Kristen Burroughs - Scientific Illustration

A southern California native, Kristen moved north to study marine science, and received her B.S. in 2015 from California State University, Monterey Bay. After graduating, she worked hands-on with animals, but wanted to take a more creative approach to animal conservation.

Kristen enrolled in the Science Illustration Certificate Program at CSUMB where she was able to further develop her art and learn many new skills and techniques. She completed her 400 hour internship with Bat Conservation International, and had the opportunity to illustrate bats from all over the world, including several endangered bat species.

Kristen loves to illustrate animals (especially misunderstood creatures of the night), and hopes to promote conservation for wildlife with her artwork. Currently, Kristen works as a freelance illustrator and as a science illustration mentor for the Western Flyer Foundation’s Community Journal Project. In her free time, she enjoys birdwatching and wildlife photography.

In addition to teaching multiple arts classes and summer camps for the Lyceum, Kristen also supports the Model United Nations and Spelling Bee programs as Program Coordinator.

View Nina's personal website

NINA ANTZE - BOTANICAL ART

Nina Antze is a botanical artist, quilt maker and teacher living in Sonoma County. She has a degree in Fine Art from  San Francisco State University and has a Certificate in Botanical Illustration from the New York Botanical Gardens. Her quilts have won numerous awards and her botanical paintings have been exhibited in New York, Filoli Gardens, the Huntington Library and the San Francisco Botanical Gardens.  

She teaches drawing classes and workshops throughout the Bay Area and in the Botanical Illustration Certificate Program at Filoli Gardens. She works in colored pencil, graphite, watercolor and fabric.

Nina is a member of the Northern  California Society of Botanical Artists,  Botanical Artists of Southern California, Guild of Scientific Illustrators and the  Colored Pencil Society of America.

Cecelia Azhderian - Arts Instructor

Cecelia is an artist and illustrator after a first career as a biologist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium for over a decade. She fused both of her loves with a graduate degree in science illustration from UC Santa Cruz. Always inspired by nature, and especially water, she creates things with her hands that aspire to be as interesting or beautiful. Cecelia continues her artistic exploration in all sorts of 2D and 3D media while living in the Monterey area with her human and furry family.

Jeff Froke - Arts Instructor

A professional ornithologist for more than 40 years, Dr. Jeffrey Froke has focused his career on the protection of wild birds through field research (e.g., Mexican parrots), teaching, and preserve management across the United States and Central America.  Whether as a park ranger, wildlife warden, university lecturer or conservation executive  — including several years traveling and working with Roger Tory Peterson — Jeff remains dedicated to connecting people, young and old, with the birds in their shared neighborhoods — like Pebble Beach, Monterey and Pacific Grove, for example.  

Jeff, who trained at Humboldt State University, University of Hawaii, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, UCLA and Harvard,  is a life member of  National Audubon Society, past charter trustee of Pacific Seabird Group, and emeritus member of the American Ornithologists’ Union and Cooper Ornithological Society.  Jeff knows what makes birds tick… and fly and dive and sing!

Dana Goforth - Arts Instructor

Dana Goforth has been teaching art to children since 1989. She is committed to the development of the creative spirit and the education of tools needed to achieve. Focusing on confidence, decision-making skills, and the sense of achievement in every student, Dana’s curriculum includes introduction to a wide variety of materials. She often introduces art from around the world by incorporating elements into her teachings.

Dana began working in clay at a young age, throwing her first teapot at 10. She graduated from San Francisco State with a degree in conceptual arts/computer animation. But the draw of the ceramic studio was too great. After another year focusing on sculpture, she attained a dual degree in Creative Arts. Her ceramic work has been exhibited nationwide and she continues to write children’s books with a magic realism theme.
 

Ashley Gora - Spanish Language Instructor

Ashley Gora obtained her MBA and MAIEP from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, a renowned for its emphasis on languages and international studies.  Originally from the Chicagoland region, she developed a desire to learn Spanish at a young age and started taking classes when she was in middle school.  She continued to takes classes throughout her high school and college years, and combined this with immersive learning and work opportunities abroad in Spanish-speaking countries.  

Ashley taught middle school English in Spain to native Spanish speakers, tutored high school Spanish, and tutored intermediate college Spanish during her undergraduate years at Lake Forest College in Illinois, where she received a dual Bachelors in International Relations and Spanish.  At Middlebury, she took advanced Spanish content courses and she took a course in English-to-Spanish consecutive interpretation.  Ashley's love for Spanish also caused her to develop a passion for Latin dances like salsa, which she helps teach in the community every week.  She is excited to be teaching a Spanish summer camp for middle schoolers this summer in addition to co-coordinating a Model United Nations summer camp!
 

Marie Gilmore - Arts Instructor

Marie was classically trained at the California School of Arts and Crafts in Oakland and the Choinard Art School in Los Angeles, and went on to hone her skills at Monterey Peninsula College and Hartnell College. 
She has worked with famed sculptor, Richard MacDonald (metal sculpture) and Pearson Design (retail design).  She has been a muralist, ballet program director and, most importantly, a teacher.  Through the Carmel, Pacific Grove and City of Monterey, she has taught outdoor painting, oil and acrylics, water color and colored pencil applications to both adults and children. She has also served on the Board of Directors of the Pacific Grove Art Center. 
The Lyceum is pleased to announce that Marie will be a regular art teacher in our arts programs. She is a long time resident of Pacific Grove.

Lisa Handley - Art Instructor

Lisa Handley is a collage artist, writer, blogger, instructor and SoulCollage® facilitator.  She handcrafts her Plumeria Papercraft notecards sold locally, on Etsy and by custom order, and one of her designs was featured in Better Homes and Gardens Holiday Crafts.  She offers many creative classes and workshops for children and adults.  Lisa discovered Seena Frost’s expressive, insightful SoulCollage® process in Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula’s Healing Art program and was inspired to train as a facilitator of SoulCollage® and the MeCards4Kids™ adaptation.  Along with her passion for the arts, Lisa loves nature and enjoys beach walks and family hikes.

Jodie Hollander - Poetry Instructor

Jodie Hollander was raised in a family of classical musicians. She studied poetry in England, and her work has been published in journals such as The Poetry Review, The Yale Review, PN Review, The Dark Horse, The Rialto, Verse Daily, The New Criterion, Australia’s Best Poems of 2011, and Australia’s Best Poems of 2015.

Her debut full-length collection, My Dark Horses, is published with Liverpool University Press in the UK and Oxford University Press in the US. Hollander is the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship in South Africa, a Hawthornden Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Humanities Grant in Italy, and a MacDowell Colony Fellowship. She currently lives in Colorado.

Melinda Nakagawa is a local biologist, naturalist, and educator with a passion for connecting people to nature by bridging science, nature, and art. A natural teacher with a warm approach, she guides her students by meeting them at their experience level, inspiring them to see more in nature, better document what they see, and spark their curiosity and sense of wonder. Melinda leads the Monterey Bay Nature Journal Club weekly virtual meetings on Sunday mornings as well as teaching nature journaling workshops online and in the community. She also teaches birding with a focus on slowing down for more nature connection. She has an M.S. in Marine Science from Moss Landing Marine Labs, specializing in marine birds. With an eclectic background, she’s worked as a field biologist, naturalist guide, floral designer, and wildlife rehabilitator, and has kept a nature journal for over two decades.

SHARON NELSON, ARTS COORDINATOR 

Sharon Nelson is a retired  public school teacher and guidance counselor. She is a  Fellow of The California Arts Project, and  past member  of California Music Teachers Association.  
She has  developed  classes for the Lyceum's   Squarefoot Gardening and Botanical Art program.   Currently she teaches Pocket Sketching, Nature Journaling,  Creating Herbariums, and projects related to garden arts.  She is enrolled in the Botanical Illustration Certification program at Filoli and gives private piano lessons in her home studio.

Dina Santos - Digital Photography Instructor

Dina Santos earned her MFA in Photography from San Jose State in 2008 and a BA in Studio Art: Photography in 2004. She is an artist, photographer, and educator.

Her photographs have been shown in numerous galleries across the US, and most recently were apart of a group exhibition, Artist Teaching Art, at the Center for Photographic Art in Carmel, CA and featured 11 Monterey County Photography Teachers.

Dina is currently an Adjunct Photography Instructor at Hartnell Community College. Her enthusiasm for the medium and passion about educating others permeates the classroom. She has over 8 years of teaching photography to a variety of students from all levels of life and is passionate about educating others about this powerful medium.

View Claudia's personal website

Claudia Stevens - Botanical Arts

Claudia Stevens is a botanical artist, botanist and teacher.   She holds a Master’s degree from CA State University San Jose, a BFA in printmaking, with background in botany and Scientific Illustration. Claudia has taught drawing, painting and clay sculpture in the public schools since 1990. She has collaborated with botanists and biologists, illustrating a biology book, interpretive signs, books and editorials. Her work appears in University Press’s, Sunset Magazine, Bantam Books, Rodale Press, and elsewhere. Currently, Claudia is working on a project launched and supported in part by the Creative Work Fund grant.   The project is a quiet act of conservation in collaboration with a team specializing in plant ecology, anthropology and fine art; the goal of the project is to raise visibility and public awareness to the importance of our local native plants and biotic resources.  Her work retails in over one hundred shops and galleries.

Emily Underwood - Art Instructor

Emily Underwood is an artist and natural science illustrator living in Carmel Valley. Her artwork reflects her enthusiasm for the natural word. She competed the Scientific Illustration program at Cal State Monterey Bay and now works in collaboration with museums, scientific researchers, publishers, and environmental agencies to create interpretive artwork and illustrations.

She teaches Natural History Illustration at UC Santa Cruz, and leads various workshops to facilitate engagement with the natural world through art practice. She is currently working on a guide to understanding the landscapes of California over geologic time scales.