Past Associate Artists

Thanasi Papopostolou

VisArts (Metropolitan Center for the Arts) is pleased to announce and welcome artist Athanasios (Thanasi) Papapostolou as one of the new Artists in Resident at VisArts. Transitioning from teaching full time at Landon School in Bethesda, MD to producing art full time, Mr. Papapostolou plans to utilize this new role to make sculptures, drawings and paintings for private commissions and gallery venues. He also plans to conduct drawing classes as a showroom for potential students. This will enable him to enhance the creative process of artistic, conceptual thought and practice for both himself and visiting VisArts patrons. Papapostolou has over 20 years of experience and knowledge in figurative arts. He earned his M.F.A. from the Graduate School of Figurative Art of the New York Academy of Art in New York, NY and a B.F.A. in Art History from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA. Papapostolou also has extensive teaching skills in fine arts and sculpture at various institutions in the DC metropolitan area that includes: Landon School, George Washington University, Montgomery College, Howard Community College and the Art League School. The nature of his work ranges from small to large-scale sculptures and drawings with specializations in the areas of contemporary installation art, 3-D design, artistic anatomy, classical art and architecture and art and architectural history. www.thanasipapapostolou.com thanasi1@verizon.net [gallery size="medium" ids=""]

Brent Pafford

Originally from Rock Hill, South Carolina Brent Pafford grew up on a family farm. He earned an Associates Degree specializing in 3D animation and digital effects from Piedmont Community College and furthered his interest in the fine arts by enrolling at Winthrop University. He graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts concentrating in Sculpture and Ceramics. Working in the organic grocery industry for a number of years allowed Brent to study people’s interaction with and relationships developed through nutritional sustenance. His interest in functional ceramics was formed due to the relationships forged between maker, object, and user. After graduating Winthrop University in 2010 he continued to make functional ware while exploring various firing techniques, continuing his education by completing his MFA at Clemson University in 2014. Brent has exhibited nationally and internationally throughout his budding career as a ceramicist. He was awarded Second Place at the Marge Brown Kalodner Graduate Student Exhibit at the Clay Studio in Philadelphia as well as the Retired Professors Merit Award in the NCECA Student Juried Exhibition in 2015. He has also been the recipient of a number of grants, including a Graduate Student Research Grant and Professional Enrichment Grant through Clemson University. As Brent continues to develop as a ceramic artist he hopes to begin completing residency programs among other opportunities to continually develop his body of work. He is currently working on a collaborative project titled, Southern Intentions: Prints, Pots, and Provisions – an art and dining collaboration between a printmaker, a potter and a chef that integrates art practice into the experience of southern dining. Brent is currently living and working in Washington, D.C. www.brentpafford.com  [gallery columns="4" size="medium" ids=""]

Jenna Wright

Jenna Wright is from Hamilton, New Jersey. She went to Millersville University of Pennsylvania where she received a BFA focusing in ceramics and a BSE in Art Education K-12. She received her MFA from The University of Texas at San Antonio also focusing in ceramics. She is teaching wheel throwing and sculpture to various ages as VisArts Center. “My work starts with the “home” and the dense suburban environment of my native New Jersey. The Northeast’s landscape has been altered and sculpted by residential living and greatly differs from the relative openness of the American West. The essence of intimacy and abstraction of the sociological home is what I debate. The molding of an individual, the formation (interior/exterior) of a home, and the shaping of a landscape all have common ideals in our society, to which I am drawn. My conceptual development starts with the physical media, whether that is clay, wood, or found material. As I progress I am constantly thinking of the individual within the society. What would their choices be? How and why are they making those choices? We all curate our homes as an aesthetic expression of individuality but this expression is censored by the pressure of social mores. I am exploring how conventional social pressures impact our understanding of home and domestic comforts.” www.jennawrightart.com [gallery columns="4" ids=""]

Jane Hartman

Jane is a glass artist who loves working in both fused glass and stained glass. Her educational background in science is evident in her unique choice of subjects, which may include anything from insects, fish, and trilobites; to protozoa, planarians and viruses. Though her art is stylized, Jane pays particular attention to scientific details and embraces the vivid colors found in nature. She tries to find and incorporate humor when she can, whether it’s with the crossed eyes of a two-headed planarian, or with a “bioluminescent” light bulb on an anglerfish. Jane’s work is seen regularly in juried Gallery Shows & Craft Shows in the area, as well as online and at her studio at Visarts. She also teaches classes at Visarts and privately. She is thrilled to do commission work, especially those that incorporate wondrous and obscure life forms seen in the natural world. www.trilobiteglassworks.weebly.com [gallery columns="4" ids=""]

Sun Ju Choi

www.artcrewrockville.weebly.com [gallery columns="4" ids=""]