Faculty


  Founders:

Photo

Bea Kreloff (1925-2016) Art Workshop International founder was a painter, teacher, and former head of the art department, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, Bronx, New York. She taught painting workshops, seminars, and lectured on art at Cooper Union, Marymount Manhattan College, Women's Caucus for Art, The New School University, The College Art Association, and numerous art groups. Her work is exhibited nationally and internationally and is in a number of private collections. She had been a director of Art Workshop International for 31 years.

Bea and Edith

Bea Kreloff at the Hirshhorn

Photo

Edith Isaac-Rose (1929-2018) co-founder of Art Workshop International; painter, teacher, and graduate of the Chicago Art Institute, B.A.E. She’s represented by Phyllis Kind Gallery in New York. Isaac-Rose has been a Visiting Artist, American Academy in Rome, 2003; and Vermont Studio Center Fellow, 2005. She’s exhibited in the U.S. at the Phyllis Kind Gallery and abroad, recently in China; taught at Ohio State, Columbia, Princeton Art Association, and in her studio. In addition, she has lectured and critiqued in various schools in the Northeast and conducted art workshops in the U.S. and abroad. Her work is in the Hirshhorn Museum and other important collections.

Edith and Bea


  Directors:

Photo

Charies Kreloff Art Workshop International director, has run his own design studio for over 20 years. A publications and book art director, his clients include Simon and Schuster, HarperCollins, Random House, Viking Penguin, Scholastic, and Conde Nast. Kreloff has taught graphic design and typography at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He is also the co-author of the books Is Your Dog Gay?, Is Your Cat Gay?, and Pills for Cats. He is currently working on a screenplay. 

charleskreloffdesign.com

  

Photo

Lynn Gernert Art Workshop International director, is the principal of Lynn Gernert Architects. For over 20 years, she has designed and overseen construction of projects ranging from highly detailed private commercial and residential projects to large-scale affordable housing and community centers. Prior to establishing her own firm, she was Senior Architect at the Pratt Center for Community Development in New York City. Gernert is an Adjunct Professor at NYC College of Technology, CUNY, where she teaches architectural design and building science.

  


  Instructors:

Photo

Nancy Balbirer is the author of three memoirs: Take Your Shirt Off and Cry (Bloomsbury, 2009); A Marriage in Dog Years (Little A, 2018) and Almost Romance (Little A, Feb 2022) which was was hailed by Town & Country Magazine as “One of the Must-Read Books of 2022”. In addition to her books and myriad short form pieces published both online and in print, Nancy is also the author and star of the critically acclaimed solo show, I Slept With Jack Kerouac.  She is currently at work on an adaptation of Almost Romance for television.

nancybalbirer.com

  

Photo

Maria Adelaide Basile Born in Rome, Italy, Maria Adelaide Basile received her Master in Contemporary Italian Literature from the University of Rome La Sapienza and her Ph.D in Medieval Italian Literature from Rutgers University in United States. She taught Italian language and literature at Rutgers University, at the College of Charleston and at John Cabot University in Rome. She read her papers at several conferences, and has published several essays on Dante, Nievo, Manzoni, and the filmmaker Gillo Pontecorvo. In addition, Dr Basile has worked as theater critic for several newspapers, and translated and introduced the poems of the French poet Alain Bosquet and the American poet Anne Carson. Her main areas of interest are the Middle Ages, Italian Theater, and Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Italian literature. She is also a published poet. Dr Basile’s publications include an essay on the Italian writer Piero Sanavio Caterina Cornaro o del potere, published by Il Mulino and a collection of poems, Viaggi (Travels), Campanotto, November 2014.

  

Photo

Caterina Bertolotto graduated from the University of Turin, Italy. She received 9 certificates in different language teaching methodologies both in Italy and in New York, and received a Distinguished University Teaching Award from the New School University, and a Mellon Grant from Pratt Institute. Caterina is a published author of 4 books, and has taught 7 Seminars to teachers of Languages. She has taught Italian at The New School where she was also the Italian Program Coordinator and trainer for 20 years. She taught undergraduates at Sarah Lawrence College, Montclair State University, Pratt Institute, Eugene Lang and Baruch College. She has developed a very effective and enjoyable method for learning Italian and with a colleague has made PowerPoint material for travelers.

Caterina is also an artist and created special effects for over 60 theater, dance and music productions, including The Lion King on Broadway and The Magic Flute at the Metropolitan Opera. She also exhibited her “Dresses of Transformation” in 10 venues in New York City, Italy and Germany.

caterinabertolotto.com

  

Photo

Charles Busch is the author The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, which ran nearly two years on Broadway and received a Tony nomination for Best Play, and Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, one of the longest running plays in Off-Broadway history. He wrote and starred in the film versions of his plays, Psycho Beach Party and Die Mommie Die, the latter of which won him the Best Performance Award at the Sundance Film Festival.  Mr. Busch is the recipient of a special Drama Desk Award for career achievement as both performer and playwright. The Dramatist’s Guild has honored him with the Flora Roberts Award for sustained commitment to the theatre. His autobiography, Leading Lady; The Memoir of a Most Unusual Boy is published by BenBella books. 

charlesbusch.com 

  

Photo

C. Finley, Founder and Curator of the Every Woman Biennial and director of the La MaMa Galleria is known for her elaborate paintings and intense use of color, monumental murals, multi-disciplinary collaborations, and her activism through urban art interventions, including her acclaimed Wallpapered Dumpsters. As the creator of the 2014-2021 Every Woman Biennial she has exhibited 1200 female and non-binary artists in New York, Los Angeles and London.  Finley has shown internationally and her work has been featured in the The New York Times, La Repubblica, Dazed, Fast Company, Women’s Wear Daily, Cultured, and more. 

iamfinley.com

  

Photo

Sam Gruber (B.A. Medieval Studies from Princeton University, Ph.D. in art and archaeology from Columbia University) is an internationally recognized art and architectural historian, and historic preservationist.  His specialties are medieval Italian art and architecture and the art and architecture of Judaism. Sam is a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome (Rome Prize in Art History), and has been a recipient of an NEH fellowship, and research grants from many foundations and institutions. He presently teaches Jewish Studies and Art History at Syracuse University (since 1994) and Cornell University (since 2017) and he has taught at Temple University (Rome); Columbia University; Colgate University, Binghamton University; and LeMoyne College. Sam is an expert on Medieval and Renaissance Italian architecture and cities. His doctoral dissertation is “Medieval Todi: Studies in Architecture and Urbanism,” and he has published many articles on medieval Italian cities.

For 30 years Sam has also been a leader in the documentation and presentation of Jewish heritage worldwide. He was founding director of the Jewish Heritage Program of the World Monuments Fund and Research Director of the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad, with projects in Italy and many countries in Central and Eastern Europe. He is presently working on a research project to document the roles and spaces of women in Italian Synagogues from the Middle Ages to today.

Instructor photo by Marc Safran

samuelgruber.com

  

Photo

Alex Hillkurtz is a watercolor artist currently living in Paris, France. Alex was born in England and grew up in California, where he was an award-winning film student at Chapman University. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Film Production, he established himself as a successful illustrator and storyboard artist in Hollywood, collaborating with many of the film industry’s leading directors and cinematographers.

Since moving to Paris, Alex has turned his focus to a career as a watercolor artist. He enjoys discovering the aspects of the city that sketching and painting uniquely allow. Alex uses the language of cinema to inform his images, moving beyond what is most obvious, and focusing the viewer’s eye on what he wants them to see.

Alex’s works have been exhibited in solo and group shows in Europe, the United States, and Russia. Alex is a Signature Member of the National Watercolor Society (USA), an associate member of the California Watercolor Association, a member of French Plein Air Painters, and USK Paris.

He conducts regular workshops and masterclasses on watercolor painting and sketching, teaching students of all levels and backgrounds how to infuse their paintings with a marvelous sense of life. His on-line course with Domestika has reached over 120,000 students worldwide, and his book “Sketching Techniques for Artists” was published in 2021 by Quarto Publishing.

alexhillkurtzart.com

  

Photo

Bob Hughes, formerly with the Wall Street Journal where he honed his skills in cultural journalism, is the author of “Late and Soon,” which was cited for its elegant prose and rich character development, earning praise from noted authors like Adriana Trigiani and Edmund White. He is also a playwright, currently polishing his new work, “A Constant Life.” His writing continues to reflect his diverse interests and expertise. Currently splitting his time between New York and Paris, Bob shares his insights and experiences of French life on his blog, Parisian on Purpose.

  

Photo

Elliot Kreloff is an award-winning designer and children’s book illustrator. His career as creative director for Scholastic Books, Disney Publishing Worldwide, MacMillan Publishing and his own studio, Design Five, has spanned over forty years. As an arts educator, he has taught at Parsons School of Design, New York Institute of Technology, Rutgers University and Fordham University. His books have been awarded Best Book of the Year by Child Magazine, and he has received numerous awards from various professional design organizations and publications including the Bookbinders Guild, Art Direction, Communication Arts and the Society of Illustrators. He is a graduate of Cooper Union and holds a master’s degree from Hunter College.

  

Photo

S.J. Rozan is the author of eighteen novels and more than 75 short stories, and the editor of three anthologies. She has won multiple awards for both novel and short story, including the Edgar, Shamus, Anthony, Nero, Macavity; Japanese Maltese Falcon; and the Private Eye Writers of America Life Achievement Award. She teaches and lectures widely and has been a Master Artist at The Atlantic Center for the Arts and Writer-in-Residence at Singapore Management University. Her most recent novel is The Mayors of New York.

sjrozan.net

  

Photo

Barbara Shoup is the author of eight novels for adults and young adults, a memoir, and two books about the creative process. Her YA novels have been named to the American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults, the Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Books Blue Ribbon Book; Voya Best Young Adult Book and Perfect 10, and the International Reading Association’s Young Adults Choice List. The recipient of the PEN Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Working Writer Fellowship, Lilly Endowment Creative Renewal Fellowships, and fellowships from the Ragdale Foundation, she is the Writer-in-Residence at the Indiana Writers Center. Her most recent novel is Looking for Jack Kerouac.

barbarashoup.com