Meet Our Faculty

Bayda Asbridge

Bayda Asbridge is a local community artist who has the ability to work in a wide range of mediums. Since her arrival in the United States in 2007, Bayda has been added very strong element to the Worcester Art Museum's education department contributing a vast knowledge in painting, sculpture, photography, drawing, weaving and a wide range of other mixed media. Her work has been recognized in several local galleries, including our faculty exhibitions and at the Fitchburg Art Museum, giving her a well rounded knowledge of all stages of artistic production; from conception through to presentation. Since 2010 Bayda has placed in the top three in several art exhibitions and has also been interviewed twice on local television networks to honor her work. Bayda continues her ever-growing career as an artist and as a member of the Worcester Art Museum faculty.

Donalyn Schofield

Elaine Smollin

Pratt Institute, BFA; Pratt Institute, MFA; New York University, MFA

Elaine's workshops immerse advanced or beginning artists in the rich theory and practice of visual art to intensify technical skills while providing discussions of contemporary visual arts practice. Her courses provide guided experiments in image-making and advanced use of materials in "Life Size Figure Painting", "Painting Photography Film" and intensive life drawing in Narrative and Sequential Life Studies. Elaine lives and works in Rhode Island and New York City. A painter, she works with critical and visual theory, visual design and comparative world art history. Instructor's websites: EAS Paintings and Drawings http://elainesmollinpaintingdrawing.blogspot.com/ EAS FILM AND SOCIETY http://elainesmollinfilmandsociety.blogspot.com/

Hannah Gaucher

James Welu

Loras College, BA; University of Notre Dame, MA, MFA; Boston University, PhD

In 1966, Dr. Welu received his MA and MFA from the University of Notre Dame and his Ph.D. in art history from Boston University. He received honorary degrees from the College of Holy Cross, Loras College, and Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. Dr. Welu taught at Clark and at the Worcester Art Museum for several years before joining the museum staff as an assistant curator in 1974. He served as the chief curator from 1980 to 1986 before becoming the director. He served in this position for twenty-five years. Welu retained oversight of Old Master paintings and taught on a continuous basis. A specialist in 17th-century Dutch and Flemish painting and cartography, Welu organized many exhibitions including Judith Leyster: A Dutch Master and Her World, the first show of the most famous woman artist from Holland’s Golden Age. In 2007 Hope and Healing: Painting in Italy in a Time of Plague, 1500-1800 was the first exhibition in North America to examine the response of the visual arts to the plague. He lectured widely and wrote such books as 17th Century Dutch Painting: Raising the Curtain on New England, Judith Leyster: A Dutch Master and Her World, The Collector's Cabinet: Flemish Paintings from New England, and Mask of Mirror. Welu served as president of the Association of Art Museum Directors and chaired the Accreditation Commission of the American Association of Museums. He was also a member of the advisory council for the art museum at Princeton University and the Snite Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame. --- Source: "Museum to Host Director," Telegraph Herald, January 17, 2012

Jenn Falcon

Pratt Institute, BFA Jenn Falcon loves color, nature, animals, and patterns, integrating them in her work. She received a Worcester Cultural Commission grant in 2009 and recently completed an Artist in Residence program at Petrified Forest National Park. She was born and raised in Worcester but has career experience spanning the country, including positions at Shemer Art Center in Arizona and Randall Children's Museum in California. Jenn proudly served two years in AmeriCorps, helping children to read and speak English. She also worked in Worcester Public Schools as a preschool and elementary educator.

Jill Pottle

Katie Doyle

Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University, BFA; Lesley University College of Art and Design , MFA

Keenan Cassidy

Laurel King

Pennsylvania State University, BA; Emerson College, MFA

Laurel Dile King is a fiction writer and has taught writing at the Worcester Art Museum since 2005. She has led writing retreats in Maine, Rocky Neck Art Colony, and Tuscany. Laurel is the founding publisher and editor at Garland Press, Her awards include a Massachusetts Cultural Council artist grant and a first place prize for the Worcester Magazine Short Story Contest. With the exception of that greasy summer she worked as a cook at Perkins Pancake House, each of her jobs—beginning as a counselor at Camp-Dig-a-Book—has dealt with serving up words in a more palatable way.

Lyn Slade

Lyn Slade is one of the Northeast’s premier needle felting artist-authors. Her work has appeared in numerous national periodicals, in group & solo art exhibitions, and in her book “Creative Needle Felting, wool art with a painterly style.” Lyn has taught

Patricia Kelly

Massachusetts College of Art, BFA

Randy LeSage

Rebecca Duffy

Pratt Institute, BFA

Richard Hoyer

Southern Connecticut University, New Haven, BA; Fairfield University, MA

Richard Paul Hoyer is a photographer and educator who works with fine art photography in gelatin silver prints as well as the latest digital media. He currently teaches classes at the Worcester Art Museum in digital photography and Photoshop. In addition, Richard is a member of the fine arts faculty at Manchester Community College in Connecticut, where he teaches photography and digital photography. He exhibits his fine art photographs at galleries in New York and New England on a regular basis.

Sue Dion

Art Institute of Pittsburgh, BA; Rhode Island School of Design, MA; certified Grumbacher Instructor

Susan Slepetz

Susmita Bando

William Griffiths

Bill Griffiths graduated from Pratt Institute with a BFA and began teaching at the Worcester Art Museum over 30 years ago. He teaches over 5 classes per semester and has developed a following of students who study with him semester after semester to continually absorb the wealth of knowledge he possesses. Bill's knowledge about a wide variety of painting media (watercolor, acrylic, oils, pastel, and colored pencil) is enhanced by his extraordinary expertise in the use of color, shared each class in both group and individual critiques. The courses he has taught include: Watercolor for Travelers; Color and Light I & II; Color and Light Extended; Watercolor classes at all levels; Introduction to Watercolor for Adults and Teens; Putting it All Together: Demystifying Old Master Techniques of Final Glazes and Scumbles; and Acrylic Painting. Bill's own work—in watercolor, acrylic, and oils—show his truly deep understanding of media, color and light, and the artist's touch!