MEET OUR TEAM OF DIRECTORS
The WCCA 2015 Team is made up of dedicated volunteers who are donating their time, energy, expertise, and support to make Warnborough College’s Second Annual Conference on the Arts a great success. Let’s meet them!
JILL KIEFER, Ph.D – CONFERENCE DIRECTOR and DIRECTOR OF ART HISTORY CLASSES
Art Historian and teaching Artist, Dr. Jill Kiefer, serves on the Board of Trustees of Warnborough College, and is the Director of the Cultural Art History and Fine Arts graduate programs offered by Warnborough College Ireland, and our new Film, TV & Radio Studies program. Jill is the Founder and Director of What About Art? and has developed and implemented comprehensive academic and lifelong learning programs in Art History, Fine Arts and the Humanities, for several prestigious institutions in the USA and Europe. Her art is held in collections around the globe. Jill is a member of the international Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi and is also a Consulting Professor for the Saylor Foundation. Jill is a three-time federal grant recipient for her work in online and hybrid learning environments. You can e-mail Jill about any Conference matters at jkiefer@warnborough.edu
BETSY AIDINYANTZ – ASSISTANT CONFERENCE DIRECTOR
WCCA 2015′s Assistant Director is Betsy Aidinyantz.
Betsy Aidinyantz is the CEO of Joining Hands Centre for Creativity and Enterprise. Joining Hands has been operating for 7 years now and more than 550 individuals have directly benefitted from its services, as well as many who have benefitted indirectly. During the last three years, Betsy has worked with many artists and makers. The Centre for Creativity and Enterprise was born through the need for a space which would allow local creative talent to be nurtured and supported, and for local art and crafts to be created and sold. Betsy’s mother, Maria, had great influence on her life decisions, and her attitude and views of life, as Maria was a very talented artist and craftswoman. Her paintings are on view at the gallery.
STAN BRUCE – DIRECTOR OF VISUAL PRESENTATIONS
Director of Visual Presentations Stan Bruce is a painter who strives to create “art that captures people in the spirit, in the celebration of life.” In addition to directing this track for WCCA 2015–Stan will be exhibiting two of his wonderful paintings at our Art Exhibit and he’ll be conducting on site painting demos at the conference. You can read more about Stan elsewhere on this website.
DAVID CHASKIN – CAFÉ BOOK SIGNING & SHORT FILM EVENT DIRECTOR
Film Festival Director David Chaskin is a writer and actor, known for A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985), Midnight’s Child (1992) and I, Madman (1989). David has also worked on a variety of other projects in film and television. You can see some of his credits on the IMDb. David co-produces Suffering Fools with Mike and Dave, a podcast described as, two guys trying the make the world a better place. For themselves. He is also the webmaster and a co-director of What About Art? – an organization devoted to bringing art to everyone.
CHRIS BLAINE – ART EXHIBIT DIRECTOR
Art Exhibit Director Chris Blaine intends to be Dr. Christopher Blaine by the time the conference opens! Chris is finishing up his doctoral program in Art History at the time of this writing–and we wish him well as he nears the end of this process! Chris was our Art Exhibit Director for last year’s WCCA and we thank him for his service again this year. You can read more about Chris elsewhere on this website, since he will also have two pieces of artwork in the conference exhibit.
ENDIA PLUNKETT – DIRECTOR OF ART STUDIO WORKSHOPS
This year, Art Studio Workshop Director Endia Plunkett will be celebrating both WCCA AND the receipt of her M.A. in Art History. Congratulations, Endia! In addition to her duties as our workshop director, Endia will also be offering a Rag Quilting Workshop at WCCA and a Visual Presentation. So she will be a busy gal at WCCA 2015! You can read more about Endia elsewhere on this website.
PENELOPE (PEN) McELWEE – DIRECTOR OF ACADEMIC PAPERS
Director of Academic Papers Pen McElwee hails from from Dublin, Ireland. Pen has just finished up her Ph.D. in the Social History of Art through Warnborough College Ireland, under the mentorship of our Conference Director, Jill Kiefer. Pen found her doctoral studies to be very intense–but extremely rewarding. And…we congratulate her on an upcoming book–soon to be published and based on her doctoral research.
SANDI HUTCHESON – DIRECTOR OF CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOPS
Sandra (Sandi) Hutcheson obtained a Master of Fine Arts in English from Spalding University and is a PhD candidate in Creative Writing from Warnborough College. She teaches Short Story Writing at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida, and Creative Writing and Communications for the University of Phoenix. Sandi will be the Director WCCA’s Creative Writing Workshops. She will also be offering workshops and a presentation at the conference AND will be reading an excerpt from her latest book. You can read more about Sandi elsewhere on this website.