Meet Our Instructors

Instructor Bios:

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Maddy Bertrand-Gerndt (Ceramic Studio Manager) has been a part of clay studios since she was 8 years old, beginning in Duxbury, MA. with Linda Capone studios, fascinated by the wheel. She continued her clay journey with Steve Branfman at Thayer Academy, at Skidmore College with Regis Brodie and Toshiko Takaezu, where she earned a BS in Studio Art. She has lived in Spain, Seattle, WA, St. John, travelled to many tropical islands, sailed close to home and once off-shore, taught art K-8 at The Antilles School in St Thomas, ran her own business as a clay artist on Vashon, WA., developing a wholesale line as well as thrown fine art pieces. She was a member of The Vashon Potter's Tour, taught for the Vashon Allied Arts, and currently have a seasonal space in Morrisville, VT as was a past a member of the Vermont Studio Tour, long term art sub at Thatcher Brook, as well as teaching and gallery space at the Old Moscow Road Pottery. Business continued for Maddy as General Manager of Harvest Market in Stowe for over 24 years, after returning to the East coast to be closer to family. Painting on clay is her passion, altering wheel thrown pieces. She looks forward to getting back to the clay studio, creating with young minds to spark a new generation of clay artists.

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Noah Burns is a printmaker, animator and songwriter from Iowa. Having recently graduated from the University of Northern Iowa’s printmaking program, Noah is well acquainted with a plethora of different printing techniques ranging from woodcut to risograph to silkscreen and more. Noah, now a Burlington based artist, has found a broad spectrum of fulfillment in being able to share this knowledge while working to create a deeply collaborative workspace for student and instructor to meet on level ground. He looks forward to working alongside and learning with all of his students at The Current.

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Neville Caulfield grew up in Durham, New Hampshire, and Graduated from the University of Vermont in 2020 as an English and Studio Art double major. He has since taught at Burlington City Arts and the School of Creative and Performing Arts, and given guest lectures at The University of Vermont, and College of the Atlantic. In his free time, Neville enjoys running in the mountains, reading, cooking, swimming in rivers, and exploring traditional and non traditional forms of photography and image making. 

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Ben Eberle is a studio potter, kiln builder, and educator living and making his work in western, MA. After finishing his BA at Skidmore College in 2003 he began a year-long apprenticeship with ToshikoTakaezu. She urged him to seek an MFA which he did, completing a 3yr MFA at San Jose State University. In 2014, he moved to the hilltowns of western MA where he has immersed in the two pottery tours and the broad ceramics community ever since. He built a community wood-fired soda kiln called the “Karma Kiln” in 2022 and enjoys hosting a few groups a year for all the excitement that soda firing brings. beneberleceramic.com​
 

Jeff Goss was born in Rochester, New York, and grew up in New England, where he developed a deep appreciation for quality craftsmanship. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Ceramics from Alfred University. After college, Jeff moved to Vermont to teach ceramics at Johnson State College, where he later met his wife, Megan. He went on to receive his Master's in Ceramics from Claremont Graduate University in California. In 1980, the couple returned to Stowe, Vermont, to raise their family. Jeff continued to refine his pottery craft while also enjoying the mountain lifestyle in Stowe. He primarily works with stoneware and porcelain, which he fires in a reduction atmosphere. stowekilnworks.com

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Nate Hemmer is parent, emergency doctor, and tinkerer.  He likes the thrill of bringing an idea to life.  And he loves to spark the imaginations of others.

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Patty Hudak is an artist living in Underhill VT, and has practiced mokuhanga  (Japanese woodblock printing) since 2016. Trained in Japan, she is now teaching mokuhanga workshops throughout Vermont. She collaborates with the international print collective, Mokuhanga Sisters, to develop projects, find support, and present exhibitions to the public. Her grants and awards include Vermont Arts Council's 2023 Artist Development Award, the International Mokuhanga Conference 2021 Awagami Paper Award, Vermont Artists to Watch in 2020, 2018-2019 Vermont Arts Council Creation Grant, 2015 Being 3 Gallery’s Geography Project Award (Beijing, China) and 2015 Artist Grant from the US Embassy in China. She has participated 2023 Haystack Open Studio Residency; Mokuhanga Innovation Laboratory in Kawaguchiko, Japan (2016, 2017, 2019), “Walking Birds’ Mountain”, Eco-residency in Sligo, Ireland (2018, 2019), and Baby Forest in Skibbereen, Ireland (2018).  pattyhudak.com

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Andreas John is an apprentice to life currently practicing in analog black & white large format photography. His work with nature and the human form pulls on threads weaving humanity back into intimate relationship with the greater world in which we are all held. Though his professional work is mostly with analog film, he is also deeply versed in digital photography, lighting, Lightroom and Photoshop. https://www.inthehandsofbeauty.com/about

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Rachel Moore has been with The Current since 2010, first as Independent Curator, then as Assistant Director & Executive Curator (2011-2016) before taking her current position. In addition to this, Moore is an artist and independent curator. She received her MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and received her BFA from Alfred University. She is a co-founder of Spoke, an exhibition and event space in Chicago (2008-2011), and was a Fulbright Fellow in Greece (2009-2010). Moore has presented internationally on the topics of art as a catalyst for change, public art, curatorial practice, and on her own artistic practice. Her curatorial projects have been exhibited in museums, galleries, and public places nationally and internationally including: Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki, Greece; The Garfield Park Conservatory, Chicago, IL; The Current (formerly Helen Day Art Center), Stowe, VT; Town of Stowe, VT; City of Chicago, IL; Spoke, Chicago, IL; DYNAMO Project Space, Thessaloniki, Greece; among others. She served as a Trustee for River Arts Center in Morrisville, VT, and is currently Chair of Stowe Arts and Culture Council.

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Robert O’Brien has been painting in the watercolor medium for over fifty years. Since moving to Vermont in 1977, he has focused his work on landscape and architectural studies. Vermont, with its distinct four season climate, provides the artist with a wealth of subject matter and ever changing light effects. The artist finds beauty in the ordinary, subtle reminders of everyday life in rural New England. In his own words, he is driven “to capture the vanishing landscape in my paintings” before they disappear forever as a result of the steady hand of “progress”. Since 1998, Robert O’Brien has traveled often to Southern France where he now has a home. The region’s sun-splashed landscape and timeless quality of light has added a new dimension to the artist’s paintings. robertjobrien.com

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​​​Shannon O’Connell is a Fine Arts Painter born in Colorado and raised with into a family whose love for the natural world and belief in creative expression fostered her artistic inclinations from a young age. As a young adult, Shannon moved to Hawaii in order to capture the beauty of the islands in her paintings. Once there she began creating vibrant landscapes and botanical paintings inspired by the beauty she saw all around her. In her time as a professional artist Shannon has shown her paintings in galleries across the Hawaiian Islands, in Vermont, and in Japan. Parallel to her personal artistic practice, Shannon’s passion for community based art has led her on a journey throughout which she has created murals, worked with commercial partners, and taught classes for all ages in subjects ranging from painting to fine metal-crafting. Since her relocation to Vermont in 2015 Shannon has enjoyed spending time with life-long friends, delighting in time spent outside skiing and hiking, and working on large-scale paintings in her home studio.

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Sara Opel is a parent, daycare teacher, and crafter. Her children started taking classes and two years ago she decided to take a clay class.  She became a facilitator in our clay studio, and in the summer of 2024, she taught several of our summer camps, focusing mostly on our pre-k programs.  She loves working with children, having driven a school bus for 15 years.  She has 3 children, 3 cats, over 20 chickens, and a wonderful husband who supports all her different art projects.  Her mother taught her to sew when she was 5 and is continuing to teach her even now.  Her children enjoy giving her interesting Halloween costumes to make, like a yellow garden spider, Doc Oct from the spiderman comics, and a Dalek from Doctor Who.  Her favorite art things to do are handbuilding with clay, macrame, tie dye, and sewing.  She is excited to tackle any form of art and share her passion with children and adults.  

 

Tighe Ridley is a potter and teacher originally from Northampton, MA. Tighe Holds a BA from Bennington College and has been an artist in residence at STARworks in North Carolina and at the Cub Creek Foundation in Virginia. Tighe has taught as the ceramics faculty at the Buxton School and worked as the studio manager at Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill. Over the years, he has been fortunate to assist numerous potters and ceramicists and fire in a variety of wood kilns. Tighe specializes in processing and using wild clays, slips and glazes to make functional pottery that he fires atmospherically.

 

Jessica Robles is a Peruvian graphic designer and lettering artist in Central Vermont. She graduated in 2023 with a master of fine arts degree in Graphic Design from Vermont College of Fine Arts, using lettering as a tool to express being an artist and a mother. She is currently working hard to build her graphic design studio, Sumak Kawsay, to service a variety of local businesses that cater to the growing multicultural community in Vermont. jessicarobles.myportfolio.com

 

Joe Smith is a native Vermonter currently residing in the small town of Hyde Park. Smith recently received his B.A. in Art Education from Northern Vermont University. Most of Smith’s work derives from his personal journey growing up in a beautiful and rural area. Along with filmmaking, he is also interested in various forms of multimedia and design. His artwork has been exhibited in the Vermont Congressional Art Show and Johnson Studio Center. Smith takes pride in assisting young filmmakers in constructing their own visions and sense of life into their work. He is currently involved in social justice work and travels around the world to assist communities and explore their social, political, and cultural dynamics. Such travels have landed him in Detroit, Michigan, Managua, Nicaragua, and Zurich, Switzerland. Smith is honored to serve his local communities and has worked in a wide-variety of school settings, all which allow him to advocate for student voice and equity. 

 

Jackson Tupper  is an artist living in Burlington, VT and former lead snowboard graphics designer at Burton Snowboards. In his current work as a freelancer, he combines his love for graphic design, illustration, and painting to create skateboard graphics, book covers, gig posters, music festival installations, restaurant merch, beer labels and more for clients both local and global. He is also a teaching assistant and operating member of the Iskra Print Collective, a nonprofit screen printing studio in Burlington.

 

Haley Weathers received her Bachelor of Art Education from the University of Kansas and her K-12 teaching license from Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio in 2017. She taught K-5 art in Columbus, Ohio for six years while serving as the exhibitions chair for the Central Ohio Art Education Association in which she facilitated and hosted the annual K-8 student exhibition. She relocated to Washington, DC in 2023 and began pursuing a Master of Art in Arts Management through the University of Oklahoma and taught summer camps at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Arlington, VA. She joined The Current as the education program assistant in 2024. She’s passionate about teaching youth the transformative power of art and enjoys contributing to art education programs built on inclusivity and a sense of belonging for all. Her favorite form of art to teach is papier mâché, as it offers accessible ways for youth to create through everyday materials that extend beyond traditional materials for artmaking. She believes art can be made about anything and out of anything and strives to introduce diverse media, concepts, and techniques to students. Her personal artistic endeavors include drawing, painting, and mixed media art. She enjoys hiking, camping, cycling, and reading horror and thriller novels.​

 

Rachael Wells is an artist and teacher from Stowe, Vermont. She recently graduated from The University of Vermont as a licensed teacher in Art and Special Education. While her primary focuses are in drawing and printmaking,  she also enjoys ceramics, painting, and jewelry-making. When Rachael isn't in the art room or her home studio, she is probably in the woods, hiking or skiing, or in her kitchen challenging herself with new recipes. Rachael has been a friend of The Helen Day Art Center since 2018 when she started here as a student intern. She has worked with students of all ages from a variety of backgrounds at HDAC, The Fleming Museum of Art, Woodside Juvenile Rehabilitation Center, JFK Elementary School, and Champlain Valley Union High School. In the last year, Rachael enjoyed teaching art and literacy at Harwood Union High School and Middle School. Rachael is excited to start her new position as the art teacher at Thatcher Brook Primary School in August of 2021.

 

Ann Wilson is the Office Administrator for The Current.  She supports the organization with office administration, accounting support, day-to-day operations, and other duties to facilitate smooth financial and administrative operations. As a former educator, you may even see Wilson teaching in the youth education classes as she provides support from time to time.  With many years of professional experience as a legal assistant and a private school teacher, she has been involved in numerous annual giving events, art auctions for a non-profit and has been awarded grants for education outreach for a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.  In addition to this, Wilson is looking forward to developing her own practice in the fine arts and supporting the art communities in Stowe and the surrounding areas.  She received an Associates in Early Childhood Education from The American Montessori Society in 2008.​​​​​​​