Arts & Culture Outreach Instructors

Jane Barnard (Painting)

Jane is a professional artist, a member of the Wisconsin Watercolor Society, the Door County Art League, and the Northwoods Plein Air Painters.  She is represented by galleries in Stevens Point and Door County. Jane has a degree in French including a Diplome Annuel from the Sorbonne.

Carol Bender (Rosemaling)

Carol’s painting experience started locally with "Rosemaling" classes (which is a Norwegian decorative painting) at Midstate Technical College with Norma Splitt and then branched off to the Vesterheim-Norwegian American museum in Decorah, Iowa, Concordia Language Village and the Scandinavian Folk Art School at Scandinavian Marketplace both in Minnesota. She has also studied "Dalamalning" (Swedish decorative painting) at Norskedalen's Heritage Center in Wisconsin, and also in Sweden with Klas Hansper of Nusnas.

She has taught classes in Norwegian Rosemaling, Swedish Dalamalning, and Decorative Furniture painting  at  Midstate Technical College,  Central Wisconsin Cultural Center,  Chestnut Avenue for the Arts in Marshfield,  Lake Pepin Arts and Design Center,  and at Stockholm, Wisconsin’s Swedish  Midsommer Festival. She has also been the Rosemaling instructor at the Sons of Norway District 5 Youth Heritage and Language camp in Falls Creek, Wisconsin since 2003.

Sarah Blumenstein (French Language)

Sarah has degrees in French and Social Sciences from UWSP and has taught French in the Stevens Point School District since 1994. 

Elizabeth Fakazis (Cooking)

David Farmbrough (Photography)

After a 20-year career as a property lawyer, David returned to school and earned his M.A. in the History of Film & Visual Media from Birkbeck College, University of London in 2002. He emigrated from England in 2009. Currently, David does photography and promotional work for local newspapers and radio stations.

Gus Hartigan (Wellness)

Gus has been a Physical Therapist for 15 years. He has undergraduate and doctorate degrees in physical therapy and is certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and as a Personal Trainer.

Spyros Heniadis (Photography)

Spyros Heniadis has been teaching photography for over 6 years and studying photography for over a decade. He lives in Wisconsin Rapids with his wife and two cats.

Jeannie Hill (Tap Fest)

Jeannie joined the UWSP faculty in 2004 and teaches Jazz, Tap, Musical Theatre Dance, Beginning Ballet and Composition. She is also an associate artistic director and principal performer with the Chicago-based company Jump Rhythm Jazz Project. As a tap soloist Jeannie has danced with Brenda Bufalino, Jeni LeGon and the late greats Jimmy Slyde and James Buster Brown as part of the Hoofer’s Weekend in New Orleans. She has had incredible opportunities to perform with numerous great tap colleagues and jazz musicians at festivals and venues like the Discover Jazz Festival, Sculler's Jazz Club, Zinno’s, New York’s Tap City at the Joyce Theatre and the Duke Theatre, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Chicago Human Rhythm Project, St. Louis Tap Festival, Southern California Tap Festival and The Saco River Grange Hall. For seven years she worked with Manhattan Tap and was introduced to the ever-expanding international community of rhythm tap dancers.

Eileen Kelz (Feng Shui, Clutter Control)

Eileen is Master Teacher through the International Institute of Interior Alignment and the owner of Dynamic Environments. Eileen coaches people to "thrive in their own environment." Her interests include feng shui, clutter coaching, and space clearing.   

Ellen Larson (Drawing)

Susan Leschke (Textile Arts)

Susan Leschke is a textile artist whose work has been exhibited nationally and published in Fiber Arts, Surface Design Journal, and Handwoven. She holds a BFA in Textiles from Virginia Commonwealth University and has taught various classes in her field. 

Yan Liao (Chinese Cooking & Culture)

Yan Liao is an Assistant Professor in UWSP's library. She is fluent in Mandarin and also speaks some regional dialects. She grew up in Sichuan (Szechuan), has traveled extensively in China, and is active in promoting cultural exchanges between the U.S. and China. Yan received her B.A. in English Language and Literature and her M.A. in American Studies from Sichuan University in Chengdu. She taught English at Sichuan University before obtaining two additional graduate degrees at the University of Hawaii in Library and Information Science and Teaching English as a Second Language. She is the author of two recently published books, Food and Festivals of China and Famous People of China.

Pamela Luedtke (Brain Gym)

Pamela was a soloist with the modern dance company Mary Anthony Dance Theatre for nine years in New York City. She also worked with choreographers Agnes de Mille, Anna Sokolow, Ernestine Stodelle, Ellen Margolis, Sophie Maslow, and Berthram Ross. In New York Pamela taught at the Mary Anthony Dance Studio, the Herbert Berghoff School of Acting, and Dance Theater Workshop (DTW). Her choreography has been performed in New York, Washington D.C., California and Wisconsin. Pamela is currently instructing dance throughout Central Wisconsin and is an Associate Lecturer instructing ballet with UWSP's Dance Program. She is the founder and artistic director of Point Dance Ensemble, a non-profit dance company in Portage County consisting of dancers ages 11-18. Pamela is also certified in Educational Kinesiology (Brain Gym) as an instructor and a consultant for schools in Wisconsin, assisting in integration of neuromuscular movement curriculum. Pamela is currently an instructor for UWSP's Dance Department.

Linda Medsker (Music Classes)

Linda has 25 years of experience teaching piano. She an active member of the Wisconsin Music Teachers Association and former president of the Oshkosh Area Music Teachers Association. Linda frequently teaches Instant Piano for Hopelessly Busy People and How to Play by Ear through Arts & Culture Outreach.

Tom McComb (Music Classes)

Tom McComb is a guitarist specializing in Jazz and Brazilian music. He performs solo, with his own quartet and with many other ensembles in the central Wisconsin area. Tom has 30 years of teaching experience. Besides teaching UWSP's jazz guitar majors, he teaches fretted instruments and harmonica for UWSP Arts & Culture Outreach and the Wausau Conservatory of Music. Tom has a B.M. in Music Education from UWSP. 

Bill McKee (Studio Arts)

Bill has worked as UWSP's Art Shop supervisor since 1998 and has taught Introduction to 3D design and Carving and Assemblage. Bill's work includes carvings in stone and wood and collages/assemblages of mixed media. He has had work shown at various galleries in Portage and Waupaca counties in Wisconsin as well as in Washington.

Pauline Pray (Mosaics)

Pauline is a former SPASH English teacher. Since her retirement, she has focused on her art, specifically glass art. She has taught mosaics at Arts & Culture Outreach since 2004.

The Rogue (Magic & Juggling)

Richard Schneider (Native American Crafts)

A member of the UWSP art faculty for nearly 30 years, Schneider was known for his strong commitment to students. A widely known ceramist, Schneider has continued to do pottery and tile work since his retirement 13 years ago. Schneider has also written several books and teaches Native American craft classes. 

Sandra Siebers (Drawing, Painting, Art Education)

Sandra has taught art classes in Wisconsin high schools and technical colleges for over 30 years. She earned her M.A. in Art History from UW-Milwaukee.

Julie Sittler (Glass Art)

Julie Sittler, a UW-Stevens Point alumnus. In 2010, she earned her BFA, specializing in sculpture and graphic design. As a student, Julie was nominated for the Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award by the International Sculpture Center. She also received the Chancellor's Leadership Award. She currently in the Creative Director at the UWSP Graphic Design Center.

Kristen Thielking (Glass Art)

Kristin received a B.A. from Brown University, and an MFA from UW-Madison in sculpture with a concentration in glass. Before coming to UWSP she taught kiln casting and fusing at UW-Madison, 2D and 3D Design, and glass intensive workshops at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. She has been an artist-in-residence at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center Arts/Industry Foundry Residency program, and has also served twice as an artist-in-residence for educational community collaborations at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center. See more at: www.thielkingbrunett-artstudios.com

Elizabeth Wellso (Drawing & Painting)

Kaylin Wornson (Spanish Language)

Kaylin earned a B.A. in Spanish and a B.S. in Communicative Disorders - Speech Pathology from UWSP in 2010. She recently went back to school to earn certifications in Secondary Education and ESL Teaching. She has also studied abroad in Linares, Spain. She has tutored students studying Spanish at both SPASH and UWSP.

Karen Zach (Chorus)

Links of Interest: