Club, Katonah Museum Artists’ Association and New York Artists Equity Association. The artist has exhibited extensively in both solo and group shows in museums and galleries in the city, state and nation, such as at the Arkell Museum at Canajoharie, NY and at the Horticultural Society of New York. Publications include American Psychologist, Brandeis Review and Women Artists Datebook.

 

Sarah Bell
Sarah Bell is a graduate of SUNY New Paltz with a Master of Science in Visual Arts Education. She currently teaches in the Carmel Central School District. Her favorite medium is oil painting, and her personal artwork focuses on portraiture of people and animals. Sarah also enjoys working with clay, creating both decorative and functional pieces.

Karen Jaimes
Karen Jaimes is a Latina artist who was raised solely by her Salvadoran mother in downtown Yonkers, NY, which was an impoverished concrete jungle in the 80s and 90s. Non-profit art programs, an incredible community of matriarchs, and the well-rounded curriculum of Manhattanville College led her to value arts education, social justice, and community outreach. She is an artist-activist-educator who sculpts clay to address sociopolitical issues and question the systems in place. The transhistorical and transcultural nature of clay makes it the perfect material for metaphor.

​Karen holds a MFA in ceramics from SUNY New Paltz and a BFA from Manhattanville College with a minor in political science. ​Karen is an enthusiastic teacher who enjoys sharing her knowledge of clay’s vast properties that span across many fields, including anthropology, geology, and science. She is a seasoned educator who has worked with people of all age groups and learning capacities at community centers, public schools and universities, art centers, museums, and summer camps. She especially loves working with senior citizens and underrepresented folks. Karen employs a therapeutic approach in the classroom and draws out students’ collective knowledge to foster community and connection.
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​Her sculptures have been exhibited in the Williamsburg Art and Historical Center, the Katonah Museum of Art, the Barrett Art Center and the Dorsky Museum of Art among others.
publications
2021 “Form or Function at ArtPort Kingston,” Art Spiel, May 28. https://artspiel.org/form-or-function-at-artport-kingston/
2020 MFA Thesis “Of Flesh and Fruit” Link: dspace.sunyconnect.suny.edu/handle/1951/71205
2019 Now: Press Play, Exhibition catalog, Print.
​2019 Export: A Future Under Risk, Exhibition Catalog, Print.
2017 “ArtsNews,” Westchester County Business Journal, April 2017, p. A4.
Link: https://artswestchester.org/wp- content/uploads/2017/03/April2017-ArtsNews-WEB-2-b.pdf
group exhibitions
2021 State of Emergence, Clay Art Center, Port Chester, NY
2021 Form or Function, ArtPort, Kingston, NY
2020 Breaking Through: MFA Thesis Exhibition curated by Eileen Jeng Lynch, The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, New Paltz, NY
2020 New Directions 2020 curated by Nic Brierre Aziz, Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY
2020 F°ormation, Fall Kill Creative Works, Poughkeepsie, NY
2019 Clay Bouquet, Peekskill Clay Studios Gallery, Peekskill, NY
2019 Now: Press Play curated by Glenn Adamson, Williamsburg Art and Historical Center, Brooklyn, NY
​2019 Materialistic, Fall Kill Creative Works, Poughkeepsie, NY
​2019 Sublime Concepts, Curator, Bethany Arts Community, Ossining, NY
2019 Export: A Future Under Risk 2019, Joint Exhibition of International Artists, Mid-Hudson Heritage Center Trolley Barn, Poughkeepsie, NY
2018 Online Show curated by Frederick Janka on Foundwork.art – an online artist platform for the Contemporary Art Community. Link: foundwork.art/guest-curators/frederick-janka
2018 New Paltz Open Studios Tour, Unison Art Center and SUNY New Paltz Fine Arts Building Rotunda
2018 Signal: Tri-State Juried Exhibition curated by Lumi Tan, Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, NY
2018 Off the Beaten Track, Westchester Community College Gallery, Peekskill, NY
2018 In Our Element, Peekskill Clay Studios Gallery, Peekskill, NY
2018 Clayworks, Blue Door Art Center, Yonkers, NY
2017 Clay Ways, Peekskill Clay Studios Gallery, Peekskill, NY
2017 Women in the Arts, The Peekskill Museum, Peekskill, NY
2017 Big Ideas in Small Packages, Blue Door Art Center, Yonkers, NY
2017 9th Artist-Member Juried Exhibition, Blue Door Art Center, Yonkers, NY
2016 Showcase in The Field Library, Peekskill, NY
2016 Earthly Delights, Peekskill Clay Studios Gallery, Peekskill, NY
2016 Big Ideas in Small Packages, Blue Door Art Center, Yonkers, NY
2014 Showcase in The Field Library, Peekskill, NY
2013 Open Studios, Peekskill Clay Studios Gallery, Peekskill, NY
2011 Centerpiece for Juried Senior exhibition, Arthur M. Berger Gallery, Manhattanville College, Purchase, NY
lectures and workshops
2020 Contemporary Sculpture, SUNY New Paltz, New Paltz, NY
2019 Survey of Ceramics History, SUNY New Paltz, New Paltz, NY
2017 Women in the Arts, The Peekskill Museum, Peekskill, NY
2012 ​Art Before Forty: Survival Stories from Younger Artists, First Monday Salon, Bean Runner Cafe, Peekskill, NY

Paul Kmiotek  
I consider myself to be kind of an illusionist. By simply scribbling, in a process of tightly controlled chaos, on a blank piece of paper with a fine-point pen, I can trick the observer’s eye into seeing what I want it to see; a jaguar peering from beneath a bush, a barn falling into disrepair, two men chatting on the street, etc.

My work has been displayed, among other places, at the Ridgewood Art Institute, the Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum, the Belle Levine Art Center, The Flywheel Gallery, and the Lake Carmel Arts Center. I currently live in the Hudson Valley with my beautiful wife and two awesome children.

Deb Lecce
In 1971, while still in high school, she first embraced clay. As she wandered the halls searching for the stone carving room, she stumbled upon the clay studio. Looking back at it now, this was and is the only time that she had ever been grateful for her lack of directional skills. She observed the students at their wheels, and the hand builders shaping expression into developing forms. She was enamored. From this moment on she knew that clay was my passion. The potter’s wheel is her primary tool. It allows her to create a canvas for embellishment while also challenging the physical boundaries of the medium. Wavering rims, darted forms, and paddled surfaces help her discover which direction a piece will go. She has attended Alfred University, Penland, Haystack, as well as Peters Valley. She co-created Clayworks on Columbia, Brooklyn, NY.

Kati Mac
Singer Songwriter Kati Mac has a varied career as an indie musical
artist and session singer and songwriter. As well as singing on many
tv and radio commercials, she has sung with artists such as Meat Lof,
Sting, Jackson Brown, Michael Bolton and Nona Hendryx.
Her songs have been nominated for 7 Daytime Emmy awards and she
currently writes for The Young and The Restless.
She has also just released her 7th cd called “Songs Of Revolution
Songs Of Peace”. https://katimacmusic.com/music She is also a new
children’s book author. Her book series “The Secret Adventures Of
Scruffy MacMuffin” can be found at
https://katimacmusic.com/the-secret-adventures-of-scruffy-macmuffin-canine-superhero-and-dog-vacation
She studied theater Arts at NYU and has a Masters degree in Music
Composition from Purchase College.
She likes to teach her vocal technique to all ages and all styles She
knows it will improve range, placement, connection and confidence!

Rosalie Marcus
Rosalie is a painter, illustrator, and graphic designer.  She has exhibited her paintings in New York, New Jersey, Colorado, Nova Scotia, and California.  Her art work has been reviewed in many newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, The Bergen Record (NJ), and ArtNews Magazine.  Rosalie has also designed books, fabric, housewares, brochures and corporate logos for such clients as Warner Communications, King Features, Bloomingdales, and The National Organization of Women.  She was also an art director for a housewares company.  She attended Cornell University, got her BFA from Nova Scotia College of Art & Design, and her MFA from California Institute of the Arts.  Locally, Rosalie has taught art workshops at the Mahopac Public Library, at the after school program at Fulmar Road School, and is presently teaching drawing and painting at PAC.

 Haven Holliday

Haven majored in history, minored in art history and studied studio art at Purchase College, where she also tutored peers, worked as a teaching assistant, and graduated cum laude with honors.  She also studied creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College.  Haven has a personal interest in Japanese art, anime, video games, and manga (Japanese comics and graphic novels) and has been co-teaching the anime class at PAC since 2019.  Using traditional Japanese animation materials, papers and tools such as Copic Markers, Haven has been drawing anime characters and artworks for many years.  Haven also enjoys traditional drawing and painting, loves to bake, and has been knitting for over fifteen years.

Pat McDermond
Psychology and working with people in relation to art
As a child it was apparent I loved making art. Taking classes throughout high school, my interest in art was supported by my parents. Graduating with a B.F.A in painting, I was awarded two full scholarships from Kansas City Art Institute, the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine and the Max Beckman scholarship at the Brooklyn Museum.

My interest in art has been a lifelong interest as evidenced by work I created. However the challenge of making a living has taken me down a zig-zag career path. Along the way I found my interest in psychology, and working with people in relation to art to be a familiar theme.

I conducted activities in long-term mental institutions before training in art therapy at Hahnemamn Medical Hospital in Philadelphia. I worked in the field of mental health for ten years, my last position as a Program Supervisor at Childville, a residential treatment center for severely disturbed children.

The time came I knew I needed a change, I thought to myself, you have never competed, you wimp! That insight led to a sharp turn in my career path. Living in New York City, I thought my artistic sensibility could be applied to commercial art. After taking a class in how to make mechanicals, I got my first job doing mechanicals and learned typesetting on the job.

Working freelance as a production artist initially, I worked as an independent contractor in the commercial world of advertising and promotion in NYC. By taking classes and “on the job” experience, I eventually developed skills as a digital artist and designer, working extensively for advertising agencies, design firms and corporate communication divisions. The last few years I worked exclusively for book publishers where I designed and illustrated covers and chapter openers and prepared specifications for book production.

I also taught computer graphic applications at three colleges in NYC, The New School Computer Instruction Center, Parsons School of Continuing Education and The Fashion Institute of Technology.

Recent teaching experience
Awarded a grant from Lifetime Arts to teach seniors at Pound Ridge library
April 2013-June 2013

An eight-week drawing class, Drawing sessions included instruction is basic drawing skills to enable participants to create composition with objects based on associated memories. This work was shown at the library at the conclusion of the course.

Garrison Art Center,  January 2018-February 2018

Kayla Noble
I began my journey with clay at the age of five. With one set of grandparents working as middle-school art teachers, and another one making a living as a potter, art was always a part of my life. I graduated in 2015 with a BFA in Ceramics from The State University of New York at New Paltz and have since completed a year-long residency at Taos Clay in Taos, New Mexico and currently have a studio practice in Newburgh, NY. My current body of work functions as an exploration of intimacy and connection; meditating on the power of touch.

I have taught a variety of skills and ages, and always enjoy the atmosphere of a classroom studio. “Clay is such a dynamic and exciting material, and I relish every opportunity to share my passion.”

Sharon Tsao
Sharon Tsao graduated from Stanford University with a PhD degree in art in 1996, received her MA degree in art history from the Central Academy of Fine Arts. She taught art courses at various universities in China, Canada, and the US until 2014 when she was appointed to be a deputy director of a museum of art in China. Tsao decided to retire during the pandemic in 2020 and moved to Putnam.

Tsao has curated many exhibitions in both China and the US, also has published books and essays in both English and Chinese and her best-known book is a study on the 11th-century handscroll “Traveling along the River in Qingming Period”. Tsao’s own works of sculpture and oil on canvas have been exhibited in art galleries and museums in China, Germany, and the US.