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.

 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!

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!

Heath teaches Character Design, Illustration and Game Art under Sara Zorns at Inspired Minds, as well as a digital drawing class to start in Fall of 2025. He grew up watching cartoons and anime, eventually drawing from the things he loved. He got his start in early middle school drawing characters from the shows and movies he watched. Eventually, he advanced to redesigning these characters for his fan made comics and is now creating his own characters and stories. He enjoys creating digitally in a multitude of programs including PhotoShop as well as traditional media such as watercolor, colored pencil, and acrylic. In his personal time, he often works with character design, anime art, and landscapes. His work has been featured in Art Magazines and social media platforms of name brand companies. 

After a career as an account executive in the corporate world of commercial printing and creative design agencies, Melinda returned to her first love: Art.

Melinda attended Parsons School

of Design at the New School in New York City and today she spends her days creating her own art, and teaching!

Her teaching style is hands on. She is particularly intuitive and caring. Her personal wish is to enhance children’s love for the arts, discovering the joy in creating, problem solving, and building self confidence.

Ashley Witzgall is a multidisciplinary artist and arts educator based at the Jersey Shore, known for her emotionally driven, abstract portraiture. Her work explores human expression through layered, intuitive processes across mixed media.

With a background in performing arts management and design, Ashley brings a strong foundation in visual storytelling to both her studio practice and teaching. Her work has been exhibited throughout New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

Ashley is a community-focused educator who has developed inclusive art programs for students of all ages and abilities. She will be teaching sculpture, encouraging hands-on exploration, creativity, and personal expression.

Olivia has recently graduated from the University of Sydney in Sydney, Australia, with a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Studies and Visual Art. She is very excited to share her passion for art with students in an inspiring and welcoming environment!

Olivia attended Inspired Minds as a student throughout middle and high school, which sparked a lifelong passion for drawing and painting in oil and acrylic. She will be teaching Homeschool Art and Figure Drawing as well as assisting with Mixed Media 1.5 in the spring semester. 

Creating art allows me to explore ideas and materials through the transformation of raw substances into expressive forms. Across ceramics, printmaking, and painting, I am drawn to layering, pattern,

and detail—inviting viewers to engage closely with the surfaces I create. My work often features anthropomorphic forms, nature-inspired motifs, and symbolic elements embedded within larger

compositions. Whether sculpting a functional vessel, painting a figure, or designing a print, I aim to create visual rhythms that guide the eye and suggest interconnected narratives. Color, particularly earth and jewel tones, plays a central role, while line, mark-making, and pattern bring depth and dimensionality to both two- and three-dimensional work.

My practice is inherently multidisciplinary, allowing techniques and insights from one medium to inform another. I translate imagery from sketches to digital concepts, prints, and ceramic surfaces, exploring how limitation of color, form, or material can enhance expression. My approach bridges the tactile with the graphic and the functional with the decorative. In ceramics, for example, I craft

both functional and sculptural vessels, integrating surface patterns and imaginative forms that reflect the intersection of utility and narrative. My print and digital work emphasize form, repetition, and symbolic storytelling, often reflecting the same visual vocabulary that appears in my three-dimensional work.

I draw inspiration from contemporary and historical sources, including Indigenous and Slavic folk traditions, and from the natural world. Symbols, markings, and patterns act as both decoration and

carriers of meaning, connecting craft-based practices like ceramics and printmaking with modern digital tools. My work is a process-based dialogue between handcraft and technology, reflection, and improvisation, creating a space for experimentation, emotional release, and storytelling. Ultimately, I view art as a language through which I navigate human experience, exploring

connection, transformation, and the beauty found in unexpected outcomes.

I have been drawing and playing with color and design since I can remember. My favorite color is all of them! A graduate from Georgian Court University with a BA in Fine Art/Art History and an MA in Holistic Health, my favorite medium is silk painting. I love the way there’s control and lack of control all mixed up together. I also love creating and coaching in watercolor, oil, acrylic, printmaking, pottery, basket weaving, and graphic design. On the holistic side of things, I consider myself crafty, making my own soaps, oils, lotions, potions, tinctures, and more! :)