ALL of CMS teachers are professional mosaic artists and members of The Society of American Mosaic Artists.
FACULTY | STAFF | VISITING ARTISTS
Faculty
Karen Ami
MFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, BFA, The Boston Museum School, Independent study, Italy ( Scuolo Mosaici Orsoni, Venice), Ecuador, Costa Rica, Nevis, Mexico, and Ireland. Founder and Executive Director of CMS, she currently serves as President of The Society of American Mosaic Artists and has served on the Board of Directors since 2005. Ms. Ami has exhibited in over 24 countries and has been teaching ceramics, sculpture, and mosaic art for over 20 years.
Martha Crandall
BFA, Rhode island School of Design. Director of Studio B, a Mosaic design company in Chicago. Ms Crandall has been included in many local gallery exhibitions and her work was included in “Beneath The Surface” National Juried Exhibition in 2006, in Chicago. She is one of the founding faculty.members of CMS, and her specialties include Glass on Glass, and Community outreach projects.
Gwyn Kaitis
Master of Arts, Southern Illinois University. Ms Kaitis is one of the founding faculty members of CMS and she also serves on the Board of Trustees of The Society of American Mosaic Artists. Her delicate work has been exhibited in galleries, locally and nationally. She has studied lapidary arts and has worked with Maggie Howarth in England creating pebble mosaics.
Staci Sterenberg
BA in Studio Arts, Michigan State University. Ms. Sterenberg has taught art form many years in private schools and local arts centers. She works in many different mediums such as wood, polymer clay and in a former life was a jewelry and handbag designer. Her work has been exhibited at several Chicago galleries and has been included in several nationally juried exhibitions.
Andryea Natkin
BFA, School of the Art Institute Chicago. Ms Natkin had been an painter for most of her career before delving into mosaics full time. Her work has been included in several presigous juried exhibitions as well as several Chicago area shows. In addition to being an great addition to the CMS faculty, Ms Natkin is the founder and proprietor of Tiny Pieces Mosaic Supply.
Rochelle Borrett
BFA,Trinity University (San Antonio, TX), BS in ED Corpus Christi State University , MSEd in Arts Education from Northwestern University, Independent Study at Art Institute of Chicago, the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, and the International School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture (Todi and Montecastello, Italy). She recently received a Masters Certificate in Micromosaic from the Fornace Orsoni in Venice, Italy.
Joesph Guyer
Owner Sterling Mosaics, Joe is a professional tile installer and has been working in the trades for many years. His work can be seen in commercial sites, residences, and public locations around the metropolitan Chicago.
Wendy Gray Raven
Director of CMS Development, Certificate student and teaching assistant at CMS.
Staff
Chris Forillo
Chris Forillo is the Administrative Director of The Chicago Mosaic School. He is well groomed and well educated (MBA) and we are lucky to have him!
Visiting Artists
Martin Cheek
Martin Cheek is a graduate from Exeter College of Art & Design and for many years Martin was a part time lecturer at the Royal College of Art. He is a former art critic for the Daily Express and now works full time as a professional mosaic artist. He is the well known author of several books on mosaics and teaches classes at his studio in England as well as abroad.
Gary Drostle
Gary was born in Woolwich in South East London and studied fine art at Camberwell, St Martins and Middlesex Polytechnic. He also studied in Italy at the Cararra School of Marble Sculpture. He is the proprietor of Drostle Mosaics in UK, and presently serving as President of the British Association of Modern Mosaics. His award winning mosaics can be seen around Britain as well as the United States. His “Feather” mural was part of a CMS Workshop in 2007 and is permanently installed at the Drummond Public School here in Chicago.
Sue Giannotti
Sue Giannotti is the owner of MosaicOpus studio in St. Louis, Missouri. Sue’s work has been featured in several national art exhibitions and she continues to be one the finest mosaic arts instructors in the United States.
Yulia Hanansen
Yulia is an award winning artist and and owner of Mosaicsphere Studio in Baltimore, Maryland. Her work has been exhibited nationally and she she is known for working both traditionally and experimentally in mosaics. Yulia shares CMS’ passion to build public awareness about the quality of mosaics, and to exhibit the superb qualities of mosaic techniques.
Maggy Howarth
Maggy Howarth has been the tour de force in developing and perfecting the ancient art of hand-made pebble mosaic paving, combining it with modern techniques and imaginative contemporary design. From her studio in Lancastershire, England, Ms. Howarth creates outstanding installations and has written several books on Pebble Mosaic. Ms. Howarth has taught her expert techniques to students outside of the UK only twice, both times here at The Chicago Mosaic School, and we are honored to have her.
Shug Jones
Shug Jones is one of the founders of Tesserae Mosaic Studio in Plano, Texas. Her work continues to be featured in national exhibitions and her public installations has won many awards and accolaides. Ms. Jones serves on the board of the Society of American Mosaic Artists and has contributed much to the development of education in mosaic arts and is a supporter of The Chicago Mosaic School.
Sonia King
Sonia is the instructor in mosaics at the Creative Arts Center of Dallas and teaches advanced classes around the world. She is the author of the bestselling book “Mosaic Techniques & Traditions”. Sonia’s award-winning mosaics are exhibited nationally and internationally and represented in private, public and corporate collections. She is a founding member and past-President of SAMA and a director of the Associazione Internazionale Mosaicisti Contemporanei.
Verdiano Marzi
Verdiano Marzi is a world renowned artist who was born and educated in Ravenna, Italy. Mr. Marzi moved to Paris in 1973 where he began the artistic group Anaxagoras with fellow artists Giovanna Galli and Gino Signorini. Mr. Marzi’s works can be seen around the world he teaches workshops and studio courses throughout the year in France.
www.mosaico.net/marzi/index.htm
Matteo Randi
Matteo Randi was born in Ravenna, Italy and began his formal training in mosaic art there at the age of 11. He continued his training at theIstituto d’Arte Gino Severini, then at the National School for the Conservation of Mosaics, both in Ravenna. He currently works at his studio in Arlington, Virginia and creates original mosaic art that has won awards in many art exhibitions throughout the United States. Matteo has been a visiting artist at The Chicago Mosaic School for several years and we are honored to have him on our visiting artist faculty.
Sherri Warner Hunter
Sherri Warner Hunter has exhibited her award winning artwork across the country.Hunter is an active board member and president of the Community Built Association (CBA), a national organization of professional designers, architects, and artists who work with communities to design and develop volunteer based projects.She has also written two books on working with concrete; “Creating Concrete Ornaments for the Garden” and “Making Concrete Garden Ornaments”. The books were developed from expertise honed through decades of teaching. Hunter continues to teach workshops at her studio in Bell Buckle and at The Chicago Mosaic School.
