Perkins Center for the Arts Visual and Performing Arts Faculty

  • Kassem Amoudi received his MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts with post-graduate studies at the University of North Texas and his BS in Art and Education at Huwarah Institute of Education in Cairo Egypt and Irbid, Jordan. His exhibition participation includes the James Baids Gallery, Newfoundland, Canada; Berman Museum of Art, Collegeville, Pa.; Rowan College, Glassboro, NJ; Artists Equity, American College, Bryn Mawr, PA. His work is included in many public and private collections.
  • Robert Bender received a certificate in art education from Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. He received the Cresson Travel Scholarship in 1973 and studied art history throughout Rome, Holland, France, Italy and Austria. Robert exhibits throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He has studied privately with Arthur DeCosta, Nelson Shanks and David Le Fal.  "My goal as a teacher is to recognize and enhance the student's ability to identify a personal language in the art of painting.  Understanding the subject and translating a visual experience becomes easier when the painter's craft is fully realized.  I will try to enlighten the student to the many and varied approaches to the oil painting technique and how to apply them as needed."
  • Chloe Blake Stevenson a graduate of Reed College in Portland, Oregon, is an Art and Social Studies teacher at Haddonfield Friends School. Chloe worked as the Art Director for three summers at the Chewonki Foundation in Wiscasset, Maine. She also worked as an assistant English teacher in Fujioka City, Japan. Chloe joined Perkins Summer Art Camp in 2006 to teach classes in paper sculpture and Japanese brush painting. She also recently earned a Masters in Foreign Language Education and Teaching Certification in French (K-12) from Rutgers University, and is teaching French at The Lawrenceville School for students in 9th-12th grades.
  • Brian Butler studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Arts Students League in NY and Glassboro State College. He has been employed by Tyco Toys and by Mattel as a designer and illustrator. Brian currently teaches Intermediate and Advanced Illustration and Digital Media Techniques at Rowan University and Photoshop for Photographers at the University of the Arts. He was recently awarded the 2010 Wall of Fame Award for excellence in teaching at Rowan University.
  • Philip Carroll earned a certificate in fine arts from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and studied art history at the University of Pennsylvania. His work is represented in numerous collections including those of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. He has taught at the Mainline Art Center, Haverford, PA, and Rutgers University.
  • Jackie Cervino has a BFA in Illustration from Moore College of Art & Design and also studied Art Education at Moore College of Art & Design. Jackie is currently teaching visual arts at Nazarareth Academy High School and Moore College of Art & Design's Young Artist Workshop Program. She is a watercolor artist and also paint vitreous enamels on glass. Jackie has worked closely with many outreach organizations at The Philadelphia Museum of Art & The Memory Project and has coordinated various art trips abroad to Italy and Spain to teach art history and watercolor painting.
  • Jane Chesson received her MFA in Painting from Texas A&M University and her BFA from the University of Delaware. She has taught painting, color theory and art history at Texas A&M as well as working extensively with younger students in community centers, schools, and Boys & Girls Clubs in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Texas. She currently works as Curator of Education at the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts in Wilmington, Delaware. Her work can be viewed at www.janechesson.com.
  • Jenni Leigh Deets is a graduate of Moore College of Art with a BA in Art Education. She is the 2007 recipient of the Margaret Heilbron Award for Outstanding Artist in Art Education..
  • David Gamber brings to the Perkins Center more than 20 years of experience as a clay artist and 12 years of teaching experience. He teaches at Abington Art Center with Previous experience at Penn State/ Abington campus, and Rutgers University/ Camden. He has exhibited both locally and nationally and has work on view at the Clay studio, Abington Arts Center and Wayne Art Center.
  • Cynthia Gordon-Pulsinelli is the lead dance instructor at Perkins Center for the Arts, Moorestown. She has trained at the Briansky Saratoga Ballet Center, under Balanchine & Vaqanova, School of Berkshire Ballet, under Madeline Cantarella Culpo and Hallenbeck School of Dance under Gertrude Hallenbeck. She has also trained with Luigi, Hines & Hatchet, Martha Graham and received scholarships to train with The Princeton Ballet School and Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. She has performed on Broadway, in television and movies and modeled for the World Modeling Association.

    Over the years her students have been accepted into The Rock School, Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, Governors School of NJ, Berkshire Ballet Company, Briansky Saratoga Ballet Center, American Repertory Ballet, NC School of the Arts, NYC, Tisch and Kirov Ballet. Cynthia is a nationally awarded choreographer and in 2007 was named by Dance Spirit magazine as one of countries top 50 "Dance Teachers on the Move". She is certified by Dance Educators of America, a graduate of Mercer High School of Performing Arts and Empire State Theater. Cynthia has been teaching for 20 years.

  • Jonathan Greenberg received an art degree from Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington and an education degree from Beaver College in Glenside, PA. He has been teaching art for the past 10 years in Collingswood after a previous career in advertising. In addition he has taught numerous summer and after school classes in a wide range of media. He has experience in many different media and in his own practice focuses on screen printing and collage.
  • Norma Griffith earned her BFA from the University of the Arts with coursework at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and private study with George Sklar and Zhe Zhou Jiang, a Chinese Master Watercolorist. Her work has been cited for excellence in many regional exhibitions.
  • Lana Heckendorn received her BFA for Moore College of Art. She is also a recipient of the Project Serving Artist grant through Perkins Center to further develop her skills as a wood firer. She has exhibited her ceramics in the Delaware Valley, across the country and in Puerto Rico. Heckendorn currently lives in Philadelphia and is an associate artist at The Clay Studio.
  • Kate Johnson received her B.F.A. from University of the Arts, where she studied printmaking and art education. She currently teaches and provides art therapy in a variety of settings, and works with art enthusiasts from 2-99 years old. Kate also creates mosaic commission work for Networkarts with nursing home residents and high school students.
  • Jeanine Hill is a ceramic artist whose hand-built and wheel-thrown porcelain pieces are heavily influenced by the presence of the hand. Hill is skillfully trained in both hand-building and wheel-throwing, and also possesses a strong knowledge base in regards to the sculpting of the figure. She utilizes traditional and contemporary surface treatments. She successfully completed her B.F.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University and her M.F.A. from the University of Delaware. She has shown her work throughout the east coast and attended residencies at the Haystack Mtn. School of Craft and Guldagergaard, the International Ceramic Research Center of Denmark.
  • Christian Hochenberger is a graduate of Kutztown University where he received a BS in Communications. He is currently a photography educator at Shawnee High School where he has taught both black and white as well as digital photography for the past 6 years. Through photography Christian hopes to teach students how to explore the world around them and to use photography as a way to express themselves.
  • Jackie Stack Lagakos is a South Jersey mosaic artist whose work has been acknowledged internationally on television and on two covers of Bass World Magazine. Her mosaic design has also been used by Tricycle Magazine to compliment a piece written by Thich Nhat Hanh. Her work can be viewed at www.bottlestructures.com
  • Pauline Houston McCall is a multi-media artist, vocalist and activist who believes deeply in connecting the threads between disciplines. Her paintings, sculptures and drawings have been exhibited throughout the tri-state area. In addition to her art making, Pauline is an energetic educator that has led many community collaborative projects and artist residencies over the past 13 years. She received a BFA in Printmaking from Moore College of Art.  Pauline is the lead vocalist, co-songwriter and co-creator of Soul music endeavor MOKA and Pauline is the founder and director of the nationally acclaimed women artist collective “WOMEN HOLLER” – a collective that unites and invigorates women artists, transcending issues of race and age.Pauline's approach to teaching is to truly share her love and gifts for art so that students may feel what she feels and truly learn. She will continue to build nice safe learning communities through art. "It always makes me happy when I experience this with my students"..."My approach is to open the magical world of art making."
  • Lauren Melusky is a professional Modern Dancer from New Jersey. In 2007 she received her BFA in Dance from Mason Gross at Rutgers University as the DanceWorks scholarship recipient. In school she performed faculty works by Julia Ritter, Randy James, and John Evans and was invited to perform at the Mason Gross 30th Anniversary celebration. After graduation she began dancing for VaBang! Dance in NYC and a year later became a member of Freespace Dance in Montclair, NJ. In addition to performances throughout NYC and NJ, Freespace had its first international tour to Edinburgh, Scotland in August 2010 to perform at the Fringe Festival. Lauren is also currently a member of the MacArthur Dance Project in Philadelphia, where she currently resides. She has been an active dance educator with the Arts and Education Center, training middle and high school dancers since 2008. She has taught dancers as young as two years old and as experienced as dance majors at Montcair State. Studying and practicing Anusara yoga has also become an inspiration for her teachings, which are based on alignment, release, and strength.
  • Lauren Fabbri-Picerno earned her BA in theater, speech and dance from Rowan University and is currently pursuing an MA in theater education. She has worked with several theater companies including Triple Threat, Cumberland Players, City Arts League, and Hedgerow Theater.
  • Dolores Poacelli is s an abstract painter living in Collingswood NJ.  Dolores has been working in her Studio at Philadelphia's Italian Market neighborhood for the past 25 years.  Her work has been exhibited in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, North Carolina, Delaware and China.  Her work is also in numerous public and private collections including:
    SAP Software Corp. in Germany; Morgan-Lewis Legal Firm in Princeton; Jenkins & Martin Law Firm in Texas; Bank of America in Delaware; the State of New Jersey.
  • Winnie Radolan started her papermaking career at Historic RittenhouseTown. After a ten year involvement that included running papermaking workshops for adults and children, Winnie moved on and her papermaking adventures became itinerant. She now travels PA, NJ and DE extensively, teaching in schools, art centers and universities. She currently teaches at University of the Arts and Bucks County Community College in PA and has enjoyed being a guest instructor at the American Museum of Papermaking in GA and at Yale’s Center for British Art in CN. She writes an ongoing column about her experiences for Hand Papermaking’s quarterly newsletter. Last year she opened Tidewater Studio in NJ, where she is able to offer papermaking workshops/ artist retreats and studio rentals. In between sharing her love of papermaking with students of all ages she enjoys making both 2D and 3D works of paper art.
  • Robert Sakson- A.W. S. d.f., P.S.A., A.A.A., is a nationally known painter, author, instructor, juror and Dolphin Fellow of the American Watercolor Society. He has exhibited extensively both regionally and nationally and is the recipient of numerous awards including the 1998 Philadelphia Watercolor Club Board of Directors Award and the New Jersey Watercolor Society Norman Welb Award. He is listed in Who’s Who in American Art and his work is represented in numerous public and private collections. Mr. Sakson teaches master classes in watercolor at numerous art organizations including the Princeton Art Association and the Morris County Art Association.
  • Linda Shusterman earned her MFA in Ceramics from Clemson University and BFA from Goddard College. Her current work includes porcelain vessels forms fired in a noborigama (wood/salt) kiln. During art residencies she has worked with students creating ceramic/mosaic murals and garden planter/benches. Her work is exhibited nationally in galleries and is included in many public and private collections. Shusterman also teaches ceramics at Community College of Philadelphia and Gloucester County College. You can view her work at her website: www.shustermanwilloughby.com
  • Donald Stephens graduated with a BFA from Temple U., Tyler School of Art. His work has been shown extensively in the tri-state area including the African American Museum and Pavilion Art Gallery. Don ensures that each individual in his classes gets hands on attention during the session and demonstrations are also given for proper transference of information and as suggestions. Don requests that studens are aware that drawing and creative modes are labor intensive and students should have patience and indulge in suggestive ideals in handling optics testing observations with practical small drawings.
  • Naimah Stith is an associate potter at Wheaton Village in Millville, NJ and studio tech at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ. During the summer months she teaches adults and children at the Foundation for the Arts in Loveladies, NJ.
  • James Toogood A.W.S. His formal training took place at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. His work has been exhibited internationally including the National Academy of Design, the Butler Institute of American Art, and the Bermuda National Gallery. His work has received many honors among them from the American Watercolor Society and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He is represented in numerous public and private collections. Toogood teaches watercolor and lectures on watercolor technique. His work has been seen on television and in numerous publications, including American Artist Watercolor and The Artist Magazine.   James writes the column “Looking at Watercolors” for American Artist online.
  • Jennifer Wankoff began working in ceramics while living in Israel after college and has been immersed in the field ever since. Her current work is wheel-thrown and altered, and often wood-fired. Wankoff teaches adults and children in a variety of schools.
  • Linda Wiseley a graduate of Rowan University, is also a visiting artist for Rutgers University's Visual Poetry Program. She currently works from home in various media as a portrait artist and an abstractionist.