Brielle Teachers & Staff

Rose Killmer is the owner of Inspired Minds Brielle. She graduated in 1994 with a B.A. of Fine Art with a concentration in Commercial Art from Georgian Court University. She focused on oil and watercolor painting, printmaking, & sculpture. 

While always a working artist, Rose started her career in 1995 in the communications and graphics industry. During this time Rose felt she may want to switch careers and become a teacher. Rose decided to try it out and began teaching a Saturday art class at Riverview Art School in Island Heights. Here she met Heather Cadalzo and in 2006 they joined to open Inspired Minds Fine Art School in Lincroft.  Rose continued to work as a graphic artist as well as teach and co-own Inspired Minds until the birth of her daughter in 2009. At this time she resigned from her graphics career and decided to devote her time to being a mother and working at Inspired Minds.

Rose's love of art and teaching only grew and as her daughter also grew, in 2020 she took on a full time job as a K-5 public elementary school art teacher. She currently teaches art in public elementary school as well as is the sole owner of Inspired Minds Brielle Fine Art School. She feels blessed to be able to share her passion for art with so many and to be part of an ever inspiring community of artists. 

Other than teaching, Rose works as a artist and graphic designer. In her personal work she concentrates on painting various subjects in oil and watercolors. She works on a commission basis and shows artwork locally in Main Street Gallery in Manasquan, NJ.

Feel free to take a look at her work at https://rosekillmer.net/

Susan Gill teaches at both Lincroft & Brielle studios and she is our Brielle Office Manager as well.

She received her BFA from University of Arizona. She also holds masters degrees in elementary education and educational leadership. She has over 20 years experience teaching both in the classroom and art specialties. Most recently Susan taught high school art on Kodiak Island, Alaska.
She loves working in watercolor and graphite. Always looking to expand her creative skills, Susan continues to take drawing and painting classes and has recently added pottery to her list of favorite mediums.

Teaching art has always been a passion of Susan’s. She works to create a welcoming, inclusive and safe environment for her students to explore their artistic potential. 
Take a look at Susan’s artwork on: https://www.susangill.net  or follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susan_easelmeditations/ 

 Alison Amelchenko teaches our youngest Mixed Media 1 students, Homeschoolers and Private lessons in our Brielle studio. A BFA graduate of Pratt Institute, Alison has owned and taught at her own school, Kids Art Studio, for the past 30 years. We are honored to have her join our team at Inspired Minds!   

She is past president of the Ocean County Artists' Guild in Island Heights and a member of the Ocean County Cultural and Heritage Commission. Allison has shown work at both Ocean County College and Georgian Court University.

Sara Zorns teaches Comics & Illustration as well as various Drawing and Painting classes and camps at our Brielle studio. She grew up with a love and passion for drawing characters, writing stories, creating stop motion animation, and playing video games. Her love for storytelling and creating projects didn't stop in adulthood, and she received a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Rowan University with a focus in art, animation and game design. She has created logos, animation for video games, and illustrations for children's books. She is currently a freelance artist, a paraprofessional at Mill Pond Elementary School, and a teacher at Inspired Minds. Sara is always excited to share her experience and knowledge of the arts with her students to help them bring their imaginations to life!

Anastasiya immigrated from Russia at the age of 20. She acquired solid drawing and painting skills from art schools in St. Petersburg, which she started attending from a very young age. She continued her education in the US and graduated from Montclair State University with a BFA in studio arts in 2008. While getting her art degree, she studied under celebrated artists like Janet Pickett, Julie Heffernan, Alyssa Monks, and Peter Barnet. Anastasiya actively pursues her career as a full time artist and an art teacher. She participates in local art exhibitions and is working on her solo art show. Anastasiya is known for her charismatic personality, expertise and innate ability to instruct and  inspire.

If you would like to see her personal work, please visit  www.instgram.com/abaron.art 

 Lexi graduated from Rowan University in May of 2022 with a degree in Art Education. She now works full time as a high school art teacher in Monmouth County. On school breaks and during the summer time she returns to inspired minds to teach more art! Lexi is a mixed media artist who enjoys working in all mediums and trying new things often. When teaching, she makes it her goal to bring out the inner artists in all of her students and encourage them to try new things, step outside of their comfort zone, and to always be confident in their skills.

We are so excited Lexi will be teaching Mixed Media camps in Lincroft in the summer!

Chelsea Villegas is a mixed media painter and teacher living in Monmouth County, NJ. She earned a B.F.A. in painting from University of Delaware and shortly after began teaching herself the ancient art of encaustic after a pivotal love at first sight experience with an encaustic painting.

She was instantly mesmerized by the texture, depth, and luminosity inherent in the wax. After many years of experimentation in the studio she has developed a unique mixed media technique that combines photography, oil paint, pastels, watercolor, collage, drawing and encaustic.

For a period of time her art making took a back seat to the creation of her two children while she home schooled them and devoted most of her time to their care. She also taught art and enrichment classes in various co-ops as well as private lessons. 

As her children grew more independent, Chelsea was able to devote more and more time to her artwork and currently shows her work at  Main Street Gallery in Manasquan as well as on her website.  She teaches children at her in home preschool, Little Chickadees, and gives encaustic lessons from her studio as well.