Meet our current & past instructors!
Denese Sanders
Director of Open Ground Studios
Denese Sanders is a visual artist with a Masters Degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has an extensive background in printmaking, from UW-Madison to Atelier 17 in Paris, to running a collective printmaking studio for ten years in Minneapolis, MN. Her work ranges from sculptural objects, artists books, drawings and prints. She teaches college level studio arts classes at the Monterey Peninsula College and California State University, Monterey Bay and is the founder and director of Open Ground Studios. Full Bio
Nicholas Yeager
Visiting Artist
Nicky Yeager is trained as a bookbinder and conservator. He has studied binding structure and design while a student and then as a librarian in collections throughout the US. Making books that work well and last while looking good is the focus of his design mindset. Yeager relocated from New York to the Bay Area a few years ago. We are honored and fortunate to have Nicky join the ranks of the Fellows of Open Ground Studiosin 2013.
Evelyn Klein
Founding Fellow (FOG) Instructor
Evelyn Klein, originally from Chile, has worked in printmaking and painting for over 35 years. She teaches at a variety of locations on the Monterey Peninsula and in her non-toxic studio Equinox Press in Carmel. Her work bridges the boundaries between printmaking and painting processes. The resulting work is a seamless image with a depth of layers, colors and vibrancy.
Summer Workshop Fellows
Sandra Wolfson
Visiting Artist
Sandra Wolfson joins us for a special weeklong workshop from Southern California. She relocated from Monterey four years ago and has been actively engaged in her new community as an exhibiting artist and instructor of Serigraph Printmaking at Orange Coast College. Previously, when Sandra lived on the Central Coast she taught drawing, painting and graphic arts at the Monterey Peninsula College and at Santa Catalina.
Glen Rogers
Visiting Artist
Glen Rogers is a painter, printmaker, and public artist with an MFA from San Jose State Univ. She teaches printmaking workshops in her studio in Mazatlán, Mexico as well as leads artist groups to Oaxaca and Guanajuato. Since relocating to Mazatlán from the San Francisco Bay area in 2002, she has organized First Friday Artwalk, now in its 10th year and founded Luna: Arte Contemporáneo, exhibiting local and international artists. She has been awarded artist residencies at Fundación Valparaiso, Spain; Helene Wurlitzer Foundation in Taos, N.M; Villa Montalvo in Saratoga, CA; Frans Masereel Print Center, Belgium and KALA Institute, Berkeley. She is a long-standing member of California Society of Printmakers and an associate member of MPC.
Jamie Dagdigian
2014 Fellow (FOG) Instructor
Jamie Dagdigian is an artist and designer currently living and working on the Monterey Peninsula. He is an instructor and the Art Department Chairman at Monterey Peninsula College and has been creating mixed-media work while teaching both art and design. A graduate of the UCLA college of fine art with a studio arts emphasis, Mr. Dagdigian currently teaches Digital Imaging, Design, Color Fundamentals, Sketch, 2-D Design, Mixed Media and Creative Digital Media at MPC. His most recent local exhibition was in 2012 at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts.
Hedwig Heerschop
Founding Fellow (FOG) Instructor
Hedwig Heerschop is a Dutch-American photographer, educator and printmaker who lives and works in Santa Cruz County. She completed her Master of Fine Arts in Photography at San José State University. Hedwig works with alternative photographic processes including historic 19th century printing techniques, mixed media, and hand made books. Hedwig’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in solo and group exhibitions, including Breaking Boundaries, Pingyao, China and Made in Holland in Naarden, The Netherlands. Currently Hedwig divides her time as Program Coordinator at the Center for Photographic Art (CPA) in Carmel and Exhibit Coordinator at Pajaro Valley Arts Council (PVAC) in Watsonville, CA.
Claire Thorson
Founding Fellow (FOG) Instructor
Claire Thorson received her Bachelor of Arts from UCSC and her Masters degree from San Jose State University. She currently teaches drawing, painting, and figure drawing at Monterey Peninsula College and Cabrillo College. She is a native of California, loves the coast, and has a studio in Elkhorn, CA. Her drawings and paintings travel the territory between figuration and abstraction. VIsit Claire's website.
Bob Rocco
Founding FOG Instructor
Bob Rocco's breadth of knowledge and experience in art and science sparks his passion to explore unchartered territory in printmaking. Born in Rhode Island, he holds degrees in psychology, chemistry, medicine and art. He is a founding member of the Printmakers at the Tannery in Santa Cruz, is a member of the Arts League, the California Society of Printmakers and is a founding Fellow of Open Ground Studios. He teaches experimental printmaking at the Monterey Peninsula College.
Frank Trueba
Founding Fellow (FOG) Instructor
Frank Trueba is a founding member of the Printmakers at the Tannery in Santa Cruz and has studied printmaking and book arts from masters around the country. His work can be found in numerous private and permanent collections including the Spencer Museum of Art in Kansas, the New York City Public Library Print Collection; The Art Museum, University of Kentucky, Lexington. Frank is a founding member of the Printmakers at the Tannery and Founding Fellow of Open Ground Studios. He is the namesake for our beloved Frog, "Frankie."
Jody Alexander
Founding Fellow (FOG) Instructor
Jody Alexander is a nationally recognized and celebrated book artist. She is an expert book binder and educator who lives and works in Santa Cruz, California. She has taught at the San Francisco Center for the Book, The Center for the Book in New York City and University of California, Santa Cruz. Her work appears in collections Nationwide and in a number of publications including Masters: Book Arts: Major Works by Leading Artist, 500 Handmade Books, and 1000 Artists' Books: Exploring the Book as Art. Jody has recently opened Wishi Washi Studio at the Tannery Arts Center, in Santa Cruz, CA, where she and guest instructors teach bookmaking and paper arts workshops.
Dora Rosenbaum
Co-op Artist Member
Dora Lisa Rosenbaum lives in Pacific Grove, and works both in her home studio and at Open Ground Studios in Seaside. She received her MFA in Printmaking from Indiana University and her BA from Wesleyan University. She has received several awards and grants in support of her work and has attended residencies both in the United States and abroad. Rosenbaum’s work centers on the everyday, individuals’ un-theorized, taken-for-granted experiences and understandings of their worlds. Her work has been exhibited across the United States and Italy in both solo and group shows. Visit Dora's Website
Yann Lusseau
Founding Supporting Member
Yann Lusseau was born and raised in Nantes, France and has been a world-class pastry chef for over 25 years. He and his wife Anne Parker Johnson share their expertise and artistry in Monterey at Parker-Lusseau Pastries & Cafe.
Laura Hamill
Supporting Member
Laura Hamill was trained as a botanical artist and teaches botanical art and “painting wild” with watercolor in the Monterey Bay area of California. This artform has opened the door to a greater experience of the natural world. She is member of the Pacific Grove Art Center and the American Society of Botanical Artists.
Guest Instructors
Carrie Grissim
OGS Supporting Member
Carrie Grissim is an artist/ printmaker whose work is colorful, elegant and surprising. She is the current president of the Monterey Peninsula College Printmakers and works primarily from her home printshop in Monterey.
Jonathan Wolf
Founding OGS Artist Member
Jonathan Wolf holds an MFA from the Acadamy of Art, San Francisco, and is an illustrator and printmaker, working in Exhibit Production at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.Founder of the Meetup Monterey Drawing and Painting Group and Founding Artist Member of Open Ground Studios.
Melissa Coventry
OGS Supporting Member
Melissa Coventry is known for her exquisite paper piecings and is owner of one of the largest independent page kit companies in the US, Legacy Paper Arts®. She has taught for Creating Keepsakes, F & W Media, and Scrapbook Expo. She sits on the education committee for the Craft and Hobby Association, a not for-profit trade association for companies that design and manufacture craft products. and is a leading expert in scrapbook page kit design.
Emily Patchin
Founding OGS Artist Member
Emily Patchin earned her Certificate of Bookbinding at The San Francisco Center for the Book, and is a founding artist member of Open Ground Studios. Emily has taught children and adult art classes at the Pacific Grove Art Center, Pacific Grove Natural History Museum, and for the Arts Council for Monterey County. Owner of Outwest Bindery.
Kim’s art career is rooted in her early training in Jewelry Design. In the 1980’s Kim sought a bigger canvas, moved to California, and began to broaden her palette at the Gale Laurence School of Decorative Arts in Oakland. Campbell quickly became one of the Bay Area’s top interior artists. For two decades she honed her craft designing and creating wall and furniture finishes. During that time, Campbell trained and mentored numerous craftspeople in faux finishing.
By 2000 Campbell had moved south to Monterey, California where she began to freely unleash her full artistic expression on canvas. Her works often reflect her varied arts background and her love of nature. Kim's website
Jane Gregorious
Founding Fellow (FOG) Instructor
Jane Gregorius was a printmaking instructor for 25 years at Cabrillo College, and recently co-founded Printmakers at the Tannery, a cooperative studio of 19 artists in Santa Cruz. She also heads the Yuma Symposium in Yuma Arizona. Her work includes silkscreens, print installations, painting and book arts. She has demonstrated and shown her work widely in the USA and Mexico where she has led painting and printmaking groups. She lives and works in Santa Cruz, California. Visit Jane's website.
Normi Burke
Founding Fellow (FOG) Instructor
Normi Burke teaches drawing, mixed media, arts education and museum studies at California State University, Monterey Bay. She is passionate about teaching, with a particular interest in non-traditional materials and mediums. Normi has extensive experience working in mixed media in her own work including book arts, hand and machine sewn media and printmaking. Other interests include attention to zero waste art and design concepts.
Born in Anchorage, Alaska, Lindsey eventually moved to Texas where she
has spent the majority of her life. From 2014 - 2015, Lindsey completed a Master of
Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing and a Master of Arts in Art History from Texas Woman’s University. Currently, Lindsey serves as an adjunct professor of Art at Texas Christian University and Tarrant County College. Shortly after receiving a Bachelor of Environmental Design Architecture from Texas A&M in 2007, she volunteered for the US Peace Corps and served in Morocco for two years, working with developing artisan small businesses. Lindsey has received numerous awards for her artworks, including the distinction of being chosen as a 3-time finalist for the Hunting Art Prize, historically the most generous award given to a painter or drawer in North America. She has also shown in several international juried shows including the Arts in Harmony 2015 International Show in Minnesota and the 17th International Open in Chicago. Lindsey's Website http://lindseydunnagan.com/