Teaching Faculty

Derek's relationship with the 5-string banjo dates back to the late 1960’s where he was first introduced to traditional American folk music & folk culture. During the years that followed, his interest in both grew & he began to research both fields while attending art school. Woodworking became his focus, working in traditional 18th & 19th century techniques building vernacular home furnishings & spending a year at Historic Waterloo Village applying his skills. Since 1989, Derek has been teaching an introductory woodworking class for the Morris County Community School. In 2009, he began building minstrel & gourd banjos & other folk instruments including the Appalachian Dulcimer, the Epinette (French dulcimer), the Pochette (French pocket fiddle), & frame drums, thereby bringing together his continuing passion for both music & woodworking.

Doug Schiller received his BFA and MFA from the University of Pennsylvania and diploma from the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. The harmony and balance inherent in nature are integral elements of Doug’s drawings and oil paintings. A grant recipient of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation Artist/Teacher Initiative, Doug has been an instructor at the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey for over 20 years and an instructor at Kean University and the College of Saint Elizabeth. He initiated the College Arts Fair at the Arts Center. His work can be viewed in local and New York City art galleries and is in collections in the United States, England, and Italy.

www.dougschillerpaintings.com

Lisa Madson is a member of the International Nature Printing Society. She is a teaching artist working with schools and museums. Her gallery shows have been group and solo shows throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey including Farmstead Arts. She is especially happy to have been included in the New Jersey state wide arts annual 2023 at the Noyes Museum 'Mother Nature vs Human Nature' a state wide juried show supported by the Geraldine R.Dodge Foundation. She likes printing outside on the patio.

www.natural-world-studio.com

Margaret Fanning is a visual artist that works in ink, watercolor, pastel, gouache, acrylic, oil, and mixed media. She earned her BFA in Painting from Savannah College of Art and Design. Margaret Fanning has exhibited internationally and her art can be found in private collections throughout the U.S. She has won multiple awards including the Alexander Portfolio Award, the NJ Chapter of the American Artists Professional League Traditional Realism Award, and multiple Best In Show awards at juried exhibitions. She currently lives and works in New Jersey.

www.margaretfanning.com

Oscar Peterson was born in Harlem, New York, raised in Brooklyn, NY, and is currently a resident of Millburn Township, NJ. He has worked as a professional art director and designer/illustrator for various corporations and non-profits, and as a commissioned fine arts painter who specializes in portraiture. An alumnus of Pratt Institute and The Art Students League of NY, Peterson has studied with such leading realist painters as Nelson Shanks, Max Ginsberg, and Costa Vavagiakis. His works, both portrait and non-commissioned, are in corporate and private collections and museums across the country. He uses traditional methods and techniques while incorporating new ideas and personal observations. His preferred medium is oil, although he frequently uses many mediums. Peterson describes his paintings as “realistic with an impressionistic feel,” his artistic style is inspired by the Impressionists and the Old Masters. His approach echoes a favorite quote from Alberto Giacometti; “The object of art is not to reproduce reality, but to create a reality of the same intensity.”

www.oscarpetersonportraits.com

NJ native Stefano Junior, a fine artist, and illustrator concentrating on cartooning and sequential art, spent five years working in the publishing division at Marvel Entertainment specifically working with collected and masterworks editions. He is drawn to the “transformative abilities of superheroes who live in a version of the real world, in which they are able to access potential which makes them better than they are. In that process, they benefit those that are around them.” He received his early training at the Ducret School of Arts in Plainfield in the youth program and is an alum of the Parson’s School of Design with a certificate in Fine Arts. He also received sculpture training at the Art Students’ League in NY and is a talented musician, performing as the front man and songwriter for the band Stefano & the Truth.

Thom Williams is a photographic artist currently living in Troy, New York. Thom earned a B.F.A from SUNY Oswego with studio concentrations in Graphic Design and Photography. He has taken photographs ranging from fashion editorials, portraits, architecture, athletic events and street photography. Whether a gesture, expression, or angle of architecture, Thom is inspired by capturing images not otherwise seen of ordinary moments that can have a profound reflective meaning for the viewer. As an artist, he is interested in experimenting digitally with images and more recently in presenting images in a unique multidimensional way. Thom has participated in multiple community and juried art exhibitions in the Capital District area. He was the recipient of Fence Select through the Arts Center in Troy, NY, selected for the 2016 Photo Regional and awarded one of Best In Show through the Albany Center Gallery at The Times Union Home Show. His fashion editorials have been published in Saratoga Living, The Muse and Tattoo Envy Magazine.