Faculty Biographies
Department Chair
Grant Donesky
Grant is a designer/writer/educator whose work has been exhibited internationally. His list of clients includes many of the most prominent Canadian corporations, as well as non-profit organizations. Grant has worked in the film industry and holds a certificate in Television Broadcast Production. He also earned a teaching credential at the Canadian Cooperative for Language and Cultural Studies in Toronto. Grant was conceived in India, born in Canada, and spent his restive/formative years in Ann Arbor, Michigan and Toronto, Ontario, after which he travelled widely, working in five countries. He was a charter faculty member of the Department of Design at York University in Toronto, where he was enlisted to integrate emergent media with traditional practice. He is an avid worm farmer and gardener with a particular interest in growing wine grapes, a therapeutic space from which comes many good things, some of which are immanent. He earned a BA at the University of Toronto and an MFA at the Rhode Island School of Design. Grant comes to Cornish College of the Arts after having lived in Providence for nearly 10 years, where he taught at the Rhode Island School of Design, Brown University, and the University of Connecticut.
Core Faculty
Professor Susan Boye
Susan Boye was born and raised in Denmark As a professional artist and printmaker, Susan has shown her work locally at Stone Press Gallery and in numerous cities in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Recently Susan was a finalist for the Washington State Arts Commission Portable Works Collection 2001 and mounted a solo exhibition at the Fountainhead Gallery in Seattle. She has taught at the University of Idaho, Washington State University, and Ithaca College. Susan earned both a BA in Fine Arts and an MFA from Washington State University.
Associate Professor Jeff Brice
Jeff is a digital artist working in motion and print graphics. He has a long history with digital technologies, doing animation for ShadowLight productions in NYC while running one of the first digital illustration studios in New York City. A partial list of clients include: HBO, CBS records, NASA, Ogilvy and Mather Advertising. Jeff’s experience in teaching began while receiving a MA full fellowship in Communication Arts at New York Institute of Technology, where Jeff taught graduate level computer graphics and television production. He has also taught various classes at Rhode Island School of Design, Carnegie Mellon University, Rhode Island College, and School of Visual Concepts. Jeff enjoys a successful career as an illustrator in both print and motion, with clients including the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, Levi’s, Sirius Radio, Wired magazine, and Digital Video Magazine, to name a few. Jeff’s teaching is augmented by his varied interests in theory, as well as his practical professional experiences. Jeff received his MA from the New York Institute of Technology and his BFA from Carnegie Mellon University.
Elizabeth Darrow
Elizabeth Darrow received a Ph.D in art history from the University of Washington in 2000 and has taught at Trinity University, University of Colorado at Boulder, University of Washington and Montana State University. Dr. Darrow studied restoration of painting and art history in Italy and her research & scholarly interests emphasize early modern art history from the Renaissance into the nineteenth century. She is a pioneer in the study of the effects of restoration of art on art interpretation and was a Guest Scholar in Residence at the J.P. Getty Museum & Research Institute in 2005-06, completing a manuscript about the restorer in 18 th century Venice for the Getty Trust entitled Restoring the Myth of Venice (2008). Her discovery of a lost Renaissance altarpiece, Madonna & Child with Six Saints (1456), by Neri di Bicci at St James Cathedral in Seattle generated world-wide attention, an exhibition and she was co-author of Focus On the Renaissance (Seattle, 2004).
Assistant Professor Tiffany Laine De Mott
Tiffany began her career nearly twenty years ago, designing window displays for local, retail shops. From there she became a visual merchandiser and buyer for several home furnishings companies including Pottery Barn and Anthropologie. As a corporate merchandising trainer, she developed a passion for teaching, which inspired her to pursue her MFA. She has exhibited as a photographer, graphic designer, book artist, sculptor, painter and filmmaker. In 2004 she founded her dual design studio, consisting of nibblemarkdesign, which focuses on photography and print design, and fontfilms, a production company that focuses on multiple aspects of filmmaking. Tiffany has worked in the arts professionally as a teacher, photographer, print designer, jewelry designer, interior designer, exhibition designer, online editor, cinematographer, film director, production designer, screenwriter, film score composer and visual/digital effects supervisor. She holds a BFA from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in photography with a focus on narrative, artist books. At the Rhode Island School of Design she earned her MFA in graphic design with an emphasis on digital media, while fulfilling a teaching fellowship. She has a Collegiate Teaching Certification from Brown University.
Professor Jon Gierlich
Jon Gierlich is an artist/designer who has exhibited widely in the region. Francine Seders Gallery Ltd. Seattle represents his artwork. His history of working with other design professionals on art projects in complex public settings lends breadth to the basic issues of how we navigate our cities, our neighborhoods, and our homes. Gierlich is currently a commissioner with the King County Public Arts Commission, and has recently designed "Interrupted Journey", the World War II Memorial plaza on the University of Washington campus and "Meeting Place," an interior architecture in a corporate office building. "Lodge" an interior architecture commission from studio Jaso was selected as an A.I.A. Project of the Month Jon received his BFA from the University of Kansas, studied in the graduate program of the University of Nebraska, and for many years worked as a manager/tradesman in the construction industry.
Professor Jacob Kohn
Jacob Kohn is a professional fine artist, exhibiting locally and regionally, and producing many studio commissions for private, public and corporate spaces.
Some major commissions have included 8 mural paintings for the Seattle Aquarium outside walls, a 9’ x 12’ canvas mural for Childrens’ Hospital, a large (9’ x 18’) canvas mural for a Seattle corporate law firm, a private on site mural for a castle in Madrona, and smaller oil on canvas paintings for many of the regions’ hospitals, banks and corporate offices. His paintings are in many public and private collections, some of which are: the Bill and Melinda Gates collection, the Hughes Aircraft Corporation, Boeing Corporate Headquarters, Westin Hotels, Nordstroms, Salish Lodge, Microsoft, the Sheraton Hotel, and the Milwaukee Art Center. He has presented solo painting exhibitions at such venues as the Foster White gallery, William Traver gallery, Matsge Runnings, and The American Art Company. Jacob has exhibited locally at the Seattle Art Museum, Bellingham Art Museum, The Center on Contemporary art, and the Bellevue Art Museum. His national exhibitions have included museums and galleries in Los Angeles, Chicago, Scottsdale Arizona, Wisconsin, and New York. In his many years of teaching at Cornish, Jacob has been instrumental in developing the Design department Foundations Program in drawing and design as well as creating studio courses in watercolor and illustration technique. He has received the Outstanding Faculty Award in the Design Department and has been recently honored for his 20 years of service at Cornish. Jacob holds a B.S. in Art and Art Education from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and an M.F.A. in Painting and Drawing from the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
Professor Claudia Meyer-Newman
Designer, creative director, fine art photographer, and educator, Claudia has been an active member of the design community for the past 25 years. She recently held the position as senior designer and creative director at Methodologie, developing corporate communications, Websites, brand and identity. Claudia has received numerous awards, grants, and honors acknowledging her design and photography. With seventeen years of tenured teaching experience she holds a MFA in photography from the San Francisco Art Institute and a BA from the Evergreen State College. She is a graduate of the Burnley School of Art.
Associate Professor Julie Myers
Julie holds a MFA and BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Additional studies include: Parsons School of Design, Whitney Museum of American Art (with Alex Katz, Bill Viola, Nam June-Paik, Joel Shapiro, Susan Rothenberg, and more), Cooper Hewitt Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and Graham Foundation Studies.
Julie is President of JMD Consultants, Inc. Awards include: American Society of Interior Designers, Award of Excellence, SAIC Marya Lilien Foundation Award, All-Steel Manufacturer Award. Clients include: Pike Place Market, Washington State Convention and Trade Center, Marriott, Marriott International, Inc., The Levy Restaurants, Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority of Chicago. Recent projects included international design and manufacturing in South East Asia, where she continues her research, "Cultural Sustainability with High-technology Environments: A Designer’s Field Notes on Southeast Asian Post-Modernism Era of Product Manufacturing and Development." She received the International Furniture and Design Association, 2005 Carolyn Thomas Teacher Education Grant. Julie is also a photographer, artist, and Master Birder.
Professor John Miller
John has exhibited as painter and photographer. His professional experience also includes stage design, interior design, puppetry, and illustration. He has studied at Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art and Art Students’ League of New York. He earned a BFA in Painting from Wayne State University and an MFA in Theater from State University of New York.
Professor Roberta Russell (Performance Production Department)
Roberta has been designing lighting and scenery in the Pacific Northwest area since 1987. Her recent work includes Dreams of Baby for Jane Doe Theatre, and Mandragola, Hell on Wheels, and The Illuminati for the Empty Space Theatre. Roberta has designed lighting for St. James Cathedral’s Great Music for Great Cathedrals for two years, and served as lighting designer/scenic artist/scenic designer for many past Marzena concerts. During the 1990 Goodwill Arts Festival, she served as lighting design interpreter of the Sovremenik Theatre’s productions of The Three Sisters at Intiman Theatre and Out of the Whirlwind at the Seattle Repertory Theatre. She holds an MFA in Theater Design from the University of Washington.
Adjunct Faculty
Adjunct Instructor Fred Andrews
Fred has been a member of the faculty at Cornish for 19 years teaching illustration, graphic design and photography. He has also taught illustration at Puget Sound Early College and art at Marvista Elementary School. His work has been exhibited and published internationally and he is the author of 14 books dealing with illustration, graphic design and photography. Days of the Past, his most recent book, was published by the Shanghai People’s Press as part of the 2010 World Expo in China. For the last 30 years Fred has been creating images for many clients including Starbucks, Seattle Children’s Theatre, K2 Sports, Seven Seas Cruise Line, New Balance Shoes and Seattle Repertory Theatre. He has also worked as the art director of the Seattle Weekly and Skid Road Theatre, cinematographer for Coffin & Company and Fred Levine Productions, and aerial photographer in the U.S. Air Force. For the last 9 years Fred has been the art curator for Panera Bread of St. Louis supplying their 1,200 bakery/cafes with art and photography. Fred graduated from Olympic College in fine art, graduated from the Burnley School of Art in illustration/graphic design, and received an MFA in drawing and painting from the Instituto Allende in Mexico.
Adjunct Instructor Ricky Castro
Ricky’s work has spanned the gamut from fine art to print and packaging and most recently, interactive media. In 1999 he established the design arm of ZAAZ, a web design and development agency in Seattle. Through his leadership, the company grew from 5 people to a nationally recognized firm of 40 developing ground-breaking work for Fortune 100 companies. Clients include National Geographic, Washington Mutual, Converse, KCTS, and Starbucks. Ricky Castro has received multiple awards from Communication Arts. His most recent independent project will be published in AIGA:365, celebrating the year’s best design. Ricky studied sculpture at L’Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence and received his BFA with honors from California State University, Fullerton where he studied photography and installation art. His work and exhibitions there dealt primarily with the intersection between art, experience, and machines.
Adjunct Instructor Jim Catel
Jim has more than seventeen years of professional experience in graphic design and art direction and is one of the co-founders of the interactive design agency IF/THEN. His work ranges from interactive media, brand identity, and motion graphics to package design, type design, and print design. He has worked with such clients as National Geographic, PBS, Microsoft XBox and Game Studios, Nintendo, Oxygen, KING5-TV, Bill Nye the Science Guy, The Walt Disney Company, Amazon.com, T-Mobile, AT&T Wireless, Converse, Façonnable, Tommy Bahama, Columbia Sportswear, and Helly-Hansen. Jim holds a BFA in Graphic Design from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design and has pursued postgraduate work through the Art Institute of Chicago / Eastern Michigan University in the Netherlands.
Adjunct Instructor Gayle Clemans
Gayle is an art historian and writer who contributes regularly to The Seattle Times. Her most recent publications include essays on contemporary artists and their maps, which are featured in The Map as Art (Princeton Architectural Press, 2009). During her tenure at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Gayle connected exhibiting artists with community groups to create innovative programs such as Mierle Laderman Ukeles’ performance workshops with Los Angeles sanitation workers and Lawrence Weiner’s site-specific conceptual projects with families. Gayle moved to the Northwest for graduate school, receiving her M.A. in contemporary art history from the University of Washington. She is currently wrapping up her Ph.D. with a focus on the relationship between parenthood and contemporary art; she will complete her lengthy dissertation…any day now.
Adjunct Instructor Rossitza Skortcheva-Donesky
Rossi’s earliest memories are of being surrounded by paint. Learning to draw and paint seemed to go hand in hand with learning to walk and talk. At fourteen she was accepted into a high school with a particular focus on the arts, after which she went on to earn a BFA in Illustration & Graphic Arts in 1985, and an MFA in Illustration in 1987 at the Academy of Arts in Sofia, Bulgaria. After graduation, Rossi assumed the position of Staff Illustrator and Assistant Art Director at Narodna Kultura Publishers, a large publisher of foreign literature in Bulgaria (and as such, rather unusual among the eastern bloc countries at the time). The so-called Velvet Revolution occurred in the latter half of 1989. In February of 1990, Rossi shocked her family with the announcement that she was leaving for Canada in two days. She felt that the freshly opened opportunity might simply close if she didn’t act.
Rossi quickly settled into active professional life in North America. For the next ten years she was an Instructor, then Course Director, in the Design program at York University in Toronto. She also taught Illustration at Sheridan College. In addition to this she maintained an active private practice which spanned fine art, illustration and graphic design, and participated in numerous group and solo shows. For nearly ten years, prior to moving to Seattle, she lived in Providence, Rhode Island where she taught at Rhode Island School of Design and Massachusetts College of Art. Her work has been widely published and is held in both private and state collections (including the National Gallery of Art in Sofia). In 2005, Rossi’s work was recognized in the Illustration Annual of Communication Arts. Rossi recently became a US citizen and was able to vote - for the first time - for Barack Obama.
Adjunct Instructor Jules Faye
Jules Faye established the Street of Crocodiles Printery in 1990. Since 1992 Jules and her partner Christopher Stern have pursued their interests in typography, letterpress printing and hand bookmaking together under the aegis of Stern & Faye, Printers. They have exhibited numerous books, broadsides and prints in galleries throughout the country. Awards for their work include HOW’s Perfect Ten Award; the AIGA 50 Books/50 Covers Award; The Washington State Book Award; Northwest Bookfest’s Best Typography and First Choice Fine Press Book Awards; and The Silver Medal Award for Cover Design from the Society of Publication Designers 34th Competition. They’ve offered classes, workshops and presentations at Oregon College of Art & Craft in Portland, Oregon; The School of Visual Concepts in Seattle; Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, The Richard Hugo House in Seattle, the Bainbridge Arts & Crafts Gallery on Bainbridge Island, the La Conner Poetry Festival in La Conner and at Northwest Bookfest in Seattle.
Adjunct Instructor Ellen Forney
Ellen Forney has been a professional cartoonist since 1992, and began teaching Comics at Cornish in 2002. Her work appears regularly in many publications, including Bust Magazine, Nickelodeon Magazine, LA Weekly, and The Stranger. Her book of autobiographical comic strips Monkey Food: The Complete "I Was Seven in ‘75" Collection (Fantagraphics Books) was nominated for several national comics awards, and she received a Xeric Foundation grant to self-publish a collection of her work. Her comic artwork was exhibited in She Draws Comics: Great Women Cartoonists (Cartoon Art Museum, SF), Off the Page (SOIL, Seattle), and Bizarro World! The Parallel Universes of Comics and Fine Art (Rollins College, FL). She was an invited participant in XI Salão Internacional de Banda Desenhada do Porto, Portugal in 2001.
Adjunct Assistant Professor Julie Gaskill
Drawing Applications, Life Drawing
Julie Gaskill’s work has been exhibited in Lyons, France, in Shenzhen, China, at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle, the Whatcom Museum in Bellingham, WA, the Lancaster Museum of Art in Lancaster, PA, the Tweed Museum of Art in Duluth, Minnesota, the Janet Turner Print Museum in Chico, CA, in the 9th, 10th, and 12th Biennials of Pacific Prints of Palo Alto, CA, the LA Printmaking Society’s 18th National Biennial Exhibition, Pasadena, CA, the Seattle Art Museum Gallery, and at Davidson Galleries in Seattle.
Julie was invited to be an Artist-in-Residence in August 2006 at the Artists’ Enclave at I-Park in East Haddam, Connecticut. Julie was also an Artist-in- Residence at the Scuola Internazionale di Grafica in Venice, Italy in August 2002, and a recipient of the 1996-97 PONCHO Artist-in-Residency Award at Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle.
Julie studied at Webster University, Missouri and at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France, where she lived for ten years.
Julie has prints and sculpture in the permanent collections of the Mulvane Art Museum of Topeka, Kansas, the State of Washington, the cities of Seattle and Shoreline, WA, and in the Alice B. Cooley Print Collection of Cornish College of the Arts, where she has taught drawing since 1994.
Adjunct Instructor Hovie Hawk
Hovie has been working professionally in graphic design since 1993, designing for both print and web environments. Since 1998 he has served as President/Creative Director at Design Hovie Studios, growing the company into a firm with an international presence. In January of 2001 he opened the studio’s Milan, Italy office and began a series of ongoing collaborations with Winsome Italia, Qwentes Italia, and Giorgio Galli and Partners.
Hovie holds a BFA in Graphic Design and a BA in Art from the University of Washington. He has served on the board of directors for Arts Ballard, and is a member of the American Institute of Graphic Arts and the Ballard Chamber of Commerce. Hovie’s work has been displayed at the Paris and Milan Fashion Weeks, the Super Bowl, the NBA finals, the Paris Air Show, the Rose Bowl, and the E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo. His awards include those from the Best of Italy, Logo Lounge, Neenah Paper, HOW Magazine, Bookbuilders West and the Southern California Exposition. In addition, Hovie was a keynote speaker at the Los Alamos National Laboratory for Interlab 2007.
Adjunct Instructor Michael Herbert
Michael Herbert has been involved in exploring the impact of communication through 2-D and 3-D spaces since the 1980’s. With a BFA in Interior Environmental Design from Ball State University and a MFA in Graphic Design from the University of Illinois Michael has perused the noted explorations within the professional realm in various roles including architectural illustrator, interior designer, print graphic designer, environmental graphic designer, and Illustrator. He is currently a Senior Designer/Design Associate with the Midwest design firm Rowland Design, Inc. - a multidisciplinary firm involved in architecture, interior design, and environmental graphic design. Specific professional areas of focus include museum/corporate exhibit design, signage & wayfinding, along with spatial and print branding systems for non-profit and academic institutions. Clients include the University of Louisville, Purdue University, Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry, The City of Charleston, SC, the Chicago Historical Society, the Louisville Science Center, Brown-Forman Corporation, Lilly Pharmaceuticals, and the Simon Property Group. While committing time to design practice Michael has also held graphic design and interior design faculty positions with the University of Illinois, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Ball State University, and the University of Louisville.
Adjunct Instructor BeAnne Hull
A graduate from the Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, in Graphic Design, BeAnne arrived in the United States in 1977. Her career in graphic arts includes design work for the City of Seattle, King County, Metro, Seattle Chapter AIA, commissions for Bumbershoot, the Pike Place Market, Bellevue Art Museum, the Frye Art Museum and numerous private companies. She has taught art and design since 1975 in schools and colleges, and coordinated design work for many Seattle institutions including the Woodland Park Zoo. A member of the Northwest Watercolor Society, she has also exhibited and sold her work both locally and internationally.
Adjunct Instructor Natalia Ilyin
Natalia is a principal at Emerson Harris, a brand consultancy in Seattle. She is also a writer and design critic. After earning her MFA in graphic design from Rhode Island School of Design, she served as National Director of Programs for the AIGA in New York and was responsible for all its publications, conferences, exhibitions and competitions. She has taught courses in semiotics and design theory at Yale University, The Cooper Union and the University of Washington, and frequently holds workshops in the semiotics of brand at educational institutions and corporations around the country. She recently participated in the Toyota Lecture Series at Art Center College of Design. Her most recent book, Chasing the Perfect: Thoughts on Modernist Design in Our Time, is a personal look at the philosophy of modernism and how it has affected life in this century. Natalia’s articles have been published in the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, the Portland Oregonian, the Miami Herald, Metropolis, STEP, Adbusters, Communication Arts, and in several anthologies of design criticism. She is at work on her third book.
Adjunct Instructor David Kendall
David is principal and creative director of Kendall Ross Brand Development and Design. He specializes in the development and re-positioning of retail brands ranging from consumer goods and packaging to retail shopping centers. He has directed design projects and played a key role in retail design programs for Bellevue Square, Victoria Gardens, Precept Brands and Tully’s Coffee. He also has extensive experience developing programs for Microsoft, Nintendo, PACCAR, Milliman, Kemper Developments and Japan Airlines.
David began his career as an art director in Tokyo specializing in editorial design for luxury hospitality and airline industries. He then worked in various design management capacities at Landor Associates prior to establishing Kendall Ross. He is a member of the American Institute of Graphic Arts, Design Management Institute, Seattle Ad Club and the International Council of Shopping Centers. He regularly lectures on design and brand issues around the country and serves as an adjunct professor in the Visual Communication Design program at the University of Washington. David sits on the board for The Climb for Breast Cancer for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center as well as the Pacific Northwest Food Industries Executive Committee for The City of Hope. David has a BFA in graphic design and a BA in Japanese language and literature from the University of Washington and an MFA in design from the Rhode Island School of Design, where he graduated summa cum laude.
Adjunct Instructor Mark Kornblum
Mark is passionate about using technology creatively. He studied Politics and Computer Science at Oberlin College, receiving a BA in 2003. He’s since worked for a wide variety of organizations, including Avid Technology, the Cleveland Neighborhood Development Coalition, McMaster-Carr Supply Company, and several political campaigns. Since 2007, Mark has been the Web Developer at Cornish College of the Arts, where he’s overseen the rollout of the Expression Engine web content management system and written a variety of custom web applications. Outside Cornish, Mark works regularly creating websites for artists and small businesses, and also maintains a regular gig schedule as lead guitarist in the band Lady Drama.
Adjunct Instructor David Kutsunai
David has over twenty years of experience in the practice of interior design and architecture. He has worked for nationally recognized architecture firms such as NBBJ, Space, Gensler, and is currently a Principal and Director of Design at IA Interior Architects. He has led design and strategic planning efforts for clients such as Amazon.com, Microsoft, Starbucks, Washington Mutual, Verizon, Merrill Lynch, and Chicos, in locations throughout the U.S., China, and England. His diverse professional career has also included working for various firms specializing in structural engineering, mechanical engineering, residential architecture, and historic preservation. David received Bachelor of Arts and Master degrees in Architecture from the University of Washington.
Adjunct Instructor Tamara Moats
Tamara has been curator of education at the Henry Art Gallery since 1988 where she has built the department to include a wide variety of programs for adults, university students, and children, as well as K-12 tours, teacher-training institutes and curriculum guides, and the Henry’s noted museum-school partnership, the Artlink program. She regularly teaches for the UW School of Art, the College of Education, Museology program, and Cornish College of the Arts. Moats is also a faculty member of the Bush School upper school where she teaches art and music history. She has published in Art Educator magazine and presented papers at NAEA and CAA. Tamara holds a BA degree in art history from the University of Puget Sound and an MA in Asian Studies from the Claremont Graduate School. She has lived and traveled in Europe and Asia, including a study tour with the late mythologist Joseph Campbell to Southeast Asia and Indonesia in 1977, and a sabbatical in Paris in 1998.
Adjunct Instructor Marisa Mangum
Marisa (LEED AP) received a BA in Psychology from the University of Texas and an AA in Interior Design from the Colorado Institute of Art. However, her most influential education came from the year she spent abroad in Chile living, studying and collaborating with the professors from the School of Architecture at the Catholic University of Valparaiso. This unconventional group of artists, architects, industrial designers and poets founded their own community on the Chilean coast, the Open City. In Seattle, Marisa has worked since 1989 as an interior designer on commercial interior projects primarily for public and municipal clients. In 2001 she started her own Interiors firm, 33 design. Recent projects include the Pierce County Environmental Services Building in University Place, WA (an AIA/COTE 2004 Top Ten Green Project), Sea-Tac International Airport Satellite Transit Stations, and the City of Seattle Southwest Precinct Police Station, designed for LEED silver.
Adjunct Instructor Scott Mayhew
Scott received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz where he studied oil painting and printmaking. Afterwards, he went on to get two Masters Degrees, one in Sequential Art and the other in Computer Art, from the Savannah College of Art and Design and earned an "Outstanding Achievement Award in Computer Art." Since then, he has worked at numerous Game companies in Oregon and Washington, including Dark Horse Interactive, Boss Games, Beep Industries, and Cranky Pants Games where he is the Lead Animator. Some of the titles that he has worked on include HellBoy, Voodoo Vince, and the as yet released, Evil Dead: Regeneration. Scott has used Alias/Wavefront’s Maya since its inception and before that, its predecessor, Alias PowerAnimator.
Adjunct Instructor Sharon Mentyka
Sharon is a graphic designer, writer, and educator who has worked in the design field for the past 22 years. She began her career in New York City where she worked first with Peter Bradford, Robert Gersin and Ralph Appelbaum before starting her own business with her husband & design partner. They moved their office to Seattle in 1991, while continuing to collaborate with clients in New York, including Central Park, INTIX and The New York Public Library. Significant projects in Seattle have included graphic identity, marketing, and exhibit and signage systems for the Bellevue Botanical Gardens, the Cedar River Watershed Education Center, Seattle City Light’s Energy Smart Services, the San Juan County Land Bank, Seattle Symphony Learning Center and the Alliance for Education. Underlying all her projects is a commitment to integrate sustainable design practices into the design process. She holds a BFA in Communications Design from Pratt Institute, New York.
Adjunct Instructor Robynne Raye
Since co-founding the internationally notorious design studio Modern Dog in 1987, Robynne has continued to do work for theatre and entertainment companies - both local and national - and counts poster design as some of her favorite work. She routinely ignores the boundaries between illustration, design and typography. Her recent projects include packaging design for Blue Q; Lotto logo design for Washington State Lottery; hang tag design for Express Jeans; and music posters for House of Blues. For over 10 years, she has lectured and taught workshops, both nationally and internationally. Her posters are represented in the permanent archives of the Library of Congress, Experience Music Project, Bibliotheque National de France in Paris, Museum Fur Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg, and the Smithsonian Institute’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York, among others.
Adjunct Associate Professor Jeffrey Robbins
After receiving his degree in Drama from the University of Washington in 1975, Jeff spent 14 years as a technical director, with the Empty Space Theatre in Seattle, and with The Oregon Shakespearean Theatre in Ashland. He has also designed lighting for over 50 productions, most notably at The Empty Space, ACT, The Seattle Repertory, The Seattle Children’s Theatre, The Bathhouse, and The Perseverance Theatre in Juneau. He has been teaching at Cornish since 1985, both in the Performance Production and in the Design departments. In 1989, he began a career as a lighting and theater consultant, a practice which he maintains to this day. He designed the lighting and rigging systems for Meadowvale High School in Lynnwood, and is the award-winning lighting designer for the Climbing Rock at the new REI headquarters store in Seattle. He recently earned the distinction of professional certification by the National Council on Qualifications for the Lighting Professions.
Adjunct Instructor Andi Rusu
Andi Rusu is a true designer in every sense of the word currently working in web, print and motion graphics. Andi founded two design studios, Redoctober Industrie in 1996 and Cursivecode Inc. in 2001. Andi filled roles ranging from, Sr. Interactive Art Director for ZAAZ.com to Creative Director, Design Director at companies like Sierra on-Line, Cendant Interactive, Microsoft, Caribiner international, Mercata, etc . Clients Andi has served in the past include: Fox Television, Intel, Motorola, Citibank, Porsche, Schwab, eToys and locally Microsoft, Starbucks, Nintendo, Chateau Sainte Michelle, Eddie Bauer, Boeing, Real Networks, Safeco, Museum of Glass, Sierra Online, and the University of Washington. Andi teaches Graphic Design and Advanced Web Design at the School of Visual Concepts, and holds a European BFA Degree in Fine Art and a US BFA Degree in Graphic Design.
Adjunct Instructor Jenny Sapora
Jenny is the proprietor of True Bug Press, producing a dozen and a half small fine press editions over the past 18 years as editor, illustrator, designer, printer, and binder. Her books range from slender to textful, her content from serious research to general goofiness. Jenny’s fine press work has been honored with the NW Bookfest Up-and-Coming Book Artist Award and she has received an Artist’s Book Production Grant from the Women’s Studio Workshop and a Philip Hofer Commission for Printing. Jenny has worked as master presswoman on projects for such clients as DDB, Foundation, and Mel Curtis Photographs. Alongside her own publications, she has done design work for the University of Iowa, the Radost Folk Ensemble, and the Maestrosities, NYC, among others. She enjoys following paths which meander off the main design track – authentic Hungarian folk costume building, low-tech carpentry & furniture making, large-scale scrap quilting (for the vast and complex color and form that’s in it.) She has taught various book arts and design classes at the School for Visual Concepts, Pratt Center for the Arts, Oregon Book Arts Guild, and Seattle Center for Book Arts. Jenny holds an MA in design from the University of Iowa and an MFA in book arts from the University of Alabama. However, she adds, her depth of experience in design and her meticulous craftsmanship in printing were born not in a classroom but in a print shop.
Adjunct Instructor Dan Shafer
Dan is a graphic designer and educator whose studio practice ranges from work for clients like UC Berkeley and the Kronos Quartet to self-initiated projects and hand-printed posters. He is most interested in exploring the nebulous territory that exists between a traditional understanding of "art" and "design," and how these forces intersect with people’s everyday lives. He received a BA in graphic design and printmaking from Western Washington University and an MFA in design from California College of the Arts. He has worked in the Book Arts Program at Mills College in Oakland, CA and the Visual Communications Department at Las Positas College in Livermore, CA.
Adjunct Instructor Michael Strassburger
Michael Strassburger has taught and lectured extensively over the past decade. He is considered to be one of the world’s top digital designers by Publish Magazine, and is a featured artist in "Photoshop Masters" and "Photoshop Studio Secrets". As an original co-founder of Modern Dog Design, over the last 16 years Michael has worked with such clients as K2 Snowboards, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Warner Bros. Records, A&M Records, Showtime, Nordstrom, Target and Nike to name just a few. His recent work includes product development for Blue Q and consultation for Adobe Systems, Inc.
He has received hundreds of awards and recognition from every major U.S. design publication/organization, including Graphis, AIGA, Type Directors Club, American Center for Design 100 Show, and Communication Arts. His work is represented in the permanent archives of the Smithsonian Institute’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, the Library of Congress, Experience Music Project and the Museum Fur Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg Germany, among others.
Adjunct Instructor Hal Tangen
Hal received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Design from the University of California, Long Beach and is currently a graduate student of architecture at the University of Washington. Between his undergraduate education and graduate school, he worked for over fifteen years as a professional interior designer for some of the country’s largest design firms before opening his own office in 2000. Projects completed include large corporate clients such as Amazon, Microsoft and Nike as well as smaller local projects including Amber Restaurant and Venom Nightclub. Hal is experienced in all aspects of design and specializes in conceptual design, strategic planning and design visualization. He has been an instructor at Cornish College of the Arts since 1999.
Adjunct Instructor Junichi Tsuneoka
Junichi was born and raised in Japan where he earned his BFA in English Literature at Waseda University in Tokyo. By the end of the 20th century, he settled in the US. He then studied graphic design at Cornish College of the Arts and was hired by the internationally notorious Seattle-based design company, Modern Dog, as a designer/illustrator right after graduation. After working at Modern Dog for several years and receiving accolades from PRINT magazine, Step Inside magazine and many other design publications, he founded his own design/illustration studio, Studio Stubborn Sideburn. He works with clients nationally producing editorial illustrations, graphic novel covers, concert posters and more, as well as showing his work in various galleries. One of his music posters is in the permanent archives of the Experience Music Project in Seattle. Junichi also teaches graphic design at the School of Visual Concepts.
Adjunct Instructor Hau Vong
Hau began his career in New York City working on projects ranging from high-end residences to corporate interiors for large companies. He is currently a senior associate designer at NBBJ, where he’s been involved with projects that have been published in Architectural Record as well as receiving an AIA honor award for a hospital in Phoenix Arizona. His current project is the new headquarters for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation located at Seattle Center. Hau received a Masters in Architecture from the University of Idaho in 1999.
Adjunct Instructor Denise Weir
Denise is a graphic designer/illustrator/animator with 20 years of experience in the field, working in print, web, motion, and animation. She’s been a principal at Symbioun Design Studio, and a senior designer/project manager at Hornall Anderson Design Works. Denise currently maintains a studio in the Seattle area where she produces digital graphics and animations, and continues to follow her first love of drawing. She’s taught courses at Cornish College of the Arts, as well as at Northwest College of Art.
Clients have included: Seattle Symphony, King County Park System, Wizards of the Coast, Resource Games, Starwave Corporation, Asymetrix Corporation, and Holland America/Windstar Cruises. Denise’s design work has been published in: Print’s Regional Design Annual, Graphis Design Annual, Typography, American Corporate Identity; Applied Arts Magazine, Creativity, Studio Magazine Awards Annual and ‘Great Design Using 1,2, & 3 Colors’. It has also been included in the AIGA Annual Show and the Annual West Coast Show and received various awards including the Northwest Addy, the Halo Award, LA Advertising LuLu Award and the DESI. Her drawings and prints have been included within group shows throughout the Northwest and California and are held in various private collections. She continues to exhibit her figure drawings in local galleries.
Denise received her BFA in Design at Cornish College of the Arts. She’s also studied illustration at Art Center College of Design, Pasadena.
Adjunct Instructor Robert Zwiebel
Robert is a graphic designer/illustrator who started working at Modern Dog Design Co. during a hectic project with Coca-Cola in the Winter of 2006. He would work at the studio in the mornings, and return to school in the afternoons, finishing his BFA thesis at Cornish. Since joining the studio full-time after graduation, he has worked on accounts for Disney, Seattle Aquarium, Oakley, and Nordstrom among others. His most recent work includes packaging design, book covers, outdoor signage, posters, and catalog design. He has won awards from Print Magazine and Type Director’s Club. In addition, his work has appeared in HOW, Communication Arts, Print , STEP, Creative Review, Computer Arts, and Varoom magazines. Robert holds a BA in Anthropology from University of San Diego, and a BFA in Design from Cornish College of the Arts.