Meet our Instructors

Kaitlyn Ripaldi

Kaitlyn Ripaldi is a Worcester-based illustrator with a focus on the pen and watercolor medium. Throughout her work you'll find intricately lined portraits of the places, food and memories that make life special, all brought to life with skilled washes of watercolor. In her classes, she helps students overcome watercolor's initial challenges so they can enjoy the medium's versatility and accessibility.

Edward Steffanni

Edward Steffanni is an American artist born in Ohio. Steffanni received his Master of Fine Arts in Printmaking from the Rhode Island School of Design. He is currently an artist in residence at the Worcester Center for Crafts in Massachusetts. In Steffanni’s interdisciplinary practice, he examines the relationships between queerness, concealment, nature, and spirituality using print media, ceramics, papermaking, and performance. His work has been exhibited nationally and has received awards within those exhibitions. His work has been supported through research grants from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation (19’ and 25’), and the Rhode Island School of Design’s SPUR Fund. He has participated in residencies at Faenza Art Ceramic Center (Faenza, Italy) and Penland School of Craft (Bakersville, NC). Recently, he was a part of the 2025 New Voices cohort for the Print Center New York. His work is held in the collection of the University of Richmond Museums, Evansville Art Museum, among others.

Dahlia Popovits

Weave a log cabin dish towel, Weava a Holiday Table Runner, Weave a Tapestry Wall Hanging. Handweaving has given Dahlia a lifetime of inspiration. She applies her design and weaving skills to the development of clothing and accessories, and the teaching of this very gratifying craft. Her shop and studio, located in Bostons, Art and Design district, is a special space where one can see and touch a variety of exquisite hand made textiles.

Patti Kelly

Creative Journaling. Patti Kelly is primarily an American romantic abstract artist known for her imaginative, tempestuous landscape paintings. Often borrowing from nature, her choice of colors is inspired by the impermanence of New England's charging seasons. Working in acrylic and watercolor, Kelly builds upon nebulous surface layered with sensual colors. Her gestural work presents the viewer and emotionally charged imaginary world.

Rachel Benson

Felting Workshops. Rachel is a fiber artist & art teacher.

Holly Lauer

Wheel II: How to Make Better Pots, Berry Bowl Workshop, also Studio Support Tech. Holly studied neuroscience at UMass in Amherst and came to ceramics later in life. She uses her science background in studying glaze chemistry and applies that knowledge to capture the feel of the ocean in the glaze patterns on ceramic forms.

Tom O'Malley

Wheel 1.5 The Next Steps, Soda Firing Workshops, Introduction to the Lighting Studio. Tom O'Malley is the head of the Ceramics and Photography Departments, having joined the center in 1994. He has taught a variety of classes and workshops in both ceramics and photography while also leading the teams in each studio. Tom holds a BFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University and an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. His work has been exhibited extensively throughout the United States and internationally, earning him numerous citations in ceramic art publications.

Amanda Baldi

Friday Night Handbuilding. Amanda (she/her) is a Massachusetts based Artist, Anthropologist, Curator, Traveler and lover of all things crafts. She holds a B.F.A. in Studio Art and her B.A. in Anthropology from the UMass Amherst, alongside her M.A. in Art History and Visual Culture from Richmond International University London. Amanda is a ceramic artist and a painter. Her work seeks to connect form & function while exploring themes of personal experience & interpersonal connection.

Polly Marie Hensel

Independent Explorations with Clay, Family Fun with Clay, Raku Workshops; Polly Hensel is a ceramicist, painter as well as a yogi, and has been teaching all levels of students since 1999. She received her BFA ; with an emphasis in ceramics at Metropolitan State University and received her Masters in Integrated Arts in 2004. Polly sees art as a basis and an extension of all knowledge and is passionate about sharing the love of the creative act. “To share the internal experience with others through the medium of the arts, is something very special to the human species. Visually, musically, and linguistically we are able to expand and create a special type of communication which expresses beyond our individual horizons. Therefore, the creative act is a key element in our species evolution.”

Steph Kibosh

Steph Kubish is a ceramic sculptor currently based in Worcester, Massachusetts, where she is a current Artist-in-Residence at the Worcester Center for Crafts. She previously completed a year-long residency at Access Arts from 2024 to 2025. She earned her BFA in Studio Art from Endicott College and completed post-baccalaureate studies at the Hartford Art School. From 2022 to 2024, she worked as a Studio Technician and Social Media Manager at Wesleyan Potters. Steph’s ceramic practice bridges sculpture and function, rooted in storytelling and a deep sense of nostalgia. Her sculptural work explores themes of death, identity, and otherness through animal-human hybrids, multiplicities, and pop culture symbolism. Simultaneously, her functionware has evolved into a surface for narrative illustration, often featuring original character designs and anime-inspired imagery painted in underglaze on porcelain. These two bodies of work are becoming increasingly intertwined, as she continues to explore clay as both vessel and voice.

Sophie Lever

Wheel 1, Independent Explorations in Handbuilding, Teens at the Wheel. Sophie Lever is currently an Artist-in-Residence at WCC. She received her BA in Studio Arts from the University of Rochester in 2023 and has moved around for different ceramics residencies since graduating. Her work is primarily influenced by pattern, structure, and geometry, whether that be wheel-thrown or handbuilt.

Edward Steffanni

Edward Steffanni is an American artist born in Ohio. Steffanni received his Master of Fine Arts in Printmaking from the Rhode Island School of Design. He is currently an artist in residence at the Worcester Center for Crafts in Massachusetts. In Steffanni’s interdisciplinary practice, he examines the relationships between queerness, concealment, nature, and spirituality using print media, ceramics, papermaking, and performance. His work has been exhibited nationally and has received awards within those exhibitions. His work has been supported through research grants from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation (19’ and 25’), and the Rhode Island School of Design’s SPUR Fund. He has participated in residencies at Faenza Art Ceramic Center (Faenza, Italy) and Penland School of Craft (Bakersville, NC). Recently, he was a part of the 2025 New Voices cohort for the Print Center New York. His work is held in the collection of the University of Richmond Museums, Evansville Art Museum, among others.

Ava Tesoriero

Ava Tesoriero is a ceramic artist from Chatham, New Jersey. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Studio Art with a concentration in ceramics from Skidmore College. Tesoriero is currently an Artist-in-Residence at Worcester Center for Crafts, where she continues to explore the intricacies of the bottleneck form. The small, narrow opening of her vessels adds an element of curiosity by drawing the viewer in closer and encouraging thoughts of the unseen, the hidden, and the possibilities that lie within.

Alison Purwinis

Alison Purwinis holds a BFA in Ceramics from the Hartford Art School at the University of Hartford and completed a year of post-baccalaureate study in ceramics at the University of Colorado Boulder. She teaches at Anyhow Studio in Providence and South County Art Association in Kingston, RI, and is currently an Artist-in-Residence at Worcester Center for Craft. Her practice spans wheel throwing, handbuilding, and mold making, with work ranging from functional ceramics to whimsical mixed-media sculpture. A roller derby retiree, Alison has called Providence home for over a decade, where she lives with her partner and two cats and is an avid plant lover, thrifter, and all-around crafter.

Christine Tanson

Lori Mader

Wheel II, Woodfire intensive workshop. Lori established Cedar Swamp Pottery at home and built a wood burning kiln in 2001. She has been a ceramics instructor at Worcester Center for Crafts since 2004.

Claudia Sarver

Intro to Hand-building. Claudia has been a playing with clay since 2002. She enjoys sharing her experience loving clay and expressing her personal journey. She learns right along with her students.

John Barrett

Creating Spoon Jewelry. John has been creating spoon jewelry since 1969. Pierce work is his technique in which he create spoon rings, necklaces and earrings.

John Stevens

Garden Metalwork, Forged Jewelry & Vessels. John loves to hammer and get into the creative flow of moving metal by hand. In his teaching, he emphasizes the planning of a project, becoming your metal, and the purposeful and deliberate working of the medium.

Louis Garcia

The Ring Cycle series (Ancient and Traditional forging). Louis Garcia is an Artist, Art Historian, and Experimental Archaeologist specializing in ancient metalworking techniques for non-ferrous metals and has taught at WCC since 2018. His passion is helping others discover the "Ancient Artisan" within them.

Joshua Swalec

Blacksmithing. Joshua has been studying and working in metals for 27 years, starting his journey at Worcester Voke Tech and the Worcester Center for Crafts. He Currently runs a custom architectural metal shop, Ferromorphics. Lately he has been focused on conceptual pattern welded cutlery.

Tiffany DeFreitas

Intro to Clay. Tiffany has been creating jewelry as a hobby since 2015, but launched her online Etsy shop in 2020 when the world went into lock down and she needed to do something so she didn't climb the walls while being stuck at home. She has been running her business, The Creative Catte, for three years part-time while she works as an Academic Advisor in the Academic Success Center at Worcester State University as her normal 9-to-5 job. When she isn't up to her elbows in clay, acrylic paint, and alcohol ink, she is spending time with her favorite human (her husband), and their three chaotic kitties!

Alison Bruun

Introduction to jewelry. Influenced by folk art, Scandinavian modernism, and illustration, Alison delights in the play of light on hammered textures, and in blending bold and delicate lines to lend multiple dimensions to her hand-drawn designs. Her jewelry blends charm with elegance and brings joy to its wearers. Alison holds an MFA in Artisanry/ Metals from UMass Dartmouth, and currently teaches at Worcester Center for Crafts, The Steel Yard and The Bench.

Nicholas Hesson

Introduction to Jewelry and Small Objects, Enameling 100, Casting. Nicholas Hesson is an art educator, jeweler, enamelist, and CAD designer. His work utilizes a combination of digital and hand fabrication processes. He currently works as a Silversmith for Tiffany & Co. in Rhode Island.

Jay Kipp-McGowan

Intro to Chainmail Jewelry. Jay enjoys the process of creating and watching projects come together. While they love working with a variety of materials including metal, leather, and ink, Jay is especially enthusiastic about chainmail and its unique tactile nature. They look forward to welcoming students into the grounding and creative process of making maille by hand.

Mar’Kee Thomas

Mar’Kee is a yoga teacher, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and mother of two who integrates anti-oppressive and liberatory practices into her healing work. With over 15 years of clinical experience, she specializes in shadow work, grief integration, and yoga for children and families. After discovering yoga in 2011, she deepened her practice following personal loss and completed her 200-hour training through My Vinyasa Practice in 2021. Mar’Kee blends social work and yoga philosophy to create grounded, equitable spaces for growth and healing.

Sara-Grace Reynolds

Sara-Grace Reynolds is the founder of Third Eye Yoga Collective and an E-RYT 500 teacher who has led movement classes since 2006 (yoga since 2009). She has studied yoga and meditation in India and teaches with a focus on self-compassion, intuitive movement, and taking what you need. Her classes weave in pranayama, meditation, and Buddhist teachings, offering yoga that’s both accessible and deeply rooted. Sara-Grace is also a mom of two and an internal medicine physician with training in physical medicine and rehabilitation, supporting students of all abilities and those navigating illness.

Jordan Murphy

Jordan Murphy is an E-RYT 200, YA Certified Prenatal Yoga Instructor, Prison Yoga Project Facilitator, and Trauma Conscious Yoga Instructor (TCYM). She specializes in trauma-informed support for anxiety, depression, PTSD, grief, and loss, with classes focused on tuning inward, restoring balance, and building self-trust. Jordan offers trauma-conscious yoga through groups, 1:1 sessions, workshops, and programming in local prisons and correctional facilities. She’s also the founder of the Worcester BIPOC Yoga Collective, creating healing spaces for BIPOC community members.

Meng Le

Meng has 20+ years of yoga practice and 12 years of teaching experience. She began yoga to support better sleep, first learning at home before finding a studio community at Metrowest Yoga, where she later became an instructor. Meng has taught across Central MA in studio, college, and corporate settings, supporting students of all ages and abilities. She completed her 200- and 300-hour trainings with Theresa Murphy and has continued studies in yin, restorative (Judith Lasater), and myofascial release (Tiffany Cruikshank). Her classes emphasize smart use of props to build body awareness and ease.

Sherylynn Sealy

Sherylynn is passionate about wellness. A certified yoga instructor, barre instructor, artist and woman of faith, she seeks to encourage and spread a message of hope in her teaching. She received her yoga certification from Mang’Oh Yoga in New York City, and has taught across New England, New York, and New Jersey. Sherylynn leans into her faith in her personal asana practice, and is the founder and owner of TrustLoveKnow | The Christian Wellness Company where she offers a Christ-centered alternative to traditional yoga classes. To learn more visit: www.sherylynnsealy.com or www.trustloveknow.com.

Georgia Johnson

Georgia Johnson is a yoga and meditation instructor with over 20 years of practice. She discovered yoga as a way to ease stress and anxiety, and it has since become a lifelong path of healing and balance that she loves to share with others. Her classes offer a gentle, welcoming space for students of all levels to breathe, move mindfully, and reconnect with themselves. Trained in multiple yoga styles, as well as Reiki and Thai Yoga Massage, Georgia emphasizes mindfulness, intuitive movement, and the power of breath to help students reset and rejuvenate at their own pace. Outside the studio, she is a food blogger, photographer, and mom who enjoys cooking, traveling, and connecting with people wherever life takes her.

Heather Castagnaro

Heather has been practicing yoga for over 20 years. She has attended and received her 200 and 500-hour certifications in Prana Flow through Shiva Rea’s Samudra School, led by Shiva’s Senior teacher, Coral Brown. As a dedicated student of yoga and her love of being outdoors, Heather draws inspiration in her own practice and teaching from nature and its many forms. She wholeheartedly believes that yoga is about community and offers space for students to experience their practice in a dynamic yet supportive environment where compassion and acceptance are encouraged.

Ruth Febo

Ruth Febo (she/her/ella), a certified RYT® 200 and Trauma Informed Yoga Teacher, began her yoga journey in 2003. She earned her Yoga Teacher Training certification in 2019 and completed trauma-informed yoga training with Lara Land of Three and a Half Acres Yoga in 2024. Ruth is dedicated to lifelong learning, both on and off the mat. Her classes focus on flow and restorative yoga, weaving breath and movement to nurture the mind-body connection. She values sangha—community—as a vital aspect of yoga, providing space for practitioners to support and accept one another.

Gabrielle Navarro

Gabrielle (she/her/ella) has practiced yoga for 10+ years and completed her 200-hour teacher training in Costa Rica in 2019. She teaches slow, intentional, breath-led classes with a focus on accessibility for all bodies and backgrounds, and she especially loves yin and restorative yoga. Gabrielle encourages students to carry yoga off the mat through mindful movement, breath, and self-connection. Outside the studio, she does legal advocacy work for the LGBTQ+ community and enjoys hiking, reading, board games, and a great cup of coffee.

Jacki Libby

Jacki found yoga while searching for a safe place, and discovered the deepest safety comes from returning to herself. She earned her 200-hour certification from Metrowest Yoga and Training Center (Worcester) in 2016. Jacki teaches the way she practices—slow, intentional, and choice-centered—inviting students to trust themselves and focus on how yoga feels, not how it looks. A lifelong student and nature lover, she draws inspiration from the outdoors and her small market farm in Pomfret, CT, where patience, growth, and resilience echo the lessons of practice.

Jennie Backstrom

ennie Backstrom has practiced yoga for 30+ years, first introduced to the path as a child. Her classes are warm, clear, and fun—designed to make yoga feel accessible while helping students reconnect to their bodies, breath, and inner wisdom. Trained in Ashtanga, Anusara, Svaroopa, Hatha, and Vinyasa, Jennie has studied with respected teachers and taught in diverse communities. She’s also the founder of YogAffirm, a supportive space for women (especially single mothers), and she guides students toward resilience in every season of life.

Jeanine LeDoux

Jeanine is an RYT-200 with 20+ years of yoga practice. She completed her 200-hour training at Heartwood Yoga Institute with Ginny East Shaddock and is also certified in Chair Yoga. After first falling in love with vinyasa’s rhythm of breath and movement, she deepened into restorative practices that invite rest and turning inward. Jeanine creates welcoming, safe classes that blend pranayama, intuitive movement, vinyasa flow, and restorative postures—helping students bring breath and wellness into everyday life.

Rick Rocha

Rick Rocha has been on a meditative path since 1986 and began studying Tai Chi in 2000. With ongoing training in multiple styles of Tai Chi Chuan and Qigong, he brings a deep focus on mindful movement, breath, balance, and inner strength. Rick also has a background in Ayurveda and is Reiki II certified, with a longtime love of Ashtanga Yoga. He teaches at the pace of each student, offering Tai Chi as both a grounding mind-body practice and a personal journey.

Gina Cranford

Gina is a Gendai Reiki Master and Certified Bliss Bowls Sound Healing Practitioner who blends Reiki with singing bowls and sound bath meditation to support deep relaxation and renewal. With B.A. and M.A. degrees in Music Education from the University of Connecticut, she’s taught all ages for many years and has studied natural healing modalities for 20+ years. Known for her calming presence, Gina offers intuitively guided sessions tailored to where clients need support most.

Alana Maneus

Hi, I’m Alana (she/her)! I’m a 200-hour yoga instructor who began practicing in 2015 through at-home videos, which sparked a journey of self-discovery and awareness. I completed my teacher training at Hot Power Yoga in May 2025. I love yoga for the peace it brings to the mind and the strength it builds in the body. My classes focus on mindful movement, compassion, and connection, whether you’re new to yoga or deepening your practice. I’ve taught Vinyasa and hot power Vinyasa and am excited to explore Hatha, Yin, and restorative yoga. Off the mat, you can find me reading, tending to my plants, or roller skating.

Aubrey Roscoe

Aubrey (she/her) is a Public Health Practitioner, certified comprehensive Pilates teacher, and founder of Brilates Body LLC, a mobile Pilates studio dedicated to making movement accessible, affirming, and community-centered for BIPOC and marginalized communities across CT, MA, NY, and RI. Her teaching blends mindful movement, intentional breathing, and supportive guidance to help participants feel grounded, strong, and connected. Each class is a full-body mat Pilates flow with thoughtful twists, adaptations, upbeat music, and optional props to support or challenge as needed. Aubrey creates a welcoming environment for all levels, inviting every body to build strength, explore balance, and feel more at home in themselves.

Jen Swan

Jen Swan is a teaching artist and mural painter. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, she currently teaches classes for the Worcester Art Museum, Worcester Center for Crafts, Listening Wellness Center and as a Cultural Partner. Making connections between art and nature has inspired collaborations with the Audubon and EcoTarium. Her recent paintings explore art and ecology as she portrays the web of interrelationships in our environment. Through plein air landscapes and wildlife studies, she wishes to creatively propose new possibilities for coexistence, sustainability and healing.

Liviah Yeaw

Livi is a natural fibers artist & film maker with a focus on sustainability and humor. Livi is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in Animation Film and Textiles. She is a freelance visual and voiceover artist.

Brianna Ko

Forged in Fantasy & Exploring Enameling + Identity. Brianna Ko (she/her) is a third year art teacher at Marshfield High School. She teaches drawing and painting, and sculpture but her background is in metalsmithing. She graduated from the University of Massachusetts- Dartmouth in 2022 with her B.F.A in Art Education and a minor in Jewelry/Metals.

Laura Dusty

Proud to extend her over 15 year career in youth art education to children at the Worcester Center for Crafts!

Tomo Sakai

Area of Expertise: Glass engraving. The inspiration for Tomos glass work comes from her experience growing up in Japan, where traditional crafts and modern culture exist in a close relationship. From this experience, she has learned to merge traditional glass techniques with modern forms and processes, creating something new, and hopefully, beautiful.

Emily Valoras

Emily Valoras is a glass artist exploring the fragility of life through delicate materials. She graduated from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2026, with a BFA in Glass. She was the recipient of the MassArt/Pilchuck scholarship in 2024, and attended a mini-residency at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in 2025. Emily additionally interned in Anguilla in 2025 as the lead assistant glassblower for Solar Sands, transforming recycled glass from the island into functional pieces. She has started a lifelong pursuit of exploration; using glass, color, patterns, imagery, and transparency as a means of opening up a deeper conversation around mental health.

MaryWillette

Mary is a multidisciplinary artist working at the intersection of sculpture and performance. Her work draws from the seemingly mundane structures of our bodies—breath, tongues, bones, and wrinkled skin,etc.—as both material and metaphor for exploring the complexity of human relationships. Willette received her MFA from the University of Michigan (2015) and her BFA from the Columbus College of Art and Design (2005), with a concentration in glass and print media.Her work has been published and exhibited both nationally and internationally.

Jeanne Kowal

Jeanne is a second generation stained glass artist. She finds stained glass to be an excellent medium to work with. As a designer, she loves creating unique and beautiful designs. As an artist, she loves working with color, light, and texture. As a craftsperson, she enjoys bringing it all together with knowledge and precision.

Jennifer Carey

Enameling: Multi-Level; Painting enamel. Jennifer is a professional enamelist who has been working in this medium for over 30 years. She is skilled in all techniques and my work focuses on enameling as contemporary art.

Peter Grigg

Enameling. Peter Is retired university professor. Has 20+ years experience in enameling Particular interest in cloisonne and screen printing enamels.

Caterina Maina

Intro to Digital Photography, Photography II, Photographic Storytelling. Caterina Maina is a Providence-based artist engaging in fine-art projects with a focus on portraiture and environmental photography. She graduated from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2020 with a BFA in Photography and a minor in Sustainability. Her work delves into the power of human relationships and one's connectivity with their environment while exploring the tensions that exist in society today.