Sharon M. Dundee was born in Cleveland, Ohio. She received her BFA from Youngstown State University (YSU), where she pursued two divergent paths – painting/art history and graphic design/desktop publishing – the latter becoming her main career focus for more than 30 years. Additionally, she brought her experience and inspiration to YSU students as an adjunct faculty member in design and typography.

Specializing in abstract analogue collage and mixed media painting, her work has been awarded and exhibited nationally in the US, including at the Butler Institute of American Art and the McDonough Museum of Art, both in Youngstown, OH, Tubac Arts Center, Tubac, AZ, the d’Art Center, Norfolk, VA, and the Hera Art Gallery, RI. She currently teaches art-related courses in the Cuyahoga Community College Encore program and at other art centers in the greater Cleveland area. Dundee lives and works in Lyndhurst, Ohio.

Brigitte considers art as always having been a true part of her life. Beginning with early and memorable art experiences and following a lifelong path, art has been a guiding force to the development of her personal life and career. She enjoys teaching classes in Ceramics, Children’s Art, and special events along with her current role as Art Director and Ceramic/Children’s Art Instructor at Fairmount Center for the Arts.

A graduate from Grand Valley High School, Orwell OH, she received an Associate of Art from Lakeland Community College, Kirtland OH and a Bachelor of Fine Arts, ceramics from Kent State University, Kent OH, with additional studies in Art Education and Business. Living in Newbury for over 20 years and as a lifelong resident of Northeast Ohio, her path in the arts has taken place in rural communities and developed in local arts. Brigitte's creative styles in ceramics are diverse, ranging from functional to sculptural with exploration in materials, techniques and firings.

Kaitlyn McKanna is a multimedia artist emphasizing drawing from Painesville, Ohio. Her work often embraces the beauty of the grotesque and uses it as a vehicle of exploring what it means to be human. Other times, her art takes a more playful approach and explores interesting juxtapositions.

She approaches all aspects of making with a curious, experimental mindset. While she emphasized drawing in her schooling, she explores and utilizes many different 2D and 3D techniques as she expands her learning.

She earned her Bachelor in Fine Arts from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 2021 where she was also an Artist in Residence. She has worked at the Cleveland Museum of Art since 2021 as a Studio Assistant in the education department where she plans projects and instructs a variety of ages. She has been at Fairmount Center for the Arts since 2024.

Dale has been involved with art ever since he took painting lessons as a child at the Cleveland Museum of art. He attended Ashland University and received a BFA degree in ceramics and a degree to teach art education K-12. After 4 years of teaching, he switched to computers and eventually continued his family’s business in the construction field. He began concentrating his spare time in watercolors because they were easy to transport, fast to complete and he enjoyed the challenge they presented.

Dale has been teaching watercolors for about 17 years at Kenston Community Education and now at Fairmont. He is also versatile with many other mediums including oil paints, acrylic paints, all types of pencils, charcoals and pen and ink. He also enjoys plein air painting and his work has been accepted in many art shows in and around the Cleveland area.

Annie Peters was educated in Europe and the United States, culminating with a Masters of Art in Fine Art at Kent State University and a Bachelor of Art in Art Education from Akron University. In addition, Annie studied traditional white oak basketry with Williamsburg Master Basketmaker Bill Cook at Davis and Elkins College in Elkins, West Virginia.

As an art educator for 40 years at Grand Valley High School, Annie was awarded “Teacher of the Year” three times and the Ruritans Outstanding Teacher Award. Annie’s students excelled on the local and national level with many students pursuing careers in visual art. Annie has also instructed Adult Education classes multiple times in her career and continues to do so. She particularly enjoys Adult education and watching the artist bloom in people who finally have the opportunity to make art as a new student or as someone who has dabbled throughout their life and now has time to revisit their creative self.

Annie received an Ohio Arts Council Individual Artists Grant in Sculpture (1990). She was an invited illustrator in ALLISTER CROMLEY’S FAIRWEATHER BELLE (Bedtime Stories for Grown Ups to Tell) written by Shane Portman. Annie is also published in Glencoe McGraw Hill, “Experiences of a Traveling Art Teacher.” Annie has exhibited her work in museums (including the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Southern Ohio Museum) as well as national and regional shows. She has been an invited junior and lecturer in Ohio and California. Annie has had her art work in the movie ALL THAT WE DESTROY on Hulu, and been and executive producer for the short film “WHERE ARE YOU” and the feature film “RITUAL”. Annie creates art in several disciplines with whimsical watercolor, basketry and sculpture being her favorite.

Kate Porter loves to explore the wonders of art in all its forms. They currently teach dance and visual art at Fairmount Center for the Arts. Outside of teaching they are a singer/songwriter. They have also worked in theater, as a stage manager and costume designer.

Phyllis Taylor is a Textile and Mixed Media Artist in the Cleveland area. She sees Soft Goods as a transformative medium, morphing from 2-d to 3-d and back again; able to move, stretch and change form. With this fluidity, she finds many opportunities to literally and figuratively look at things from different angles.

As a Toy Designer, Artist and Teacher, Phyllis has a lifelong passion for creating products and experiences for all ages and abilities. Additionally, with a love of nature and interest in upcycling, she looks for ways to incorporate the scraps of one project into something else that's useful and beautiful. (another way of seeing things in a different way) Through her art and work, Phyllis explores the tactile as well as the visual, hoping her creations will provide a chance for others to have joyful and meaningful interactions through play and education.