Ellen Durkan grew up in Wilmington, Delaware, as the oldest of nine children. In addition to teaching at her alma mater, she travels around to teach blacksmith workshops. Her business, Iron Maiden Forge, has grown and evolved as she has worked on her “forged fashion” series and presented it through runway shows and performances pieces. Ellen also has a jewelry line to make her work more accessible to the public. After all, not everyone is in need of a metal corset.

Holly Storlie is a daily painter based in Philadelphia, PA whose colorful oil paintings feature animals as well as everyday still-life objects. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration from Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, FL, and a Master of Fine Arts in Painting from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, PA. Holly is currently teaching foundation classes in the Fine Arts Department at Delaware College of Art and Design.

 

Aki Torii is a multidisciplinary artist whose artwork revolves around the theme of “home” as an endlessly transformative idea and entity. Her deep investigation of this idea manifests itself through various media such as painting, sculpture, photography, and video.

Torii has received her MFA degree from Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (2008), and her BFA Painting degree from Indiana University – Bloomington (2005). She has participated in the Reel Venus Film Festival (New York, 2008), group shows such as “Instance, Instants and Distance” at Skybox Gallery (Philadelphia, 2008) and Solitary Pleasure at Slought Foundation (Philadelphia, 2010).

Newly promoted to Fine Arts Program Chair, Torii teaches foundation classes at DCAD. Instructing traditional and digital practices. In addition, she is a teaching artist at The Print Center, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts School and Museum in Philadelphia. She was selected as one of the “10 Philadelphia female artists you need to know” by online magazine PhillyVoice in April 2015.

Bryn Ziegler is a Philadelphia-based artist and educator specializing in intricate narrative books. She holds an MFA in Book Arts and Printmaking from University of the Arts. Bryn’s artistic practice encompasses both contemporary digital techniques and profoundly traditional craft, giving her a unique perspective on the development of books and comics today.

Žaneta Zubkova, a native of Lithuania, is a formerly Brooklyn-based artist and an educator. At DCAD, she specializes in color and design courses. Previous teaching experiences include Pratt Institute and Adelphi University.