Administration
Tom Howe, Director, taught in the early years of the Summer Programs and brings experience in the performing arts, teaching and school administration to his position as director. After graduating from Hampshire College in 1976, Tom worked for 11 years in New York, performing in numerous downtown venues Off-and Off-Off Broadway and on tour. In 1987 he left New York to join the faculty at Putney School. Tom and his family later moved to Chicago in the early 90’s where he served as drama teacher and drama department chair at the Francis W. Parker School. In 1999, Tom joined the founding team of the Compass School (VT), serving as administrative coordinator before returning to Putney as Director of Summer Programs in 2001.
Trish Kneeland, Assistant Director, has been with Summer Programs since 2006.
Wendy Wilson, Business Manager, has come to The Putney School after many years as studio woodturner and sculptor. She graduated from Russell Sage College and attended the evening division of the Boston School of the Museum of Fine Arts for four years. She has experience as an art teacher, museum technician, toymaker, furniture designer and small business owner. Wendy moved to Putney in 1994 and continues her craft in her studio, which is idyllically situated in the woods next to a babbling brook. Wendy has been with Summer Programs since 2004. http://www.putneycrafts.com/wilson.shtml
Lisa Gold, Residential Life Coordinator, will earn her Masters in Social Welfare from the University of California, Berkeley in May 2010. Lisa completed her BS in Communication Arts with an emphasis in Film, Television & Radio from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After graduating from UW-Madison, Lisa worked in film production and development at Paramount Pictures and Walt Disney Pictures. Lisa has worked with teenagers in a variety of capacities, including as a counselor at a high school and as a coordinator of a camp leadership program. She is excited to be working with high school students in Vermont this summer.
Katie Mulrey, Assistant Residential Life Coordinator, graduated from Framingham State College with a major in studio art and a minor in psychology. Katie’s senior thesis included figurative drawings using charcoal, snow, and dirt on paper. She enjoys volunteering at Children's Hospital, Boston and looks forward to future endeavors involving children and the healing power of art. Katie loved being active on her college campus, serving as class secretary and senator in the student government association. A Summer Programs alum and former apprentice teacher and dormitory head, Katie looks forward to bringing her enthusiastic involvement in campus life to Putney this summer as a coordinator on the residential life team.
Faculty & Staff
Arts teachers at Putney are both practicing artists/writers/performers and experienced teachers. Faculty members have a firm grounding in their art form and are pushing the boundaries of their own creative medium.
Our Farm Program is led by the educator-farmers who run our campus dairy and vegetable farm which is closely integrated with the academic-year program at Putney.
Teachers in the Program for International Education are trained and experienced in teaching English (ESOL) and in multicultural education.
Each dormitory is staffed by 2 or 3 resident staff members, who are college juniors and seniors, MFA students, or young college graduates beginning their careers. These adult dormheads also serve as assistant teachers in the workshops.
Staff members support and nurture students, challenge them to grow, and, as professionals and postsecondary students with a serious dedication to the arts, serve as excellent role models for our high school students.
Summer Programs Staff
Faculty - Dormheads - Administration
Faculty
Jacy Barber, Wearable Arts Teacher, is a costume designer, puppet maker, and teacher. Her interest in wearable arts started when she was a high school student at The Putney School. Jacy attended Sarah Lawrence College, where she studied costume design, puppetry, and biology. After graduation she was a resident costume designer at AMDA in New York City and designed world premieres for Fred Ho, Queens Theater in The Park, and Andhow Theater Company. As a puppeteer she has worked with Dan Hurlin, Basil Twist, and Mabou Mines. Jacy has been teaching at the Summer Programs since 2005.
Jeanne Wulsin Bennett, Metalwork and Jewelry Teacher, is an award-winning freelance metal designer, working out of her home studio in Westminster West and, previously, for custom jewelers in Vermont, New Hampshire and the Virgin Islands. She has been with the Summer Programs since 1994, as well as teaching jewelry classes during the academic year at The Putney School, at the Compass School, and in her studio. She is a juried member of the prestigious League of New Hampshire Craftsmen and, since 2001, a member of the Putney Craft Tour.
Jason Buening, Painting Teacher, began studying painting and drawing at the New York Studio School and went on to earn a BFA in Painting and Art History at Marlboro College. He completed an MFA in painting at American University where he studied for a year in Italy. Jason has organized mural painting workshops in elementary and middle schools, taught painting and art history to high school students, and directed drawing marathons at colleges and art centers. Exhibitions include group shows in New York, Boston, Washington, DC and Rome. In 2009 he served as a visiting artist to the Compass School, Amistad Academy and York College of Pennsylvania. Jason has taught at Summer Programs since 2005. www.jasonbuening.com
Monica Hoenig, Filmmaking Teacher, regularly writes and directs short films, focusing on experimental storytelling to explore cinema as a creative fine-art form. She has produced and directed narrative and experimental films, branding films, music videos and documentaries. As assistant camera and grip electric, Monica has worked on feature films including Robert Rodriguez’s Spy Kids and Roger Corman’s Rumble in the Night. She wrote and directed award winning Epitaph, based on events concerning her father’s death. Monica recently produced a 25-minute documentary on the diabetes crises in St. Lucia, soon to air on national and Caribbean television. She is currently in production on a feature length documentary chronicling the struggles of nature conservation in Madagascar. Monica has dedicated her career to creating films that bring social issues to light and that require active participation on the part of the viewers. She received her MFA from NYU and is co-owner of Made In Film-Land http://www.film-land.com .
Eric Johanni, Photography and Printmaking Teacher, has been teaching art on both the high school and college level since 1998. He holds a double BFA in printmaking and photography from The Ohio State University and is currently working on completing his MFA in printmaking at Syracuse University. In the past year Eric has displayed work in Chicago, Phoenix, and New York. His work is represented in the permanent collections of Syracuse University, Columbia University, and the Southern Graphics Council. In addition to his fine art career, Eric and his wife design and fabricate original clothing and handbags. Eric currently resides in Syracuse, New York, and instructs Serigraphy, Relief Printing and 20th Century Art History at Syracuse University. www.ejohanni.com
Melissa Johnson, Textile Design & Fiber Arts Teacher, has taught Fiber Arts year round at The Putney School since 1995. In addition to teaching, she does custom weaving, dyeing, and knitwear design for individuals and several local businesses.
Julie Marden, Chamber Music Teacher and violinist, has performed chamber music and in recitals in New England, New York, and North Carolina. Julie has played in the Springfield (MA) Symphony orchestra since 1987 and has had various stints with other professional orchestras including the New Haven (CT) and Vermont Symphony Orchestras. She has taught chamber music and conducted the orchestra at The Putney School. An alumna of Barnard College, Julie received her master's degree in violin performance from the Manhattan School of Music. Julie also writes fiction and received her MFA in fiction writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts in July 2009.
Brian Mooney, Fiction Writing and Poetry Writing Teacher, has had his fiction, non-fiction, and poetry appear in Cincinnati Review, Indiana Review, Columbia University's Journal of Literature and Art, Crazyhorse, Chicago Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, Seattle Review, the anthology American Fiction: the Best of the Emerging Writers, and many other national publications. His work has been presented by actors Leonard Nimoy, Hector Elizondo, and Marcia Gaye Harden at such places as the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, Paramount Studios, and Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has taught creative writing at Marlboro College and the University of Massachusetts, and he has been a faculty member of The Putney School Summer Programs since 1998. He is also the guy behind The Storymatic (“six trillion stories in one little box”), which can be found at TheStorymatic.com.
Rodrigo Nava, Sculpture Teacher, is a Mexican-born sculptor focusing on the exploration of form in stone, as well as process-oriented art. He is a graduate of The Putney School, the American University of Paris and has worked with The Carving Studio, Rutland, VT. He currently teaches sculpture during the academic year at The Putney School and has taught at Summer Programs since 2002.
Julia Perlowski, Theatre and Program for International Education (ESOL) Teacher, is thrilled to be back at Putney. She is looking forward to using improvisational theater techniques in both her workshops. Julia is an Ambassador to the Folger Shakespeare Library in D.C., training students to use performance-based methods to learn about Shakespeare and is a big proponent of collaboration among generations and cultures. In the fall, she will create a collaborative theater piece with students from Florida and Mumbai. She recently completed the Kindertransport Project, a piece on England’s attempt to save Jewish children by opening their doors to them in 1939. Julia is the recipient of the Teaching Excellence Award from the US State Department and the Reba R. Robinson Award from the Children’s Theatre Foundation, in partnership with the American Alliance of Theatre and Education. During the school year, Julia is Director of Theatre Programs at Pompano Beach High School, Florida.
Thomas Perry, Animation Teacher, is a working filmmaker and animator from New York City. He developed skills in drawing and sculpture early in life, first at LaGuardia High-School in New York and then at The Putney School. He received his BA from College of the Atlantic, where he studied ecology and theater. After college he returned to New York where he worked as a graphic designer in publishing. During this time he began writing and directing films and animations. He later received his MFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he studied both animation and live-action filmmaking. He has directed and produced numerous short-form films and animations and taught at New York Film Academy.
Jonathan Pincus, Drawing Teacher, is delighted to join the Putney Community for the summer of 2010. A native New Yorker and Brooklyn resident, Jonathan divides his time between an active studio practice and teaching. He was awarded a MFA cum laude from the New York Academy of Art in 2004 and his recent monoprint, SUMO I, is currently on tour with a traveling exhibit juried by Samantha Rippner, Curator of Drawings and Prints at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Jonathan has won a number of awards for his teaching practice including: a NEA Learning and Leadership grant, a Power of Art Rauschenberg award, a Teachnet grant and a MetLife fellowship from the Teachers Network Leadership Institute for exemplary teaching.
Rosalie Purvis, Theater and Playwriting Teacher, is a theater director, actor, choreographer, and dancer in New York City. Since 1999, she has been teaching performing arts and English at colleges and high school programs, including Pace University, Lehman College (Bronx), North Carolina Governor’s School, Cello Farm Teen Arts Salon, and Brooklyn College, where she received a Distinguished Teaching Fellowship Award. She holds a BA from Bard and an MFA in theater from Brooklyn College.
Jamie Reinstein, Program for International Education (ESOL) Teacher, has taught English as a Second Language at the high school and college level for over twenty years. He earned a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania in Folklore and Folklife and an M.Ed from Temple University in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. He has lived in Europe, Africa, and Asia and speaks Mandarin Chinese. In recent years, Jamie has taught in summer programs at Punahou School in Honolulu and Hawaii Preparatory Academy on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Megan Savage, Writing Intensive Teacher, has received fellowships from Ledig House International Writer's Residency and Indiana University, where she completed graduate studies in creative writing (fiction) and English, and served as the Fiction Editor of Indiana Review. Her work has appeared in Spork, Subtropics, and Barn Owl Review, and has been twice nominated for Best New American Voices. She has been teaching at Summer Programs since 2006. She has also taught community workshops with Write Around Portland, and at the Martha's Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing. Currently, she is based in Portland, Oregon, where she teaches writing at Portland Community College.
Robert Singley, Music Composition and Audio Art Teacher, has written over thirty substantial works for various ensembles ranging from full orchestra to soloist. His music has been performed by members of the National Repertory Orchestra, the Bowdoin International Music Festival, the Duquesne Symphony Orchestra, the Duquesne University Contemporary Ensemble, the Duquesne Electronic Ensemble, and the Ithaca (NY) based group Tabula Rasa. He is the winner of several competitions for his music, including the 2009 Vermont Music Educator's Association Composer of the Year commission, the Smadbeck Composition Prize, and honorable mention in the 2006 Brian Israel Prize for new music. He has taught music at Bennington College, Ithaca College and at The Putney School Summer Programs. http://soundsthesongsofseabirds.bandcamp.com/ and
http://robertsingley.yolasite.com/
Richard Sonnenmoser, Writing Intensive and Fiction Teacher, earned an MFA in creative writing from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2008. His stories have been published in West Branch, Harvard Review and other journals. He has worked as an editorial assistant at The Missouri Review and The Massachusetts Review, and is now the fiction editor of The Laurel Review. He lives in Maryville, Missouri, where he’s an assistant professor of English at Northwest Missouri State University. He’s currently at work on a short-story collection, Other Women.
Pete Stickney, Farm Teacher, has been farm manager at The Putney School since 1996. In addition to his role as educator/farmer at The Putney School, he has served as a faculty trustee and co-chair of the Building Committee for the environmentally sustainable, “net-zero” Field House. Pete has been president of the Vermont Holstein Association and agricultural commissioner for the Windham Regional Commission. He was lauded as Vermont’s Outstanding Holstein Breeder and Windham County’s Conservation Farmer of the Year. He holds a BA in history from Union Institute & University.
Jared Stolper, Vocal Ensemble Teacher, has been teaching music and performing in Vermont and New Hampshire since 1976. A master guitarist, Jared is also passionate about directing, writing, and arranging music for vocal ensembles. He has traveled extensively to experience long-standing musical traditions in such countries as the Republic of Georgia, the former Yugoslavia, and Indonesia. Jared sings in three different world music ensembles and is also a member of the men's vocal trio Triptych. Jared has a BA in music composition from SUNY Geneseo, and an MA in guitar performance from Norwich University. Jared studied guitar with Stanley Watson at the Eastman School of Music, where he has performed his solo compositions as well as compositions for guitar, voice, and instrumental ensemble. Along with performing and composing, Jared teaches music at the Grammar School in Putney.
Cara Surico, Modern Dance Teacher, received her BFA in Dance from The Ailey School and Fordham University in 2003. Originally from Dayton, OH, Cara is a choreographer, dancer and teacher currently based in Brooklyn, NY. She is the artistic director of SuriCo. - a modern dance company that seeks to create an aesthetic experience through the power of simplicity that engages one from start to finish. Cara has presented her work both in and out of New York, has received the Monticello Award from Regional Dance America for Best Female Emerging Choreographer and, in 2006 the National Choreography Connections Award. Cara recently completed her yoga teacher certification through Mind Body Dancer™- developed by TaraMarie Perri MFA, E-RYT, which emphasizes injury prevention and overall mind/body wellness. Cara looks forward to incorporating this new knowledge of overall wellness into all aspects of her dance profession.
Joseph Tracy, Glass Arts Teacher, has been designing, making and restoring residential and ecclesiastical art glass since the ‘80's both for his own and for various studios including Arthur Stern, Cummings Studio, Savoy, and Roger Hogan. Commissions include work for the Oakland Children's Hospital and the Bakersfield College Library. His instructional experience includes three years as a high school art teacher. Joseph enjoys teaching traditional stained glass techniques as well as exploring fused glass as a medium. www.brooksideglassworks.com
Jennifer Wilkey, Photography Teacher, received her MFA in photography from Syracuse University and her BFA in photography and BS in anthropology from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. Originally from the Midwest, Jennifer now teaches photography at Syracuse and works for artist Carrie Mae Weems. She has also participated as a teaching artist in elementary and high schools in Syracuse. Jennifer’s work has been exhibited and screened in the US and abroad, including most recently at Project Basho, Philadelphia and the ARC Gallery, Chicago. She most recently received a professional scholarship grant from the Lucie Foundation, Los Angeles, to develop a photography project about her developmentally disabled brother. Part of Jennifer’s work as an interdisciplinary artist is to examine the experience of illness through a variety of mediums. www.jenniferwilkey.com
Dormheads / Apprentice Teachers
Anastasia Clarke, Songwriting and Audio Art Apprentice Teacher, is a 2010 graduate of Bennington College. Originally from the Hudson Valley region of New York, Anastasia is a composer, songwriter, improviser, guitarist, vocalist, and user of electronic effects and pre-recorded sounds. She has worked as a musician with dancers and filmmakers. In the past, her work has tended to focus on geological and climatological metaphors; in the near future, she would like to explore the idea of environmental "noise" doubling as both interference and a source of pleasure. She plays with the band Summer Mummy and also releases recordings under her own name.
Jonathan Bolding, Fiction Apprentice Teacher, is a senior at Elon University, in North Carolina, working towards a BA in Creative Writing and Literature. His interests include aesthetics, linguistics, classics, and, of course, theories of writing. Jonathan has published stories in both his own school’s literary journal, and the literary journal at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, from which he will be returning shortly before arriving at Putney. He writes realistic and absurd fictions, all varieties of flash fiction, and long form poems. Jonathan has lived almost his entire life in Cary, North Carolina.
Taralyn Jaiyeola, Drawing Apprentice Teacher, is a graduate of University of the Arts, Philadelphia where she majored in Illustration. While attending UArts, Taralyn tutored underclassmen students in drawing, illustration, and two-dimensional design. She regularly volunteers with non-profit community arts groups in the Philadelphia area. Her illustration work, geared towards the children's book market, has been shown at the Sande Webster Gallery and featured in the 2010 UArts Ely Exhibition.
Lindsay Keys, Photography Apprentice Teacher, is pursuing a BA in studio art with a concentration in photography at Wesleyan University. She has been a teacher's assistant for three photography courses at Wesleyan and has worked as a lab assistant in the campus darkroom for three semesters. Her work has been published in the New York Times and was she was represented as a finalist in the Best of College Photography in the 2010 Photographer’s Forum. Last summer Lindsay lived and worked in New York City as an intern for commercial photographers. She is glad to be teaching and working with high school students in Vermont this summer.
Margaret Koerber, Wearable Arts Apprentice Teacher, recently graduated from BatesCollege with a double major in theater and English. For four years, Margaret worked in Bates’ Scheaffer Theater costume shop, serving as assistant manager in her senior year. As part of her honor’s thesis, Margaret designed costumes for the mainstage production of Kaufman and Hart’s You Can't Take It With You. She has won various awards at the Bates College Annual Trashion Show, including Best Overall two years in a row. Originally from New Orleans, LA, Margaret has worked for various education and arts programs including Country Day Creative Arts and Sprout Creek Farm. She looks forward to working with students at Putney this summer.
Danny Lewis, Fiction Writing Apprentice, is a voracious reader who discovered comic books as a teenager and quickly started creating his own. He is the author of the webcomic No One Believes in Monsters, and recently self-published his first minicomic, a short collection called Slantwise. He is currently researching Celtic mythology and folktales for a comic book adaptation of the Irish epic, the Táin Bó Cúailnge. Danny graduated from Bard College with a degree in literature, and is thrilled to be back at the Putney School Summer Programs as a dorm head and apprentice teacher in the Fiction Writing Workshop.
Ana Lieberman, Painting Apprentice Teacher, is a junior earning her BFA at the Cooper Union, New York. She is currently engaged in an exploration of issues of double and after-image and narrative in painting. Ana works in video, sculpture, drawing, and printmaking. In the summer of 2008 she studied painting in France at the Pont-Aven School of Art. She has interned at Dieu Donne, a papermaking studio, and is currently teaching painting to high school students as part of Cooper Union’s outreach program in NYC public schools. She has worked on the organic farm at the Mountain School in Vershire, Vermont as well as on several farms in Oregon. She attended the Putney Summer Programs and is excited to be back, working as an Apprentice Teacher and Dormitory Head.
Francisco Mugnani, Filmmaking Apprentice Teacher, graduated from Marlboro College in 2010 with a BA in Film and Video Studies. His senior thesis explored selected motifs identified by Joseph Campbell in hero, action and quest films. Francisco enjoys making short films, stop-motion animation, and exploring the outdoors. Francisco was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but now enjoys living in the rural landscapes of Southern Vermont .
Nicholas Pollack, Filmmaking Apprentice Teacher, received his BA from Sarah Lawrence College with a concentration in literature and photography. His photography projects address the complexities of contemporary interaction with our environment, a theme he explored while studying under photographers Accra Shepp and Joel Sternfeld. He recently participated in a group show at the Barbara Walters Gallery at Sarah Lawrence. Nicholas was a teaching assistant to Jeffrey Ladd at the International Center of Photography, and is currently an intern at the publication Daylight Magazine. As a proud alumnus of The Putney School Summer Programs, Nicholas is happy to return as an apprentice teacher.
Jill Silverberg, Sculpture Apprentice Teacher, is a junior at Brown University, concentrating in both Visual Arts and the History of Art and Architecture. In addition to sculpture, Jill's artistic explorations include work in painting, printmaking, and drawing. Through her work, Jill investigates the tension between nature and industry, and recently has drawn from both Minimalist and Surrealist techniques. Jill is also deeply interested in meditation as well as the intersection between art and contemplative states. Her most recent work can be viewed at www.j111.tumblr.com
Anya Smolnikova, Painting and Drawing Apprentice Teacher, holds a BFA from Boston University with a double major in painting and sculpture and a minor in art history. Anya completed her senior thesis in painting and sculpture focusing on ancient mythology as it relates to the modern world, especially the idea of migration and exile, based on her own experience, having immigrated from the former Soviet Union at the age of twelve. She plans to continue teaching art, to travel, and pursue her MFA in the near future.
Trenton Szewczyk, Drawing Apprentice Teacher, is a Summer Programs alumnus who will return to UCLA as a Fine Arts major in the fall. He has especially enjoyed his college studio classes, including, most recently, classes on color, experimental music, and color photography. Much of his work rests in a grey zone, somewhere between 2D and 3D, and document and performance. He is still in the exploratory phase of his work.
Simon White, Writing Intensive Apprentice Teacher, has long been interested in creative writing. As a teenager, he studied poetry at the University of Iowa Young Writers’ Studio and at The Putney School Summer Programs. He has worked closely with New Yorker-published poet Arda Collins and award-winning novelist P.F. Kluge. Simon is a philosophy major at Kenyon College where his academic interests include symbolic logic and the philosophy of natural science and scientific theory. His poems have been published in Kenyon’s literary journal HIKA. Raised in Dartmouth, MA, Simon enjoys studying guitar and looks forward to returning to Putney School Summer Programs, a program which he credits with greatly broadening the spectrum of his thought.
Jamelah (Jami) Zidan, Farm and Poetry Apprentice Teacher, is a rising senior at Sarah Lawrence College. Jami has worked as a library page, storyteller, dog walker, art gallery security, camp counselor, volunteer EMT, farmhand, book store clerk, gas station attendant, space assessor, tutor and teacher's assistant. Jami has worked summers on organic farms and has interned with Groundwork Hudson Valley. Last summer, Jamie traveled throughout the West Bank with Palestine Summer Encounter, meeting with peace organizations from Israel and Palestine. For Jami, environmental justice goes hand in hand with freedom of expression. She will be spending her senior year in the UK at Wadham College, Oxford.
Ingrid Wennerberg, Ceramics Apprentice Teacher, is a studio art major finishing her last year at Grinnell College, where she is also a member of the varsity soccer team. Originally from Chicago, Ingrid comes to Putney from a semseter in Copenhagen where she has been styudying art history. While familiar with a variety of clay techniques, Ingrid’s current focus is on hand building. As part of her braoder body of work, Ingrid’s prints have been exhibited in Grinnell (Iowa) and in Chicago. Ingrid curated Illumination, a show made possible through the Faulconer Gallery Internship, which gave her the great opportunity to teach children about art.
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