Faculty
Founders:
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.
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.
Directors:
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.
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:
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.
Julia Dougherty was born in the US and graduated with a BA in History from Pomona College, California. She then moved to Rome and continued her studies at the University of Rome, La Sapienza, majoring in Languages and Literature with a focus on English, Italian and German. She taught English in Rome for over twenty years at various academies as well as LUISS University. After relocating to northern Italy, she started working in the English Department at Ca’ Foscari University in Venice. Over the years she has also taught Italian to various groups of adult learners. Julia has spent decades in the Bel Paese, traveling to different parts of the peninsula to learn more about its history and art and architectural heritage, and local varieties of its national language.
C. Finley, Founder and Curator of the Every Woman Biennial, 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.
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.
Elliot Kreloff is an award-winning children’s book author/illustrator arts educator and designer. 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. You can find many of his books on his author’s page on Amazon.
Mario Andres Robinson was born in Altus, Oklahoma and at the age of 12 moved with his family to New Jersey. Robinson studied at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York where early on he was influenced by Degas, Rembrandt, and Vermeer among others. His work fits squarely within the tradition of American painting with a close affinity to the masters of the realist tradition—Eakins, Homer, Hopper, and Andrew Wyeth. Robinson's work has been featured in The Artist's Magazine, The Pastel Journal, Watercolor Magic, American Art Collector, Fine Art Connoisseur and on the cover of American Artist. In the February, 2006 issue of The Artist's Magazine, Mario was selected as one of the top 20 realist artists under the age of 40. He is the author of "Lessons in Realistic Watercolor," a comprehensive guide of the artist's watercolor techniques (Monacelli Press). In 2014, Robinson was chosen to be a Brand Ambassador for Winsor and Newton art materials.
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.
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.
Gavin Snider is an artist who lives and works in Brooklyn. He paints to slow down the world and to better understand the places and people around him. With a background in architecture, much of Gavin's work focuses on buildings and cityscapes. A few times a week he picks a location—whether a famous landmark or a far-flung neighborhood—packs up his supplies, and goes to paint. In a way, these paintings are a form of urbanism—the study of city life.
Gavin has created original artwork for a number of organizations, including the New York Yankees, Saturday Night Live, Netflix, Sony Music, the MTA and the NYC DOT. He's led painting and drawing workshops throughout New York City, in partnership with the Guggenheim Museum, McNally Jackson, Happy Medium, NYC Urban Sketchers, Drawing America, Art Toolkit and Juicebox NYC.
Luke Yankee is a critically acclaimed playwright, author, producer, and director. His memoir, Just Outside the Spotlight: Growing up with Eileen Heckart is published by Random House with a foreword by Mary Tyler Moore. It has been called “One of the most compassionate, illuminating showbiz books ever written” and was named “One of the Ten Best Celebrity Memoirs of All Time.” His latest play, Marilyn, Mom & Me is the recipient of the 2022 Stanley Award given for excellence in American playwriting. The west coast premiere was the recipient of eleven Stage Scene LA Awards. He is also the author of The Art of Writing for the Theatre: An Introduction to Script Analysis, Playwriting and Criticism, published by Methuen Drama/Bloomsbury Press. His play, The Last Lifeboat is published by Dramatists Play Service and has received more than 70 productions in North America. His award-winning comedy, The Jesus Hickey premiered in Los Angeles starring Harry Hamlin. The Man Who Killed the Cure was a semifinalist for the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Festival and is published by Amazon. Confessions of a Star Maker won Best Play at the Moondance Writers Contest and was chosen for the Last Frontier Theatre Festival. His award-winning comedy, The Jesus Hickey premiered in Los Angeles starring Harry Hamlin. His first play, A Place at Forest Lawn has been performed at several regional theatres and has had presentations on both coasts with Tony Goldwyn, Marcia Cross, Betty White, Marian Seldes, Frances Sternhagen and Steven Culp. As a professional director, Mr. Yankee has worked on and off Broadway at venues ranging from Radio City Music Hall to the Crystal Symphony cruise ship, assistant directed six Broadway shows and has served as artistic director of two regional theatres. For five years, he served as the Head of Playwriting at the University of California, Fullerton and as an adjunct faculty member at Chapman University.