Instructor Bios
Yvette Booker is an Edwardsville native, as been weaving baskets since 1998. Since that time many awards have been acquired along with a BA degree from SIUE in fiber arts. She also has worked extensively in the jewelry manufacturing area. She and her mother can be found at numerous craft shows and the Edwardsville Goshen Market every Saturday during the summer with baskets and artwork of all sorts.
Amber Davidson is currently an art education major at SIUE. She will complete her student teaching this Fall and graduate in December. She has served as the secretary for the SIUE student chapter of the National Art Educators Association and recently was nominated for President. She has had a wide variety of experience working with children of all ages, including running a summer art camp.
Kristi Dickens graduated in 2001 from Eastern Illinois University with bachelors' in painting and art education. Her teaching experience includes: Art Specialist for ECUSD #7,EAC, JAC, Lewis & Clark College for Kids, Elsah Art, and West County YMCA.
Katie Dile is a textile and fiber artisan. She served in the Air Force in the early 1970’s. Along the way in her military career she picked up skills such as silk embroidery while stationed in Korea; spinning weaving, and doll-making while in Iceland; and tapestry weaving, tassel-making, and numo felting while in England. After retiring from the Air Force in 1994, Katie added quilting to her long list of fiber and textile interests and just recently added basket weaving. Katie has been the winner of numerous awards for her textile and fiber works. Many of Katie’s pieces are in private collections around the world.
Sharon Gibson grew up in the St. Louis area and received her B.F.A. in Painting at Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville. At the age of 15 she was chosen to spend a full summer at the Kansas City Art Institute to study the human figure. Her work still consists of figurative work in painting, drawing, and she has always been inspired to draw illustration and write books for all ages to enjoy. She currently teaches art, writes, illustrates, and does commission work.
Diana Gravatt received her B.F.A. in painting at Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville in May 2007. Her painting style is loose and expressive, while her drawings are inspired by photorealism. She has exhibited both locally and in St. Louis, including the Alumni Art Exhibition at SIUE in November 2007. During the spring of 2008, Diana had the opportunity to study art history in Italy, visiting museums in Venice, Florence, and Rome. She has previously volunteered at the Jacoby Art Center in Alton, IL and has worked at the Saint Louis Art Museum. She is currently a Graduate Student at SIUE in the Museum Studies program and hopes to continue to do art and work with other artists.
Larry Hesterberg has been making beautiful, handcrafted lampwork beads for nearly two decades. He started making his stunning beads in 1989 and learned this difficult skill by the self-taught method. He has since taken classes by other renowned and gifted bead artists to hone in on his dexterity, but continues to forge and succeed mainly on talent alone. Larry's artistry doesn’t end at just lampworking, he also has a thriving studio in Belleville IL where he designs, creates and installs custom stained glass.
Angelika Linsky is currently a student at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville undergoing her undergraduate research for a Bachelors in Fine Arts. In 2004, Linsky received an Art Activity Scholarship from Kaskaskia Community College towards her Associates in Arts degree. She has been in a wide range of juried shows going as far north as Effingham and within and around Edwardsville and most recently being SIUE's Undergraduate Art Show. Currently she is one of many artist being showcased in "Cooked 405" a senior show at SIUE.
Katie McGovern currently lives in Alton, IL. She is a senior at SIUE majoring in Art Education. She holds an Associates Degree in Liberal Arts from Lincoln College in Lincoln, IL. She later studied graphic design for 2 years and Illustration in Chicago. She aspires to write and illustrate children’s books on helping children cope with tough life issues such as depression, anxiety, terminal illness and grief.
Herschel Prater earned his undergraduate degree from Greenville college and completed his Masters Degree at SIUE. He taught junior high/middle school art in Edwardsville District #7 for 33 years-from 1968-2001. During his tenure he also served as chairperson of the Junior High and Middle School fine Arts Department for 25 years and sponsored the yearbook for 27 years. He is currently retired, spending much of his time researching his family’s history, substitute teaching and writing
Brie Rozycki is a graduate of SIU Edwardsville majoring in Art Education. She comes by her talent genetically; her grandfather is an architect and her mother majored in Fine Arts and Education. She has been drawing and painting since she was a young girl and can remember learning cross stitch when she was three. She continues to practice her art while teaching art at Edwardsville High School. She loves every aspect of the art field however, lately she has put her focus on fibers, (bookmaking, papermaking, and scarves) painting, and drawing.
Snail Scott has been a sculptor in clay for 15 years, and has exhibited in galleries from New York to California. She earned a BFA from the University of New Mexico and an MFA from Washington University in St. Louis, and presently teaches at UMSL and at Blackburn College.
Deile Cherry-Smith is a graduate from the Memphis College of Art in graphic design and illustration and is a working artist in both 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional works with an emphasis in painting and etching. She has a professional background in the arts ranging from corporate design and medical illustration to representation in a number of galleries, large and small.
Donna Tamborella is a lifetime artist. She has been a member of the St. Louis Artist guild for 25 years. She has been teaching at SWIC for 18 years and has taught private lessons for 25 years. Her art has been shown in the Mitchell Art Museum and the St. Louis Artist Guild. She has private owners in Puerto Rico, Ireland, and all over the US. Many of her students have shown their work at the Masters Art Show, Art on The Square, and the St. Louis Artist Guild.
Kate Tegtmeier is a life-long Madison County resident who developed a passion for making things. First she learned how to knit. Each new interest built upon previous experiences in fibers, sewing, quilting, tatting, stained glass, drawing and painting... and then chainmaille struck and the appreciation for this art form continues to grow. Although self-taught over 6 years ago, Kate has studied with a number of chainmaille artists before teaching the art to others.
Alana Tibbets grew up in New Mexico, earned her bachelor's degree from New Mexico State University and her PHD in Evolutionary Biology from Arizona State University. Alana is a self-taught textile artist and utilizes a combination of traditional and innovative techniques to construct and ebmellish her work.Her current body of work is comprised of semi-articulated and wall-mounted cloth figures. Her work can be seen in galleries throughout the United States.
Emily Wehling is currently attending Western Illinois University with a major in Art Education with K-12 certification, and has been an officer in the Art Education Association chapter on campus. She has volunteered at the Edwardsville Children’s Museum art camps and the Macomb Art on the Square Children Activities tent.
310 Hillsboro St., Edwardsville IL 62025 • 618.655.0337 • edwartscenter@att.net