Learn from Great Arts Teachers

Peggy Doney has been fascinated with color since her first box of crayons. For many years, she has been discovering color recipes using triad, value, and gradient studies. If there is anything that Peggy enjoys as much as creating with fiber and color, it’s sharing that passion with others.

Going out into the forests and fields, harvesting materials from nature, and sitting down in the sun to weave a basket is Katie Grove’s idea of a perfect day. She is an artist and educator whose passion is to guide people in connecting to their creative self through the combination of art and nature.

Charles F. Gattis is a retired United Methodist pastor, with degrees from Birmingham-Southern College and Emory University. Photography has been an interest for him since the age of thirteen. He uses both DSLRs and mirrorless cameras, and has become fascinated with the photo opportunities of the iPhone.

Hannah Smith is a fiber artist, living historian, and archaeologist (but not necessarily in that order). She has been knitting and spinning for over a decade, after learning to spin at the local yarn shop in her college town in Pennsylvania.

Jan was born and educated in the Netherlands and came to the US in his mid twenties. He always wanted to be a cabinet maker, started and operated his cabinet shop in 1985, sold it in 2007, and traveled for 5 years throughout the US to certify shops for the Architectural Woodworking Institute Quality certification Program.

Tanis Gray Chang believes that we are stronger together. When we respect each other, listen, learn, and educate, we can lift each other up and thrive as humans. All are welcome here, regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, race, age, religion, fiber/material choice, or crafting style.

From Warren, Rhode Island, award-winning musician, vocalist, writer, public radio commentator, and dancer, Aubrey Atwater presents captivating programs of folk music, dance, and spoken word. Aubrey is in great demand for performances and classes and has performed throughout the United States as well as England, Ireland, and Canada.

I am an engineer and a foreign language teacher. I graduated from a technical university and after a few years I graduated from a linguistic university. I also teach HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Python. I make various applications and mobile apps for learning foreign languages (Russian, German, Turkish, Japanese).

Hi! My name is Itzel Reyna. I’m a professional saxophone player, instructor, and music lover. I was awarded the first-ever Latin GRAMMY Prodigy Scholarship in 2015 in partnership with pop star Enrique Iglesias and Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation. I graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2019 and I’ve been giving saxophone/music lessons for the past 10 years.

Kitty has always found her closest friends and truest self in the written word. She studied literature and professional writing at Western Carolina University and received a Master of Theological Studies from Vanderbilt Divinity School. In a yearlong residency as a hospital chaplain, Kitty found her niche in creative nonfiction.