Faculty Staff

Born and raised in Northern New Jersey; I grew up on a mountain top, which towered over a tiny town that is all of one whole square mile. With that, you can believe me when I say I did not have as many resources readily available. Because of this, I knew art school was a must to be able to grow into a professional artist. That is how I found The Delaware College of Art and Design. At DCAD I earned my Associate of Fine Arts in Illustration and then moved onto Pratt Institute where I then earned my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Furthering myself away from my small town, I began working at DCAD to guide students through the process of beginning their artistic careers and spread the wealth of information and resources to find a path that is right for them to become a confident artist.  

Melissa Fitzgerald is an illustrator from Delaware. She got her BFA in painting from a very traditional fine arts program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Then attended grad school at the Savannah College of Art and Design and earned an MFA in illustration. She been teaching at the college level since 2009. As an illustrator Melissa has worked for The National Park service and Delaware State Parks. She has had work in galleries and museums. Designs and illustrations of her’s have sold across the country and internationally. With her art she works both traditionally and digitally with a focus on printmaking.

Wydelah Llanos is a Philadelphia native who received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from Moore College of Art & Design. As a student, she discovered her love for education and helping others and decided to get her Master of Science in Psychology online via the University of Phoenix. She started her journey in Higher Education by going back to her roots at Moore in the Admissions office which then led her to Admissions at Delaware College of Art & Design where she has found her tribe. Wydelah is very passionate about advocating for students who are underrepresented and strives to be an example for those who come from struggle as she has.

Casey Smith is the Area Coordinator for Liberal Arts at DCAD and runs the DCAD Writers Studio. He holds an AB in English literature from Kenyon College and an MA in English literature and language and a PhD in English with a minor in Victorian studies from Indiana University. Before coming to DCAD, he spent 20 years on the faculty of the Corcoran College of Art + Design/Corcoran School of the Arts & Design at The George Washington University, where he was founder and director of the Corcoran Writers Center. He also has taught at Indiana University and West Chester University. A frequent publisher and presenter of scholarly work on a range of topics, Casey most recently presented “Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market: 150 Years of Art & Illustration” at the Annual Symposium of the Fellowship of American Bibliophile Societies and “William Joseph Ibbett (1858-1934): Poet, Printer, Piquerist, Ripper Suspect?” at RipperCon18, the Biannual Conference on Jack the Ripper, the Whitechapel Murders, True Crime and Late Victorian Period History. He is an active member of the College Book Art Association; the American Printing History Association; the Research Society for Victorian Periodicals; the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing; and The William Morris Society of North America.

Lisa comes to DCAD with a background in academic and studio training and seeks innovative ways of teaching art history. She has taught “Introduction to Art,” “Art History I” and “Art History II” in the greater Philadelphia area, along with current classes in “Art History I,” “Art History III” and “Writing for the Arts.” Lisa holds an undergraduate degree in English literature from Rutgers University-Camden and a graduate degree in humanities, art history, from Arcadia University. She also studied drawing and sculpture at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where she served as a studio monitor for portrait and figure drawing and painting.

Katy Matich Ro is a bookmaker, printmaker, and illustrator who is equally passionate about the visual arts and education. When she is not developing her latest zombie zine, or motivating her design students, you can find Katy meticulously laboring away at repairing sickly “broken” books. Katy exhibits her work nationally and internationally with her work being on archive at the Salford Zine Library of Manchester of the United Kingdom, the University of Pennsylvania’s artist book archive, and The Free Library of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

My relationship with DCAD began in 2005 when I enrolled as a full-time photography major. After I earned my associate of fine arts degree from DCAD and my bachelor of fine arts degree from Pratt Institute, I have held multiple positions at the college from Assistant Director of Student Services, part time faculty for the Continuing Education Department, to Director of Community Programs. As the Director of Admissions, I want to empower aspiring artists and designers with the opportunity to realize their potential of becoming an industry professional, no matter of race, gender identity, or economic background. I look forward to getting to know you and your work, apply today!

Tad Sare is the Program Chair for Animation at Delaware College of Art & Design where he instructs animation and foundation art courses. Tad is an experimental animator who exhibits work regionally and internationally. He also works commercially, creating online content, for businesses and organizations such as Delaware History Museum, The Maryland Coastal Bays Program, Greater Wilmington Convention & Visitor’s Bureau, and Camden County Community College. He continues to instruct public programs and workshops at Philadelphia Museum of Art and Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Instagram

Rachel Bomze, a painter originally from Texas, received her bachelor of arts degree in studio art with an emphasis in painting at Brandeis University. She earned her master of fine arts degree in painting from Tyler School of Art at Temple University in 2004 and was appointed area coordinator of Fine Arts and Foundations at DCAD in Fall 2016. Rachel’s own work centers on the in-between spaces. This occurs in the work where imagery hovers between the process of painting itself and a recollection of an image. In those in-between places, sometimes the work is reminiscent of weaving. Many times, the work recalls a landscape quality, like the light reflecting across the ripples in a body of water or the sensations of being enveloped by a landscape space as if in a field or underwater. Her work has been shown throughout the Pennsylvania and South Jersey region as well as in New York City.

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.

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.

Aki Torii is a visual artist who resides and works in Wilmington’s Creative District. She was awarded an honorary award, the Justine Cretella Memorial Scholarship, from Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and was a Dadalus Foundation MFA Award Nominee as well. Her body of work is a theatrical reflection on social behavior through various media such as drawing, sculpture, video, and installation. She has participated in the Reel Venus Film Festival (New York, 2008), group shows such as “Instance, Instants and Distance” at Skybox Galley (Philadelphia, 2008) and Solitary Pleasure at Slought Foundation (Philadelphia, 2010). Currently, she teaches 4D Design at DCAD. In addition, she is a teaching artist at The Print Center and Family Arts Academy Workshops at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts School and Museum in Philadelphia. Torii was selected as one of the “10 Philadelphia female artists you need to know” by online magazine PhillyVoice in April 2015.

John Breakey is the Program Chair for Graphic Design at DCAD. He assists with the running of the DCAD InQb8 Design Group and is a member of the Type Director’s Club and the Philadelphia chapter of the AIGA. His design studio in New York City and, since 1998, in Wilmington, Delaware has created unique environmental design for clients seeking atypical visual solutions. JohnBreakeyStudio has completed icon through branding projects, editorial art, design and advertising for an extensive client list for over 40 years. A graduate of Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, John received his Master’s degree in Studio Arts from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia. He also maintains a thriving studio practice at The Delaware Contemporary on Wilmington’s Riverfront.

Jason Olney is an adjunct graphic design professor at DCAD. He has over ten years of experience with branding, print design, web design, illustration and photography. He founded Jason Olney Design in 2008 and works with a variety of clients doing anything from restoring old photos to building websites.

Ron Brignac grew up in Seattle and serves as Area Coordinator of Photography at DCAD. A teacher and a working artist, Ron has received numerous grants, exhibited and lectured across the region. In 2009, Ron received a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts to continue with his project of photographing people in their environment.