School of Visual Arts
Artistic Staff

Artistic Director

Randy Williams, Artistic Director, is an active visual artist and a Professor of Studio Art and Art Education at Manhattanville College. He has been on the faculty of the School of Visual Artssince its inception in 1976. Professor Williams is also an instructor and educational consultant to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He has won numerous prizes and awards, including a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts to the American Academy in Rome. Professor Williams has been recognized by the New York State Council on the Arts, Visual Arts Division, and the New York Foundation for the Arts with a fellowship in sculpture.

Professor Williams' work has been the subject of more than 35 solo exhibitions and scores of special projects and group shows. His artwork may be viewed in numerous public and private art collections.

 

Other noted artist/educators serve as master teachers for the summer school, each working with a highly-qualified teaching assistant.

Laura King, Assistant to the Artistic Director and Master Teacher, is an active artist whose work has been exhibited nationally in the last seven years. Her work is both two-dimensional and three-dimensional. Laura is originally from upstate New York. She moved to Seattle in 2002. She teaches art at Shorecrest High School. Each summer, Laura returns to New York to work at the New York State Summer School for the Visual Arts. This will be her second year as Assistant Artistic Director and fifth year as a Master Teacher. The previous five summers she was the Assistant Director of Administration. Prior to that, she was a Teaching Assistant for two summers. Laura received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Printmaking from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Following graduation, she furthered her studies in metals at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem, Israel. Laura later received her Masters in Art Education from Nazareth College in Rochester, New York.

Rylee Eterginoso, Assistant Director for Administration and Teaching Assistant, studied Art and Art History at Manhattanville College where she received both a BFA and BA in 2004. Her current academic plans are to obtain a Masters in Art Education. While under the tutelage of Randy Williams, she was introduced to the New York State Summer School for the Arts. She began her NYSSSA experience as a Counselor in 2004 and the following year returned as Head Counselor. In 2006, Rylee became the Assistant Director for Administration. This year she continues as ADA and is also enjoying her time as a Teaching Assistan for Mixed Media. She begins her graduate work in Arts and Cultural Management at Pratt Institute this Fall. 

Master Teachers

Yayoi Asoma, Master Teacher: Drawing and Painting - Yayoi received her BFA in Painting from Rhode Island School of Design in 2002 and recently completed her MFA at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University in May. She loves her 20 ­year old cat dearly, despite being allergic to it for the past decade. She currently is a part of a group exhibition at Leo Fortuna Gallery in Hudson, NY.

Sandra Camomile, Master Teacher: Mixed Media 3D - Sandy recalls her love of art since she was a child. Her third grade teacher, Mrs. Hoffman, nurtured her as a young artist and encouraging her to continue. Sandra was fortunate to receive private instruction as well as taking every art class in public schools, which consisted mostly of drawing and painting instruction. Sandra received a BFA in sculpture in 1994 from the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah. She received her MFA in mixed media in 1996 from the Mount Royal School of Art at Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland. She is currently an Associate Professor at La Salle University, Philadelphia, PA where she teaches digital art in the Digital Arts and Multimedia Design Program in the Mathematics and Computer Science Department. Sandra enjoys her summers teaching 3D Mixed Media as a Master Teacher for the New York State Summer School for the Arts. She has been with NYSSSA since 2000. Sandy has exhibited nationally and internationally and she is currently undertaking a new form of art that she exhibits in virtual reality. Please see www.sandracamomile.com for more information regarding exhibitions, honors and awards.

Cindy DeFelice, Master Teacher: Mixed Media/Installation - Cindy earned her BFA from the Alfred University, School of Art & Design and creates site-specific public installations and performances. Inspired by her students, NYSSSA colleagues, and experience as a social worker, Cindy is currently pursuing graduate coursework in clinical psychology at SUNY Brockport. She lectures on topics in art, education, and mental health, and has been honored by the RCSD for her leadership in parent engagement and student advocacy. Cindy is a former NYSSSA student.

G. George Girard, Master Teacher: Figure Studies/Drawing and Painting - Gerry has a MFA in Painting from State University of New York at Albany and a BFA from Alfred University in Art and Design with a concentration in two-dimensional studies and a minor in Art Education. With over ten years of teaching and decades of painting experience he has shared his insight at every level from elementary schools, colleges and universities.

Gary Horn, Master Teacher: Figure Studies/Traditional Painting - Gary  has been with the NYSSSA program since 1999. He currently is an art instructor at the Academy of Mt. St. Ursula in Bronx, NY.

Greg Lendeck, Master Teacher: Sculpture - Greg is an Artist, Teacher, Designer, and Tinkerer. Greg works two and three dimensionally in various media and has been experimenting and playing professionally for over ten years. During a moment of perfect lucidity Greg had an epiphany that loosened the tenuous grasp he holds on his sanity just enough to allow him to create representations of the interlocking parts of the seen and unseen universes - without the usual self-consciousness and common sense that most people would feel. Greg holds a B.S. in Studio Art, a B.F.A. in Sculpture, and a M.F.A. in Sculpture. He has shown widely at various venues nationally. For ten years Greg has taught art at the high school and college level. He currently resides, blissfully, with his wife and children in upstate New York.

Paul Marcellino, Master Teacher: Figure Sculpture - Paul was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1954. He attended the Stella Elkins Tyler School of Fine Art at Temple University where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1976. He later earned his Masters Degree in Fine Art at the Graduate School of Figurative Art at the New York Academy of Art in Manhattan. He has since exhibited his work in group and solo shows throughout the United States and has received numerous awards. He has served as juror for regional and national exhibitions, and has received funding for his work from Arts institutions including the Putnam Arts Council, The Upper Catskill Community Center for the Arts, and the New York State Council For the Arts. Since 1983, he has taught art at schools and institutions throughout the Northeast. Mr. Marcellino has conducted courses and workshops at the Pratt Institute, the New York Academy, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, among others. He is currently on the faculty of the New York State Summer Institutes, where he has served since 1998. He will also be a visiting artist at the International School of Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture in Montecastello in Umbria, Italy, August, 2007. He is currently on the faculty of the Niskayuna School District, Niskayuna, NY, where he teaches during the school year. He lives with his wife and family in Worcester, NY.

Masha Ryskin, Master Teacher: Drawing and Painting/Printmaking - Masha is a painter, printmaker, and installation artist, whose work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. She has participated in numerous artist residencies, both in the United States and abroad, and is a recipient of a number of fellowships and grants, including a Fulbright Fellowship to Norway. Masha has taught at NYSSSA since 2000. She is also on the faculty at Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, NY.

Christian Tribastone, Master Teacher: Drawing and Painting/Printmaking - Christian is trained as a printmaker at Alfred University. Christian Tribastone now uses interdisciplinary mediums to explore conventional notions of public space in relation to our corporeal existence. He bakes a killer carrot cake and refuses to shave his beard.

 

Teaching Assistants

Danielle Scalera, Teacher’s Assistant - Danielle is currently living in Carmel, New York. She is originally from Columbia County, NY which is where most of her inspiration as an artist comes from. Danielle uses her influence of the landscape where she grew up in and her knowledge of the Hudson River School Artists to create her books and painting. She completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Manhattanville College in 2007 and a her Masters of Arts and Teaching from Manhattanville College in 2008. She is an art teacher in Brewster, New York. This is her third year with the program.

Gary Wurzer, Teacher’s Assistant (supply coordinator) - Gary was enrolled in the 2004 NYSSSA Visual Arts program as a student and this is Gary's third year with the program. Gary Wurzer lives in Rochester, New York. He attended Monroe Community College completing an associate degree in fine arts. His future plans include pursuing a BFA and then going on to graduate school.

Faith Law, Teacher’s Assistant - Faith currently resides in Seattle, Washington. She is pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and is planning to move to New York to complete a degree in Art Education. This is Faith’s second year in the program.

Julia Romano, Teacher’s Assistant - Julia is from Brooklyn, New York. She is getting ready to enter into her senior year at Manhattanville College where she is pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. She has been a practicing artist since early on in high school, her primary medium being painting and mixed media collage.

Mary Kate Kelly, Teacher’s Assistant - Mary Kate is from Ossining, New York. She is currently a junior at Oberlin College. She is a Visual Art major with a concentration in Environmental Studies. She is interested in exploring the impact humans have on the natural world. Mary Kate attended NYSSSA in 2004 and 2005 and was eager to return as a teaching assistant to help the program that helped her develop a love of art. Besides Oberlin, she has previously studied art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Parsons School of Design, Rhode Island School of Design, and Westchester Community College by enrolling in various courses. She is excited to return to RISD next month to take a class in Landscape Architecture.

Angelo Nicoletti-Eaton, Teacher’s Assistant - Angelo is an artist and philosopher. He is currently in his final year at the Cleveland Institute of Art, where he will receive a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drawing. He resides in Cleveland, Ohio and has worked as a print shop assistant and has shown at galleries such as the Tom Balbo gallery and the Coffee House gallery. More information and work can be found at his website www.angelonicoletti.com.

Ben Baker, Teacher’s Assistant - Ben studied blacksmithing and silversmithing (along with as many other materials and processes as possible) at SUNY New Paltz, he graduated in 2008. Ben has had a few student shows with friends in New Paltz. He now works in a metal shop in Rochester, New York. Ben is a former NYSSSA student in 2002 and 2003 and was a NYSSSA counselor in 2006 and 2005. Before becoming a TA and the official NYSSSA trouble maker.

Residential Life Staff

Juliet Hinely, Head Counselor and Teaching Assistant - Juliet is a textile and installation artist based out of St. Augustine, Florida. She completed her BFA in Fiber Arts at Maryland Institute College of Art in 2008. This is Juliet’s third year working at NYSSSA; her first as Head Counselor and Teaching Assistant for Mixed Media. This Fall she will be a Residence Life Hall Counselor at Interlochen Academy for the Arts in Interlochen, Michigan. Her academic plans include research and development for artwork in conjunction with the 450th Anniversary of the founding of St. Augustine – the oldest city in the United States.

Henry Fernau, Counselor - Henry is one half of the male counseling staff at NYSSSA Visual Arts, currently operating one of the boys’ halls. He attends the School of Visual Arts in New York City and is a Cartooning major. His work ranges from comics and illustration to painting and fine arts. He has been involved with NYSSSA since 2005, initially as a student. This is his second year as a residence life staff member.

Hannah Merrill, Counselor - This is Hannah’s first year as a member of the counseling staff at NYSSSA, but is already beginning to feel like part of the family. She just graduated from Manhattanville College this May, with a BFA in studio art.  Her last body of work included a series of watercolors inspired by a trip to Kolkata, India that she took last summer. Hannah is both excited and eager to see what all the amazing art students of 2009 come up with.

Ashley Best, Counselor - Ashley was a student at NYSSSA in the summer of 2003 and 2004.  Being that NYSSSA was such an inspirational and meaningful part of her artistic development, she has returned as a counselor.  This is her second year as part of the res-life staff.  She graduated from SUNY Fredonia in December of 2008 with a BFA in sculpture.  She is planning to attend graduate school over seas for sculpture, ceramics, and printmaking.

Tyler Parker, Counselor - Tyler is an illustrator/painter/toymaker/ukulele enthusiast currently residing in the United Kingdom. Having spent the greater part of his developmental years in a small town in the Adirondacks he departed in search of fame, fortune and old paperbacks. He received his BFA in illustration from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2007 before escaping to sail the usually figurative high seas.  He is scheduled to complete his MA in Sequential Design and Illustration from the University of Brighton in October 2009. This is his fourth year at NYSSSA and third as a counselor.

Emily Johnson, Counselor - This is Emily’s first year working with the counseling staff at NYSSSA and she is thrilled to be a part of the program! She grew up in southwest Virginia, and chose to continue her education in southern gentility by attending Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina. She graduated in 2008, having completed a B.A. in Studio Art and two Concentrations in Art History and Religious Studies. Emily currently lives and works in the Boston area. When she is not battling the bitter winter weather, she enjoys reading, drawing, sewing felt birds, and playing the violin.

Angela Higgins, Counselor - This is Angela’s first year as a counselor at NYSSSA. She was a student in the summers of 2005 and 2006.  She currently attends Pratt Institute, in Brooklyn, with a concentration in Graphic Design. She’s not quite sure what she’s doing with her life just yet. 

Quinn Ferris, Counselor - Quinn returned for her second year as a res-life member this summer after graduating from Sarah Lawrence College in May with a BA in Art History and Chemisty.  Her ultimate goal is to attend graduate school at NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts for Book and Paper Conservation.  Spending her summers at NYSSSA allows her to be part of a stimulating and inspiring community, and she enjoys using her art history/conservation background to present a different aspect on art.  She is so pleased to be back.