Extension Instructors

Aisha Alkinaey is a graphic designer, motionographer, and illustrator based in Los Angeles with a BFA in Illustration Design from ArtCenter College of Design and an MFA in Graphic Design from California Institute of the Arts. Aisha joined the Otis faculty as a lecturer after freelancing and working in-house in the music and tech industry for 6 years. Her work ranges from social media brand implementation to image-making for editorial publications and apparel design.

Originally from Kansas City, Beth has lived in Los Angeles for the past 30 years.  Horses, drawing, and painting were an escape from small town life. She has two bachelors’: One in fashion design from Otis College of Art and Design and one in fine art from the Art Institute of Chicago. She received her MFA in art from Art Center College of Design in 2018. Currently Ms. Abaravich teaches in the fashion design program at Otis College of Art and Design and Woodbury University. As a working designer Beth understands both the design process and how clothing is constructed. As an artist she mines the rich vocabulary of Fashion to express herself. She utilizes both to educate students to design the future of fashion.

Instagram:
@bethabaravich
@thebethdressed
Online Portfolio:
www.bethabaravich.com

Lisa Adams is a painter and public artist. She is the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship, a Brody Grant and a Durfee ARC Grant. Her work is in the collections of LACMA, Eli Broad, the Edward Albee Foundation, the San Jose Museum of Art, the Long Beach Museum of Art, the Laguna Museum of Art among others. She has taught throughout the Los Angeles area and abroad, including the University of Southern California, the Claremont Graduate University and the University of Ljubljana. Recently her work has been included in exhibitions at the San Jose Museum of Art, Gallery Fu in Yokohama, Japan, and PULSE Miami at the Miami Basel Art Fair. Her monograph Vicissitude of Circumstance is available on Amazon. Ms. Adams has an M.F.A. from Claremont Graduate University and B.A. from Scripps College.

Angela Alcerro is a Los Angeles-based consultant and educator with an expertise in toy design. As a staff illustrator and manager of the Digital Effects department at Mattel, Ms. Alcerro worked on iconic brands such as Barbie, Disney Princess, Hot Wheels, and He-man. At Lakeshore, she partnered with seasoned educators to design immersive learning experiences aligned with regional standards. Five years ago she founded a consulting business specializing in toys and international education for ages 5 to adult for Mattel, Hand2Mind, Moose Toys, SpinMaster Toys, Charisma Brands, LA Galaxy and clients throughout the US, Asia, the Middle East, and Canada.

Since 2010, Ms. Alcerro has taught in Otis College’s Toy Design and Liberal Studies departments where she was a faculty grant recipient (2016, 2017, 2018 and 2022). Ms. Alcerro holds a B.A. in Spanish from UCLA; M.A. in Media Arts and Design from Antioch University, McGregor; M.A. in Teaching, TESOL, University of Southern California; and studied Graphic Design at Art Center . She is in her first year as a doctoral student at USC.

Portfolio: https://www.angelaalcerro.com

During his 37 years in Hollywood, Bryan Allen has worked in all aspects of entertainment advertising including production artist, illustrator, designer, art director, creative director, studio executive and business owner. He has won numerous Key Art® Awards and is a working fine artist.

In the late 1980’s, Bryan was involved in the early development of high-resolution digital imaging. In the 1990’s, as Senior Vice President and Creative Director of Creative Advertising at Paramount Pictures, Bryan created Paramount Pictures’ in-house creative agency, 5555. In 1998, Bryan founded Faction Creative, an award-winning entertainment design agency.

Bryan is currently Head of Print for Blue Raven Advertising and President and CEO of Skyoti Studios, LLC. Speaking engagements include the UCLA Anderson School of Business Entertainment MBA Program, Chapman University and USC Roski School of Art and Design. He has taught at Otis/Parsons School of Design, FIDM and Woodbury University.

A Multi-disciplinary artist working in Digital, Social, Motion and Print projects for Entertainment Agencies and Studios. Obtained his Masters Degree in Design and Motion Graphics at California Institute of the Arts. Past projects include work for the following Studios: 20th Century Studios, Disney, Focus Features, Lionsgate, Marvel, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, ABC, Amazon, Apple, AMC, CBS, FX, HBO, Hulu, Netflix and SyFy. He has also taught undergraduate level classes at California State University Fullerton, Otis College of Art & Design and California Institute of the Arts.

www.edwinalvarenga.com

Andrew Armstrong, MFA in Fine Arts; BFA in Sculpture, Otis College of Art and Design. Mr. Armstrong is the Director of Technical Support Services at Otis. His work has been exhibited in many Southern California venues. He has also served as a consultant and fabricator for notable Los Angeles based artists, designers, and institutions.

With Texas roots, Terry Balagia, was born and raised in Austin. His family was always surrounded by books. Growing up, Terry made frequent trips with his mother, who was also on the library board, to the local branch. They would play hide and seek at the Austin Public Library where his mother would also check out upwards of twenty books a week. 

Terry recalls coming home from class one day while in college and telling his mom, “I know now what I am here to do…I want to write books. I want to be a novelist.” But he additionally fell in love with copywriting and went straight to New York to start his advertising career after he graduated from the University of Texas. Terry rose to the ranks of executive creative director and management in major agencies. After a celebrated career writing and producing numerous national advertising campaigns and winning more than his share of creative awards, it was time for Terry’s other lifelong dream to write novels.

Back in November of 2017, while editing two earlier manuscripts Terry was hit with a most unusual bolt of intuition. This inspiration led Terry on his quest resulting in him spending the next four years writing THE HUNT FOR FREDERICK DOUGLASS ensconced in his home in California.

Terry Balagia is probably best-known for coming up with the name, Call of Duty for Activision. The game which became the number one selling game in the industry.

Brett Barker, MAE, BFA, BA is a creative director, painter, graphic, surface, and textile designer, art faculty member, and writer. Brett creates graphic, social media, fashion and home decor designs for clients in the US, Europe, and Japan. Brett is currently an adjunct faculty member at Otis College of Design and has been an adjunct faculty member at ArtCenter College of Design. As the Creative Director for a home decor textile company, she produced the overall strategic design vision for multiple years as well as spearheading several innovative collections for the stylish home. As a fine artist, she creates in both the mixed media and textile world. Her work is in both national and international collections and is featured on multiple websites. She is a past faculty member/teaching artist at Sun Studios and at the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, NM. Brett's designs are currently featured on the Netflix reality competition show, "Next in Fashion," hosted by "Queer Eye" alum Tan France and Alexa Chung. Brett also teaches students with learning differences for two private academies in New Mexico. CAA-College Art Association SDA- Surface Design Association NAEA-National Art Education Association AAM-American Alliance of Museums LACMA-Los Angeles County Museum of Art itaa-International Textile and Apparel Association NMPED-Level II license with art, TESOL, and gifted education endorsements CALP certification expected Jan 2022 Amazon.com-Featured author of Color and Composition for the Creative Quilter NMWIF: New Mexico Women in Film

Maija Beeton is a digital storyteller. She designs and produces animation, visual effects, and mixed-reality for film, television, game, theater, science and fine art projects. She collaborates locally and internationally on independent theater, film and fine art projects and is the recipient of an Emmy Award for outstanding achievement in graphic design and the winner of the 2015 Los Angeles WonderWomenTech Hackathon. Beeton is a former artist-in-residence and director of the American Film Institute’s Graduate Program in Digital Media.

Susan Beningfield, March II, Architecture, Princeton University, New Jersey; BArch, Architecture, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; and Medicine, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Ms. Beningfield is an architect and designer of fine jewelry. She launched her company in 2009, producing custom made jewelry that is unmistakably sculptural, reflecting her years of practice as a design architect and her fascination with natural lines and sensual forms and her view of space as a material which shapes the object. She also teaches 3D Digital Design in Otis College’s undergraduate program.

Beverly Bledsoe is a Southern California artist who earned an M.F.A. in Printmaking from Cranbrook Academy Art,1981, and a B.F.A. in Printmaking and Sculpture from Cleveland Institute of Art,1979. She has taught Life Drawing and Drawing at Otis College of Art and Design since 1999; and drawing, painting and printmaking at numerous colleges and universities in Southern California and Texas. Ms. Bledsoe has won various awards in printmaking and received a cultural grant from the America Center in Helsinki, Finland. Her work has been featured in numerous one person and group exhibitions in locations including Los Angeles, Houston, Texas and Helsinki, Finland.

Francesca Lia Block, M.F.A., is the best-selling and widely-translated author of more than twenty-five books of fiction, non-fiction, short stories and poetry, and has written screenplay adaptations of her work. She received the Spectrum Award, the Phoenix Award, the ALA Rainbow Award and the 2005 Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as other citations from the American Library Association and from the New York Times Book Review, School Library Journal and Publisher’s Weekly.

https://www.francescaliablock.com

Amy Bond, acclaimed fashion designer, producer, and educator splits her time between Miami Beach and the Los Angeles area. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fashion Design from Stephens College and Master of Fine Arts in Fashion Design from Academy of Art University. From wholesale manufacturing, bridal, and ready-to-wear to haute couture, Bond has a wide range of fashion experience. Her eponymous collections have been sold around the world, and her red-carpet menswear looks have won media acclaim.

Groundbreaking celebrities that have worn her creations include fashion icon turned music director Shaun Ross and American actor Billy Porter. Bond has been teaching fashion since 2002 as well as co-developing a fashion design curriculum. She joined the Otis College faculty in 2003, where she has taught in the undergraduate program as well as Extension. Bond created the Fashion Retreat and is Lead Instructor in the Summer of Art fashion programs. Along with developing students in the classroom, in her freelance work she helps emerging and established brands to expand their lines and has leant her knowledge to entertainment projects across the industry. Bond appeared in the iconic Project Runway series as a Designer in Season 16, and in 2019 as Supervising Fashion Producer for the NETFLIX Next in Fashion series.

Jason Burton is an environmental designer and Associate Professor from Otis College of Art and Design where he has taught 2D and 3D design in the Product Design, Toy Design, Foundation and Extension Departments. In 2014 his peers, graduates and students elected him as the recipient of the Teaching Excellence Award at Otis. His wide range of experience in different fields of design and teaching has shaped a multidisciplinary approach to his work. He studied graphic design and illustration at Palomar College, architecture at Southern California Institute of Architecture, received a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Environmental Arts at Otis College; and earned a Masters in Business Administration from CSU Fresno. His art, sculpture and furniture designs have been featured in various galleries and publications, most notably Architectural Digest. Jason has been a designer for R&D Architects in Venice California since 2003 and is the founder of JBstudio and Coincide Collectible Designs.

Michael Carroll, Otis College 1995 B.F.A. Graduate with focus in Surface Design. Michael Carroll has worked in the Los Angeles textile industry since 1995 as an In- House and Freelance Artist for various market groups. He has taught surface design coursework at Otis College of Art and Design Extension since 1987.

Yury Chudnovsky is an artist, calligrapher, educator, product designer, and founder of YC Fine Art Studio. His murals and fine art paintings have been displayed at Caesar Palace, Mandalay Bay and other casinos in Las Vegas, as well as at Universal Studios Theme Park and the Tobu Hotel in Tokyo. Mr. Chudnovsky’s paintings are included in private and corporate collections in the U.S., Russia, Japan, and Mexico. He is currently a calligraphy contractor for Los Angeles County, and continues to receive commissions for his paintings and murals for luxury homes internationally.

Chris Claro began his career as a writer and producer for entities as diverse as the New York Yankees, St. 
Joseph Center, Girl Scouts of America and Howard Stern. He has created content for numerous networks, including Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, Bravo and Showtime. Chris is the author of several books, including a pseudonymously-penned adventure featuring the eternal fraternal sleuths, the Hardy Boys.

After his stint in media, Chris chose to use his skills for good rather than evil, and phased into academia, teaching English composition and literature. Chris is based in New York, where he misses dollar hot dogs and the Times Square of his youth. An obsessive wordist, Chris is partial to acrostics, cryptograms and drop quote puzzles. He’s an avid reader, nonfiction primarily, loves to cook, cycle and wonder what, exactly, his dog is thinking.

Eric Collins is an artist, father, vegetarian, skateboarder, and educator. He was born in Virginia, lived in New York for over 12 years and is now back in Virginia. In describing his process he says: “When I make art, I usually start with a pen or pencil. At some point in the process, I am either holding an ink brush or a paintbrush and end up finishing the work on the computer. I still get excited about making new images for myself as well as other people.” Mr. Collins’ clients include The New York Times, Nature Medicine, Nylon Magazine, Soul Lovers Entertainment, Planet Earth Skateboards, Vessel Drinkware, Dragonfly Magazine, etc. He has also created prop styling designs for ad campaigns such as Valentino, Burberry, and Tommy Hilfiger. His award-winning work has been recognized by organizations including The Society of Illustrators, American Illustration, Adobe Design Achievement, and Richmond Illustrators Club.

Elena Costantini is an Italian architect and project manager based in California. She is currently an Architectural Project Specialist for an international company dealing with technological systems for high end residential and commercial projects. In Italy, she obtained a Master in Architecture and a Master in Project Management, both at La Sapienza University of Rome, while in Los Angeles, she specialized in Interior Design at UCLA Extension.

Trevor Coopersmith (b. 1994 San Diego, CA) creates painted objects, installations and organically inspired wall-sculptures utilizing found and mixed media that emphasize a deeper emotional connection to nature. Trevor holds a BFA from University of California, Santa Barbara and a MFA from Otis College of Art & Design. Coopersmith has shown at bG Gallery, Dorado 806 Projects, IDOLWILD and the Palos Verdes Art Center (all in Los Angeles, CA). Coopersmith has also shown at the California Nature Art Museum in Solvang, CA and had a solo exhibition at Avenue 50 Studios (Los Angeles). His work has been published in Space on Space Magazine and in Hyperallergic. Trevor has participated in two residencies (College Station, TX and Port Austin, MI), has a public mural practice and founded the Urban Art Scholarship Foundation which funds high school art education and public works. He is currently based in Los Angeles, CA and teaches youth art classes at Otis College of Art & Design.

Enoch Davis received his MFA in 3D Animation from Academy of Art University and a BA in Studio Art from Vassar College. Mr. Davis launched his career in animation by assembling a team of artists and completing a 3D animated short which toured the country and won an award at every film festival where it was screened. After 12 years as a designer and animator in San Francisco and an instructor in design at U.C. Berkeley Extension, Mr. Davis moved to LA to work with Digital Domain in 2013. While at DD, he worked on the VFX for tentpole productions from Marvel, Disney, and Fox. He has since worked on the staff of many of LA’s top visual effects studios on numerous blockbuster films, hit tv shows, and commercials while continuing to freelance in 2D and 3D design and animation. He is also the recipient of several national and regional awards for design and animation.

A native New Yorker born in 1964, Marc de Montebello graduated from New York University with a degree in philosophy. He then studied painting at NYU in the Master of Fine Arts program, and subsequently attended The New York Academy of Art. After a decade of living and working in Los Angeles, the artist now resides and maintains a studio in New York City. His fifth solo exhibition, Recent Work, is scheduled for October of 2024 at W.M. Brady & Co. in New York City.

www.marcdemontebello.com

Alex Devivye is a Kazakh - born designer with a background in user experience (UX), user interface(UI), web, game and architectural design fields. He graduated from California State University Northridge, with a BFA in digital media. Focusing on web design and user experience he has been in the field of creating experiences for the past five years, working for Otis College, a digital signage company as well as commissioning private projects for websites, kiosks and artworks for an additional three years. He has been part of the Otis College Communications and Marketing team since 2019, and has helped students, staff and faculty achieve their desired representation on the Otis College domain. As a passion, Alex works on many facets of game design including world building, level design, scripting, and user interface design via Unreal Engine.

Javier Diaz is an Industrial designer and mixed media artist with a focus on sustainability and ceramics. He has a design background in Product Design with a healing and caring background in Massage Therapy. Mr. Diaz has a B.F.A. from Otis College of Art and Design and is accredited and certified by the California Massage Therapy Council. He has taught at El Marino Elementary School, Linwood E. Howe Elementary School, Rosewood Elementary School, and Otis of College and Design. His work has been exhibited at Center Theater Group, Kirk Douglas Theatre, Known Gallery, CAAM, and MOCA. He developed his work with ceramics at Otis under the guidance and mentorship of Joan Takayama-Ogawa. His work combines his technical skills with highly tuned concepts that explore form and function to create unique usable works of art.

David Dodds is a Los Angeles-based motion graphics designer; his experience spans a decade in motion graphics, special effects, broadcast design, character animation, and infographics. As a motion graphics freelancer, Dodds has worked with big-time brands such as Disney, Netflix, X-Box, Marvel, Stardust, Mirada, Logan, and NFL Networks. Dodds is author of the book, Hands-On Motion Graphics with Adobe After Effects CC (2019). He teaches motion graphics for University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Extension and Otis College Extension. Dodds’ educational background includes a certificate in Motion Graphics from Otis College of Art and Design.

Phillip Donahue has been designing and developing games for over 14 years, having produced many successful games from AAA to Indie, mobile, PC, Console and VR. His passion for video game creation extends to his teaching which includes college and professional education-level game development coursework and as an Unreal Authorized Instructor for Epic Games. He has worked at various Los Angeles-based studios including Game Mechanic Studios, Game Design Network, AWOL Studio, Machinima, Xoobis, Mobotory, THQ, Epic Games, and Luxoflux, Inc/Activision. Philip’s degrees include an M.F.A in Game Design, Laguna College of Art/Design (2019); BSc in Game Art and Design, Art Institute (2009); M.A. in I/O Psychology from Argosy University (2001); and A.A.S. in Computer-Aided Drafting, ITT Tech (1999).

Lucas Eddens is a digital content creator, who has been working in digital media for more than 20 years. His work includes motion graphics, digital, print, and web design; brand consulting; writing/composing music for short films; music production; directing and editing music videos; and creating content for social media. While Mr. Eddens considers himself to be a creative, he measures his success in this capacity in small doses, with the approach of setting a series of short-term goals. He does this by creating systems that guide the creative work to completion. He teaches this “workflow” approach to his students. He has a bachelor's degree in Social Sciences from the University of California, Irvine, where he first started freelancing for local bands and small businesses. During this time, he also co-produced a song with Christian rock band, Switchfoot, and has received a gold record for his participation. As an instructor at Otis Extension, Mr. Eddens guides students through the process of digital creation using Adobe Photoshop, Premiere, After Effects, Illustrator, and InDesign. While these programs are specific to certain tasks, he uses a holistic approach to teaching the skills necessary to leverage these tools. Most commonly, addressing the "why" as well as the "how" these things get done. Mr. Eddens gives his students real-world assignments that mirror the kind of requests they would receive from clients or employers. His goal is to instill confidence in his students as they prepare to go out into the workforce or start their own businesses.

Roni Feldman creates meditative works that deal with the notion of exploration. Through his choices of colors, iridescent materials, and obscured imagery, he prompts viewers to move about, look closely, with a sense of wonder and discovery. His work has been featured in over a dozen solo shows and a hundred group shows in the U.S. and abroad. His work is in numerous private and public collections and he has been awarded multiple prizes including the Durfee ARC Grant and a recent Faculty Development Grant to conduct research and produce an exhibition in Rome. He co-founded the art collective, Durden and Ray, in 2009. The group has gone on to organize hundreds of exhibitions in both LA and around the world. Feldman lives and works in Los Angeles, CA where he teaches at Otis College of Art & Design, loves hiking in the local hills, and is plotting the sequel for his novel, The Creator’s Eye.

Susan T. Fisher has been teaching botanical art classes for over 25 years. She created curriculum and taught at the Denver Botanic Gardens, where she coordinated the botanical art program. Susan is also the former Director of the Art Institute at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum where she created the Nature Illustration Certificate Program. She continues to teach from coast to coast.

Ms. Fisher is currently the Exhibits Chair as well as a past president and former board member for the American Society of Botanical Artists. She is a past president of the Rocky Mountain Society of Botanical Illustrators.

Susan’s artwork appears in numerous books, florilegia, private collections. Her work is also in the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation at Carnegie Mellon University.

www.susantfisher.com

Jeanie Frias, BFA, Otis College of Art and Design. Ms. Frias has taught painting, drawing, and college preparation courses for over 20 years.  She has taught for UCLA and Occidental College, as well as private and homeschool groups, specializing in mentoring young artists toward successful application to the art college of their choice. Ms. Frias has exhibited throughout the Los Angeles area. Her current work draws inspiration from her extensive travel and daily journals.

Lisa Amundsen Giannini is a visual designer based in Los Angeles. Over the past ten years she has worked in both UI/UX and brand design roles at companies ranging from small startups to large tech companies. She has experience in being the only designer at a company, and being part of a large in-house creative studio. 

Currently, Lisa works as a Senior Visual Designer at Roku, where she designs TV experiences to spark delight and engage users. Prior to Roku, she spent five years as a Digital Design Lead for Sesame Workshop, the non-profit organization behind Sesame Street. She has also designed in the fields of ecommerce, political fundraising, and fitness, although her passion lies in children’s media and streaming.

Lisa holds an MFA in Graphic Design from New York Institute of Technology. Before becoming a designer, she studied fine arts at New York University. Outside of her design work, Lisa is an avid oil painter and has participated in gallery shows around Los Angeles and Orange County.

Moshe Godwin, BFA in Illustration, ArtCenter College of Design. Mr. Godwin is an illustrator, graphic artist, and motion graphics designer who works in both traditional and digital media. He is an art director and multimedia specialist for the Educational Technologies Network (ETN), a division of the Los Angeles County Office of Education.

Ernest J Gomez-Frausto, EJGF, is a fan and connoisseur of the geeky and nerdy and proud of it.  Well-versed in the world of comics, animation, cinema, and video games, he loves and knows these worlds well.

Throughout the years,  he has worked in a variety of mediums, styles, and subject matters, with a love of character and creatures. 

He got his bachelor’s in fine arts at Savannah College of Art and Design where he majored in Sequential Art, focusing on storytelling through images.  Aside from freelance illustration work, he has worked in education working with students from ages 5 and up teaching topics of  literacy, art, and storytelling.

EJGF loves to share his love and knowledge of illustration with anyone, but always finds it best shared with young and hungry minds seeking to learn and express themselves through illustration.

Portfolio: https://www.ejgf84.com/  

Instagram: @art_of_ejgf

Kristen Gonzalez is a contemporary fashion designer based in Los Angeles, CA. After studying at FIT in NYC, she worked at several companies such as Ralph Lauren, Creatures of Comfort, and a small bridal atelier. Her clothing line, Selva Negra, is rooted in the use of ethical practices and is committed to sustainably sourced materials and production transparency.

Jennifer Graves is a letterpress printer, book artist, and instructor based in Los Angeles, California. Jennifer holds a Masters in Library Science from the University of North Texas and BS in Elementary Education from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Since taking her first letterpress class in 2010, she has spent years growing, refining her own skills, and learning from others. Her prints and collaborative artist book have been exhibited across the U.S. and in London. In 2021, Jennifer launched SCRAPScollective Workshops, in which she teaches printmaking and book structures workshops. In the summer, Jennifer also teaches an Introduction to Letterpress course through Extension at Otis College of Art and Design.

Karine Grigorian is an art director and creative director with over a decade of experience working at award winning advertising agencies such as 180LA and TBWA/Chiat/Day and animation studio Illumination. She has worked with clients ranging from HP and University of Phoenix to Google and Meta. Prior to advertising, Karine worked in film in both production as a set decorator as well as post-production and continues to create marketing assets and title graphics for TV and film. She has also been a teacher at her alma mater Art Center College of Design since 2016. 

Website: kgrigorian.com

Phillip Griswold was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He received his MFA at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, CA in 2010. He has been featured in exhibits in Santa Monica, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Culver City, Beverly Hills, as well as internationally including Beijing, China. His paintings are a part of public and private collections in New York, Los Angeles, Greater San Francisco, Beijing, China and Lucerne, Switzerland. Griswold is represented in San Francisco by Slate Contemporary, Oakland. He lives and works in Southern California.

George Gularte was born and raised in Los Angeles. He has been playing video games since he was young and knew early on that this was the career that he wanted. Gularte received his Bachelors in Computer Science with a specialty in gameplay programming at the Art Institute of Los Angeles. Upon graduation he immediately got a job offer at Game Mechanic Studios (North Hollywood), an independent game studio where he grew his craft as a Software Gameplay engineer for 6 years creating a range of PC/ Console video games, mobile apps and VR experiences. As of 2021, Gularte is a Senior Game Programmer at Farsight Studios. As an Otis Extension instructor, he enjoys being a mentor and sharing his experiences with others who want to create in the industry.

Sonya Hassan-Carey is a seasoned visual effects artist, producer, and mentor with over 25 years in the animation industry. Her notable credits include The Princess and the Frog, Winnie the Pooh, the Nut Job, Cat in the Hat, The Bravest Warriors and more. She is the founder of The Animation Lounge and a member of full-time faculty at Otis College of Art and Design, where she mentors aspiring animators and producers and helps them prepare for professional studio settings. 

https://www.theanimationlounge.com/
https://www.instagram.com/theanimationlounge/
https://www.reelworld.ca/2022trailblazers/sonya-carey
https://www.instagram.com/p/DINKv3vy05Q/

Katrina Healey started her artistic career around three when she confidently asserted that “pastel bwack was too a color in the wainbow!”. She eventually moved on to receive a Bachelor of Fine Art from University of California at Berkeley in 1994. By 2004 she had added post graduate work in Apparel Design at the College of Alameda. As of 2014 she is currently ABT (All But Thesis) for her Master’s in Apparel Design and Merchandising from California State University at Northridge. In all of this time Ms. Healey has run the gamut of medium from crayons and pencil, to acrylic and oils. From paint by number and “panel” sewing to wall sized canvases and fashion shows. She has played with wood and wire in sculpture, and dance and music for movement. She had dabbled with, and dropped, many mediums only to rediscover them when she embraced process over product, and the zen of allowing a piece to unfold and evolve as she worked on it. Along the way Ms. Healey has held a wide variety of jobs, each one in its own way contributing to her artistry; even if only extremely creative organization and cleaning. Somewhere on this path she discovered a love of teaching and applied it to all of her creative endeavors. She has taught computers, color theory, sewing machines, sewing quilts, garments, and home decor, organization, time management, and outside the box ways to market and grow personal business and portfolios. Her teaching career has spanned homes, studios, retail environments, trade shows, and professionally at the college level. In the last decade Ms. Healey has narrowed her interest to all things fiber and ways to combine those elements. She uses dye and other pigments with stitching to create wall or wearable art. She dyes one of a kind yardage, yarns, and painted warps and turns around to use those in garments, paintings, weavings, and knitting. She loves the texture and movement of textiles, the presence in 3 dimensions, and the illusion of 3 dimensions. She works with all of the yummy feeling fibers and fabrics so that she will enjoy the process of creation and others will enjoy the touching or wearing. Ms. Healey takes great delight in the use of color in gradations and variegations, analogous and complementary, warm and cool, bold and subtle. While she has often claimed she has color ADHD, she often works in a limited or even monochromatic palette. She is constantly inspired by the vibrancy in nature and entranced by the opposing delicacy.

Madeline Helland is a Los Angeles based bookbinder and illustrator. She graduated from Scripps College in Claremont, CA where she received her BA in art conservation and studio art, with a concentration in book arts and digital design. Under the moniker Aviatrix Press, she releases artist books and zines featuring found
ephemera and her illustrations. When she’s not making books, Madeline works as the Museum Manager at the International Printing Museum and as a letterpress technician at Otis College of Art and Design’s Lab Press.

Portfolio: https://aviatrixpress.com

Brie Henderson is a passionate character and costume designer for animation with a background in fashion and illustration. Their love for the arts has followed them from New York City to San Francisco and now to Los Angeles where they reside with one too many plants and two feisty old cats. As an artist, Brie is inspired by everything from the Byzantine to Al Hirschfield; from the Golden Age of Illustration to Black Mirror. As a professional designer, Brie has had some incredible opportunities to design for some of the most groundbreaking films like Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse (2023) and comedic shows like I Heart Arlo. They have also had the pleasure of being an illustrator for the LA Times as well as a colorist for DC Comics. As an educator, Brie brings to their students new ways of thinking and drawing that apply to all skill levels. 

Portfolio - https://www.behenderson.com/illustrations

IMDB - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm10617616/?ref_=ra_sb_ln

James is the founder and creative director of Invert Agency LLC. He has over 20 years of experience in theatrical, television, digital/social, and gaming marketing and design working with clients ranging from Disney, Netflix, Hulu, Warner Bros. Discovery, Amazon, Apple, Sony, A24, Universal, Paramount, Lionsgate, Ubisoft, and Activision Blizzard.

He has won a number of Clio Key Art and Golden Trailer Awards and attributes Saul Bass, Paul Rand, Karin Fong, April Greiman, Kyle Cooper, and Justin Lin as the creative visionaries who have been the most influential to his career. He is a member of the Television Academy Peer Group Executive Committee, BAFTA, and Society of Composers and Lyricists.

Portfolio: https://www.invertagency.com/

Recent Work: https://vimeo.com/invertagency

Linda Jacobson is an artist who lives and works in Venice, California. Her landscape paintings, fused with lyrical mysticism, arise from her conviction that a positive force permeates all things and offers a tremendous power for healing and growth. In her creativity seminars she helps participants tap into this source to find their own creative voice. She teaches her seminars nationally and internationally. Ms. Jacobson has a B.F.A. from ArtCenter College of Design; B.A. from California State University, Northridge; and pursued post-baccalaureate studies with Lorser Feitelson.

Ken Jones has been teaching life drawing since 1996. He currently teaches at California State University, Northridge (CSUN), Otis College Extension, and Gnomon. Mr. Jones has a B.A. in Art from CSUN, M.F.A from California State University, Los Angeles with additional figure-drawing studies with Karl Gnass and Glenn Vilppu.

Hideyo Kameda graduated from UCLA's Master in Architecture program in 2020 and is co-founder of architectural design practice ZAKA Design Studio which focuses on the intersection of contemporary vernacular and highly custom residential design. Hideyo received his B.F.A. at Otis College of Art & Design where he studied illustration and architecture/landscape/interiors. He has exhibited work in shows around Los Angeles as an illustrator, which informs his multidisciplinary and graphic approach to architectural design.

instagram: @hideyokittenz

Justin graduated from the Architecture/Landscape/Interiors program at Otis College of Art and Design. Upon graduation, he attended and received his Masters of Architecture degree from the University of Southern California (USC). His notable accomplishments are leading the design team for an architectural installation at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Shanghai, China, and his role as project manager for solar net-zero homes, an initiative known as "Solar Decathlon" under the direction of the US Department of Energy. He has also been a designer for an architectural research and development firm designing smart zero-energy building facade systems. Justin is a current faculty member at Otis and a co-founder and head designer for a design-build firm located in Orange County. His focus on residential and commercial projects but also works with fine artists specializing in public works. He is also on the board for a non-profit organization where they help children worldwide break out of the cycle of poverty by providing them housing, education, meals, and healthcare. Currently the project focus is on Peru by providing permanent structures for housing and education.

Michael is an award-winning Designer/Animator with over 28 years experience creating motion graphics for commercials, Network promotions, video game marketing and film titles. Michael’s staff positions include: Art Director at the WB Network, Sr. Designer/Animator at the CBS Network and since 2008, running his own company, Michael Kelley Motion Graphics. Looking for interesting and creative opportunities, Michael has worked long-term freelance for top companies such as: The Walt Disney Company, The Ant Farm, Digital Kitchen, Tool of North America, Zoic Studios, mOcean, and Union Editorial. Before Michael discovered motion graphics he worked as an adverting Art Director for Eisaman, Johns and Law and Tracy-Locke agencies.

Wanting to train and inspire the next generation of motion graphics designers, Michael started  teaching motion graphics at Santa Monica College for the Promo Pathway program in 2019 and then at Otis College of Art and Design in 2022.

Tristan Kilmer is a Los Angeles based artist with a BFA in Experimental Animation from the California Institute of the Arts, specializing in both CG and stop-motion animation. His early stop-motion work quickly gained attention from major publications, including MTV, USA Today, Forbes, Vanity Fair, and Entertainment Weekly. 

With extensive experience in film and animation, Tristan has supervised and led visualization teams on high-profile films and episodics such as Marvels Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and HBO's The Last of Us. Throughout his career he has worked at studios such as Digital Domain, Halon, MPC, Warner Bros Interactive, and ReelFx Animation. 

Tristan's artistic approach focuses on visual storytelling that emphasizes ""showing, not telling,"" aiming to elevate a film's narrative through its cinematography and lens, often without dialogue. As a versatile generalist, his skills span cinematography, directing, and editing, as well as proficiency in industry-standard software such as Maya, Unreal Engine, Nuke, and the Adobe Suite. 

He is an active member of the Previs Union within the Art Directors Guild and the VFX Peer Group of the Television Academy. Recently, his short film work received funding and was screened by the City of West Hollywood. He is also a recipient of the United Plankton Grant. 

When he's not working on creative projects, Tristan enjoys surfing at the beach and crafting detailed Lego miniatures in his free time.

Joanne Kim is a photographer, artist, and educator.  She has worked in photojournalism, documentary, and commercial photography, as well as with the photographic medium as an arts practice. She has taught for over fifteen years and has worked with groups teaching photography in Palestine, Mozambique, and Hong Kong. She currently teaches at Otis College of Art and Design and California State University Long Beach.

www.joanne.kim

Marc Kompaneyets BFA University of Pennsylvania. Also attended School of Art Institute of Chicago and Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Mr. Kompaneyets is a Los Angeles based fine artist and writer/illustrator. He is the writer/illustrator of The Squishiness of Things (Knopf 2005) and The Troll-Control Expert (self-published 2010). He is also the writer and illustrator of many yet to be published works, among them, The Discourses of Discombobules, the story of a crazed, ancient Greek philosopher, The Shadow, a 400-plus page, wordless graphic novel, and Zinnober, a graphic novel loosely based on a story by ETA Hoffman. His fine art work, informed by his classical training and inspired by the European masters, spans a wide range of subject matter, from the purely observational to the psychological and the surreal. His most recent series of works are paintings based on Hans Christian Anderson’s story The Shadow. His portraits, landscapes and figurative compositions are in many private collections. Marc is an adjunct professor at Santa Monica College, a senior lecturer at Otis College of Art and Design, and a teaching artist at Ryman Arts, a non-profit organization that provides free classes in drawing and painting to gifted high-school students.

Ethan Konishi is a Los Angeles based artist who works primarily in sculpture. He graduated from Pratt Institute in 2023 with a Bachelors of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Sculpture and currently works as a Wood and Metal Shop Technician at Otis School of Art and Design. Previously he worked as a Metal Shop Technician at Pratt Institute. During his time at Pratt Institute, he won both the Junior and Senior Stuzman Award. He has shown at Munson, Dekalb Gallery, Steuben Gallery, Schafler Gallery, TAG Gallery, and Studio Channel Island.

Website: ethankonishi.com

Instagram: @ethankonishi

Janet Kupcick, BFA, ArtCenter College of Design; BS, University of California, Los Angeles. Ms. Kupchick has been a teaching assistant for Otis College since 2010. She is also the Printer and Art Director for Original Kupchick, which she started in 2005.

Ida Lasic is a Los Angeles based Mixed Media Animator. With a keen focus on 3D and 2D design, she seamlessly integrates diverse visual elements to craft immersive and thought-provoking cinematic experiences.

Her dedication to pushing the boundaries of traditional cinema is evident in every project she undertakes. Whether experimenting with unconventional storytelling techniques or exploring new avenues of visual expression, Ida's work stretches the boundaries of traditional cinema.

Her work has garnered recognition at prestigious festivals worldwide, including BITBANG, Athens Film Festival, and Slamdance.

Beyond her film endeavors, Ida has engaged in fruitful collaborations with esteemed institutions such as Twisted Spruce, Duke&Duck, and Jump the Turnstile.

This openness to innovation allows her to continuously evolve as an artist and contribute fresh perspectives to the world of Animation.

idalasic.com

Deborah Nourse Lattimore is an illustrator and author of over 35 children's and educational books through publishers including HarperCollins, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Farrar, Strass & Giroux, Scholastic, The J.Paul Getty Museum and the UC Press. She is the recipient of many prestigious awards, including P.E.N. Award, ACLU Award in Art for Civil Liberties, Color Me Bright Foundation Award and Teacher of the Year Award. Her books are in the California Collection, and her illustrations are in numerous museums and personal collections. Ms. Lattimore has a B.A. in Art History and Ancient Near Eastern and Pre-Columbian Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Jo Lauria is a Los Angeles-based curator, writer, and educator who received curatorial training at The Los Angeles County Museum of Art. She is a specialist in the fields of design, craft, and decorative arts, with particular emphasis on objects and environments that define the California lifestyle and culture. Lauria is the organizer of several national touring exhibitions as well as author of numerous publications, including biographies charting the lives and work of contemporary designers and craft artists, and survey books chronicling major movements in the art/craft/design fields. Most recently she received the 2016 American Ceramic Circle Book Award for Ralph Bacerra: Exquisite Beauty. Currently she is co authoring a comprehensive text on American architect William F. Cody, Master of Mid Century Architecture, and developing major survey exhibitions for contemporary ceramic and fiber artists.

https://www.jolauria.com/

Dennis Lee is an award-winning creative with more than 24 years of experience creating campaigns for some of the world’s biggest brands in technology, sports and healthcare. He began his career at Ogilvy N.Y. working on advertising campaigns for IBM. After four years, he left New York to join Wongdoody L.A. and headed the creative campaigns for Autodesk, ESPN and Cedars-Sinai. He led his teams in generating campaigns for Cisco, HTC, Qualcomm, Cedars-Sinai and Houston Methodist. Lee founded Sidecar Collective in 2017 to better serve his clients and has been running his agency ever since. He has also been a faculty member at Art Center College of Design for the past 15 years and continues to foster and mentor advertising students.

Portfolio: https://www.bigchina101.com/

Agency: https://thesidecarcollective.com/ 

Suhn Lee is a mixed media artist with a focus on ceramics. She has a legal background in Intellectual Property licensing and Buying and Merchandising in fashion. She developed her work with ceramics at Otis under the guidance and mentorship of Joan Takayama-Ogawa. Her work combines her technical skills with highly tuned concepts that explore the human condition and the nature of the mind. Ms. Lee has a B.A. from University of California San Diego and J.D. from Southwestern Law School.

Emily León is a multidisciplinary designer based in Los Angeles. She received her B.F.A. in Product Design from Otis College of Art and Design, and completed postgraduate studies in Footwear Design at CENTRO, Mexico City. She has experience designing products for surf/skate lifestyle, moto and outdoors, ranging from footwear to accessories and apparel, putting forth sustainability efforts and processes. As a first-generation Mexican-American, Emily’s personal work consists of textiles, handmade biomaterials, and bioplastics often exploring the theme of duality, celebrating but also breaking traditions. Ms. León pulls inspiration from her upbringing in the central coast of California, and Mexico City, Mexico.

Salvatore Leonardi, BArch Polytechnic of Milan, Italy and a MArch in Architecture from Polytechnic of Turin, Italy. Mr Leonardi was a researcher for the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ardhi Institute of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania conducting conservation projects of historical sites. Currently, Mr. Leonardi is heading his own independent practice as a licensed architect and designer with more than 20 years of experience specializing in interior architecture, surface materials, historic conservation, scenography, commercial and industrial design.

Sylvia Leung, BFA in Digital Media, Otis College of Art and Design. Ms. Leung is a comic book artist and writer whose Manga, Wish3, was self-published in 2004 on www.wish3.net. She has been teaching this Manga course since 2006.

Mark Lewison is the Principal of Mark Lewison Design, an Interiors practice with specialties in Residential and Hospitality projects with emphasis on Lighting Design. With offices in Boston, Massachusetts and West Hollywood, CA, Mark has completed large-scale Residential projects in the United States, France and The Virgin Islands as well as Hospitality projects on both the East Coast and West Coast of the United States. Recent projects include Large-scale Residential projects in Arlington, Massachusetts and Sarasota, Florida, both completed in 2019 and a Residential project in Santa Fe, New Mexico currently underway, slated for 2022 completion. Mark Lewison is an Adjunct Professor in the Environmental Design Department at Otis College of Art and Design, where his classes include Technologies + Ecologies II and Studio III as well as in the Interior Architecture Program at UCLA Extension. In addition to his teaching and working on current Interiors projects, Mark is also CFO of TCXR VR Educational Solutions, specializing in the design, development and operation of educational Virtual Reality content delivery platforms for Higher Education.

Sophia Li is a multimedia designer and artist, holding a BFA in Product Design and a minor in Contemporary Clay from Otis College of Art and Design. Her work has been showcased at the 7th Annual Alpay Scholarship Exhibition held at Palos Verdes Art Center, as well as in the Cup Show at Space Ten Gallery.

Laura London, MFA, California Institute of the Arts; BFA, University of Arizona. Ms. London is an artist based in Los Angeles, California working in the medium of photography and video. London’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including a recent solo show at Chimento Contemporary in Los Angeles where her artwork is represented. Her work explores themes of human emotions in experiences such as life and death, which are depicted through imagery. The recent series of artwork analyzes issues of identity, youth, and contemporary culture. She is the recipient of two Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Grants. Press coverage of her work includes reviews and features in the Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, Huffington Post, Time Out New York and Artillery Magazine. She presently teaches at Otis College of Art and Design and privately. London has also taught at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, Barnsdall Junior Art Center in Los Angeles and many other visiting artists and guest lecture appointments.

Since 1993, Eduardo Lucero has been producing fashion shows/events that feature his clothing line's vision. His shows are known for their strong visionary flair and ability to remain ahead of the status quo, incorporating a huge range of inspiration. As an innovator, he has been instrumental in building a fashion week in Los Angeles from when there was none. He was the one recruited by SMASHBOX Studios to help them in their first foray as a fashion show venue. And the same with IMG, and most recently Boxeight Productions and DTLAFW. Besides showing consistently during fashion week LA for almost twenty-five years, he has also exhibited in New York, Chicago, Miami, Washington D.C. and internationally in Hong Kong, Peru, and Mexico, where he has a mentorship program with young student designers and a commitment to help grow that nation's fashion profile.

Markus Maciel is currently serving as the Assistant Chair of the Toy Design Department at Otis College of Art and Design. Alumni of the Toy Design program from 2001, his teaching career started over twelve years ago at Otis and has taught countless courses through a wide range of programs. His career has spanned over seventeen years at some of the most prominent companies such as Mattel, Hasbro, Spin Master, JAKKS Pacific, and Razor USA. His profession as a visionary designer, engineer, corporate instructor, and college educator lead him to his current role as leading one of the only toy design majors in the United States. His professional body of work includes some of the world's most iconic brands, Hot Wheels, Polly Pocket, Barbie, Disney, NERF, Razor USA, and Infinity Harmen. His experience stretched through the design and manufacturing divisions of companies located in Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

@smartdesign is the Santa Monica-based design office of Susanne Manheimer. For the previous vigorous and exuberant 20 years, Susanne has been recognized for her work by its elegance, sophisticated humor, style, and wit. Her knowledge, understanding and respect for innovative design, is incorporated in her invention of new design approaches. Simplicity and directness of communication are the main elements of her style. Her work makes people smile, laugh, and...think. Today, she divides her time between running the studio, teaching, and lecturing to corporations and schools on the importance of The Democratization of CreativityTM as well as Conceptual Thinking and Problem Solving. Susanne graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute with a BFA in design. Susanne a native New Yorker worked in ""The City"" as a Creative Director for Tiffany and Co. where she was awarded a Certificate of Distinction for Typography, Creative Director for Bloomingdales by Mail, Revlon, and also The Museum of Modern Art, to name a few. Disney called, and she moved to California to work for Disney + Co. as Creative Director for the Disney catalog. Susanne has a history of success mentoring young designers, both in academic roles and as an industry leader. She has been described as a “needle in a haystack,” a conceptual designer who is creative yet has strong business acumen.

Cassandra Manna has always considered herself to be a creative person. Having an early career as a makeup artist helped her to develop her eye for color and foster some creative energy. Although she enjoyed her career as a makeup artist, she found herself increasingly interested in fabric and textiles. This newfound interest led her to enroll in the surface design program at Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM). Ms. Manna graduated with an AA in Surface design in 2008 and has been working in the fashion industry ever since. Ms. Manna has worked for various fabric companies as well as garment manufacturers over the course of her career. With over 12 years working experience making textile designs and seeing them through the production process, she can pass along her skills to take her students’ designs to the professional level.

Kathleen Marinaccio, BFA in Communication Design, Pratt Institute. Ms. Marinaccio is a Creative Director of Design Services and Presentation Strategies at Warner Bros. and founder of Fishbrain, LLC. She specializes in brand identity, paper engineering and presentations.

Pete Markiewicz worked as a research scientist at UCLA (the origin of his PhD) -- before the 1990s web tempted him into online design and development.

He co-founded Kaleidospace in the early1990s, the first website ever to promote and distribute entertainment (think CDs and videotape) by indie artists.

After 2000, Pete used his knowledge of design to develop courses in User Experience, visual design. He has helped create UX curriculum for multiple schools, and has taught all levels of UX, Interaction Design, User Testing and Prototyping.

Pete also provides senior level UX consulting and freelance work for several clients. He is an Adobe and Figma guru, and is also a recognized expert in web-based Virtual Reality. He recently helped develop and teach a "UX in Virtual Reality" course for XRWizardLabs.

Pete loves working with new UX designers, and looks forward to working with his new students!

Tony is a Big Kid. He has been working with children since he was a summer camp counselor at age 18 and continued every summer throughout his college years. Because of his natural rapport with children, he returned to school to get a master’s degree in Art Education. Upon moving to Los Angeles, Tony returned to the educational field at Kidspace Children's Museum where he quickly rose the ranks to become one of their essential Lead Educators. Tony has also taught after-school programs for ReDiscover, Critter Squad, Little Yellow House Art and Mad Science of LA. Tony has also been an Outreach Instructor at Discovery Cube Science Center and a Youth Education Instructor at the LA Arboretum. Tony is currently the resident Teaching Artist at the Enchanted Castle Montessori Schools in Pasadena and San Remo. Tony has two  graphic novels in the Space Platypus series available on Amazon for Kindle.

Portfolio: https://theartoftony.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theartoftonym/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArtOfTony

Lawrence Mascia combines art and interactivity to create unimaginable beauty mixed with unmistakable horror. He is a freelance interactive designer, a game developer and a college professor. As CEO/Lead Designer of Goodnight Games, he has created award-winning games for iOS, Android, and Amazon platforms including Deathly Fathoms, Invasion of the Cutie Bots, Shadow Protocol, Pet Pat and Never Go Home. In addition to teaching at Otis Extension, Lawrence is full-time faculty at Seton Hall University where he is responsible for building and teaching the curriculum for Animation for the Web, Game Design and 3d Animation to undergraduate degree students.

Louisa McHugh studied fine art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and graduated from Columbia College with a degree in Cinematography in 2005.  After a short stint in the film industry, Louisa decided to return to her roots as a painter. She first began exhibiting her work with Galleria Mijiares in downtown Los Angeles and soon was gaining recognition with International Awards from various watercolor societies.  Louisa is a Signature Member of the National Watercolor Society and her works have been displayed in collections both public and private around the world.

Portfolio: louisamchugh.com 

Joe Micallef (who goes by Cogspa, which stands for Cognitive Space) runs a video production studio in Torrance, has a background in CG animation and is the author of "Beginning Design for 3D Printing". He received an M.F.A. from the University of Southern California (USC) film school in 2008. In addition to teaching at Otis Extension, he teaches design, web development, and animation at Pasadena City College. Joe has recently released several new NFT collections featuring whimsical hand-drawn characters, 3D renderings, and generative art. He is skilled in Houdini, Zbrush, Blender, Maya, Photoshop, and Procreate. His artistic work combines AI generative art, analog art, interactivity, music, and electronics in various ways. In his spare time, he builds synthesizers.

Cathi Milligan started her art career in the field of graphic design before discovering glass. Her glass experience spans over 26 years, mastering techniques such as torch working, kiln forming, mosaic, and glass blowing. This experience has afforded her many opportunities such as television appearances demonstrating torch work and kiln forming, as well as macramé, writing a book on macramé, and public art commissions. Ms. Milligan creates most of her work in her Highland Park store, The Glass Studio. She is also the publisher of LA Art News, a Northeast Los Angeles based paper devoted to promoting art and culture in all of Los Angeles.

Creative marketing executive, Tom Morrissey, has led and contributed to the campaigns for some of the world’s most recognized and groundbreaking global entertainment franchises including “The Simpsons,” “American Idol,” “The X-Files,” “Glee,” “Empire,” “House,” “24,” “9-1-1,” and “The Masked Singer.”

Morrissey most recently served as Senior Vice President, Creative Advertising, Design at Fox Entertainment. He had daily hands-on responsibility for a continually evolving entertainment brand, which included content presentation and creative teams serving multiple platforms. Over the past two decades, Morrissey collaborated with many of the world’s most compelling creative producers and onscreen talent to help create several billion dollars-worth of advertising design. His creative direction and oversight helped establish Fox as the #1 network.

Morrissey’s creative and operational oversight encompassed Animation, Broadcast Design, Digital Design/Creative Technology, and Key Art Design. Design teams under Morrissey’s leadership garnered numerous Promax, Clio, and Webby awards.

Stacia Muse weaves her wide range of talents through the creative industries of Fashion, Interior Design, and Entertainment, while sharing her knowledge through the art of teaching. 

Stacia developed her love for costume, fashion, music, and art at a formative age in her hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana.  She began her formal training at Otis College of Art and Design in 1998, graduating with a B.F.A. in Fashion Design.  She has worked with BCBG, Tommy Hilfiger, Quicksilver, Roxy, Maxstudio, Black Flys, Kathy Valentine, Chloe Sevigny, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and most recently, Jason Bolden’s Summer of Style program at Otis.  Stacia runs a sustainable driven clothing label, ecomuses, in efforts to promote the Circular Fashion movement.

Stacia is a Certified Interior Designer, CCIDC, with many years of experience in designing hotels, spas, restaurants, retail spaces, a perfumery, and a wide range of home styles. 
In the Entertainment industry Stacia has worked as a Stylist, Costume Designer, Production Designer & Art Director.  Some of her most recognized projects are Art Director for the TV series Portlandia, Stylist (through Maxstudio) for the TV series Sex in The City, and Production Designer for Adidas, Coca-Cola, and Gatorade commercials, to name a few.

She has been an environmental activist and contributing designer in the Greater Los Angeles community for over 20 years. 

Miguel Navarro has exhibited his artwork nationally and internationally at galleries including Plastic Factory (Los Angeles), Grotesku Gallery (Prague); 464 Gallery (New York), and Punch Gallery (Seattle). He was an Artist in Residence for Joshua Tree National Park, with two screenings at Jumbo Rock Amphitheater. Miguel recently participated in Le Dépistage de la Guérilla in Marseille, France. Miguel has an M.F.A. from Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, and B.F.A. from University of California, Santa Cruz.

Henry Oh is a multidisciplinary artist based in Los Angeles. He works with ceramics, wood, and painting to make interactive sculptures and installations that invite physical engagement—by crouching, looking up or down, and moving around them. He’s especially interested in how design choices can direct the way people experience his work. His work is centered on personal stories, memories, and emotions—from his childhood to present—that often go unspoken. His practice explores the complicated, and sometimes surprisingly simple, layers of family—both the ones we’re born into and the ones we choose. Through themes of interdependence, resilience, and balance, he reflects on how these relationships shape who we are.

MA in Fine Arts, California State University, Northridge with an emphasis on painting and drawing. Ms. Osherow is an artist with 20 years of teaching experience.

Daniel is a music producer, video editor, and studio engineer from Salt Lake City, Utah. After obtaining a Master's degree in Music Production from Berklee College of Music and a Bachelor's in Film and Media from the University of Utah, Daniel worked as a studio engineer and music producer. Now, based in Los Angeles, he does contract and professional production for commercial and creative works on projects for clients including Google, Forbes, Closer Music, and more.

Daniel also works in assistive technology, using his audio/video background in both marketing and design for projects with Georgia Technical University, the University of Pittsburgh, and the National Science foundation, among others. He is currently pursuing a PhD in sound design for assistive technology through Napier University.

Julianna Ostrovsky (M.F.A. in Painting and Sculpture, Columbia University) is a visual and community artist currently living in Los Angeles whose work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. Julianna works in many media and is committed to making art a process understood and practiced by all creatures with the desire to think creatively and problem solve collectively. As an arts educator, she has taught a range of visual arts workshops to grades K-12 and adults, including in-depth painting, mixed media, drawing studios, and summer camp workshops for youth at Otis College of Art and Design, LAUSD, and Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). She was recently presented “How to Incorporate Art and Design to Engage Students in a Digital Environment” at Community Works Institute. A recipient of the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) Artist in Residence Cultural Grant 2014-15, Ms. Ostrovsky has worked as an Artist-in- Residence at the Skirball Cultural Center and PS Arts in the Santa Monica Malibu School District.

Lisa Oxley is a Los Angeles based artist who defines her practice as rooted firmly in painting, while working across the disciplines of drawing, installation and time based media. She often creates large, site specific installations that explore the relationship between painting and architecture; language and image, as well as how a painting is received perceptually in its space. Oxley did her undergraduate work at Sarah Lawrence College and School of Visual Arts, and received a BA in Liberal Arts from State University of New York and an MFA from Otis College of Art and Design. She has exhibited her work nationally and internationally at numerous venues and has been awarded fellowships to complete residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, Verge Center for the Arts, and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Annaghmakerrig, Ireland.

Dr. Lilian Pfaff is an architectural historian and realtor. She is the author of J. R. Davidson: A European Contribution to California Modernism, the editor of Clocks and Clouds: The Architecture of Escher GuneWardena, published by Birkhäuser (2017), Ernst Neufert Peter Neufert, published by Hatje Cantz (2015), and of Prada Aoyama Tokyo: Herzog & de Meuron, published by the Fondazione Prada (2003). Between 2003 and 2007 she served as editor-in-chief of the Swiss weekly architecture magazine TEC21, and between 1999 and 2002 she served as assistant curator at the Architekturmuseum Basel. She has curated exhibitions internationally and has held teaching positions in Switzerland and the US, currently at Woodbury University, Cal Poly Pomona and Otis College of Art and Design. Her writing has been published extensively in numerous magazine and newspaper articles, catalogs, and books on architecture. She received her PhD on Vito Acconci’s architectural projects from the University of Zürich in 2010, a Master of Advanced Studies in Architectural Theory from the ETH Zürich in 2000, and an MA in Art History at the University of Hamburg in 1998.

Agnes Pierscieniak is a creative director, multidisciplinary designer and brand consultant. She designs integrated brand stories, bright graphics and bold environments. Agnes has over 10 years of experience in the hospitality, education, health and wellness, retail, and entertainment sectors. She has taught at Otis, Otis Extension, USC, and the Rhode Island School of Design. Agnes earned an MFA in graphic design from the Rhode Island School of Design. Agnes has transitioned from years of corporate branding and identity work into launching her own brands, which include an online art shop, a handmade fashion textile label and a creative workshop company. She is focused on these new endeavors and empowering others how to launch their own visions. PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND As a multi-faceted designer for international companies, Agnes drives storytelling and the creation of innovative content for a wide range of places and products. She crafts engaging personalities and unexpected experiences to bring brands to life. She has art directed photo shoots, conceptualized and produced visual content for brands, managed comprehensive social media campaigns and designed branded environments. Expertise includes brand strategy and positioning, identity design, web design, publication design, and the design of branded environments.

Michael Piwowarczyk has had the privilege of contributing to the entertainment industry for five years, showcasing his talents as an Artist, Designer, Animator, Art Director, and Director. He has been part of acclaimed projects such as "Into the Spider-Verse," "Mitchell and the Machines," "Shape Island," and "GI Joe."

In other creative endeavors, Michael is a member of the Themed Entertainment Association and has undertaken renovation projects across Southern California, including redesigns, holiday layovers, sculptures, and murals.

With a degree in Fine Art & Graphic Communication from St. Louis Community College and further studies culminating in a Bachelor of Film in Character Animation from the California Institute of the Arts, Michael cherishes the opportunities for growth and learning that have shaped his journey.

Originally from St. Louis, Michael has had the privilege of living in New Orleans, the Florida Panhandle, and Honolulu, where he has absorbed diverse perspectives and experiences.

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9325435/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaelpiwowarczyk/

Ever since they were younger, Salem Ramon was enthralled by animation and character design. After deciding to pursue an art degree, they graduated from Otis College in 2022 with a BFA in Game Design and Entertainment, and they are currently studying to get an MAT in teaching English Language Arts. Salem has taught at a variety of schools across LA, working with students from as young as 5 to as old as 19. They currently work as the program coordinator and teaching assistant for Snap Lens Lab @ Otis College, a program that focuses on using 2D and 3D skills in order to create AR experiences. Despite their love for art, their true passion is in teaching. Helping to unlock creativity in today's youth is what keeps Salem going, and they work hard to bring that into every classroom they are in.

Holly Ratafia designs lighting for commercial projects, most recently with The Producer’s Group, a provider of production and design services for destination attractions including integrated resorts, museums, casinos, and theme parks worldwide.  She also seeks to understand how the exterior built environment affects our perception.

She is a senior lecturer in the Environmental Design Department at Otis College of Art and Design and an Extension Instructor. In addition, she taught as adjunct faculty at Boston Architectural College, School of Architecture and worked at Brown University’s Theater Art and Performance Department. 

She holds an MALD Architectural Lighting Design, Parsons the New School for Design, New York, New York; a Master of Arts, Performance/Material Culture Studies, Lesley University, Cambridge, Massachusetts; and a Bachelor of Arts, Theatre Arts, UCLA, Los Angeles, California.

https://hrlightingdesign.com/ 

Sarah Rebar is an illustrator based in sunny LA. She earned her BFA in illustration and design from Syracuse University. For nine years, she worked as an in-house artist and character designer for the kid’s TV show, Sesame Street, drawing muppets and doing projects for TV, publishing, and digital. She collaborated to create new muppets for Ahlan Sim Sim, an international co-production for young Syrian refugees, funded by the MacArthur genius grant. She illustrates books — including four for Michelle Obama’s kid’s show on Netflix, Waffles + Mochi! Currently, she is an Art Director for Noggin, Nickelodeon’s educational platform for kids. She art directs character designers, animators, and artists to create work for animated and live-action preschool shows, as well as interactive games for the Noggin app. 

Portfolio: https://www.sarahrebar.com/ 

Miguel Angel Reyes (b. Colima, Mexico) Otis/Parsons 1987-BFA in illustration. Portrait and figurative painter, muralist, photographer, Drawing teacher, stylist, designer, printmaker and illustrator. Exhibited nationally and Internationally. Murals for Los Angeles MTA, Hollywood CRA and Plaza Village. Works in the collections of LACMA print collections, Laguna Art Museum, Watts Towers Arts Center, University of Austin, TX, and Fine Arts gallery Museum, Chicago. Awards: Self-Help Graphic 2012 Honoree; 2001 CSW Artist of the Year; and the 1992 VOGUE/SOTHEBY’S Cecil Beaton Award for Fashion Illustration.Artwork used on: Falcon Theater, Spread (2009, movie), Att. Commercial, Dave Koz music video (1995, Amistades Mural). Publications: ""Triumph for our Communities"", 2005; ""Chicano Art for our Millennium"", 2004; ""Contemporary Chicano and Chicano Art"" Bilingual Press, 2002; ”Chicano and Latino Artists of Los Angeles"" Alejandro Rosas, 1993. Miguel teaches costume drawing and design at ArtCenter/Pasadena and Otis College/Los Angeles as well as the virtual Drawing session at the Tom of Finland Foundation.

I am an interdisciplinary artist working primarily in the fields of sculpture, sound, interactive media, and worldbuilding. My work explores the materiality of our post-natural world, delving into the spaces between moral ecological binaries where contamination and hybridity reveal the possibilities of magic in art. My practice integrates a diverse range of making strategies, from highly fabricated 3D-printed forms to hand-built ceramics, found objects collected from the shore, and digital works created using game engines and interactive platforms. Worldbuilding and speculative storytelling are central to my inquiries, allowing me to imagine alternative realities and challenge existing narratives. As an educator, I encourage this multifaceted approach in my pedagogy, fostering an environment where students can experiment, take risks, and refine their conceptual and technical skills. I am passionate about guiding students to think critically, push the boundaries of their creative practices, and develop thoughtful, material-driven work in both physical and digital realms.

Robert Roach, BS, Butler University. Mr. Roach has created storyboards for movies, commercials, videos, and cartoons. His client list includes Universal, New Line Cinema, Fox, The Zubi Agency, Mutual of New York, and Mann Theaters.

Monica Leigh Rodriquez is a resilient veteran and trusted visionary of the fashion industry. She has designed and produced for high profile personalities, celebrities, and executives. Monica has also worked with some of the most well- known labels in the fashion industry including Rivet Utility, Rachel Zoe, Herve Leger, BCBG Runway, BCBG Atelier, The Max Azria collection, ALC, Halston, and FJ Benjamin LTD in Singapore.

Utilizing her core design talents and competencies developed over almost three decades, Monica is a consummate entrepreneur uniquely developing proprietary fashion designs, draping, pattern artistry, and costing methodology. Monica’s brand, Monica Leigh SVX is becoming a well-known luxury brand in Los Angeles.

Monica has appeared in Forbes, Elle Magazine, Voyage LA, Shout Out LA, The Hollywood Times, The Style Researcher, and 24 Fashion TV. In addition, she has been a featured designer at the 46th Day Time Emmy Awards Golden Gift Lounge. One of Monica’s most notable achievements is having her Red Silk Satin Origami Gown travel with International Arts and Artists four consecutive years featured in prominent museums around the country, including the Japanese American Museum of Art in Los Angeles.

Joining Otis College of Art and Design Fashion Department faculty in the Fall of 2022, Monica also continues her own secondary education at California State University Long Beach working on her BA in Sociology.

Portfolio: https://monicaleigh.com/ 

Instagram: @monicaleighsvx

Leslie Ross-Robertson is the owner and designer of Modern Optic a contemporary design studio established in Los Angeles in 2001. Inspired by modernism and contemporary art, she is creating work integrating contemporary technology and the traditional art form of letterpress printmaking. She has produced two lines of stationery, one printed on her Vandercook SP-20 as as well as a series of prints. She has collaborated with artists, architects, and designers to provide custom work. In 2012 Leslie started Wavelength Press, focusing on collaboration with contemporary artists producing special edition prints.

Christopher Rowland, MFA - Otis College of Art and Design / Parsons. Mr. Rowland is a fine artist and filmmaker. His film credits include editor for HBO, as well as various other documentary projects with the most recent being linked to the State Department's website. In 2003, Mr. Rowland had the honor of representing the United States in an artist residency in Macedonia where he now has 2 paintings in the permanent collection in the Contemporary Museum of Art in Skopje, Macedonia. Christopher Rowland has been featured in Contact, a magazine for modern living in Arizona and in 2009 exhibited at the PVAC Juried All Media Exhibition in which he received the Trustees award.

Orly Ruaimi has taught Metal Fabrication for Sculpture at Steel Cats Studios in Los Angeles, and Metals for Jewelry Design at Techshop Inc. in San Francisco. Ms Ruaimi has an M.F.A. in Studio Arts, San Francisco Art Institute, and M.F.A. in Jewelry and Metal Arts, Academy of Art University, San Francisco.

Angela Rubien, BFA in Advertising, ArtCenter College of Design. Additional studies at Fachhochschule Nuremberg, Germany. Ms. Rubien is an independent graphic designer, art director, and illustrator working in the Los Angeles area.

Art Sims has created some of the most memorable and recognizable advertising campaigns in history. For more than a decade, he has set the standard in producing historical images that illustrate the “real” urban experience. The Hollywood Reporter, Ad Week, Advertising Age, the Los Angeles Times, LA Focus, Brill’s Content and several other leading publications have penned stories on this man considered a genius at capturing the attention of young urban Americans through his creation of pulsating creative campaigns that initiate action. After obtaining a BFA degree from Michigan State University, Sims began his career as an art director at CBS Records in New York. In 1990, through an act of faith, Sims decided to leave the ranks of corporate America and create 11:24 Design Advertising, a groundbreaking young urban creative firm located in Southern California. At the helm of 11:24, Art has crafted campaigns and creative presentations for award-winning projects for entertainment industry giants such as George Lucas, Spike Lee, Michael Jackson, Denzel Washington, and Will Smith. Projects include Red Tails, Do The Right Thing, Malcolm X, I am Legend, Ghost Riders, Jungle Fever, Mo Better Blues, Bamboozled, Love & Basketball, Clockers, The Original Kings Of Comedy, and When The Levees Broke, I Will Follow, and Black Panther. Corporate clients include STARZ networks, A&E, HBO, Lifetime, Netflix and the Uplifting Channel.

Creating artworks with an interdisciplinary ideology, Jamie Russom explores multiple disciplines specializing in the areas of printmaking, photography, and audio/visual installation. Russom received an MFA in Studio Art from the Glasgow School of Art in 2016 and a BFA in Printmaking from California State University Long Beach in 2006. Her work has been exhibited throughout the US and Europe and is a part of several special collections including the La Fondazione Vittorio Leonesio in Italy and the Glasgow Science Centre, in Scotland, UK. Jamie Russom is an artist and educator currently living in Los Angeles.

Ander Sanborn is a teaching artist living and working in Los Angeles, CA. He earned his BFA from Otis College of Art and Design in 2023 with emphases in Painting and both Community Arts and School-based Education. Since then, he has worked in schools in the Los Angeles areas with children from a wide range of ages (5-18) aiding in their pursuit of creative solutions in and out of the classroom. In addition, he works as an educator and facilitator at The Getty Museum assisting in the production of public programs for people of all ages.

Walter Santucci (MFA, California State University, Long Beach) is an animator, puppeteer, and filmmaker who has created work for and with such luminaries as Monty Python’s Graham Chapman, Cedric the Entertainer, Ice Cube, Ice T, The B52’s, and Margaret Cho. He has made animation for Disney, Klasky-Csupo, Fox, MTV, Atlantic Records, Warner Brothers, Marvel, Nickelodeon, Sesame Workshop (and many others). For over fifteen years, Walter has taught animation at various colleges and universities around the world. He is the author of The Guerrilla Guide to Animation (Bloomsbury Publishing) and his writings have appeared in an Animation Magazine, Child Art and Puppet Life.

As a seasoned Creative Director, Cheryl Savala creates key art, packaging, and marketing campaigns for renowned musicians and international blockbuster franchises, including "Titanic," "Star Wars," "Snowpiercer" and Elton John. In her thirty years of teaching entertainment design and illustration, Cheryl has mentored hundreds of artists, guiding them toward their dream jobs and launching thriving careers in the arts.

Robin Schneider is the Reigning Queen of Adobe for Fashion with 8 Illustrator and Photoshop for Fashion courses on Linked In Learning. She has trained designers at top companies including Belk, Juicy Couture, and Liz Clayborne; and is the co-owner of Belden Schneider Studio, a Los Angeles based textile print design studio specializing in repeats, color reduction, and recoloring. Her Adobe for Fashion: Illustrator textbook is being used at fashion schools around the world and she is frantically hard at work on her Photoshop book for fashion and textile design. Robin is currently recording tutorials for her YouTube channel.

Jonathan Scott is a Senior Artist for Scopely Playa Vista, and has been working professionally in video games for 14 years. He has worked with companies including Toyota, Hitachi, Disney, 21st Century Fox, SF Moma, the W Hotel, Roblox, Lightstorm Entertainment and Marvel. Scott was the catalyst for beginning a biannual company-wide game jam at Scopely, which seeks to highlight the ideas and talents of all individuals within the company. He currently teaches game design coursework for Otis Extension.

Emma Sher is an Los Angeles-based ceramic artist with a B.A. from UCLA in World Arts & Cultures, with focuses in ceramics and curatorial studies. Emma has taught at various community ceramics studios in LA for the past three years. She is a recent resident artist of High Desert Test Sites in Joshua Tree, CA. Emma’s current objective in her practice comes from a curiosity about the meditative process of creating and how that can be translated into a viewer’s experience of an object. Creating kinetic work that emits light has been a framework to materialize these ideas.

Portfolio: https://emmasher.com

Instagram: @emmma.sher

Joaquín Stacey-Calle  (he/him/they, b.2000, Quito, Ecuador) is an interdisciplinary artist working with painting, performance, installation, microbes, photography, and food.  He graduated with a BFA from Florida International University in 2022 and received his MFA from Otis College of Art and Design (CA) in 2024. Stacey-Calle develops conversations around history, identity, memory, figurative and landscape painting, daily rituals, Western ontology, and the human condition. He is interested in the digestion and fermentation of his quotidian surroundings and the cultural productions he has consumed throughout his life. Like his understanding of his diasporic self, his work is rooted in memories of his home and life in Ecuador, Miami, and Los Angeles and then tethered to a new experience of unfixed imagery and materiality that remains ever-changing. His current work explores the tension between the sacred, profane, divine, and the mundane. He has exhibited throughout LA, San Diego, Miami, and Mexico in places like Charlie James Gallery, Make Room Gallery, Goodmother Gallery, Proyectos N.A.S.A.L., The Proxy Gallery,  California Center for the Arts, Escondido (San Diego), Homework Gallery, The Laundromat Art Space, Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, Pinecrest Gardens Gallery, Ateliê Alê (São Paulo), and the Ecuadoran Consulate in Miami. Stacey-Calle was part of the 2022 & 2023 Summer Open, a residency hosted by The Bakehouse Art Complex in Miami.

BFA, Otis College of Art and Design. Freelance Illustrator, painter, comic artist, cartoonist and book illustrator. Clients include Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Smart Money, Forbes, American Airlines, Rolling Stone, Hollywood Reporter, LA Weekly, Sony Records, Virgin Records, Rhino Records, Warner Bros Records, Capitol Records, UCLA, St. Martin's Press, Rock the Vote, Jim Henson Prods, Saban Entertainment, Klasky Csupo. Assistant Professor; Illustration, Otis College of Art and Design.

Norland Téllez is a CalArts graduate who has worked in the animation industry for over two decades, spanning the range of production from animation director and writer to storyboard artist and production designer. Having worked for studios including Walt Disney, Warner Brothers, he has worked on projects including Beauty and the Beast, The King and I, The Quest for Camelot, and Space Jam. A master of classical figure drawing, Norland also specializes in caricature and character design. His keen interest in the deep well of storytelling, however, led him through a doctoral study in world mythology at Pacifica Graduate Institute, where he finally specialized in the epic imagination as seen through ancient Maya mythology. Norland has a B.F.A in Film/Video from the California Institute of the Arts, M.A. in Mythological Studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute, and Ph.D. in Mythological Studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute.

Mayuka Thais, BFA, Otis College of Art and Design. A contemporary artist, Miss Mayuka is a bilingual multi-cultural artist, edutainer and art educator who specializes in teaching International School and multi-national students. She has led songwriting classes for at-risk youths involved in San Fernando Valley's NPO Youth Speak Collective Program. At the age of ten, she won her first Art Award from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. A published Art Educator, she is the recipient of Eco Arts Awards for her songs and music videos on animal conservation and ecology.

For more than 20 years, Mark Thomas has been a dedicated member of the Otis College community. Over the last two decades of his career, he has advised and assisted students, and worked with many professional artists, designers, and architects, doing fabrication and consulting.  

In addition to being an artist himself, Mark is dedicated to assisting other artists produce their artwork; working with artists at the student level is by far the most rewarding to him. He encourages his students to have confidence in their creative instincts and stay open to potential design evolutions during all stages of production. His primary teaching goal is to assist students in developing a good and safe skill-set, while giving them a solid understanding of materials. Through mentoring this combination of technique and creativity, he seeks to help students sustain their artistic practices and creative voices throughout their careers.

Mark received his B.F.A. in Fine Art (2000) from Otis College of Art and Design.  He currently manages the Wood and Metal shops at the Otis College campus.

My name is Vernetta Thomas. I was born in Oklahoma and raised in Texas. I developed an appreciation for photography while living in Europe, and by looking at the images shot by my dad when he lived in Germany. The images of Henri Cartier Bresson, Robert Doisneau, Josef Koudelka, and Irving Penn just to name a few, had a lasting influence. These photographers had a powerful impact on my appreciation for photography. Those photographers were visual storytellers. I instructed photography at Collin College for five years in Plano, Texas. In 2015, I was offered a position at University of Nevada Las Vegas where I taught for five years. I was also offered a position at the College of Southern Nevada where I taught for a year. While teaching in Las Vegas, I worked as a food photographer and food critic for Cozymeal for three years. I am now back in Plano, Texas teaching photography at Collin College. My spare time is spent cycling, walking, reading, and playing with my cat Stella who is convinced she is a human.

Jessica Robins Thompson leads teams of designers and technologists to breakdown and solve complex challenges. As a creative director and designer for 18+ years Jessica has extensive experience with branding, user experience, visual design, and digital strategy. She spearheaded the first online crime mapping system in the country for LAPD, and launched FireStatLA - an online initiative of Mayor Garcetti and LAFD for tracking emergency response times. Jessica has designed websites across industries including Government, Non-Profits, Education, Healthcare, Music and Entertainment, and has worked in the Start-Up Tech world designing SaaS products and Apps for the last 8 years. She is currently Owner/Creative Director at Fundamental Design Group.

Daniel Paige Toney is a designer, illustrator, and fashion historian. With a BFA in both graphic design and Illustration & Painting, as well as a MFA in Fashion Design; Daniel approaches the design process from a multidisciplinary approach. Daniel has worked for numerous designers and stylists in the LA area, the most notable including Michael Costello and B. Akerlund. Daniel has had the opportunity to sketch and design for internationally recognized fashion houses, including Dolce & Gabbana, Balmain, and Manish Arora. At Otis College of Art and Design, Daniel has taught Fashion illustration, Fashion Design, Digital Design for Fashion, as well as Studio & Construction for Fashion in the Summer of Art program. Daniel will also be teaching History of Costume this fall. In addition to his design work, Daniel is an award winning fashion illustrator with his high concentrated fashion watercolor illustrations found on the walls of LA ateliers as well as in digital fashion publications.

Edwin Ushiro’s work resonates with the echoes of his boyhood in the “slow town” of Wailuku on the Hawaiian island of Maui. In his paintings, he recalls the sun-struck days of youth, when the world was fresh and magical, but also explores the eerie folklore indigenous to dark country roads and the boundless depths of the childhood imagination. While structuring his work around the narrative tradition of “talk story” native to the Hawaiian islands, he interweaves the uncanny obake tales of his Japanese heritage. Working in a unique mixed media technique which involves laboring in ink and acrylic over sheets of Lucite printed with assemblages of his more traditional drawings and paintings, he creates reflections on the past that are luminous and nostalgic, like cherished memories burnished by the passage of time.

After earning a BFA with Honors in Illustration from Art Center College of Design, he works in the entertainment industry as an Illustrator, Concept Artist and visual consultant with clients such as Netflix, Disney, Sony, Sanrio,New York Times, and Toyota. He has exhibited in venues worldwide, including Villa Bottini in Italy, Grand Palais in France, the Museum of Kyoto, the Honolulu Museum of Art, Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum and the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. A monograph of his work entitled Edwin Ushiro: Gathering Whispers was published with editions by Zero+ Publishing in the United States and Diagon Alley in China. He lives and works between Los Angeles and Maui.

Debra Valencia is a visionary surface pattern artist, product designer and entrepreneur with a passion for world travel, artisan traditions, pop art and fashion trends. Valencia has branded a California style uniquely her own. Her colorful chic products are found in the licensed lifestyle market, appealing to women who love bold contemporary style. The brand has licensed with over 100 manufacturers in gift, stationery, craft, textiles, home décor, fashion accessories and beauty. Educated as a graphic designer, Debra graduated with a B.F.A. with honors from the University of Arts in Philadelphia. In Los Angeles, she worked for creative agencies, publishers and internet companies prior to starting her own graphic design studio, DeVa Communications. Debra Valencia has served as a part-time faculty member at Otis College of Art & Design in Los Angeles for over 20 years. Her current courses include Surface Design Basics, Surface Design Collections, Surface Design Digital Creation and Licensing Your Art for Royalties.

Raul is an award winning Los Angeles based photographer whose photographs have appeared on covers and in such magazines as Time, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Vogue, InStyle, Glamour, and Andy Warhol’s Interview Magazine to name a few. His Time covers are collected in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D. C. He received the National Publications Design Award for his Time cover of Carl Sagan. Raul has also won a national Gold Key award for architectural interiors and has won a Clio award for directing. Raúl has been creating Abstract Fine Art Photography for the past 10 years. The Annenberg Space for Photography requested 2 pieces for an AIDS benefit.

Alexandria Wallace received her MFA from the Otis College of Art and Design and her BFA in painting and photography from The University of Texas at Austin. Alexandria started her teaching career through Teach for America in 2012. After six years of balancing teaching drawing, painting and photography to high school students while sustaining a studio practice in Houston, Alexandria relocated to Los Angeles to pursue her MFA. While working towards her MFA, she taught drawing, acrylic and oil painting courses at the Brentwood Art Center and Let Us Consult the Arts - LA. Her work has been exhibited recently at Brea Gallery, the Bolsky Gallery and the Greater Los Angeles MFA show.

Marley White is a multidisciplinary artist and designer. Her work is exhibited nationally and internationally in various venues, including the renowned Carpenters Workshop Gallery in Paris, France, the historic Zuidersee Museum, Netherlands, the Legnica Jewelry Festival, Poland, and the Baltimore Jewelry Center, Maryland. She was a Center for Craft Windgate-Lamar Fellowship recipient in 2020 and 2021.

Ms. White’s prior work explores scale ranging from wearable jewelry to large-scale installation while integrating experimental materials, including repurposed textiles, organic fibers, and concrete. She uses traditional craft techniques alongside experimental material investigation and digital applications.   

marley-white.com

Prior to joining the Animation department at Otis College, Chad worked as an assistant professor at the University of Utah, teaching 2D and 3D animation. He recently worked on Avatar: The Way of Water as a facial motion capture animator and a post-visualization compositor. Chad also has a wide range of experience internationally and cross-culturally. He spent over a decade producing and teaching visual effects and animation in Asia, including Imagimax Studios, Thailand; Base FX, China; Curtin University, Malaysia; and Nanyang Polytechnic, Singapore, where he worked on shows like Munki and Trunk and The Journey: A Voyage. Before the incredible opportunity to work and live overseas, Chad worked in Hollywood on over 20 feature films and television shows, including Jerry Maguire, As Good As It Gets, and The Simpsons.  

Website: https://www.otis.edu/faculty/chad-woelki

With over 7 years of experience in the teaching, tech and gaming industries, Gregory has
taken on a variety of roles. For the past 4 years, he has specialized in Unreal Engine, both as a Technical Animator and an Authorized Instructor. His skill set includes Unreal Engine, Autodesk Maya, 3D Animation/Rigging, and Gameplay Programming. Gregory is particularly proud to be a Certified Unreal Authorized Instructor for Epic Games. He won 1st Place for 'Best Unreal Game' at the 2021 Global Game Jam in NYC. Gregory has also led the development and management of 3D pipelines for various teams, showcasing his ability to lead and collaborate effectively. As a NYIT MBA graduate he has taught at NYIT, Lesley University and ID Tech.

In his personal time, Gregory enjoys 3D printing, participating in team-based game jams, and engaging in tabletop gaming. In 2020, he founded Macrotainment LLC, a multimedia, entertainment, and education company.

BFA Studies in Painting and Drawing, Otis College of Art and Design. Mr. Zaragoza has been in solo exhibitions at the Salon Gallery, London, U.K. and group shows in both the U.K and Los Angeles including George Billis Gallery. His work has been included in the prestigious Gilbert B. Silverman and was recently featured in Flaunt Magazine Nov, 2014 issue. Lecturer, Otis College of Art and Design.

Eager Zhang (She/They) is a visual artist and graphic designer. They explores among the territory of nature studies, language issues and poetry writing, and expands their practice into printmaking, editorial design, and web architecture. They are the founder of their design practice, OmensOmens, making screen-based UI/UX solution, web design and development, and other types of projects with commercial clients and non-profit collaborators.

Portfolio - https://eagerzhang.com/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/eagerzliterally/

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/eager-zhang-3560a019a