Biographical information for 2007 Early and Late Fall Instructors

Kay Gillispie is an accomplished artist with over 20 years teaching experience.  Her work is shown and sold in galleries throughout the region – including Artists at Work in downtown Elkins.  She earned a degree in art education from Glenville State College, and holds a Master's Degree in Art from WVU.

Leslie Henderson has been making baskets for over 20 years.  She sells and teaches a variety of fiber arts - including fabric weaving and knitting as well as reed and bark basketry - throughout the region.  She holds a Master's degree in Forestry.  Her work can be seen locally at Artists at Work in downtown Elkins.

Virginia Hicks is a certified art teacher for grades K-6 West Virginia as well as a nationally certified art teacher for grades 7 - 12 in England.  In addition she holds a Bachelor of Arts in Textile Design, a Master’s Degree in Education and is an adjunct Professor of Art at WV Wesleyan College, an ArtsBank artist, and a regular teacher at RCCAC.

Shana Horrigan, MA, CPA, CMA is a Life and Business Coach.  She is also a musician and artist and has worked for many years as an arts administrator with some of the most prestigious arts organizations in the country.  She has received her coach training through the Academy for Coaching Excellence and is a member of the International Coach Federation.

Joan Kefover is an accomplished potter and sculptor with more than thirty years of experience as a practicing artist and teacher.  She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute of Art as well as advanced studies at San Diego College.

Kadra Kramer, a graduate of West Virginia Wesleyan College, has been teaching art classes for over three years and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art.  She specializes in monotype printmaking and currently has work on display at Artists at Work in downtown Elkins.

Margaret Graham Kranking, a native of South Carolina, has spent most of her life in the Washington, DC area where she graduated summa cum laude from American University.  She is a signature member in the Washington society of Landscape Painters as well as 13 other state and regional societies.  She is an official United States Coast Guard Artist, and is listed in Who's Who in American Art.

Bill McWhorter is a practicing artist in Elkins, WV.   Bill graduated from Humboldt State University, California, in 1975, and his work was soon accepted into galleries in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Denver.  Using the landscape as his dominant theme, Bill’s work is both representational and romantic.  “I’ve always believed that drawing from nature is instructive for good composition and basic design.”

Susie Mullens learned to weave at the Barbour County Winter Fair and has been weaving and designing baskets for the last four years. She has taught basket weaving for the RCCAC in the past.  She also enjoys stained glass, pottery, jewelry making, knitting, sewing and outdoor landscaping.

Lisbet Okun has been fascinated with string since childhood, and

she continually seeks new ways to tie the strings of her current life to her roots. She learned to knit in her native Denmark; to weave while living in New Mexico; to spin and dye yarn in Central WV; learned quilting after moving to Elkins. Each technique reflects another stage of the journey, and each new stitch helps tie it

all together.  Her work can be seen at Artists at Work in downtown Elkins.

Susan Pell has been creating pottery for over 20 years.  She spent seven years as an elementary and secondary teacher, and has been a regular teacher in the pottery studio at RCCAC since 2004

Maggi Rhudy, freelance artist, tutor, and translator, is also an experienced teacher.  With her Master of Arts degree as well as teaching certification, she has taught in classrooms from Kindergarten through college level.  Newly retired from teaching art at Elkins High School, she is also an ArtsBank volunteer and RCCAC volunteer.

Krisy Rosier, a Philippi resident, has studied belly dancing for the past four years  under  Morgantown belly dancer Kimberly Minardi. She is a member of Minardi’s performance troupe. She is also  the leader of the Barbour Co. 4-H Equestrian Team and secretary of the Arden United Methodist Church.

Alison Siewny holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Art Education from Ohio University.  She has been teaching art to children ages Preschool through Middle School in private, public, and art center settings for over 10 years.  She has had students place as finalists and honorable mentions in national art contests under her direction.

Richard Smith is an experienced instructor of blues music, guitar, voice and piano.  Richard was co-founder of Creative Links in Elkins, and performed throughout the region with Voices From the Earth, and as an instructor for the Augusta Heritage Center at Davis & Elkins College.

Janelle St Martin is a certified Level 1 presenter for the Sign with Your Baby program, and author of "Living and Working Among the Deaf," an A to Z instructional book teaching American Sign Language  with accompanying videotapes.  She is the owner of WeSign2, a Bridgeport, WV-based school committed to helping parents, educators, and care-givers understand the benefits of using sign language with hearing children, and to help the deaf communicate and interact with the hearing.

Valerie Voge holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Parks and Recreation Administration and has taught preschool related programs for 10 years.  She is Certified Kindermusik Educator, certified Exercise Ball Specialist, Certified Rehabilitation Specialist, and Certified Personal Trainer

Linda Zimmer has created puppets for the PBS series Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, toured solo performances widely in the Mid Atlantic region and performed with the Puppet Company in Glen Echo Maryland and the Bethesda Academy of Performing Arts