MATT DICKSON | BFA
On Faculty Since: 2007
Courses: Drawing 1, Drawing 2, Drawing 3, Life Drawing, Life Drawing 2
Matt Dickson teaches Life Drawing and Intermediate/Advanced Drawing. He holds a BFA in Fine Art from Laguna College of Art & Design. Not only is he an experienced draughtsman, but he also holds a passion for oil painting and decorative carpentry. Mr. Dickson is an exhibiting artist, showing locally as well as in New York and Los Angeles.
Personal site: mattdickson.net
HANK FRIES | BFA
On Faculty Since: 2012
Courses: Geometry, Digital Mixed Media, Publication Design
Hank Fries has been making objects and artwork for over thirty years in the Valley. A Tempe resident, Hank has spent the majority of his years at New School for the Arts and Academics as a teacher in both Academics and Visual Arts. He is an autodidact that feels that teaching develops a mindset that is open to endless learning. Hank earned a BFA in Intermedia from Arizona State University. His artwork is heavily influenced by Neolithic art, game design, and science fiction as well as a fascination with numerical and geometric patterns. Besides artmaking and teaching, Hank enjoys many outdoor activities and fitness pursuits, photography, and exploring remote and occasionally abandoned locations and archaeologically significant places.
KYLLAN MANEY | BFA
On Faculty Since: 2002
Courses: Painting 1, Painting 2-3, Mixed Media 1, Mixed Media 2-3
Kyllan Maney works with aspects of nature that draw upon feelings of tranquility, discovery, spirituality and awe when looking closely at plants and objects. This is the visual foundation of Kyllan’s work… rooted in radial patterns, maps, biomorphic shapes, human relationships and inspirations from past and current artists. Kyllan enjoys the inventive, creative process of large- scale murals, mixed media work and drawing.
Kyllan has also been teaching Painting and Mixed Media for over sixteen years at New School for the Arts and Academics in Tempe, Arizona. She has been the Visual Arts Department Director for the past nine years. She finds that teaching is an ever-evolving process -which inspires her artwork. Her education includes an internship at the National Museum of Natural History along with a BFA with a specialization in Painting from Arizona State University.
Throughout the year, Kyllan creates interactive, collaborative community art projects and workshops around the valley, in such places as Monorchid in Phoenix and Mesa Public Library to name a few. In 2014, she was recognized as one of 100 Creatives by the New Times publication. Her work can also be seen at Art One Gallery in Scottsdale, Practical Art in Phoenix and The Mesa Arts Center Cooperative Gallery. Please visit her website- www.kyllanmaney.com for more images.
TAMAKI MATSUMOTO | BFA
On Faculty Since: 2022
Courses: Ceramics
Tamaki Matsumoto is a Japanese-American who was born in Glendale, Arizona. Currently, she works sculpturally with ceramics while also painting and drawing on their surfaces. She has had an interest in ceramic art since she was a child when watching videos of ceramic artists creating human size pots on the wheel. She delved into the art when she started attending the New School of Art and Academics (Tempe, AZ). While attending NSAA, she received the Congressional Art Competition “Drawing Category” 3rd place award in 2013, and was chosen to participate in Daniel Key’s oil paint workshop “Scottsdale Artists’ School’s Pallet Project” from 2012 to 2017. At college, she became Arizona State University Metal Club President and helped other students sell and promote their metal jewelry works from October 2017 to May 2019. She received the 2nd place award in the Gathering of the Art and Mind Contest “Art College Subcategory” in 2018; and 3rd place in the NCECA Brent Studio Contest “Pop Art Teapot Category” in 2019. Her inspiration for her ceramics comes from her Japanese background, from nature, and from visualization of the spiritual world. She uses different media to express the tie between herself, nature, and the spiritual world.
LINDA PARKER | MFA, BFA
On Faculty Since: 2007
Courses: MS Visual Arts Foundation, Printmaking & Textile Design, Jewelry Design, Jewelry Design II & III
Linda Parker has been teaching at the NSAA since 2007. She currently teaches Visual Arts Foundation at the Middle School, Printmaking & Textile Design and Jewelry Design/Metalsmithing at the High School. She has taught 3-dimensional design and Sculpture, both at NSAA High School and Glendale Community College. Linda received her MFA in Sculpture from Arizona State University and a BFA in Sculpture from Georgia State University. She thinks of herself as a multi-disciplinary artist with experience in sculpture, jewelry fabrication, alternative printmaking, textile arts, alternative bookmaking, art installations, and painting. She encourages her students to move out of their “Comfort Zone” to explore, to make mistakes, and to have fun in their creative art making. She believes that being an art teacher is the best job in the world and that working at NSAA has been a great privilege.
MARTHA PENA | BA
On Faculty Since: 2007
Courses: Fashion Design, Costume Design
Martha Terzis teaches Fashion Design I-III. She graduated from the Art Institute of Phoenix with a BA in Fashion Marketing. Before attending the Art Institute of Phoenix she attended Phoenix Community College. Her interests are Art, Photography, Researching current trends, Sewing, and Design. Some her work experience include Visual Merchandising, Photography, and Fashion Design.
JASON SILVA | MEd (Special Education), MEd (Educational Administration)
On Faculty Since: 2017
Course: Film Workshop
Mr. Silva works in administration as the school Exceptional Student Services Director. Mr. Silva holds a Master’s degree from Arizona State University in Special Education and a Master’s degree in Educational Administration from Grand Canyon University. In addition to his administrative duties, Mr. Silva also teaches the film workshop class studying great films in the history of cinema, filmmaking techniques, and film analysis. Mr. Silva lives in Tempe with his family and in his free time works as a freelance photographer. Jason also works as an adjunct professor at Northern Arizona University. He teaches courses through the Institute of Human Development in the areas of Exceptional Children in Regular Programs and Methods and Materials in Special Education
CLAIRE A. WARDEN | BFA, BA
On Faculty Since: 2017
Courses: Introduction to Photo (Photo I), Advanced Photography (Photo I-IV), Digital Photography, World History
Claire A. Warden (b. Montreal, Quebec) is an artist working in Phoenix, Arizona. She received her BFA in Photography and BA in Art History from Arizona State University. In 2024, she will receive her MFA in Studio Art from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Claire’s artwork has been exhibited widely in the United States and abroad, including solo exhibitions at The University of Kansas Art & Design Gallery, Philadelphia Photo Arts Center, and Colorado Photographic Arts Center. She has been named LensCulture's Top 50 Emerging Talents, Photo Boite’s 30 Under 30 Women Photographers, and a Clarence John Laughlin Award finalist. She received an Artist Research and Development Grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, Philadelphia Photo Arts Center Contemporary Photography Exhibition award and the Ed Friedman Award from the Griffin Museum of Photography. Her work has been featured in publications, including Real Simple magazine, Der Greif Magazine, Strange Fire Collective, Common Ground Journal, Prism Magazine, Lenscratch, and Diffusion Magazine. Claire was awarded artist residencies through the Alfred and Trafford Klots International Program for Artists, Art Intersection in Arizona, the Center for Photography at Woodstock, LATITUDE in Chicago, ACRE, and Light Work in 2022.