Take a moment to read more about our wonderful teaching staff!
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Meet the Instructors:
Laurel Smith
Laurel is a working and teaching artist who has been at Munroe since 2013. She founded and facilitates the Figure Drawing studio group, and leads 'In Your Hands', the teen visual arts studio group. She has been active in the visual arts in Lexington since her grown children were elementary students, and is a member of the ArtWalk committee. Her focus is on building an individual’s art 'language' through practice, risk, and play. |
Alice DelDonno
Alice DelDonno is a life-long art-maker and has been teaching youth art classes in Lexington for the past 20 years. She holds a BA in Studio Arts from the University of Rochester and an MEd in Expressive Therapies from Lesley University. In her home studio, Alice enjoys watercolor sketching, collage art, and hand-making artist books. She finds that guiding children through their exploration of art media and creative expression is a source of inspiration for her own work. Alice enjoys encouraging collage exploration and paper arts. Check out her personal work on Instagram! |
Daria Theodora
Daria is a Lexington-based artist and illustrator. Her favorite tools to work with are the humble pen and ink on paper. Daria holds an MFA in Sequential Art from the Savannah College of Art and Design. Daria’s works have been exhibited in a number of gallery shows as well as been featured in several publications, including Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, Spectrum, ImagineFX, Illustration Age and Illustration West. Daria's teaching focuses on character design and concept art, as well as combining traditional pieces with digital elements. Read more about her accolades and awards while browsing her fantastic portfolio! |
Sunny Moxin Chen
Lexington resident, multi-disciplinary artist, and passionate educator, Sunny has worked across painting, sculpture, and mixed-media installation. She holds an MFA in Painting from Boston University and a BFA in Painting & Studio for Interrelated Media from the Massachusetts College of Art & Design. Her work has been exhibited in numerous galleries throughout the US, from Boston to Erie, Pennsylvania. Sunny holds skill in developing foundational skills, as well as appreciation in different art forms. Explore the explorative, colorful array of Sunny's work on her Instagram! |
Lea Baecksteiner
Lea is an artist and illustrator with a Masters in Fine Arts and Illustration from the Neue Kunst Schule in Basel, Switzerland. Originally from Switzerland, she now lives and works in the greater Boston area. Her range of artistic media includes oil, gouache, watercolor, ink, and digital painting. In addition to her work as a fine artists, Lea provides illustrations for books, magazines, and printed materials. Her style has been described as playful, minimalist, and well-proportioned. Lea has exhibited across New York City, Basel, and Boston areas. View her work and list of exhibitions on her website! |
Nat Moss
Anyone who attended our vacation camps will recognize Teacher Nat! In their classroom, Nat makes sure to balance fun with learning plenty of skills, such as design, structure, and detail work. Nat has been a visual artist since they were young, using paint and recycled materials to make puppets, costumes, sculptures, mobiles, and more. Nat's classes expound upon childlike imagination, giving students the tools, skills, and guidance to let their imaginations run wild. Check out their personal Instagram, full of tiny creations! |
Judith Cooper
Judith is an artist-teacher who received her BFA in Painting and Drawing from Boston University, minoring in art education. She taught art for 30 years in the Gloucester public schools, mainly spanning ceramics, drawing and portfolio development. Now, Judith utilizes a Masters from Lesley University and training in spiritual guidance to lead creativity and self-exploration workshops from her Lexington studio space. Judith participates locally by teaching classes and serving on the steering committee for Lexington Open Studios. Her drawings and mixed media pieces have won awards from the Women's Caucus for Art and Cambridge and the Concord Art Associations. Her work hangs in private and corporate collections, and can be seen on her website. |
Anya Krupnik
Anya Krupnik is a multi-disciplined art educator, designer, and artist with a Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale University. She co-founded Alma Mater, an educational studio in Lexington, where she has taught a wide variety of art classes to children, youth and adults. Anya is passionate about art history and believes that art lessons bring an inspiration that lasts a lifetime. |
Stevie Spence
Stevie has a background in early childhood education and yoga. They have been a member of our ceramics program for several years before joining our staff, creating pieces as precise and inviting as their teaching style. Stevie is acting Ceramics Studio Manager, overseeing all our firings and helping to maintain equipment. Their pottery can be found on Etsy here. |
Andrew Rhodes
Andrew Rhodes has been directing, acting, and teaching in New England for the past 20 years. He has a degree in general theatre, and another in acting performance. Andrew believes that students should learn all aspects of theatre from set, costume, and light design to acting performance. He looks forward to continuing to bring his years of experience to the class room. Knowledge is power. |
Emily Passman
Emily is a painter of oils and acrylics, known for her expressive, loose style. She works from observation, both in the studio and plein air, and describes her work as 'a reaction to’ the subject, as opposed to a ‘rendering’. In addition to teaching oil and acrylic techniques, she encourages and teaches students to sketch. She says daily sketching is a great way to heighten one's ability to see, and important to incorporate into one’s painting process. After earning both a fine arts degree and a Master’s in Education, she had a successful career as an educator and graphic designer. She teaches privately in her California barn-studio during winter months, and at various educational venues near Boston. Her work is shown in galleries in New England and private collections internationally. See more of Emily's work online.
Emily is a painter of oils and acrylics, known for her expressive, loose style. She works from observation, both in the studio and plein air, and describes her work as 'a reaction to’ the subject, as opposed to a ‘rendering’. In addition to teaching oil and acrylic techniques, she encourages and teaches students to sketch. She says daily sketching is a great way to heighten one's ability to see, and important to incorporate into one’s painting process. After earning both a fine arts degree and a Master’s in Education, she had a successful career as an educator and graphic designer. She teaches privately in her California barn-studio during winter months, and at various educational venues near Boston. Her work is shown in galleries in New England and private collections internationally. See more of Emily's work online.
Check out the classes offered by Munroe Center for the Arts:
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