VisArts Emerging Teachers
Jamie Banaticla
Jamie Banaticla (she/her) is a Filipina-American multimedia artist and emerging teacher.
She recently graduated from Fordham College at Lincoln Center in New York City, studying Visual Communications and Sociology.
Enchanted by the power of memories, emotions, and nostalgia, Jamie cherishes her human experience by expressing herself in both physical and digital spaces. Through her playful art and design, she spotlights the preciousness in the everyday.
Jamie’s leadership positions at Fordham granted her opportunities to utilize her creative talents toward community empowerment, student development, and curating inclusive, accessible spaces.
Notable works include her one-second-a-day videos, in which she has compiled over 1,900+ daily video snippets since 2018, her food photography in Eats Archive, and her award-winning sculpture and design pieces.
She is an enthusiast of stickers, matcha, and organic shapes!
Pop by Jamie’s universe here! https://studiojeim.com
Stéphane Calvin
Stéphane (she/her) is a mixed-media visual artist.
She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Sorbonne University in France in 2019. Stéphane favors working in mixed media, a slow and tactile process, whereby each medium channels a different sensibility and which, combined, bring the finished piece to a place where it can rest, complete. Stéphane is a lifelong learner who really enjoys exploring and playing with new techniques, tools, and media. In a former life, she trained and worked in international development and diplomacy.
To view her work, please visit her website at www.stephanecalvin.art
Jess Cruz
Jess Cruz (she/they) loves working with their hands and has been creating since childhood.
In every medium they dip into, they are motivated to bring their cultural roots to the forefront. Their current focus is on beading. Jess often makes beaded jewelry pieces that evoke the colors and beauty of their ancestral land, El Salvador. She uses small brass frames to bring her beaded designs to life.
Previously, Jess worked as a therapist and community social worker, often using hands-on creative activities to engage clients of all ages.
James Than
James Than is a multimedia artist who specializes in animation, digital art, cosplay making, and prop making.
James graduated in the Fall of 2022 from St. Mary’s College of Maryland with a Bachelor of Art with a minor in Film & Media Studies with cum laude honors. He also earned an Associate of Applied Science in Digital Animation from Montgomery College in the Spring of 2019. James has over six years of experience making costumes and cosplay props for Anime conventions and creating original elaborate wigs. Additionally, he has written and produced more than 30 stop-motion Lego animation shorts on his YouTube channel, ibrickfilms. One of his original wigs, the Fire Demon, won The SGA Most Innovative Art Award for 2022. His wigs were exhibited at the Boyden Gallery on the SMCM campus, the Anna Marie Sculpture Garden in Southern Maryland, and the Circle Gallery in Annapolis, Maryland. He is a member of the Maryland Federation for the Art. James has mentored underprivileged high school students in photography that resulted in a showcase at the local library.
James’ inspirations come from video games, anime, cartoons, and his own vivid imagination. He enjoys working with tweens and teens and is a patient, respectful, attentive, organized, relaxed, and young-at-heart art instructor. He is excited to share his passion for creativity and problem-solving with his students to bring their artistic visions to life. He enjoys helping students work around constraints and limitations, discover new tools and technologies, and to stay on task to achieve their goals in the allotted time, in a safe and fun environment.
Jill Stauffer
Jill Stauffer (they/them) is an interdisciplinary artist originally from Pembroke Pines, FL
and currently based in College Park, MD. They are pursuing their MFA in Studio Art at the University of Maryland, College Park, where they also work as a Teaching Assistant in sculpture and drawing classes. In 2019, Jill received a BA from Middlebury College in Middlebury, VT, with majors in Studio Art and Architectural Studies. Jill has participated in artist residencies with NE Sculpture (Minneapolis, MN), Josephine Sculpture Park (Frankfort, KY) and Snow Farm: The New England Craft Program (Williamsburg, MA). They are passionate about community-based art education and have worked as an arts administrator for community arts nonprofits in Providence, RI, Baltimore, MD, and Minneapolis, MN. Jill creates interactive sculptures and installations that explore the relationships between natural and domestic spaces, people, memory, and grief. When they are not making art, Jill can be found riding a bike or roller skating on the Anacostia Tributary Trail System, exploring the College Park food scene, or making a museum trip to DC. You can find their work at jillmstauffer.com.
Isabel Thorstad
Born in Boston, Isabel (she/her) moved to Rockville
after graduating from American University in 2022 (BA in sociology with minors in studio art and psychology).
A “jack of all trades,” Isabel encourages people to try mediums and techniques out of their comfort zone and incorporate a mixed media approach; she is passionate about helping budding artists build a sustainable and energizing artistic practice.
With classes taken at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (animation), Pratt Institute (sequential art), and the School of Visual Arts (illustration), Isabel tells stories through drawing, painting, collage, bookmaking, felting, set design, and more. She aspires to become a licensed therapist and continue helping people tell their stories through words and art.
Samara Wondimu
Samara Wondimu is an artist based in Montgomery County.
Samara graduated from the University of Maryland College Park in 2023 with a Bachelors in Computer Science, but her passion has always lied within the world of art. During her time at UMD, Samara has gotten involved in various community projects across campus- such as the mural installation for the LEAP center, as well as a mentorship program for young minority students interested in the world of technology. While she uses her art skills to design pleasant user experiences at work, she loves to continue to create outside of the workday as well. Samara is drawn toward portraiture and impressionistic painting and loves to experiment with color, texture, and bold lines/brush strokes in her art.