2010 Middle and High School Summer Art Studio Staff

Carrie Fonder-Co-Director

Carrie Fonder, sculptor, has a BFA from Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design and a MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art.  She has numerous solo exhibitions and commissions to her credit.  One of her recent sculptures, Renewal, graces the Fox River Trail in Green Bay, WI.  Her work has been exhibited nationwide, including the New York Studio Program and the Milwaukee Art Museum.  She has taught elementary art in the Green Bay Area Public Schools and is the owner of Raw Materials, a sculpture and design studio.

Sandra Shackelford-Co-Director

Sandra Shackelford, Summer Art Studio's co-director, received her BFA from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and continued her graduate studies at UW-Milwaukee.  A documentary artist, Ms Shackelford's work combines heroic-scale drawings, black and white photography and excerpts from oral histories of  (un)common heroes, the unsung, the unheralded. 

Her work was used exclusively in the award-winning television program, "But Names Can Hurt Forever".  Her photography is included in "Westbound", a documentary detailing the life of a hobo and historian.  A published writer, Shackelford also facilitates Women's Writing Circles and lectures on art and culture.  She has taught at UWGB and St. Norbert College, De Pere, WI.  Her work is in private and corporate collections across the United States.

Dean Hoegger-Instructor

Ceramics instructor, Dean Hoegger, loves to say, "Yes!"  He understands the therapeutic value of working with clay and encourages his students to explore this medium while discovering their creative talents.  He fully supports the exploratory ideas of his students and mentors their independence, helping them find new ways to grow as artists.  "Yes" will also become your favorite after you've worked with this gifted and giving instructor.

Hoegger brings many significant experiences to his Summer Art Studio classes.  As a professional artist, he has exhibited throughout the Midwest since 1976.  His recent clay work ranges from wheel-thrown porcelain vessels to hand-built Raku sculpture.  At times, he gears up his studio for creating large, wheel thrown floor-size vessels.  Beside finding his work in local art galleries, Hoegger is a yearly participant in the downtown Green Bay arts festival, Art Street.  Hoegger not only teaches elementary students in the Sturgeon Bay School System but he holds weekly pottery classes and weekend ceramics workshops for high school students and adults.

Arda Ishkhanian-Instructor

Arda Ishkhanian is of Armenian origin having been born in Egypt.  She attended high school in Beirut, Lebanon.  In 1979 she immigrated to the United States where she attended California College of Arts.  After receiving her BFA in Film and Video she continued her studies at San Francisco State University and the University of Ohio where she received her Art Teaching Certification.

As an art teacher, Ishkhanian shares her love of the arts with students and enjoys encouraging them on a life-long journey of exploring, experimenting and appreciating art.  Her unique teaching methods encourage students to discover creative solutions through problem solving which pushes their work forward deepening and personalizing their chosen imagery.

She teaches at the Interntional School in Green Bay, WI and has exhibited her work in Holland, Egypt and all over the US including New York, Chicago, Iowa City, and San Francisco.  Last summer Ishkhanian was recognized as one of the "20 Women to Know" in YOU Magazine. 

Cory Linsmeyer-Instructor

Fashion designer Cory Linsmeyer graduated from UW-Green Bay with an individualized major in Fashion Design with an Art Education minor.  Recently he launched his own menswear clothing collection, Cory Allen Designs.  Linsmeyer has been busy showing this debut collection at fashion events in and around Chicago.  His conceptual couture gowns were featured in the national publication, FiberARTs Magazine.  His art has been exhibited throughout the U.S.  In his third year teaching Fashion Design for the university's Summer Art Studio, his program continues to grow, drawing a large number of would-be fashion designers from around Wisconsin.

Sara Tlachac-Instructor

Sara Tlachac is an art instructor in the Green Bay Area Public Schools.  She received her BS in Art Education from UW-Stout.  She is currently working on a series of figurative plaster sculptures.  Her art can be seen at the Flying Pig in Algoma, Bliss in Sturgeon Bay and at other locations in and around the Green Bay area.  This fine artist has exhibited in the St. Norbert College Gallery, the gallery at UW-Stout, the Neville Public Museum, the Miller Art Museum, Sturgeon Bay, the Peninsula Art School and other venues in the Green Bay area.  In her seventh year as a drawing instructor at Summer Art Studio, Tlachac looks forward to working with another group of aspiring and inspiring young artists.

Tom Wallestad-Instructor

Tom Wallestad, a Door County native, received his BA Degree in Studio Arts from UWGB and earned his MFA in Computer Graphics from Syracuse University.  He has been teaching cartooning, animation and multi-media for many years.  His artwork offers interactive interpretations of visual and narrative structure that is comic book inspired.  His unique body of work investigates perceptions of suggested space and reality in the form of a unique narrative medium.

Erica Becker-Instructor

Ms Becker is an artist and art educator living and teaching in the Green Bay area.  She enjoys experimenting with a variety of materials and works at bridging the gap between two and three-dimensional forms.  This year her work was included in the Wisconsin Biennial, Midwest Biennial, and the WAEA Member Exhibit.  In 2008 Ms Becker received her teaching certification from UW-Whitewater with an emphasis in drawing and ceramics.  She received her master's in Visual Studies from Cardinal Stritch University.  She has been an instructor with Summer Art Studio since 2003.

Mindy Sue Meyers-Instructor

Mindy Sue Meyers graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in sculpture and textiles.  She attended graduate school at Arizona State University where she received her Master of Fine Arts Degree in 2008 with a concentration related to fiber arts.  Recently she was an instructor at the Oneida Nation Arts Program (ONAP) where she led a class in recycling and reconstruction of clothing.  Ms. Meyers has a passion for stitching and sewing.  She also feels "everything looks better with a little glitter."

Tammy Resulta-Instructor

A 2006 graduate of UWGB, Tammy Resulta has a B.A. in Communication Processes with an emphasis in Photography.  Her photographs have been published in the Green Bay Press Gazette, Voyageur Magazine, Inside, Sheepshead Review as well as commanding the cover of the environmental publication, Nature's Pathways.  Resulta's work has been exhibited in the Neville Public Museum, the Lawton Gallery and 407 Gallery.  She also had a solo exhibition at the Front Porch Gallery.  She is excited to rejoin Summer Art Studio and mentor the next generation of visual artists.

Leah Lindsley-Instructor

Leah Lindsley is a local painter and make-up stylist.  A graduate of UWGB, she has worked with local fashion photographers, filmmakers and artists from all over the United States.  In her spare time she teaches techniques in glamour make-up and also has experience in special FX make-up.

Margy Cottingham-Instructor

Margy Cottingham began her professional art career over ten years ago in the Decorative Painted Arts.  In 1998 she established "Is That Paint?,” a decorative paint and plaster company executing finishes in residential and commercial spaces in and beyond the Green Bay area.

She studied decorative painting and plaster at the North American School of Decorative Art in Chicago and earned certification in the application of Authentic Italian Lime Plaster under the direction of master artisan, Pierre Recard (France).  In 2004 she was one of 17 American artists chosen to travel to France to learn an ancient technique of fresco painting, gaining recognition and accreditation from the French Federation des Compagnons for her part in the heritage preservation of a fresco in an 11th century chapel in Moules-et-Baucels, Southern France.

Following her interest in ancient art forms, Ms Cottingham chose The Chicago Mosaic School and became, what she calls, a passionate perpetual student of mosaic art.  A graduate of the school's Certification Program where, under the tutelage of mosaic masters from the U.S., England, Italy, the Ukraine and Israel, she has studied and executed multiple forms of mosaic art.  She is a professional member of the Society of American Mosaic Artist and a member of the British Association for Modern Mosaic.  Inspired by the perceptions she gathers from life around her, Cottingham classifies her work as fine art mosaic.

Sandy Melroy-Instructor

Sandy Melroy loves creating unique, one-of-a-kind pieces.  Her current focus is on the art of silk painting.

Ms. Melroy graduated from the University of Tennessee with a degree in Home Economics, with a major in textiles and fashion design.  After running a twenty-year home sewing business, she began exploring silk painting under the guidance of a London-based textile designer.  Her fascination with this art form led her to explore the unique way in which painting on silk can lend some wonderful results to the wearable arts.

Melroy owns Silk Sensations, a company she founded in 2004 while living in England and which focuses on creating original pieces of wearable art.

A southern girl at heart, the artist has lived in many locations throughout the U.S. and UK, and now calls De Pere, WI home.  She teaches classes at the Green Bay Botanical Garden, the ART Garage (Green Bay), and the Bergstrom Mahler Museum, Neenah.  Her silk scarves and handbags are sold in galleries throughout Wisconsin and Virginia.  Her motto is to keep growing and to keep sharing.  It makes the world a richer place, she feels, and it's certainly more fun to live in.

Chad Peters-Instructor

Chad Peters has 10-years experience as a graphic designer, web designer, production artist and print-maker.  He is an award-winning artist with a passion for screen printing.  A Green Bay native, Peters is known for changing his facial hairstyle on a weekly basis.  However, he claims he likes to sport handlebar mustaches the best!

Jenna Bigott-Instructor

Jenna Bigott received her BFA in Studio Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.  Her work ranges from photography to metals, from illustration to embroidery.  Many of her art pieces reflect craft through hand-made techniques while delivering messages of interpersonal relationships and conflict.  She has exhibited at the Neville Public Museum, Green Bay, WI and Dimensions Gallery, Savannah, GA.