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Arts Westchester

Peekskill Center for the Digital Arts

Joseph Ayers
Joseph Ayers is an artist and educator who earned a BA in 2003 from the University of New Orleans in Digital Media, and an MFA in 2007 from Hunter College NYC in Combined Media.  Currently he teaches courses in Video, Sculpture, Color Theory, Digital Media and Drawing. 

‘My visual art is diverse; ranging from video installation to painting, sculpture to sound, drawing to performance. 

Landscape, nature and human cognition are recurring themes in my work.  I explore the ways in which culturally formed expectations affect perceptions. Through various combinations of media, I question the disparities and similarities between my subjects.  Juxtaposing natural and fabricated elements causes a shift in perception, subtly unseating the psychological center of the viewer. ‘

Examples of recent work:
A Shadow is a Dull Reflection, Franklin Parrasch Gallery, NYC. http://www.franklinparrasch.com/exhibitions/2011-03-17_joseph-ayers/

Andrea Bloome
Andrea Bloome has more than a decade of experience in Web based technology and Website design. She has worked with companies such as Sports Illustrated, Getty Images and Bank of America where she designed, developed and implemented many complex database-driven Web applications. Her most recent endeavor was as CEO of DTG Media where she provided business solutions for creative industries through web development, custom e-commerce, audio/video production, and streaming media. In addition, Andrea serves on several boards including the Hudson Valley Gateway Chamber. She holds a BS in Computer Programming and spends her spare time writing, cooking, and embracing the outdoors.  

Dario Boffi
B.S. Music SUNY Empire State College, M.A.T. Music CUNY Lehman College.  Dario Boffi is an adjunct professor of recording arts at the Center for the Digital Arts. A guitarist- singer, multi-instrumentalist, and public school music teacher, Boffi writes vocal and instrumental music in a variety of styles. In addition to teaching music and composing, he has worked for several
companies in the field of music technology. He teaches the technical skills, concepts, and creative approaches used by engineers/producers in modern music production.

John Borst
John Borst has more than twenty years of experience as a TV Producer and documentary filmmaker.  A graduate of Cornell University, his credits include Discovery Channel, TLC, History Channel and Travel Channel.  In addition, he has collaborated with such renowned  artists as Robert Cahen and Cai Guo-Qiang, and his works have shown at the Guggenheim in New York and Spain, and  the Massachusetts Museum of Modern Art.   His expertise extends to video production and non-linear post-production.

Edward Burke
Graduated the High School of Art & Design, NY and continued his art education at the School of Visual Arts, NY. During his 35-year career he has worked both in commercial and fine arts simultaneously. Held the position of Design Director at John Wiley and Sons, a college textbook publisher, and founded the commercial art studios Hudson River Studio and Studio 25N. Commercial work includes advertising, illustration, photography, book design, and software/web development. Fine art includes oil and acrylic painting, exhibiting and curating fine art exhibits since 1979 and as the owner/director of Gallery 25N in Peekskill, NY. His paintings are well represented in private and corporate collections, consisting of four major bodies of work: Reflective Still Water 1982-1985, Expressions from the ID 1983-1992, The Studio 1995-2005 and Persistent Thoughts, Arguments and Symbols 2005-….

Originally from Brazil, and living in the United States since 1988, she is fascinated with how society perceives and connects spirituality to beauty, consciousness and time. Her interest is in studying cybernetics, technoetics and moistmedia as means to enhance consciousness and the understanding of the self: mind and matter. She is also interested in educational processes and approaches that engage new generations in learning and perceiving the self.

John Creagh
Illustrator and designer with 10 years in the graphics industry. M.FA., Herbert H. Lehman College of the City University of NY He has also taught at Berkeley Business College and SUNY Purchase at the Choices Center He incorporates these lifelong experiences in the visual arts into his classes to better prepare his students for being artists and designers.

Susan Cristantiello
M.C.A.T., A.T.R., registered art therapist in private practice, specializing in treatment of individuals recovering from sexual assault or chemical dependency.  She has worked with adults, adolescents and geriatrics in psychiatric, educational, correctional and rehabilitation facilities.  A founding member and past president of the Westchester Art Therapy Association, Ms. Cristantiello has taught psychology for Mercy College and art therapy for the graduate program at the College of New Rochelle.

Dimitri Darras
Dimitri is honored to work at Westchester Community College.   He contracted on Flash-based games for one of the world's largest animation companies and created virtual reality content/serious game design for Cisco Systems and the FutureWork Institute in addition to machinima (machine cinema) for various clients.  Prior to working in emerging media he pursued web design and completed web design for a family of mutual funds. 

Dimitri holds a BA from Oberlin College, and a Master's in Interactive Telecommunications from NYU.   His personal portfolio is located at: http://www.dimitridarras.com and his work portfolio is located at http://www.darleon.com.  His art has been exhibited in Chelsea and DUMBO, Brooklyn.

Carlos Delgado
B.Mus, Berklee College of Music, M.A., New York University, where he is a doctoral candidate. His music has been heard in concerts, festivals, and radio broadcasts in Argentina, Australia, England, Germany, Italy, Japan, Romania, Venezuela, and the United States, and is available on the CR1, Living Artists, and Capstone Records labels. He has received several awards, including the INMC Award, the NYU Award for Outstanding Doctoral Achievement, and the Society of Composers, Inc.'s Compact Disc Series Award.

Will Fulton
Will Fulton has been producing music professionally for over ten years, and has served as Artist & Repertoire Director for Profile Records, TVT Records and Slash/Warner Brothers. He is best known for his work with Run-DMC and Camp Lo and his compositions have appeared in movies, X Box video games and television including Fox Sports News and Superbowl XXXI.  Recent credits include production on Tupac’s most recent CD release Evolution: Duets and Remixes. Rolling Stone Magazine called his work on 2003’s Shiner Massive  “Ambitious…an original sound that brings together elements of rap, funk, punk, reggae, and a hint of techno” while Entertainment Weekly called the disc “a headbanging good time.”   

He is an experienced lecturer on American music history, the music business and electronic music, and has been a featured speaker at Art of Recording Production Conference, Pop Conference and Society of American Music. He holds a Masters of Arts in Musicology from Brooklyn College, and is currently pursing a PhD in Musicology from the CUNY Graduate Center. He has taught at Bergen Community College and Brooklyn College.

Patrick Fultz
Patrick has over 28 years of design, creative and direct marketing experience, a BFA degree from Parsons School of Design and 15 years as an adjunct professor at his Alma Mater. He’s earned over 50 industry creative awards, is the President of the Caples Awards and help create the Caples Student Campaign of the Year. His early days at Grey Direct and J. Walter Thompson Direct helped Fultz develop a strong desire to create work that generates results. Seeing a need to change how agencies work with clients, Fultz established his own agency—DM Creative Group—and has developed campaigns for companies like American Express, Citibank, Columbia House, Disney, Highlights for Children, Meredith Publishing, MBI, Mission BBQ and Smith Barney. He has pioneered the next wave of 1-to-1 marketing using the web, digital printing, e-mail, and interactive tools to drive measurable and actionable results. He’s credited with the first 4/C variable data piece done in 1996 and has created two web-based applications—Easy AdMaker, a web-to-print solution and e-TriggerPro, a platform that tracks the mail and automatically triggers eMail to arrive on the same day as each recipient’s mail piece. He’s spoken at many industry events and webinars and is quoted often. Patrick loves production, technology, paper and formats and incorporates them as part of his creative toolkit. When not concepting and creating, you’ll find him playing competitive tennis. 

Myron Mock-Yen
As a recent graduate with a focus in 3D modeling and game design, I was excited to have an opportunity to share my knowledge with others from a faculty standpoint. Last summer, I taught the pre-college game design course at Westchester Community College’s Center for the Digital Arts.  I enjoyed the experience a lot. It was great to watch the students' creative process flow as they were introduced to different aspects of game design and offer them feedback at different stages of the course.  In creating a curriculum around game design, and as the course description states, it's not just about teaching and learning about game design. The students and teacher "have to play them”.  To help convey information on game design, I feel it's important to get into the mindset of individuals who are commonly referred to as 'gamers'.  Westchester Community College's Center for Digital Arts in Peekskill provides a unique opportunity to both youths and adults who are not only interested in learning about game design, but also other multimedia subjects.  

Alex Garvin
Certificate of Fine Arts, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. B.A., Empire State College. As leader of the classic 1980s band, Pianosaurus, Alex recorded his music for Rounder Records and Nonesuch Records, and toured nationally and internationally. Alex’s music has been featured in  Francis Ford Coppola’s film, New York Stories, as well as on MTV, National Public Radio, and People Magazine, among others.

Howard Goodman
A fine art and product photographer for over thirty years, Mr. Goodman's personal and commercial work has appeared in many books and national publications.  His work is in numerous private, corporate, and public collections including The International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House and the Whitney Museum of American Art.  He earned an MFA from the Rochester Institute of Technology and has worked for and taught Documentary Photography, the History of Photography, as well as digital, traditional, and alternative photographic processes at the the State University of New York College at Plattsburgh, Parsons School of Design, Rochester Institute of Technology/New York State Division for Youth, Clinton Community College, and, since 2007 has taught at Westchester Community College.  In 2006, he was visiting researcher and lecturer at Seika University in Kyoto, Japan as part of a three-month artist residency.  A specialist in reproduction photography for museums, collections, and artists, he is putting the finishing touches on his book, How To Photograph Your Work Samples: A Recipe Book for the Visual Artist, to be published this Fall. 

Chris Hart
BFA, Purchase College, SUNY; MA, California State University, Chris is a writer, director, editor and producer. He has worked in the film industry in Los Angeles and New York and his work has been shown at numerous festivals throughout the world, including the Sundance Film Festival, Goteborg Film Festival, Cambridge Film Festival, Cairo International Film Festival, The American Cinematheque and The Directors Guild of America. He has taught film and digital video production including screenwriting and final cut pro at North Carolina School of the Arts and California State University, Long Beach.

Eileen Mac Avery Kane
B.P.S. in Graphic Design from Empire State College and M.F.A. in Graphic Design from Savannah College of Art and Design. Over twenty-five years of experience designing brand identities, integrated marketing, print collateral, publication design, poster design, interactive presentations, and websites. For the past 15 years she’s worked for Bear Brook, a design studio specializing in entertainment and media. She has also taught digital design, imaging, and illustration at Empire State College, Rockland Community College, and Orange County B.O.C.E.S. Additional info at eileenmacaverykane.com

Gerry Katzban
B.l.D., Pratt Institute; M.A. degrees in education and fine art from New York University. Motion graphic designer for film and broadcast television, including programs for PBS, The History Channel, and the Biography Channel. His work as a multimedia designer includes interactive and video programs currently running in several museums and city centers. Gerry is a senior adjunct instructor at WCC and has taught there since 1997. Additional info at www.gkdesign.us

Justin Kessler
Professor Kessler received his A.A.S from Nassau Community College,
A.S. from the New England Institute of Art, B.A. SUNY Oneonta and his
M.M. from the Purchase College Conservatory of Music. 
Professor Kessler has worked at major record companies including The Verve Music Group and Atlantic Lava, and as an engineer for platinum selling artists, including John Mayer, McCoy Tyner, Smokey Robinson, Jimmy Buffett, The Black Crowes, Jewel, Joss Stone, and P Diddy, to name just a few.  His work as a television post-production engineer has earned him three Emmy awards.  He is a producer, performer, composer, writer, and educator.  As a musician, he has studied extensively on guitar, banjo, mandolin, bass, and piano.   

Deborah Krikun
Deborah Krikun is Associate Professor of Visual Arts at SUNY Westchester Community College in Valhalla, New York. Her activities at the college include advising to student club, New Media Group, that produces a Digital Arts Career Day and a NY metropolitan undergraduate DIG.IT.ALL Film and Animation Festival.  Krikun holds a M.A. in Communications/Computer Graphics from the New York Institute of Technology (1982) and a B.S. in Visual Arts from New York University (1980). As a professional animator and special effects technician, she has worked for major Los Angeles studios including Robert Abel and Associates, Digital Productions, and Editel. While in Los Angeles, she was awarded a grant to develop and direct Tales on Trial, an educational outreach project for youth sponsored by the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles Superior Court. Since moving to New York, she has focused on new media design and development for various community non-profit organizations such as Riverspace Arts in Nyack, Arts Angels, Drama Works, and for other visual artists. She is a recipient of SUNY’s Chancellor’s Award for Excellence for Special Projects in Education, recognizing her dedication and innovation as a new media educator. www.newmediagroup.org

Sherry Mayo
Sherry Mayo E.d.D.C.T.,M.F.A. graduated from Boston College, NYU, and Teachers College Columbia University.  Her areas of specialty include:  arts technology integration in higher education and combining both traditional and digital materials in studio practice.  Recent exhibitions include:  “Faculty/Selects” Westchester Community College, Fine Arts Gallery and “Private i”  Skylight Gallery, Chelsea, NY.  Recent publications include: “The Prelude to the Millenium: The Backstory of Digital Aesthetics,” The Journal of Aesthetic Education and “Implications for Art Education in the Third Millennium: Art Technology Integration,” Art Education Journal.  For more info please see www.smayo.net .

Charles McGill
Charles McGill received an MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore where he was a Ford Foundation Fellow, a BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City and an AFA from Keystone Junior College in La, Plume, PA. He is also a former attendee of The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine.

Since his first solo exhibition in 1999 at the Barbara Ann Levy Gallery in New York City, his work has been exhibited at The Bridge Art Fair in Miami, Art Viceroy Miami, The Wadsworth Museum in Hartford, CT., Russell Projects Gallery in Richmond and in the 2008 Westchester Biennial.

In 2009, Douglas F. Maxwell for D’Art International Magazine voted his work as a Top Ten Exhibition for that year. He is currently represented by Page Bond Gallery in Richmond, Va. and The Phatory in New York City.