MEET THE TEAM
Meet The Faculty
Chloe Barber (she/her)
Chloe is a recent Simmons University graduate where she received both Masterβs in teaching and Bachelor's in art history. With plans to become an elementary teacher, she has always loved being part of the art teacher team at Brookline Arts Center. Chloe grew up in a very artistic household, both in art making and in art appreciation. She enjoys printmaking and watercolor painting with her artist mom. In her free time, Chloe enjoys exploring new spots around Boston with her friends, going to concerts and museums, and reading outside. Chloe has been part of the BAC community for five years!
Aria Carpenter (they/all)
Aria is a teaching artist and printmaker whose upbringing in fine arts combines with a passion for storytelling to create spaces where art and play can come together. She got her BFA from Lesley University with a specialization in numerous types of printmaking from etching and lithography to relief and screen. Aria's love for printmaking and horror media shows through regardless of the medium with harsh values and intense mark-making that resemble carved lines and rich printing inks. She tries to impart her bold and experimental approach to these techniques with a sense of curiosity rather than anxiety about getting things right. Aria loves storytelling not just when she's reading to her younger students or running a game of dungeons and dragons but also when she gets the chance to teach others a new medium that opens up new expressive opportunities. If you meet her, tell her about your favorite book, movie, or video game!
Deirdre Beck (she/her)
Deirdre Beck is an art teacher and freelance illustrator from the Boston Area. She earned her BFA in Animation from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2018. Her stop-motion film, Night Train, was a semi-finalist for the Student Academy Awards in 2019, and was featured in a number of festivals, including Bostonβs Underground Film Festival. Her illustrative work has been featured in a number of art books and zines, including Nova and Maliβs βClassicsβ¦ But Make it Gayβ, which is set to release later in 2021. Nowadays, Deirdre prefers to paint digitally in photoshop. Her work involves character design, color, and fantasy environments. She also likes to create fanart and comics in her spare time.
Madeline Fine (she/her)
Madeline Fine resides in Brookline, MA, where she passionately crafts jewelry and metals. Her heritage is steeped in metalwork, tracing back to a goldsmith great-grandfather and even further as sword-makers. Madeline's fascination with the alchemy of silver and flame began to simmer during her university days, evolving into a primal and exhilarating joy. The transformative dance of soldering and annealing mirrors life's constant change, akin to the mesmerizing flow of lava. Nature herself is Madeline's muse, as evident in her creations adorned with leaves and blossoms. The magic unfolds when she embosses, using materials that engage curiosity. Her process is a whimsical journey, creating pieces that not only reflect the maker's essence but encourage wearers to express their authentic selves. Madeline's creations radiate her creative energy and love, infusing wearers with a profound sense of connection. Her work extends beyond the pieces themselves β it's about evoking joy. Open to custom work and repairs, Madeline's mission resonates in each piece she lovingly crafts: to design jewelry that celebrates nature's beauty and textures, guiding others to discover the often overlooked details in life.
Emma Green (she/her)
Emma Green is an arts educator and multi-disciplinary maker. She earned her BA in Painting and Printmaking from Yale University in 2019, and was chosen to be a resident at Yale's Norfolk School of Art program in 2018. Her practice spans ceramics, fiber arts, installation, and archival research to explore history, memory, and storytelling. She gained many of her ceramics skills as a studio manager at Yale's Trumbull Pottery Studio, and previously taught ceramics at the Community Folk Art Center in Syracuse, NY. In addition to teaching at Brookline Arts Center, she facilitates art-focused youth development programs for high schoolers in Boston.
Miriam Hassman (she/they)
Miriam Hassman is a ceramic arts teacher from California. She has a minor in Studio Art from Sonoma State UNiversity, where she was also able to gain perspective on her own art through other mediums during her year abroad in Germany. Now Boston-based, she enjoys the exploration of utility versus purpose through her ceramic works. She also takes inspiration from nature-based textures and patterns for her works. When she isn't teaching or making art, you can find her baking, playing Dungeons & Dragons, or watching movies with her cat.
Mekayla Dionne (she/her)
Mekayla Dionne is an emerging Canadian artist currently based in Boston, MA. Mekayla has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from OCAD University and has participated in the artist community in Toronto through exhibitions, collaborations, commissions and being a guest speaker at art events. Alongside her art practice, Mekayla is an enthusiastic art teacher to children and youth. Mekayla helps her students bring their imagination to life through creative and engaging art lessons. She prioritizes fostering a love for the arts and enjoyment in the process while teaching valuable artistic skills to her students.
Emily Iannarilli (she/hers)
Emily Iannarilli is a graduate of Skidmore College where she earned a BS in Studio Art with a double concentration in Metals and Jewelry and Digital Photography and a minor in Anthropology. She strives to create a open and creative classroom environment based on encouraging students to ask questions and explore the answers they find. While she teaches in a variety of mediums, she works predominantly in two mediums: jewelry and digital photography. Her jewelry reflects her interest in the forms and irregularities of the natural world and photography focuses on human subjects and the narrative power of images and what it means to tell a story.
Laura Jaklitsch (she/her)
With an appreciation for modern design and a dedication to craftsmanship, Laura Jaklitsch fabricates each piece by hand in her Somerville, MA studio. Drawing on inspiration from the architecture of both the man made and natural world, she deconstructs the details she observes into sleek, wearable forms using her signature wood and polyurethane inlay technique. Laura experiments with material, color and form to make jewelry that is fresh, contemporary and bold. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Laura holds a BFA in Jewelry and Metalsmithing from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. She is the 2016 recipient of the Society for Contemporary Craftβs LEAP Award.
A.J. Jerrett (he/him)
A.J. Jerrett is an illustrator, graphic designer, caricature artist, childrenβs book creator, creative mentor, art instructor, and occasional figurative arts model whose mission is to inspire people towards expressing the Picasso within. He lives in his newly renovated house just north of Boston with his lovely wife, kids, scrappy terrier mix, and elderly cat. You can see some of his illustrations at ajjerrett.com and follow him on Instagram @ajjerrett to see him at work.
Katie McColgan (she/her)
Katie McColgan is an American artist who lives and works in Waltham, Massachusetts. She received her BFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2016 and was a Post-Baccalaureate student at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville following. McColgan recently earned her MFA degree at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her work conceptually centers ideas of memory, containment, and care. Her processes and materials vary from ceramics to fibers to painting, often reincorporating the remnants of past pieces into her new works.
Robbie Moser (he/him)
"Robbie βDouble Bβ Moser-Saito (he/him) is a ceramist currently based in Boston. He is an undergraduate student in Tufts Universityβs combined degree program with the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, majoring in psychology and studio art and minoring in child studies and human development. His work primarily reckons with the psychosocial impacts of maneuvering the world as a trans person, through abstract and intuitive building in the unpredictable medium that is clay. Catharsis and oddity are constant throughlines. This summer, he is beginning a position as ceramics instructor at the Brookline Arts Center.
Bean Pecorari (they/them)
Bean Pecorariβs ceramic work is an exploration of the relationships between community, nature, gender, and energy. They undulate between figurative sculpture and pottery, always searching for a way to convey narrative within their work whether it be through pattern or three dimensional image making. Bean has a BFA in ceramics from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. They spent time there as a teaching assistant for Ben Ryterband, and as the head coordinator of Clay For Change, a partnership with Haley House soup kitchen for their annual empty bowls event. Bean also has experience as an outdoor educator, which is where they gained their enthusiasm for community building, self exploration, and connecting with nature.
Amanda Pickler (she/her)
Amanda Pickler is a painter and printmaker whose work explores intimacy that exists within interpersonal relationships, public and private spaces, and queer communities in Boston, New York, and Seattle. She earned her Master of Fine Arts from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, 2023. She earned her BA with Honors distinction at the University of Washington in 2019. Pickler was a Mary Gates Leadership Scholar recipient and received a Dean's Research award. She is from Seattle, WA but currently lives in Boston, MA.
Nanette Pengelley (she/her)
Nanette is an artist and jewelry designer originally from Florida. She went on to study in Quito, Boston, and Florence. After graduating from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2015 with her BFA in Jewelry and Metalsmithing, Nanette has been exploring her practice within her brand, Hew Jewelry, splitting her time between New England and Florida.
Her work is shaped by the materials she is attracted to as she often finds herself captivated by an object simply because of her encounter with it. Whether that object be found on the street, meticulously crafted by her own two hands, or grown in nature, she finds that experience can be carried forward by the wearer, through the act of making something beautiful out of the unconventional.
Emily Perelman (she/hers)
Emily Perelman will graduate Boston University with a BA in Psychology and a minor in Visual Arts in January 2022. She has worked on a variety of freelance design and illustration projects ranging from installations, skateboard decks, and drink packaging. Emily enjoys exploring and learning new mediums- to date she has dabbled in cut paper, spray paint, ceramics, and printmaking. Much of her work combines graphic symbols and psychedelic color schemes to explore surreal themes. For inspiration, she often looks to the intersection between mindfulness and creativity.
Moon RodrΓguez-Diestler (he/him)
Moon RodrΓguez-Diestlerβs ceramic sculptures, installations, and performance work lace together ritual, repetition, and practice in order to raise questions about identity, and existence. RodrΓguez constantly challenges the sanctity of historically elitist materials such as porcelain, oil paints, and gold leaf. These materials are used carefully yet unconventionally, and reborn within the installations created. Moon received his BFA with a concentration in ceramics from Massachusetts College of Art and Design and recently received his MFA from the University of Delaware in December 2019. Currently, RodrΓguez is making art in his apartment that he shares with his partner and two cats in Brighton, MA. He works as a technical assistant at the ceramics department in Mass Art in addition to his work at the BAC.
Zoe Schein (they/them)
Zoe Schein is a teaching artist, freelance illustrator, and cartoonist who grew up in central Illinois.As a teacher, Zoe creates and teaches classes in drawing, comics, art history, and memoir writing for students of all ages. As an illustrator, their focus is on educational comics: they recently illustrated a book of short comics stories titled Clinical Ethics: A Graphic Medicine Casebook, which will be published by Penn State University Press in 2022. For their personal art, Zoe works in graphite, ink, and paper collage, taking inspiration from nature, anatomy, art history, and the spaces they feel at home. Zoe earned their MA in Art + Design Education from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 2017, and their BA in Gender, Womenβs and Sexuality Studies from Grinnell College in 2012.
Archie Snow (they/them)
Archie Snow (they/them) is an interdisciplinary artist working with clay, fibers, found objects, and recycled materials. They earned a BFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Studio for Interrelated Media and Ceramics in 2017. They have been an arts educator for over a decade, teaching in Melrose, Chestnut Hill, and Brookline. Archieβs sculptures, installations, and garments explore themes of consumerism, and excess inviting the viewer to contemplate their relationships with everyday objects.
Jocelyn Solis (she/her)
Jocelyn Alsira Solis is an interdisciplinary Honduran artist-maker based in Boston. Solis was raised between the U.S. and Honduras, where she initiated her art practice in painting. Solis is centered on creating art jewelry as adornment for the body. She stitches together her interest in nature and organic experimentations with ethical practices through the use of natural fibers and pre-Hispanic metalsmithing practices. Her narratives on cultural memory and identity are stimulants to her work. In 2020 she founded her art jewelry brand JAS JOYERIA which emphasizes one-of-a-kind statement designs using fibers and sterling silver. In 2020 she earned a BFA in Jewelry and Metalsmithing at Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston, MA.
Quincey Spagnoletti (she/her)
Quincey Spagnoletti is a photographer whose work explores her interests in gender roles and the female form. She investigates the impact society has on women and their unconscious behaviors made on a daily basis. She will graduate with her Master of Fine Arts in May 2024 at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts/Tufts University.
She earned a BA from Colgate University in Art & Art History where she was the recipient of the Gary M. Hoffer Prize for Excellence in Photography. Her senior thesis βIn the Spare Room,β was featured at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, Visual Arts, in LaCrosse Wisconsin. Spagnoletti has most recently exhibited at The SE Center for Photography in Greenville, South Carolina, the Dallas Center for Photography in Dallas, Texas, Panopticon Gallery in Boston, MA and the Leica Gallery Boston in Boston, MA.
Spagnoletti was born in Syracuse, NY and currently lives in Boston, MA.
George Summers (he/him)
George Summers Jr received his BFA from UMASS-Dartmouth and has been working in batik for over 35 years. His work has been exhibited in numerous shows (Boston, Providence, NYC, Key West, FL and L.A.). His batik work is profiled in βThe Crafters Book of Angelsβ and βThe Ultimate T-Shirt Bookβ by Deborah Morganthal (Sterling/Lark). George is one of the founding members of βBrickbottomβ, a work/live in artist building in Somerville, where he maintains a studio. In 1999, George started working for the Society of Arts and Crafts, one of the oldest craft organizations in the country. He is currently the Retail Curator there.
Jessica Tawczynski (she/her)
Jessica is a multidisciplinary 2D artist known for her wild paper-based works that incorporate collage, printmaking, painting, found materials and map-making to create caricatures of the places and landscapes she has treaded.
Tawczynski is the founder of Inside Voices Art, an Instagram platform that published international artist interviews during the pandemic in 2020. She received her MFA in 2D Fine Art from MassArt and her BFA from UMass Lowell. Tawczynski has participated in international residencies including two residencies at the Akureyri Art Museum (Akureyri, Iceland), Listhus ArtSpace at the Olafsfjordur Museum (Olafsfjordur, Iceland), a teaching residency at Shenkar College of Design and Architecture (Ramat Gan, Israel), and Gilfelagid Listagil (Akureyri, Iceland). Her work has also been exhibited in group shows at Lower Columbia College Rose Center for the Arts (Longview, WA), SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2022 (NY,NY), LaiSun Keane (Boston,MA), Field Projects Gallery (NY, NY), FiveMyles Gallery (Brooklyn, NY), Amos Eno Gallery (Brooklyn, NY), Atlantic Gallery (NY, NY), MassArt x SOWA Gallery (Boston), Boston University Stone Gallery, Boston City Hall Scollay Square Gallery, UMass Boston Harbor Gallery, and Long Beach Island Foundation for the Arts and Sciences in NJ, curated by Esther Adler, curator in the Department of Drawings and Prints at MoMA, New York. Tawczynskiβs work has been recognized on I Like York Work Podcast as a studio visit artist, Hyperallergic, and Artscope Magazine, and has been featured in online exhibitions by WoArtBlog curated by Christina Massey, DoDoMu Gallery, BOSSCRITT Artist Collective, and Long Island City Artists (LIC-A).
Nell Valle (she/hers)
Nell is a Chinese-American illustrator based in Boston. She graduated from Massachusetts College of Art and Design with a BFA in illustration and a minor in creative writing. She has experience in comic illustration, public art, art gallery installation, and art instruction. Her work centers around fun animals and positivity. Other than drawing, Nell enjoys cooking, baking, and spending time with friends. You can catch up with her comic Silly Pigs on webtoons.
Ashley Vick (she/hers)
Ashley Vick earned her BFA in Metalsmithing from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2006. She launched Filomena DeMarco Jewelry soon after in 2009 β an homage to her great grandmother, who was a massive source of inspiration for her and a fearless female entrepreneur at the turn of the last century. Ashleyβs jewelry is handmade in Somerville, MA by the artist, whose eclectic personal style is mirrored by her edgy yet wearable, material-driven pieces. All of her pieces are handcrafted using sterling silver, gold and/or natural gemstones and can be purchased in galleries nationwide.
Meet the Models
Marcella Kelley, Su Mittra, Cas Berta and Mick Durkin
Meet The Staff
Gabrielle Domb (she/her)
Executive Director
Gabrielle joined the Brookline Arts Center as Executive Director in May 2023. She holds degrees in art history, with a focus on modern and contemporary art, from Harvard University and The Courtauld Institute of Art. Her past work has addressed questions of documentary practice, war, labor, and gender, with significant writing on Jean Fautrier and Thomas Hirschhorn and deep engagements with Harun Farocki, Eyal Sivan, Allan Sekula, and Eva Hesse, among others.
Prior to joining the BAC, Gabrielle oversaw educational programs for students of all ages and abilities at JosΓ© Mateo Ballet Theatre.
Gabrielle hopes to share with the BAC her deep commitment to ethical labor practices and dedication to supporting the arts, artists, and arts education.
Molly OβDonnell (they/she)
Program Coordinator
Molly joined the BAC as the Art Administrator in Spring 2020. Before joining the BAC team, Molly contributed to the growth of several different non-profits and community art organizations, including the Institute of Contemporary Art of Boston, Isenberg Projects, and the Anderson Ranch Arts Center. Molly received her BFA in Fine Arts Photography at Lesley College of Art & Design in Cambridge MA. It was during their education where they discovered their passion for community art programming and administration by creating a student-led artistic outreach program. As co-founder and director, Molly organized educational programs and events free to the student body, including visiting artist lectures, faculty lectures, alumni panel discussions, portfolio reviews, and student-led critiques. While highlighting artists of marginalized groups including BIPOC and LGBTQIA, the program featured artists working in a variety of interdisciplinary mediums through the intersection of identity, gender, and race. In their spare time, Molly enjoys tending to their plants, hiking, collecting artist monographs, and creating art in a variety of mediums, including photography, video, sculpture, performance, and most recently experimental music.
Celine Gomes (she/her)
Marketing & Content Editor
Meet Celine, a member of the BAC team since September of 2021, bringing a wealth of expertise and a commitment to the BACβs mission. Holding dual degrees in English Communications and Rhetoric and Women's Gender Studies from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Celine possesses a deep understanding of effective communication and societal dynamics. Her journey towards a career in marketing and the arts began during her formative years at the West End House Boys and Girls Club, where she honed her skills in music, dance, visual art, and theater. It was within these creative pursuits that Celine discovered her passion for expression and connection. Now, Celine applies her skills and knowledge to contribute to BAC's mission of promoting inclusivity and accessibility in the arts. Her goal is to challenge stereotypes and misconceptions surrounding careers in this field, with a dedication to making the arts accessible to all. Celine welcomes the opportunity to share both her personal journey and BAC's mission with those who are interested. With her expertise, creativity, and dedication, she is a driving force in our pursuit of fostering creativity and inclusivity in the arts.
Learn more about Celine at celinedgomes.com
Virginia Cannella (she/her)
Program Administrator
Virginia is a textiles artist and student at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, where she will graduate with a BFA in Art Education in winter 2023. She has been living in Boston since 2020, and has loved expanding her community through teaching and working at the BAC. She began as the Administrative Assistant during the Fall of 2022 and has transitioned into the Summer Program Administrator as of May 2023.
Deidre Beck (she/her)
Studio Technician
Moon Rodriguez (he/him)
Ceramic Technician
Ashley Vick (she/her)
Jewelry & Metals Technician
Board of Directors
Emily Speicher, President
Wellness Coach
Frank Criscione Vice-President
Proprietor & Designer, American Handcraft Adjunct Professor, Massachusetts College of Art and Design
Yury Afenheim Treasurer
Branch Manager, Brookline Bank
Mark Cooper
Artist
Faculty, SMFA at Tufts University and Boston College
Carol Gladstone
Commissioner of the Division of Capital Asset Management & Maintenance, Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Administration and Finance
Marcia Hulley
TV Producer & Director, WGBH
Kathleen Scanlon
Principal, KMS Architects
studio MLA Architects
Melissa Wright
Counsel, Goodwin Procter LLP