ALL of CMS teachers are professional mosaic artists and members of The Society of American Mosaic Artists.
FACULTY | STAFF | VISITING ARTISTS | VISITING ARTISTS ARCHIVE
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 became a master mosaicist after studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in his hometown of Ravenna, the cradle of Byzantine Paleochristian mosaics (4th – 5th century AD). On arriving in France in 1973, he enrolled at the Aecole des Beaux-Arts de Paris as a student of the mosaicist Riccardo Licata. He then joined forces with Licata to found the Anaxagoras Group, which included numerous talented artists such as Giovanna Galli. Besides creating mosaics and showing them at his own exhibitions and with other artists, Verdiano Marzi also teaches, in particular at the Louvre, and carries out restoration work. In 1987 he was awarded the Premio Murano prize, an international competition involving glass art in Venice, followed by the Grand prix regional des Metiers d’art in Paris in 1990 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.
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.
