Youth Education
At Helen Day Art Center, we are committed to new and inventive art programming for youth and adults. STEAM learning and curriculum-based art education is at the core of how we integrate art into all modes and disciplines of learning. In addition, maintaining stringent health and safety protocols for our HDAC community is our top priority. We continue to meet our goal of reaching families whether at school or at home with innovative in-person and online programming, and are available for private and semi-private lessons. Thank you for supporting HDAC and understanding the importance of creativity and self-expression especially during this unique time.
In our continuing efforts to keep our students, instructors and organization a safe and healthy space, we ask that parents of students take a minute to fill out this form at the start of each week prior to their student's class. We thank you for your diligence and commitment to our community's wellness.
2020 Fall/Winter Youth Classes:
Instructor Bios:
Jodi Colella, TBD
Stephanie Drews-Sheldon recently moved to Vermont and creates commissioned and gallery furniture pieces, as well as small production work. She earned her MFA in Wood Design from East Carolina State University where she taught design and wood design classes. Stephanie spent 12 years working at an independent school in Washington D.C. teaching and creating art, woodworking, and ceramic curricula for all ages.
Nancy Harrison is an award-winning illustrator originally from Montreal, Canada, who is best known for illustrating the ”Who Was…?” biography series. Her art has also been published in more than 20 other children’s books, Time Magazine, Fortune, The Washington Post, and used for a Netflix series. Nancy has a B.F.A. in Illustration and graphic design, and a Masters Degree in Illustration from Syracuse University. In addition to working as a full-time illustrator, Nancy has been teaching Illustration and Digital Painting for the past 15 years in Philadelphia, San Jose, California and Vermont, passing along tips and tricks that help budding artists take their art to the next level.
Bonnie Kolber is a lover of the arts, gardening, and the mountains. Growing up in Miami, she attended the New World School of the Arts, went on to achieve a B.S. in Performance Studies from Northwestern University, and holds a Master’s Degree in Elementary Education. Bonnie has lived in Vermont since 1997 and has been a member of the Bread and Puppet Theater and freelance puppeteer throughout New England. She now has a homestead and runs a gardening business in the summer. In the winter you will find her teaching snowboarding and running clinics for the American Association of Snowboard Instructors. In her eyes, making art with kids and encouraging imagination and unique expression is some of the most rewarding and inspiring work in the world.
Craig Mooney was born and raised in the heart of midtown Manhattan (NY), and his roots in art go back to his youth. His father, an amateur artist, taught him how to create oil paintings from discarded art supplies found on city streets. To him, the streets of New York were an endless source of inspiration at an early age. After a brief career in the film industry, Craig moved out of New York in the mid-nineties to rural Vermont. The open and bucolic settings of the countryside allowed him new sources of inspiration. Though a representational painter, Craig incorporates a myriad of abstract qualities throughout his paintings. In his figurative work, he romanticizes his subjects and presents them in an atmospheric lens that is best described as dreamlike, as if capturing a moment suspended in time.
Robert J. O'Brien, AWS, NWS is a signature Member of the American, National and New England Watercolor Societies as well as several others. He is is a full-time award-winning artist and instructor. He recently won Best in Show at the New England Watercolor Society's Regional Juried Exhibition in Plymouth MA and at the 2nd Annual Green Mountain Watercolor Exhibition in Waitsfield, VT. Robert is the Director of Exhibitions for the Vermont Watercolor Society and the Scholarship Chair for the American Watercolor Society. He lives and paints in Weathersfield, Vermont and teaches many workshops throughout the United States and abroad. www.robertjobrien.com
Joe Smith is a native Vermonter currently residing in the small town of Hyde Park. Smith recently received his B.A. in Art Education from Northern Vermont University. Most of Smith’s work derives from his personal journey growing up in a beautiful and rural area. Along with filmmaking, he is also interested in various forms of multimedia and design. His artwork has been exhibited in the Vermont Congressional Art Show and Johnson Studio Center. Smith takes pride in assisting young filmmakers in constructing their own visions and sense of life into their work. He is currently involved in social justice work and travels around the world to assist communities and explore their social, political, and cultural dynamics. Such travels have landed him in Detroit, Michigan, Managua, Nicaragua, and Zurich, Switzerland. Smith is honored to serve his local communities and has worked in a wide-variety of school settings, all which allow him to advocate for student voice and equity.
Peggy Smith TBD