OUR FACULTY AND VOLUNTEERS
Craft House Instructors: |
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COLLEEN ASHTON, jeweler
I want to see classes going day and night, like it used to. With a lot of people coming and going and a lot of things going on.
Colleen knows what it “used to” be like at PCH, when she took a casting class at PCH over 20 years ago, when her kids were young. She then moved into lapidary and silversmithing and taught casting with Nyron Chidester. Colleen took over his classes when he passed away.
“I like silver because it's versatile,” she says. “You can create things that nobody else does. And I enjoy teaching people something they enjoy doing, especially when my students go on and do well. For instance, I have a husband and wife who've won top prizes and blue ribbons at the State Fair.”
If you bring stones to Colleen, she will help you slice and cut them – “You never know what's inside until you cut them,” she says – shape, grind, and polish them, and then show you how to create silver rings, pendants, bolos, and belts to set them in.
Ask Colleen about refurbishing The Cottage and purchasing new lapidary equipment.
BHAKTI BANNING, fiber artist
I pay homage to a long line of grandmothers and mothers who always worked with their hands producing quilts, clothing, pot holders, and dresser scarves. Through them I learned that "women's busy work" could produce beauty in unique ways.
I like to work freely - pushing out the boundaries of traditional techniques and materials, often allowing the piece to guide me where it wants to go. I'm a tactile person, touching my fiber elements while visually absorbing textures, colors and shapes.
Weaving is a contemplative activity that I want to share with others from the busy world and invite them to the quiet oasis of Pioneer Craft House.
Bhakti studied weaving under artists Kay Sekimachi, Candace Crockett, Ted Hallman and David Castleberry, graduating from San Jose State University in Design, Fiber and Photography.
She was Craft Instructor at San Jose Community College, and also taught at Olive Hyde Art Center, DeAnza College, Ohlone College, Neighborhood Center for the Arts and Northern California Handweavers. She operated her own Fiber Art and Leaded Glass studios, teaching traditional weaving, vegetable and chemical dying, spinning, basketry, leaded glass, batik, tie dye, screen printing and other surface design techniques. She also led a weaving program for the disabled community called Neighborhood Center for the Arts, where they produced items for their own income.
“I encourage students to explore outside their comfort zones and feel the freedom of intuitive creativity.
Under Bhakti's tutelage, the weaving program has matured. With the addition of several necessary machines, such a new looms and warping boards, students will find learning and making much easier. Our first-ever art exhibit, "Recession Rags: A Magic Carpet Ride," showcased over 45 rag rugs and other artful objects made by PCH weavers. Bhakti also won an award in the Cultural Celebration Center's 2011 fiber arts show.
Ask Bhakti about activities in the "Mud Room," where wet arts such as batik, dyeing, felting, and more will find a home.
MARK BENNION, potter
As a teen with years of experience in throwing, glazing, firing, and building kilns, Mark was invited to exhibit at the Utah Arts Festival. He went on to earn a degree in ceramics from Utah State, teach in Moab, and work as a production potter and ceramic engineer. Also during that time, he worked with master potters such as Andy Watson, Ed Palmer, Susan Harris, Joe Bennion, Lee Dillon and others. His plans for developing the PCH ceramics department include facilitating a kiln-building class.
Ask Mark how you can help in developing the pottery department, such as our Build-A-Kiln Drive, so that it becomes the go-to place in the valley for learning.
ROSE BEST, soul collage
Rose brings to the unique practice of Soul Collage a wealth of experience as a certified hypnotist, Usui and Reiki master, teacher of pyramid feng shui, hatha yoga, belly dancing, and The 21 Praises of Tara, a master’s degree in mental health and studies of Qi Quong, yoga, shamanism, religion and mythology, and holistic healing.
KERRY COLLETT, glass artist
Kerry's been an avid fused- and stained-glass artist for 11 years. During that time, she's not just worked full-time in a glass studio but in fashioning and marketing her own CeltCraftsDesigns. We're lucky to have her beautiful earrings and pendants, with their natural motifs, in our own Gift Gallery.
KATHLYN COLLINS, gardening coach
I want to tailor my classes to develop the relationship between creative expression and the out-of-doors.
Kathlyn sees the PCH campus as a perfect outdoor classroom where she can combine her love of nature with her love of art. She not only helps students to design beautiful landscapes but encourages them to expand their creative energies in naturally harmonious ways. With her degree in Wildlife Science, Kathlyn's explored the western wilderness areas from Alaska to Moab. She was the first president of the Friends of The Great Salt Lake.
Ask Kathlyn about plans for landscape renovations on the entire property at 500 E 3300 S!
HEIDI FERGUSON, bookbinder, painter, and fiber artist
Heidi has a degree in printmaking – intaglio, lithography, and relief – from the University of Utah. Her abiding interest in all things paper led her to Penland School of Crafts to learn bookbinding. She’s been making books ever since. As a member of the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, she learned letterpress, polymer plates, stab binding, case bound binding, paste papers, and marbeling from masters Claire Van Vliet, Diane V. Maurer-Mathison and Steve Pittlekow.
Heidi also developed a love of yarn, purchasing many skeins before she knew what to do with them. Since she learned to knit from two women she met at the Salt Lake Downtown Farmer's Market, she can't seem to stop. She loves to travel to wool festivals to purchase yarn directly from the grower and stop in every small-town yarn shop to meet the knitters there.
Heidi’s also been birding for over 15 years in Utah, North Dakota, South Dakota, Arizona, Nebraska, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Minnesota, where she was president of the Minnesota River Valley Audubon Chapter. Because she especially likes the comradeship that birding with other people brings, Heidi would love to see more people, especially young people, take up birding.
Heidi gets out of doors whenever she can, especially to paint landscapes. She’s exhibited locally at Phillips Gallery and her paintings are in numerous private collections.
Ask Heidi about her work with Global Artisans and about her vision for the "Mud Room" at PCH.
JANE GRAU, fine arts
"The Craft House campus is exactly what a craft school should look and feel like, with its shady lawn and rustic buildings. I see PCH in the same mold as Penland and John C. Campbell, of Berea and Haystack, where glass, pottery, weaving, and basketry students come to learn from the best. It's a jewel in Salt lake’s crown, a sanctuary for the soul."
When Jane moved to Utah in 2004, she finally understood why artists like Monet and Van Gogh were inspired by their surroundings. “If I had always lived in this wondrous light and space,” she says, “I would have been painting every day.” Although she has a bachelor’s degree in Art from Skidmore College, her life followed a path as a writer and teacher. “I’m thrilled to have come full circle.”
Among other things, Jane was the Visual Arts Writer for the Charlotte Observer and Creative Loafing. “From being immersed in great art, I learned as much about it as I did in college. Just as important, I learned how to be an artist, which is not something anybody teaches you.”
Jane earned awards from WFAE, Festival In the Park, Broward County Medical Auxiliary, Avenues Street Fair, has exhibited at Two Creek Coffee House, Midway Arts Council, Spring City Arts Council, and SugarHouse Coffee, and taught at Virginia Art Institute, Queens University, Spirit Square, and UNC-Charlotte.
DIALIZ HOMER, painter and craftsperson
"My objective is to fully involve myself in the art and craft world."
Dializ loves the challenge of turning "unexpected materials" into works of art. The best example of that is her Great hall window hanging depicting "the artist" in full flight. She paints on any surface, from hand-made paper to wood. She's also experimented with pottery, encaustic, and other media. If you're interested in basic sewing lessons, Dializ can get you started.
"I envision Pioneer Craft House as a comfortable setting where artists and students can interact."
BILL HUGHES, flutemaker
Each flute has its own voice and calls out to people in different ways. I believe the true purpose for the flutes is healing. What could be better: beauty, art, and healing all in one thing.
Bill never tires of making Native American flutes. “I’ve made about 10,000,” he reports, including six for the opening ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Two japanese drum troupes use Bill’s flutes in their performances all over the world. “Flutes are one of the few instruments that an ordinary person can make and have real music come out of it. I love the faces of those who play their first flute.”
Bill grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana. After earning degrees from Southwest Seminary, he trained in Pastoral Counseling and completed a Ph.D. in Family Therapy from BYU. His interest in making native American flutes began after heart surgery ten years ago. Prior to his early retirement, he worked in mental health with a focus on troubled youth, families, and men’s issues.
Bill and his wife Beth, married for over 25 years, just moved to a new home only blocks from his woodworking shop at Pioneer Craft House.
The future of Craft House is in arts education and community contact. We should remain diverse and dynamic, with partnerships in the local community. Teaching and learning are the lifeblood of humanity.
JULIETTE LANVERS, fiber artist
Juliette discovered Craft House while attending a Mary Meigs Atwater Weaving Guild weekend. Like so many of us who feel at home here, it reminds her, she says, of her grandmother's house. Juliette designs and writes for Bernina. While she strives for perfection in her own work, it's only after experimenting with new ideas and methods, and learning what works and what doesn't. The only right way, she insists, is your way.
TERRY LONE, Pysanky artist
I like to inspire creativity through this medium and share the joy of completion.
"There's nothing like transforming a black blob of wax," says this award-winning crafter, into an intricate, jewel-like work of art "with colors shining through." Her passion for this ancient art has sustained her for 20 years, won her ribbons here and in Europe, and gained her inclusion in exhibits at the White House. Each egg takes from four to 40 hours from start to finish, depending on the size of the egg, the complexity of the pattern, and the number of colors. Besides traditional batik techniques, Terry invents designs in Southwestern, Indian, and original motifs.
DALE POMEROY, tatter
Dale learned to tat as a 12-year-old. It turned out to be the perfect occupation for the “hurry up and wait” lifestyle of the Army -- he could carry all his equipment and materials in his pocket and pull them out while waiting for the troops to move.
He started teaching in 1981, expanding his studies to include bobbin, needle, and embroidered lace forms. He’s exhibited and demonstrated the art all over the country, from Texas to Pennsylvania to California, and taught in Puerto Rico. Associations include International Old Lacers, Inc., Ring of Tatters, Great Lakes Lace group, OIDFA, Beehive Lacers, Timpanogos Tatting Guild, Shuttlebirds Tatting Guild, Hedgehog Lacers, and Lace Makers of Puget Sound. See a grand display of his work in the exhibit hall.
Lacemaking and theater are among Dale’s avocations; he has worked as a quartermaster and in military intelligencein the U.S. Army, a sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, and as a housing specialist for HUAC.
AMY RENZETTI, our volunteer bookkeeper
Amy works fulltime at an independent architectural firm, them goes to the U to study math. her aim is to be a junior high school math teacher. She loves number and puzzle games, reading and sewing,and finds crocheting, which her grandmother taught her, to be relaxing. PCH, she says, is an interesting place with great poeple. "I'm happy to help whatever way I can," she adds.
ROGER WHITING, muralist, mosaic artist
Art has the ability to heal wounds between communities, to inspire greatness, and to lift the hearts of those who participate in it.
While receiving his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Illustration from Rhode Island School of Design, Roger Whiting also began his career as a muralist.
Back home in Utah, he's painted murals in The Children's Museum, Hill Air Force Base, Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, and many schools and nonprofit centers. Examples of his artwork can be seen at his website, WWW.ROGERWHITING.COM
Roger's youth art program, "Incredible Art Factory" is an outlet for creative expression that enables youth to create fun, original, and positive works of art
Art has the ability to heal wounds between communities, to inspire greatness, and to lift the hearts of those who participate in it.