Arts Faculty

Allison Allen (visual arts) received her B.S. in Art Education from Skidmore College, and studied at Syracuse University, Instituto Acuapulco, Prospect School Archive Center for Education and Research, and at the Ed Levin Arts Workshop. She worked with all types of children, including special needs children, throughout the country, and ran her own art program, "Art for Kids," out of her studio in Green Cove Spring, Florida. Ms. Allen has been teaching youth art classes for over 20 years, and has experience in everything from Fiber arts to silversmithing and papermaking.

Heather Bunnell (pottery, visual arts) received her B.F.A. from the University of Connecticut with concentrations in Ceramics and Printmaking. She has taught pottery, early childhood, and mixed media classes at the Community School since 2000. She regularly conducts workshops throughout the state and has been an invited presenter at EO Smith High School, Woodstock Academy, Norwich Free Academy, Griswold High School, Plainfield High School, Goodwin Elementary School, Mansfield Middle School and, since 2005, at the Faces of Culture Art Symposium. She exhibits regularly in shows and galleries throughout the state, and in the Open Studio Tour.

Emine Cichowski (pottery) was born in the ancient village of Gemlik, Turkey, on the shores of the Sea of Marmara. As a teenager, she worked ceaselessly to persuade her uncle, in New York, to help her emigrate to the United States. She completed a degree in pharmacy and has worked with her husband, also a pharmacist, for many years in Storrs, near the University of Connecticut campus. At present, she has become a full-time artist. Through the years, Emine studied and worked to develop her art. Among her mentors she counts Susan Gerr, whose Birch Mountain Pottery is in the adjacent town. She is a juried artist and her wares are sold at the Benton Museum Gift Shop at the University of Connecticut.

Nancy Cooke Bunnell (visual arts), M.Ed., UConn; B.A., SCSU, has recently retired from teaching high school at Bolton High School and presently teaches at the Community School of Art and at Lions Mouth Studio. Mrs. Cooke Bunnell exhibits watercolors, oils, pastelsand photography at the Artists Open Studio, Lyme Art Gallery, Tolland Art Center and at other venues throughout the state.  Nancy enjoys finding her inspiration photographing while kayaking, hiking, or plein air painting. 

Anne Cubberly (visual and performing arts) has over 20 years experience as a professional artist, specializing in mixed-media painting, graphic arts, silkscreen printing, papier-mache sculpture, masks, and giant puppets. Some of Cubberly's more recent projects include creating giant puppets for the premiere of Fog and Shadow at the Wadsworth Atheneum; designing and constructing ensemble pieces for the Cleveland Museum of Art's Parade the Circle; and an artist's residency at the New Britain Museum of American Art, where she taught students to sculpt with recycled materials.

Kimberly Gilmore (pottery, visual arts) received her B.S. in Art Education from the University of Vermont, studying a wide range of artistic mediums including drawing, painting, ceramics, fine metals, and printmaking. She has had additional training in ceramics at the Community School of the Arts. She is developing her skills as an artist while teaching art at Griswold Public Schools, working at the elementary and high school levels. She has a variety of experience working with students of all ages and ability levels.

Teri Herel (pottery), of ESP Pottery, has been studying pottery and establishing her own studio in Ellington, Connecticut since 2005. She brings to clay a long history as a visual artist combined with formal education in physics and music performance. All of these elements are combined in her work to bring vessels of high quality, functionality and aesthetic beauty.Carved and glazed in unique designs, her work ranges from classic vases, bowls, and teapots to jewelry and musical instruments. 

Kris Plimpton (jewelry) is a jewelry artist and teacher residing in Mansfield, CT. Published in several art jewelry magazines, her jewelry encompasses a variety of new and found materials including metal, glass, and fiber. She thoroughly enjoys turing ordinary materials into unique works of wearable art. Samples of her work can be viewed at www.bellefirebeads.com.

Shauna Shane (visual arts) has been painting professionally for 25 years. A former Resident Artist at Yellowstone National Park, her paintings can be found in numerous collections and several countries around the world. In addition to workshops and master classes from artists such as Robert Bateman, Charles Reed, Clyde Aspevig and Raymond Everett Kinstler, her educational background includes Lyme Academy of Fine Art, University of Connecticut, Banff School of Fine Art, and Montana State University. Shauna has exhibited in international competitions around the country, including the Knickerbocker Exhibit, Oil Painters of America, and the Salmagundi Exhibit in New York City. Shauna is an experienced teacher with 25 years of teaching students the pleasure of seeing and understanding the artistic concepts that open like windows when they begin with a strong foundation.

Michele Sinkez (pottery), B.S. Physical Education, Springfield College; M.S. Art Education, Central Connecticut State University. Ms. Sinkez taught in the public school system for 31 years. After retiring in 2004 and restoring her farmhouse, she established a studio and gallery where she works in monotype and primitive ceramics. Ms. Sinkez regularly participates in shows throughout the state, and was awarded First Prize-Mixed Media, CT Academy of Fine Arts Annual Exhibition 1993; Honorable Mention, ArtWorks Gallery “Images of Summer” 1992; Wadsworth Athenaeum Award, ArtWorks Gallery 1991.

Barbara Timberman (visual arts) studied graphic design at SCSU and is active as an artist in the Artists Open Studio of NE Connecticut. She is an award winning watercolorist who has taught children’s art classes at UConn’s Community School of the Arts for the past 11 years and runs an after school arts program at the Robertson School in Coventry.