Heather Cadalzo is the owner of Inspired Minds Lincroft. She graduated from the School of Visual Arts, NYC, with a BFA in Illustration in 2002. She has since been working as a freelance portrait artist; her paintings have been commissioned for numerous private collections. In 2002, she found her calling as an instructor when she returned to Riverview Art School, Islands Heights, where she had studied as a teen under master painter Elaine Sgambati. She served as the head children’s oil painting instructor there for five years.
In 2006, Rose and Heather joined up to form Inspired Minds- an art school modeled after Riverview, where she could pass down her artistic knowledge & skills to others and promote creativity on a daily basis. She feels blessed to be someone who truly loves her job! Her work has been shown in many galleries locally and has won numerous awards and recognitions.
She completed her Masters in Occupational Therapy in 2015 and wears 2 hats professionally as an OT and Art Educator at the Lincroft Studio.
To view her artwork visit www.heatherspaintings.com
and her Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/heatherbrowncadalzo/
Heather's masterpiece however are her two daughters, Willow and Leia.
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. To try it out she began teaching a Saturday art class at Riverview Art School in Island Heights where she first met Heather. 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 still makes time to teach at Inspired Minds in the evenings and weekends and of course in Summer!. She feels blessed to be able to share the gift of art to so many!
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.
Brittany James has taught various classes at inspired minds for the past 10 years and is also the Lincroft office manager. She recently received the Monmouth Arts outstanding educator in visual arts award. Brittany is a jersey shore native who graduated from Montclair State University with a BFA degree concentrated in painting in 2009. She strongly believes in the healing therapy of art-making and self-expression and enjoys helping others create. She currently paints out of her home studio in Asbury Park. Her oil paintings are of surreal images, depicting the relationships between women in nature and society.
In addition to teaching at Inspired Minds Lincroft, Brittany also runs a life drawing workshop and is the curator and manager of art629 Gallery. She has painted live on stage at the State Theater in New Brunswick and the Paramount Theater in Asbury Park, and was part of a performance art piece during the Summer of Love concert at Count Basie Theater in Red Bank. She has been a muralist and featured artist for the Asbury Underground Art & Music Crawl and the Asbury Park City Mural Project, and has shown her work in several galleries in the New York tri-state area.
You can see her art at http://www.brittanyjamesart.webs.com.
Rachel Lee teaches our Comics & Illustration with storytelling, character design, and Digital Art components at our Lincroft studio. She graduated from SUNY Purchase College with a BFA in 2016. She currently works as a freelance illustrator. She is passionate about sharing her love of learning and creating with her students. Rachel has always loved stories and adventure. As a child, she drew characters constantly. As an adult, she hasn’t lost her love of stories or creating characters, but instead, has learned to hone her artistic skills to match the scope of her imagination.
Among her many other endeavors, Rachel just finished creating the art for an online webcomic, and she is loving teaching the Comics and Illustration class at Inspired Minds!
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!
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.
Raised by two artist parents, Willow grew up around creativity. This artistic background has led her deep passion for all art forms. From the birth of the art school at age 4, Willow, has been growing her skills and is now at a place to use that knowledge to help others.
She is currently attending Rutgers University to pursue a career teaching elementary age children and specializing in Art/Language Arts. Willow especially loves mixed media and exploring various mediums including oil paint, watercolor, sewing and fabric art,
She strives to make the art school a welcoming and fun place and believes everyone can be an artist!
Willow is our the Exhibition Coordinator at the Lincroft Studio, where she also teaches our Homeschool Program as well as Mixed Media, Art Camps, & Art Parties.
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/
Stasia Banker is an artist who loves to encourage others to express themselves through creativity. She was exposed to art at a very young age and continued to pursue art throughout her life. She graduated from Pratt Institute with a BFA in Painting. She was mentored by amazing artists and had the opportunity to curate art shows on campus. She has shown her work locally at the Freehold Art Gallery and takes private commissions. Her personal work, mostly in oil, focuses on capturing emotion and uses portraiture to create a narrative. Her love for teaching developed as she started working as an after school art teacher. She is excited to join the Inspired Minds Lincroft team and to continue to share her passion with others!
You can view some of her work at www.instagram.com/artofstasia
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
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.
Adriana has been passionate about art for her whole life, cultivating her skill as a student of Inspired Minds from age six. She now shares her skill through teaching, and is just as passionate about art as she was when she took her first class. She believes through proper guidance and a nurturing and friendly environment, anyone can foster their passion for creating and become a good artist. Adriana enjoys her work in helping students to grow their love and skill for a variety of art forms. She currently teaches Mixed Media classes at Inspired Minds Lincroft.
Victoria’s training in oil painting began under owner Heather Cadalzo’s wing about 19 years ago at Riverview Art School in Island Heights, NJ. Eventually, she then went on to graduate school and received several degrees/licenses in order to work as a therapist and art therapist with adults, children, and teens. When she is not teaching or in session, Victoria is often painting murals or creating for her own enjoyment.
Victoria’s ultimate passion is to share the gift of creativity with individuals of all ages whether that’s in the mental health field or at Inspired Minds.
Victoria is currently instructs for Inspired Minds Lincroft, leading art classes at various Assisted Living Facilities to bring the therapeutic power of art to senior residents.
Kelcie is an artist who is passionate about teaching art in a way that centers student choice and creativity. After receiving her BFA in painting and drawing from Salisbury University in 2016 she moved to Baltimore, MD where she worked at the Walters Art Museum in museum education and at an art non-profit. She is originally from Monmouth County, NJ and recently moved back to the area. Kelcie is a strong believer that learning to draw from life provides a great foundation to any future art practice. While she continues to love painting and drawing her personal practice has expanded to include embroidery and quilting. She is so excited to share her experience and knowledge with students!
Like many creatives, Sandy found her passion for art early and went on to study at the Philadelphia College of Art, Kansas City Art Institute and Pratt Institute where her studio classes concentrated specifically on drawing and painting. She continues to participate in a variety of workshops to learn new techniques and to keep her skills sharp. Her recent work in pastels, watercolor, acrylics and oils draws inspiration from Abstract Impressionism.
Sandy has teaching experience at the Pre K through College age level and has instructed Adult Workshops in a variety of painting and collage techniques as well as figure drawing. For the past several years she has lead and organized a Monmouth County Plein Air Interest Group and in 2021, planned and organized a Plein Air Exhibit for our local landscape artists.
Sandy believes everyone can learn to see our world through the lens of an artist and then express their own unique artistic style. Experimenting with a variety of techniques, practicing drawing skills, understanding composition and color theory will inspire artistic confidence.
Hannah has always loved making art and sharing that love with others. She started attending Inspired Minds when she was in high school and is so excited to be back to teach the Little Artist and Mixed Media 1 classes.
She graduated from Pratt Institute with a BFA in Communications Design and a minor in Photography. She currently works as an art teacher at the Hebrew Academy in Marlboro, NJ teaching 1 year olds up to 5th grade.
Hannah loves expressing her creativity through oil paints, graphic design, and crocheting. She enjoys sparking imagination and joy in her students and encouraging exploration in 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!
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