TINA FOLKS – PROJECT CHAIRMAN
Tina Folks has been an active volunteer for the EEAC for about 10 years and was recently elected to the Board of Directors. She has worked as a consultant & co-coordinator on community art projects, such as the Community Wall Mosaic in 2000, installed on the grounds at the EEAC in Riverhead, and the 9-11 Memorial Mosaic in 2002, which surrounds the flagpole base in front of the Westhampton Beach Middle School.
As an artist, Tina has been working with clay for over 20 years. She started out making functional pieces for the table and later began designing tile & mosaics for fireplace surrounds. Currently, her focus has been figurative sculpture. She shares a home studio with her husband Bryan Gutman in Hampton Bays. They are the sole proprietors of Fee Fi Faux Inc., a company specializing in fine wall finishes and wallpapering.
ALAN BULL
In the last decade, New England artist Alan Bull has earned special recognition for his versatility with a variety of media and subject matter. His emotionally charged depictions of the disappearing agricultural landscape have been popular with collectors throughout the country. Originally from Old Town, Maine he studied at the Philadelphia College of Art and worked as a muralist, theatrical set painter, illustrator, portrait artist and studio assistant to glass artist Dan Dailey before embarking on his career as a full time painter.
Currently Alan teaches painting & drawing workshops throughout the East End of L.I. and the North Shore of Massachusetts where he now resides.
ALLI BERMAN
Alli Berman is an abstract artist who is best known for her interactive “PuzzleArt”. Over her many years of study, writing & teaching art, Alli has created her concept of PuzzleArt to help people examine the endless connections in art and life using elemental artist’s tools such as color, shape, texture and lines. Typically, her compositions are made up individual squares (or smaller abstract paintings) to complete a whole, while the viewer can rearrange these squares, attached from behind with Velcro to come up with their own new solutions. To the artist every solution is correct! It is thought that exercises like this can help promote creative problem-solving skills at any age. Alli Berman is the founder of the Anti Aging Art Institute, and has taught workshops in places around the world including Asia & Europe as part of a hands-on brain fitness initiative given through the institute. The artist has exhibited her work in museums, galleries & corporate collections worldwide.
BRYAN GUTMAN
Bryan Gutman has remained committed to painting since completing his MFA Degree from Brooklyn College, New York in 1984. While working through the years, the artist has developed two distinctive styles. Since Bryan’s roots are in “plein air” landscape painting, his keen eye for color has always led him to paint Fall scenes surrounding tributaries, ponds or creeks in the area. On the other hand, Bryan attempts a departure from this foundation to create a personal iconography in a contemporary style. Erotica, neon signage and elements of the urban landscape are references that the artist likes to use repeatedly in his canvas. Layered together, the artist attempts to create the impact of a “momentary slice of time”.
BRYAN LANDSBERG
Utilizing metaphor and symbolism, Bryan Landsberg seeks to capture emotion, energy, and visual narrative through his musical and ethereal stained glass inspired creations. Driven by his preoccupations and philosophies, he uses his work as a means of self-examination and meditation in order to find inner peace.
He studied Art at Suffolk Community College and CW Post. He furthered his artistic education backpacking through Europe to experience firsthand the works he viewed in Art History. Being influenced by artists like Gorky, De Kooning, and Kandinsky, Bryan composes his work with figurative forms enveloped in frantic brush strokes, meandering psychic automatic lines and amoebic panels of intense color.
Bryan’s work has been displayed in several exhibitions and has been purchased by many private collectors throughout the country. His work has also been featured in independent film, and on television as well as in such publications as the Southampton Press and Dans Paper.
One of EEAC’s featured artists of the annual Street Painting Festival for several years, Bryan currently works out of his studio in downtown Riverhead, N.Y.
HALLIE MONROE
Since Hallie Monroe was a young girl, she was always encouraged to take art classes.This encouragement paid off for the artist, as she’s grown to maintain her own stained glass workshop 20 years later. While Hallie welcomes commissioned stained glass work, she has also been hired to do restoration projects for some local Southampton concerns, such as the Roger’s Memorial Library, the First Presbyterian Church & the Southampton Hospital Parrish building. Lately Hallie has been working on a restoration of the 1893 painted windows of the Southampton Methodist Church. ” When I do historical research on a project, it’s exciting to share what I’ve learned with others.”
Hallie Monroe holds a BFA in Illustration from Pratt Institute. She has been the recipient of several grants, including one from the American Glass Guild in 2007 & 2009.
JENNIFER RIBBE
Since Jennifer Ribbe was young, she always used her creativity as an outlet. As a young adult, the artist eventually pursued a degree in Illustration from the Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.) in Manhattan and later received the Antonio Lopez-Scholarship award in 1994 for Graphic Design. Currently, Jennifer works as an Art Director in N.Y.C. while maintaining an art studio and home on Long Island with her husband. As an artist, Jennifer enjoys the challenge of painting large-scale canvases. Driven by the need for peace and serenity, her subject matter is usually floras, while letting her emotions escape with the use of vivid color and dramatic composition. Her work has been commissioned by both private & corporate collectors and currently hangs throughout the U.S, Canada, England and Ireland.
LAURA BENJAMIN
Laura Benjamin was born in N.Y.C. She holds a BFA from American University as well as a MA in Art Education from NYU. In addition during a sabbatical from teaching art Laura received an Associates Degree in Textile Design from F.I.T. in Manhattan. In the mid 1990′s, her focus turned towards computer graphics and as an art educator, she incorporated this into her curriculum.
Now that she no longer teaches art, it gives the artist time to focus on her own work. “My subjects often have exaggerated features and extremities, which is intended to reinforce the sense of energy and purpose in their act.” Her latest work involves the creation of collage using candy wrappers as primary materials.
Her imagery appears whimsical and humorous, with a strong sense of graphic design and precision. Laura Benjamin’s work can be seen locally, such as Guild Hall in East Hampton and at the East End Arts Council art gallery in Riverhead. She is currently a resident of East Hampton.
MAGGIE KRITSBERG
Most of the time you will find Maggie Kritsberg at work as Education Coordinator at the EEAC School of the Arts or on the run as a busy mother of two sons. While Maggie has been creative all of her life, in recent years she has concentrated on decorative painting, inspired by traditional Scandinavian and American folk art designs. Her latest passion is painting vistas of the North Fork in oils. “My door is inspired by the warm sunlight of summer and finding the beauty and happiness in the simple things in life.”
RICHARD MIZDAL
Richard Mizdal has been enjoying a long career in art. While currently teaching as an Associate Professor in Photographic Imaging @ Suffolk Community College, Richard’s work has been collected by both corporate & public concerns.
“Richard Mizdal’s paintings explore the structure of light and matter with an ever evolving subtlety and sophistication revealing not only a mature grasp of the techniques of master painting, but a vision and understanding of nature that is truly remarkable today.”
RUTH NASCA
Ruth Nasca holds a BFA from the University of Buffalo and the Albright Art School as well as a MA in Art Education from SUNY @ Buffalo. Since the late 1980′s Ruth has shown extensively here on the East End of Long Island. She has also been the recipient of many awards throughout the last several years, including 1st place at the National League of American Pen Women @ the Vanderbilt Museum.
“People are important to me. Since 1990, I have been creating poster paintings and drawing the nude directly on vintage movie posters with oil pastels. The process continues with acrylic paints, using expressive colors, strong shapes and bold drawing to transform the artwork into a new meaning. People viewing my ‘altered art’ may see sexual images that are original and sensitive.”
Ruth Nasca is currently a resident of East Hampton.