PCA&D welcomes a dozen new faculty members to campus

Pennsylvania College of Art & Design welcomes one new full time and eleven new adjunct faculty members to campus.

Full-time faculty appointment:

Digital Media

• Jon DiVenti has been appointed as full-time faculty member for Digital Media. DiVenti was previously a full-time faculty member at the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida, teaching Computer Animation and Visual Development and Concept (Story) Development. Jon also served as the Course Lead for the Visual Development courses. He received Associates Degree in Illustration at Pennsylvania College of Art and Design in 1998, continuing to complete his BFA in Illustration at RCAD. Before beginning his teaching career he worked as a freelance illustrator. Additionally, he was a Character Artist at Animated Storyboards in New York City a studio specializing in creating animatics for TV commercials. He has recently worked as a freelancer in character design, illustration, and art direction. www.jondiventi.com/

Adjunct faculty appointments:

Fine Art

• Alyssa DeVille earned a MFA in Painting, From the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia and her BFA in Illustration from California College of the Arts, San Francisco. She is a muralist and exhibits in Philadelphia and New York. http://www.abdeville.com/
• Jason Ward received his MFA from Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA, and his BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD. His exhibits his illustration and fine art work in Philadelphia and New York. http://jasonwardart.weebly.com/
• Jay Walker, is a Philadelphia based multi-disciplinary artist- creating tape installations, mixed media painting/drawings, and carved sculptures. He has a BFA from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and a MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Walker regularly exhibits in both group exhibits and solo exhibits.  He previously taught at PCA&D in the Foundation Department. http://www.jaywalkerstudio.com/

Graphic Design

• Jason Pohlig, a graduate of the Art Institute of York, brings his expertise in motion graphics to the classroom from his experience working in the industry for clients such US Figure Skating, YWCA, The Chameleon and more as well as teaching video and motion graphics at the Art Institute of York. jasonpohlig.com. He was new to the PCA&D faculty during the 2016 Spring semester.

Illustration

• James Bennett began studying art at Bucks County Community College in Pennsylvania and received his BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Bennett’s conceptually humorous illustrations have since appeared as covers and interior pieces for The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, Business Week, TIME, MAD, The L.A. Times, Golf Digest, Maxim, and Readers Digest among others. He has produced art for RCA Records, American Express, Paramount Pictures, Citibank, Hasbro, and Milton Bradley. James Bennett has completed a number of picture books, two of which have appeared in the top 5 of The New York Times Best Seller list.”Tell Me A Scary Story… But Not Too Scary,”written by Carl Reiner and the picture book”Halloween,”written by Jerry Seinfeld. jamesbennettart.com/
• Todd Ulrich received his BFA from the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design and is currently working as a freelance concept artist and illustrator. He is a concept artist freelancing for Loud Ninja Games, Underwire Wargaming and Clear Horizon Miniatures. http://toddulrichart.blogspot.com/

Photography

• Lisa Elmaleh, based in West Virginia, teaches at the Penumbra Foundation and the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She travels with her large-format 8×10″ camera, with a darkroom in the back of her van to the wet plate collodion process She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree, Photography, The School of Visual Arts, New York, NY. lisaelmaleh.com/

Photography and Foundation

• Rebekah Flake, Rebekah Flake is an artist living and working in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She explores social, political and personal pasts using lens-based media, collaboration and writing. She earned her MFA, Photography, from the Tyler School of Art, Temple University, a MA, History of Art, from Williams College and the Clark Art Institute, and a BA, German, from the University of Pennsylvania.  She http://www.rebekahflake.com/

Foundation

• Anthony Anderson received his MFA from the Tyler School of Art. Much of his interest lies in examining cultural systems, specifically those which are used in the construction of ideas and the creation of thought — in short, systems of information. The technologies of photography, video, and even written language play a critical role in his work. http://www.antonyanderson.com

Liberal Arts

• Yvonne Parsons, teaching sociology, has taught at HACC, Social Sciences Dept. for 15 years and worked as a Licensed Clinical Therapist for families, couples, adults, children & teens at Mazzitti & Sullivan Counseling Services in Hershey for 7 years and worked as an addictions counselor and group facilitator for Lancaster General Hospital in Columbia, PA. She was also a Senior Caseworker for Lancaster County Children & Youth Agency. She holds a Masters in Social Work (MSW) from Temple University, and a BS in Psychology/Sociology from State University of New York (SUNY). She is a PA Licensed Clinical Social Worker & Licensed Clinical Therapist and Certified Forensic Addictions Specialist

• Jennifer Angstadt, teaching Foundations of Verbal Communication is currently teaching as an Adjunct Professor, English/ESL for Penn. State Univ. Harrisburg and an Adjunct Professor, English for HACC, Lancaster. She teaches English Composition, Business Writing, Developmental Writing, and English as a Second Language. She presented “From China to the Res: Using Native American Fiction in the ESL/ELL Classroom” at two conferences in the Fall of 2015. She earned her MA English from West Chester University, her BA English, from Lebanon Valley College, and a AA Communications from  Delaware County Community College.

(pictured: Jon Di Venti, Digital Media)