Paula Allen, aka Pollyzoom, has been bringing innovative classes in the arts to communities for many years. An artist who works in multiple art platforms in traditional visual arts, ceramics, dramatic arts, digital animation, and film.

Classes are filled with exciting, creative possibilities for everyone involved in the process. Paula earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Art Education from the College of Saint Rose, a Masters in Theatre Arts from the State University of New York, and a Masters in Fine Arts in Film and Animation from Vermont College of Fine Arts. pollyzoom.com

Emily Battles is a local educator and artist located in Lyme, N.H. Emily has been instructing at the AVA art gallery since 2008. She has run numerous camps and helps run AVA’s Saturday CAOS program. She is a local elementary teacher in the Lebanon school district with a Masters in Education. Recently, Emily has received her art educator certification for grades K-12 from Plymouth State University. Emily is always integrating the arts and encourages all children to explore and engage with the world around them through the lens of an artist.

Roff Haroff grew up in southern New Hampshire, where she taught metalsmithing in high school. While at college in Philadelphia, Roff danced between the metal, wood, ceramic, fiber, sculpture, and print departments and found romance in the film department. Roff and her animator husband moved back to New Hampshire, where she taught in the arts and humanities and became a League member while consulting across the continent in C/SCSC. Roff was lured to Nashville in the 90s, where she spent time teaching art and Spacial Dynamics, became a TACA member, as well as working as an 18th-century first-person historical interpreter and federal, state, and private arts grants, where she picked up blacksmithing via several ABANA groups and JC Camphill. After moving back to northern New Hampshire, she worked in the Human Resource field as a Transition Specialist until friends told her to check out a job at AVA. Roff’s approach to the world is the glass is refillable.

Beth McGee is a teacher, artist, scenic painter, costume designer, and mom in Thetford, VT. Born and raised in Hanover, NH, and Pretoria, South Africa, Beth graduated from Dartmouth College, where she concentrated in visual arts and mathematics, and studied costume design with Margaret Spicer. Beth has costumed over 30 shows, including 4 years as costumer for The Christmas Revels in Hanover. Recent theatrical projects include costume design for The Lion King at Crossroads Academy; Antigone and The Insanity of Mary Girard at Thetford Academy; Willy Wonka at the Lyme School; Spinning into Butter for the Parish Players in Thetford; and Man of La Mancha at the Briggs Opera House (whenever we can get back into theaters!) Beth enjoys the challenge of drawing photorealistic portraits and painting large murals, but has found her passion using art – and her sewing machine – to bring stories to life on stage. She loves inspiring students of all ages to experience that artistic magic for themselves.

Tyler Morrison is a potter whose work is focused on elements of everyday life. Largely self-taught, his work emphasizes function, sustainability, and self-sufficiency. As an artist, he draws inspiration from industry and the tradition of potters as both designers and laborers. As an educator, he emphasizes the role that the pottery studio has historically played in society, how the medium of clay has shaped the way we view and interact with the world, and how students can use that knowledge to grow as artists and as people.

Though woodcarving began as a hobby for Anton Prikazchikov, it quickly became his passion. His work has continued to improve through hundreds of hours of practice, trials and errors, and in 2021, he won first place in the spoon carving category at the New England Wood Carvers Annual Competition.

Paulette Werger is a studio jeweler and educator living in New Hampshire. She received her B.S. in Painting and Sculpture from the College of Saint Rose and Skidmore College, NY, and her M.F.A. in Art Metal from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She serves on the Board of Trustees for Metalwerx, and has been a trustee of Society of Arts & Crafts, Society of North American Goldsmiths, and AVA Gallery and Art Center, with a goal of broadening support for artists, art education, and creating community.

Allison Zito received a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the University of the Arts. Her artwork has been exhibited in numerous museums, including The Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, The Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, MA, The Delaware Art Museum, The Pennsylvania State Museum in Harrisburg, and The Philadelphia Museum of Art. Allison has decades of teaching experience, having taught a considerable variety of classes at The Philadelphia Museum of Art, at Harcum College in Bryn Mawr, PA, and at the University of Pennsylvania Morris Arboretum. She has been teaching Studio Art in the Upper Valley with excellent results at AVA Gallery and Art Center, Hanover League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, ArtisTree, and Claremont Maker Space. Allison Zito was awarded The Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018 for her work as an artist and art educator. In 2019, Allison was awarded an Artist in Residency at The Claremont Maker Space. There she created an art installation addressing the issue of “Global Warming” and she organized a symposium on-site, to inspire positive action within the community. Making a statement and expressing herself through art is the cornerstone of Allison’s career as an artist and art educator.