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| Instructors
Susan Bradford Susan comes to Museo Art Academy with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Washington, emphasis in Ceramic Hand-building, with undergraduate studies in Art Education. She also has a Masters degree from Washington State University. A practicing artist, and active member of artEast, she has participated in three shows at the UpFront Gallery last year.
Susan has taught Art in Issaquah for several years, teaching a variety of art to students of all ages (preschool through adult). Susan also incorporates her art into her other passion, theatre, having created significant pieces needed for plays she directs. She loves teaching Art, "because as I learn and share with my students, I continue learning, and learn from them."  Ricco DiStefano I feel my paintings should take the viewer to another place, and even another time. My landscapes give me the opportunity to interpret deep feelings and strong memories of valuable moments in my own life. Drawing on my love of my native Eastern Washington, many of my works are not literal views, but idyllic windows to a specific feeling. My work often takes into account the ambient sounds that color a moment, as well as the visual. I intend for collectors to be reminded of special times in their own lives. It's important to me that there is a feeling of movement or animation in my work. My use of shadows allows me to do just that, as the shadow represents a fleeting moment in time. The shadowman is not intended as a literal image, but rather a reflection or the shadow of one's spirit.
I was born into a family of artists, both visual and musical. As an artistic child, boredom was a foreign concept to me. My passion is to take the moments that happen in my mind and share them with the world. In doing so, I hope to provoke thought or inspiration, or just a momentary escape for the viewer. I feel stronger than ever that – as William Shakespeare wrote in Macbeth – "Life's but a walking shadow." We can only experience life, moments at a time. We cannot control time, and it stops for no one. As an artist, I try to leave my personal stamp on this temporary world, hopefully giving something beautiful as a gift for those who follow. I was educated in fine arts at schools in Denver and Seattle. I worked as a graphic designer, illustrator and art director for almost twenty years before finding my place as a painter.
My work has shown in galleries in the Northwest and on the East Coast. My paintings are included in many private collections around the U.S.
 Krstine Helgager
Art and education are Kristine’s true passions and have been since before she can remember. She grew up outside of Minneapolis, MN where she began her love for art by drawing her neighbor’s houses. Kristine has always found drawing to be the most essential and fundamental part of the visual arts, so, it’s not hard to believe that she went on to earn a degree in art from the University of Wisconsin—Madison with a focus in drawing and painting.
Her love for education was satisfied during that time while she worked at an after school program at a local elementary school in Madison. There she managed daily after school classrooms and the after school’s Art Clubs. During her five years there, Kristine learned how important the opportunities are that after school activities provide for children. She saw how a safe, inviting and creative atmosphere can get any child to express themselves in a healthy way which can be important after some of those stressful school days.
Kristine recently began a new adventure here in Seattle where she can more easily pursue art and education. Kristine is excited to be teaching in the Afterschool Art program for Museo as well as begin showing her work in a new state.
Kristine’s mixed media paintings and drawings have a strong focus on environment and the fusion between the urban, suburban and rural settings. She is interested in challenging the ideas of traditional landscape art by playing with ways to portray a human index within all types of environments by using objects that are overlooked, discarded and nonfunctional, within her pieces. Through Kristine’s use of traditional and non-traditional materials she challenges the viewer to see drawing, painting and sculpture not as independent entities but more as a three-part Venn diagram where each has commonalities.  Amanda Lien It’s probably a good thing Amanda’s mother never dissuaded her from watching cartoons or playing video games, since that’s exactly what she’s now making herself. Doodling random art during class in elementary and middle school slowly turned into doodling of her own characters and scribbling of stories in high school.
After graduating from Skyline HS she earned a degree in Multimedia and Web Design at the Art Institute of Seattle, as it seemed a bit more lucrative field than drawing. Turns out she’s not a fan of web design and drawing is all she really wants to do. Amanda is now working on her degree at DigiPen in Redmond for Production Animation and couldn’t be happier with her choice. "It’s a wondrous thing when watching the newest animated film or playing the next great video game can be classified as research”.
Amanda’s focus is heavily on character design and development, but the grinding of her instructors gave her a good knowledge of painting, sculpture, 3D modeling, and animation. All of which she addresses in her Manga class at Museo.  Susan Olds Susan Olds is an art historian, artist and curator with over twenty years of professional experience in the arts. Susan earned a B.A. in art history with honors from the University of California, Irvine. She attended graduate school at Cal State Long Beach where she continued her studies in art theory and contemporary art. Her teaching experience includes seven years of teaching Contemporary Art at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California, and fifteen years of lecturing on art and art history in the Seattle region. From 1994 to 2000, Susan served as the exhibitions curator for Cornish College of the Arts where she curated over 70 shows. She has written art reviews for Artweek, Visions, and Reflex Magazine. Between 1999 and 2004 respectively, Susan served as Head of School for the Bellevue Art Museum and Education Director for Pratt Fine Arts Center.
As an artist, Susan works in mixed collage and fabric collage and exhibits her work at the Up Front Gallery in Issaquah. Currently, Susan presents lectures on art history through the King County Library and artEAST in Issaquah. Susan lives with her husband David, their two cats and two dogs in North Bend.  Lauren Razuri
Lauren comes to Museo Art Academy with a strong background in not only Art, but Education as well. Raised by her grandparents, who were both highly recognized elementary school educators in Florida, she has been in the classroom helping other students for as long as she can remember. She also comes from a strong art background, as her father, grandfather and aunt are all artists who use various mediums. During high school, she first became interested in art and she sold her work at a local arts and crafts store in downtown Gatlinburg Tennessee. While working on her Associates degree from Palm Beach Community College, Lauren started to volunteer every Friday at her grandmother’s classroom, and soon became known as the “Art Lady” because she would make art lessons to follow the curriculum of the classroom. She kept up with her passion of combining art and education and graduated from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor’s Degree in Art Education, as well as a certificate in American Sign Language. During her final two years at UCF, Lauren discovered a passion for clay and began focusing the remainder of her art classes on ceramics. Lauren intends on carrying her passion for art and education forward to her curriculum here at Museo Art Academy.  June Sekiguchi My life is a total immersion in art and has been since childhood. I received a bachelor of arts degree in studio Art from the University of California at Santa Barbara. I have exhibited my art work for 26 years. I am currently represented by ArtXchange Gallery in Seattle and a member of Shift Collaborative Studio in Seattle and a founding member of artEAST, a visual arts non-profit group in Issaquah. I serve on the Issaquah Arts Commission.
I have taught art to children since 1991 and started my own art school in 1996 which I loved. In 2000 I sold the school to focus on my family with the birth of my 3rd child as well as my studio and exhibiting art career. I have taught enrichment classes in the public schools throughout this period of time.
My philosophy about art and teaching is that the creative force is in everyone and my job is to nurture artistic skills through technique of medium, fundamentals of art, and encouragement in a safe environment. Beth Wetzel Coming from a family background in art and education, Beth grew up creating art, but really discovered her passion in college. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Seattle Pacific University, with an emphasis in ceramics. Using hand-building techniques, she creates sculpture, functional vessels, and jewelry. “I love that a finished piece utilizes many different art techniques. It starts with a drawing, moves to sculpting, and finishes with painting. There’s always something different to work on!”
Beth has worked with children for many years, and loves the passion they have for life and art. Realizing how important it is to foster the creativity of today’s youth, Beth is devoted to art education which teaches method, history, and fully engages the imagination.
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