Instructors

Young Artist Studio Program Instructors

Note: Instructors are subject to change.

Libby Black is a painter and sculptural installation artist. She has exhibited nationally, with shows at Yerba Beuna Center for the Arts, San Francisco; Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach; Jersey City Museum; and numerous galleries in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Libby has been an artist in residence at Headlands Center for the Arts in Sausalito and Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga. Her work has been reviewed in Artforum, Art in America, ARTnews, Zink magazine, Flash Art, and the New York Times. Libby is represented by Marx and Zavattero (formally Heather Marx Gallery) in San Francisco, and currently teaches in CCA's Fine Arts department. BFA, Cleveland Institute of Art; MFA, CCA

Tony Esola is an artist whose interests began in glassblowing and shifted to sculpture with an emphasis on metal. His work investigates the curiosities of childhood through toys made for adults—pieces that interact with viewers and encourage their participation. His work has been shown internationally, including at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, Massachusetts. BFA, CCA

Scott Hammond is a graphic designer with his own firm, Scott Hammond Studio, based in San Francisco. The firm designs everything from websites to logos, packaging, signage, and advertisements. Prior to opening his studio in 2002 he worked at such San Francisco graphic design firms as Luxon Carra and Zimmermann Crowe Design. BFA, CCA; BA, Vassar College

Ashley Helvey is a felt artist whose work has been exhibited in galleries nationally and in Europe. Most recently she contributed to the Cooper Hewitt International Design Museum's exhibit Fashioning Felt and worked with the cooperative Le Famn Veret in Verettes, Haiti, to develop a line of felted objects to provide jobs for local woman. Ashley teaches workshops at institutions, museums, and galleries and continues to collaborate with artists and designers on felted installations and performance pieces. BA, California State University, San Francisco

Faye Kendall is an artist whose work reflects her background in fibers, combining natural materials with sculpture in large-scale works that reference animals and biological and social processes. She has exhibited in galleries nationally, including Slought Foundation and Freeman’s in Philadelphia. Faye has developed art programs and taught in public and charter schools. She currently teaches art at Bentley School in Oakland. BFA Colorado State University; MFA, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts

Sheila Metcalf Tobin is an artist, whose work is inspired by experiences in both past and present gardens. As a child she learned a deep respect for the traditions of making by hand and tending the earth and was encouraged to draw. Her work exemplifies the experiences of discovery through observation and has been exhibited nationally in both solo and group shows. She teaches at Laney College and previously in CCA’s Young Artist Studio and degree programs. BFA, Maryland Institute College of Art; MFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Sian Oblak is a painter whose work has been exhibited and collected internationally. She has been teaching drawing and painting at colleges and other institutions in the Bay Area for six years, including CCA. Local galleries showing her work include the Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek and Gallery Paule Anglim in San Francisco. BFA, Saint Martins School of Art, London; MFA, CCAC

Alex Shapiro is a New York–based cartoonist and illustrator whose clients have included CBS-TV, the Central Park Conservancy, and numerous publications. He has taught cartooning in New York and San Francisco public schools; the Queens Museum of Art; the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning; and CCA's YASP. BFA, Pratt Institute

Stacy Speyer is an artist curious about structure. For over a decade she has explored lines in space through her large-scale installations and experiments with a variety of mediums, ranging from natural materials to digital imagery. Stacy has been an Artist in Residence at the SF Exploratorium, exhibited nationally, and is represented in private collections. BFA, Kansas City Art Institute; MFA, CCA

Pam Stalker received her undergraduate degree in Advertising Design at The Center for Creative Studies in Detroit and a minor in photography (specializing in filmmaking and animation). She has an MFA in Film Graphics from CalArts, where she studied animation with former Disney animator Jules Engles. She currently teaches in CCA's undergraduate Animation department.

Pam has worked in the animation industry for many years contributing to Warner Brothers comedy One Crazy Summer, Disney's Brandy and Mr. Whiskers cartoon series, Rocko's Modern Life, The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat, and Betty Boop's Hollywood Mystery. Pam has worked on commercials for ILM, Disney, Klasky Csupo, Film Roman, Wildbrain, and Colosal Pictures. She is currently represented by Acme Filmworks in Los Angeles.

As a freelance animator, illustrator, and designer Pam has worked for Bay Area companies in traditional media in the following mediums: paint on glass, silhouette-jointed figures, pastels, color pencils, and cutouts, as well as various digital programs.

Rommel Taylor is a designer and an artist. His professional design experience has focused on work for nonprofit organizations, public housing, single-family homes, and public work. In his art he explores the aesthetic, social, and narrative potential of public and private spaces. Rommel is passionate about exposing young persons to architecture, art, and design. He currently works for the San Francisco Department of Public Works Bureau of Architecture. BArch, CCA

Anna Vaughan is a nationally exhibited, multimedia artist whose work explores concepts of family, migration, and memory. She has been a juror for exhibition programs at the Oakland Museum of California and has helped organize exhibitions for several nonprofit galleries, including Pro-Arts Gallery, NIAD Art Center, and Cell Space. BFA, Kansas City Art Institute; MFA, Mills College

Lindsey White is an interdisciplinary artist whose work in video, photography, and sculpture explores the simple magic of everyday life. She has exhibited in San Francisco at Eli Ridgway Gallery, Jack Hanley Gallery, Southern Exposure, Eleanor Harwood Gallery, and New Langton Arts, and in Berlin at the Deadpan Exchange II festival. She has taught at CCA, the San Francisco Arts Education Project, and Modesto Junior College. BFA, Pacific Northwest College of Art; MFA, CCA

Rebecca Young is an artist who has exhibited her work nationally. She has taught middle and high school sculpture courses at the University of Arizona and currently teaches at Canyon Elementary School. MFA, University of Arizona