About ActonArt Teachers
STANDING: Julie McAskill, Hannah Bureau, Constance Del Nero, John Goodnough, Joanne Leunig.
SEATED: Roxanne Vanslette, Tracy Reed
ACTONART fosters the relationships of learning and growth, challenge and esteem-building, creativity and expression, experimentation and risk, accomplishment and pride. Learning to "draw" only scratches the surface of what students experience at ActonArt each week. Learning a process, developing a plan, maintaining concentration, coping with "mistakes" and creating artwork are daily experiences for drawing students.
Drawing and creating art are very personal experiences. That means the people who teach it must have skill, vision and empathy. The condensed biographies below barely hint at the richness and commitment that these people offer to ActonArt students every day in their studio classes.
Tracy Reed — Tracy has been teaching at ActonArt since 2003. She is a skilled artist and a committed teacher. Prior to moving to Acton from New Jersey, Tracy worked in marketing and design for ArtGrafix, Inc. She also offered her own children's art program which she designed and taught. Today Tracy is involved in enrichment programs, sits on community boards, works as a teaching assistant in the Acton public schools and volunteers for countless activities, all in addition to the hours that she spends at ActonArt helping children learn to draw and develop fine art skills.
Constance Del Nero — Constance is a professional artist who joined ActonArt in 2005. Since earning a degree in Fine Arts at New York University, she has exhibited her work in several galleries and has done freelance writing, cover art and illustration projects. Her paintings and hand painted furniture are in numerous private collections both in the United States and Italy. An eternal student of the arts, Constance sees the world as an opportunity to learn new ways to express her ideas and observations. Constance has a M.Ed. in Art Education. Constance is currently working offsite and is unavailable for studio classes. We hope to see her back in the studio again soon.
Roxanne Vanslette — Roxanne is a highly skilled artist specializing in graphite and pastel portraiture. She has years of experience teaching art, crafts, and art history in a variety of programs. Roxanne is a certified Art Teacher in Massachusetts with a B.S. in Art Education and has worked in both public and private schools. Roxanne embraces the arts with a desire to learn all she can and share the knowledge with her students. She is also the driving force behind our Manga drawing program.
Hannah Bureau — Hannah is a professional artist and commerical illustrator. She is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design and was selected as an outstanding graduate student at Massachusetts College of Art and Design for Boston Young Contemporaries at Boston University’s 808 Gallery in both 2007 and 2008. She has worked as a freelance graphic designer, and for Houghton Mifflin Company’s children's textbook division and she especially loves working with young artists.
Julie McAskill — Julie is a professional artist working primarily in oil paint. She is a recent MFA graduate candidate (for 2010) at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. She regularly exhibits in local shows including the Brickbottom Gallery in Somerville, 1581 Gallery in Brookline, and the Somerville Museum. She has also shown in various parts of the county as well as the Pompidou Center in Paris. Julie will be teaching all class levels as we begin the Fall 2010 trimester.
Joanne Leunig Goodnough — Joanne oversees the business side of ActonArt. She is a Massachusetts CPA with a Masters Degree in Accounting. She has worked at Arthur Andersen, Avid Technology, and most recently EMC where she was a senior Finance Manager.
John Goodnough — John is the founder/owner/director of ActonArt, a teaching artist who is passionate in his belief that drawing is a life-skill that everyone can and should learn. He spent the early part of his career after graduating from Rochester Institute of Technology's College of Imaging Arts and Sciences working first as a biomedical photographer/illustrator, and then as a commercial Art Director and designer. In 2003, John combined his artistic talents, scientific interests, and natural teaching ability with Joanne's business knowledge and experience to create and offer the unique ActonArt Drawing School program.
