Instructors

Victor Aguirre Williams is a multidisciplinary artist living in Bristol, RI. Originally from Madrid, Spain, Victor received his BFA in Studio Art from Salve Regina University with concentrations in painting and ceramics. As a painter, Victor works mainly in the mediums of oil and watercolor. His portrait paintings are often inspired by medieval works, highlighting extravagance and elegance, while his landscapes aim to capture color and light in a loose, impressionist style. Spaces that have exhibited his work include the Providence Art Club, Dorrance H. Hamilton Gallery, and the Sargent House Museum in Gloucester, MA.

Cali Almy holds a BA in Studio Art from the University of Vermont and an MFA from UMass, Amherst.  She has taught in school and community art spaces for over 2 decades. Cali moved away from full time teaching in 2019 and completed a two year Artist in Residence program at the Worcester Center for Crafts in ceramics. Since then Cali has exhibited her artwork at a variety of museums, galleries, and festivals. In addition to time in the studio, she continues to enjoy being in community arts and education spaces as a teacher, student and artist.

Jon Baylor is a potter, object maker, and educator. He received a BFA from Syracuse University in Illustration with a minor in ceramics. He worked as a studio assistant for Jay Lacouture at the Carolina Pottery, as well as a production assistant for Roseberry Winn Pottery, Peter Pots Pottery, and Penns Creek Pottery. He now serves as Ceramics Studio Manager at the JAC and has worked at the South County Art Association in a similar role. Also, he runs a home studio, Salt Pond Pottery, with his wife Ashley. His work is informed by geometric forms found in nature, with a focus on wheel generated work.

Rosemary Burns is an artist who has focused primarily in drawing and painting in her own work, and has exhibited widely, including one-person shows at URI and Providence College. As an art educator, she has taught high school ceramics for several years, and a variety of college level visual arts courses. As an arts advocate, Rosemary has served as Rhode Island’s arts education specialist at the RI Department of Education, and as Board President of VSA Arts, RI Arts Equity and the RI Art Education Association, and as a board member of the JAC. She has recently retired as a school and district administrator, and is now independently working to mentor and support school leaders.

Kyle Canyon is a queer illustrator and comic artist based in Newport, Rhode Island. Using digital illustration techniques his work explores themes of humor, hypotheticals, and over dramatic emotions. Kyle invents surreal worlds and anthropomorphic characters to archive personal experiences and their ephemeral emotions. He has acquired a degree from Parsons School of Design and has been published by Colorama, Kuš! and Wobby magazine. He has previously taught at the Newport Art Museum and is looking forward to sharing his knowledge with the JAC community.

Ian Christian is a professional graphic designer holding a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts. Originally from NYC, now residing in picturesque Jamestown, RI, he stands as a versatile creative force. His skill set spans a spectrum of disciplines, ranging from the tactile realms of drawing, painting, calligraphy, and machining to the dynamic and ever-evolving digital realms of Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and web design. Delving into Ian's personal portfolio unveils a captivating fusion of artistic forms, melding the meticulous precision of realism with the fluid linework and shading techniques of comic book style art.

Karen Dolmanisth is an internationally recognized artist who works in drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, and time-based, multi-media installations. Her work integrates elements of movement, form, space, and light into transformative sculpture installations. She has exhibited and taught worldwide at the university level, and as a visiting artist to students of all ages. She has enjoyed teaching ceramics, printmaking, and drawing to both children and adults at the JAC since 2019. She received a BFA, in Visual Arts and Semiotics from Cooper Union, Parsons School of Design, and the New School, and an MFA in Multimedia, Sculpture, and Video Art from the University of Massachusetts.

Sherry Italiano is a self taught artist who has been teaching ceramics to both children and adults at the JAC since 2017, and the Newport Art Museum since 2011. She has been working with clay for decades; teaching and taking classes and workshops around the country along the way. The exploration, deliberate manipulations, and surface decoration of her work often lead the viewer into a fable driven, fanciful world which asks “when does form/function become something more”?… perhaps prompting the cup, the viewer, the sipper to question their true purpose.

Denise Marks is an artist, teacher, and mother of two. She has worked with children of all ages for over 25 years, providing dynamic, process oriented art education. Denise has studied art for over thirty years including at the Massachusetts College of Art & Design in Boston with a focus in Fine Art and Art Education. She is an interdisciplinary artist, showing her work nationally in galleries and in print. As an art educator, she provides children with a positive and creative outlet for process oriented exploration using a wide variety of mediums, methods, and genres to broaden not only their education and skill development, but also their personal process, artistic voice, and love of art making.

Will Simons is a sculptor and craftsperson working in clay, wood, and metals since 2004. He received a BFA in Sculpture from the University of California Santa Barbara and an MFA in Ceramics from the Rhode Island School of Design. He has exhibited his work in galleries and public settings in California and the Northeast. Will has focused intently on developing his sculpture and pottery within the high-fire atmospheric tradition of ceramics and has been finding new surfaces for his pieces in wood and soda kilns throughout New England since 2017. His work is informed by a range of interest and experience in architecture, exhibition design, kiln fabrication, woodworking, welding, casting and studio ceramics. He has enjoyed teaching and sharing his knowledge of all things clay with the JAC community since 2021.

Casey Weibust is a mixed media artist, who works in the mediums of printmaking, collage, sewing, and painting. She enjoys sharing her love of printmaking and its process with the community by teaching it to both young people and adults. She is also interested in working with young artists to help them develop high quality portfolios for college applications, and other artistic endeavors. Casey has been an instructor at the JAC since 2011 and is currently the Creative Arts Director at Out of the Box Studio & Gallery and VP of the Conanicut Island Art Association. She has taught printmaking classes for the RISD Young Artists Programs and South County Art Association, and jurored the Hera Gallery Young Adult Exhibition in 2021. She received a BFA in Printmaking from Massachusetts College of Art & Design.