The Hurwitz Center has assembled a faculty of outstanding art educators who have won prestigious regional and national awards.
I was born and raised in beautiful Miami, Florida. For college, I completed my undergraduate degree at Boston University.
Vanessa López is faculty and Practicum Coordinator in the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program at Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland.
Nan Park Sohn is a faculty member in the Master of Arts in Teaching program and the low-residency Master of Arts in Art Education program.
Pamela Harris Lawton, MFA, EdDCTA, is MICA's current Florence Gaskins Harper Chair in Art Education.
Donna Basik has been a member of the MAT faculty since 2007 teaching Undergraduate and Graduate courses.
Katie has been a member of the MAT faculty at MICA since 2001 teaching Undergraduate and Graduate course work. She serves as the Coordinator for Undergraduate Art Education and teaches a studio class within the First Year Experience (FYE).
Hannah Cohen earned her BFA in General Fine Arts (2012) and Master of Arts in Teaching from MICA. Hannah joined as adjunct in 2022 as a mentor teacher for students in Internship I. This fall, she is teaching the Literacy Integration in Visual Arts course. Hannah has also mentored pre-service teachers through the MAT student teaching placements. Hannah has been teaching in Baltimore City Public Schools for 11 years. She teaches k-8 visual art at City Neighbors Hamilton. Hannah also coaches and supports teachers with project based learning and arts integration. Hannah’s art practice focuses on organic hand cut paper pieces inspired by pattern and movement in the natural world. www.hannahcohen.net @hannahcutspaper
Sara Egorin-Hooper provided services for students with special needs in Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) for 44 years and she has been teaching the Introduction to Special Education course at MICA since spring 2007.
Erin Lehrmann is a maker, learner, and teacher based in Baltimore City. She spends her days working with young artists at a local public high school; she spends her extracurricular time supporting preservice teachers in the Master of Arts in Teaching Program as they develop their own art and teaching practices. Erin graduated from MICA with a BFA in Painting (2015) and a Master of Arts in Teaching (2016) as part of the dual degree 5-year program. Prior to joining the MAT program as adjunct faculty in 2020, Erin also served as a coordinator of the MICA Young People’s Studios Summer Program from 2015-2020. Throughout her years in the field, she has contributed to the discipline of art education not only through daily partnership with learners, but also through advocacy, mentorship of preservice and early career art educators, curriculum writing, presentations at the state and national level, and personal artmaking. In 2023 Erin was named Maryland Teacher as Practicing Artist by the Maryland Art Education Association and in 2022 Erin was named Maryland Secondary Art Teacher of the Year. You can find examples of Erin’s professional work here.
Laura Schappelle earned both her BS in Education and a MA in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Maryland at College Park. She taught art in multiple Elementary Schools in Maryland for 10 years. Laura has been working for various Universities as a Supervisor to student interns since 2010. Laura’s role as a Supervisor is to evaluate intern’s performance in the classrooms, and provide additional support, guidance, and feedback to interns, as well as program support and information to mentors. She is currently fulfilling this role at MICA and has been part of the adjunct faculty since the spring of 2020.
Kathryn Sowinski strives to cultivate collaborative learning spaces. After graduating from MICA with a BFA (‘04) and MAT (‘05), she taught in Baltimore City Public Schools and Anne Arundel County Public Schools. Kathryn teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in art education and has been the edTPA Coordinator at MICA since 2015. Kathryn was awarded MICA Adjunct Faculty Professional Development Fund Grants in 2022 and 2023. A National Board Certified Teacher in Early and Middle Childhood Art, Kathryn served as a visual arts standards reviewer for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Her awards for teaching include the inaugural France-Merrick Fellowship at MICA (2003), the Artsonia Leadership Award for Family and Community Involvement in Education and Technology Integration in the Arts (2008), and Teacher of the Year, Northern Anne Arundel Chamber of Commerce (2009). She has presented at local, state, and national conferences. Kathryn is a PhD student in Art and Design Education at Northern Illinois University. Her research interests include promoting inquiry, engagement, and personal growth through student and teacher assessments. A painter and mixed media artist, she has shown her artwork nationally and internationally. Examples of Kathryn’s artwork can be seen here.
Linda Whelihan began her career teaching students with learning differences at Baltimore Lab School and the Summit School in Annapolis, engaging students through dynamic arts integration. She thrives on collaborating with others to find ways to spark the creative spirit and open up fertile pathways for learning. Linda and her family moved to Vermont where she taught all ages but often felt isolated in her practice due to the remoteness and size of the school populations. She was thrilled to return to Baltimore for her Masters in Art Education at MICA (2012), where she was inspired, enlightened and energized. A journal article adapted from her thesis was published in Art Education- Do-It-Yourself Professional Learning Community describing how a group of art educators gathered regularly at a contemporary art museum to view the art, commiserate and collaborate and how that initiative enlivened their teaching. Whaddya know?... Linda next became the Education Curator of that museum and loved finding ways to connect the public with the vibrant artwork on display. The magnetic force of family and Charm City has pulled her back and she is delighted to be here in the creative community of the MAT program at MICA as a supervisor of talented student teachers! In the coming year she will be connecting communities across the globe through a Fulbright grant where she’ll be working in Kenya with the Maasai Trust and the Mara Elephant project to develop arts-integrated curriculum to support their initiatives. She is most excited about sharing the wonder of nature and what she learns about sustainability and stewardship with as wide an audience as possible!
Elizabeth Stuart has served as the Visual Art Supervisor for Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland since 2014. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in art education from the University of Maryland, College Park, a Master of Arts degree in education from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and her certificate in supervision and administration also from the University of Maryland, College Park. She is currently seeking her Doctorate in Educational Leadership with a Superintendent’s Certification from the University of Maryland. Stuart taught elementary art for nine years and was the content specialist for art, theater, and dance for Montgomery County Public Schools in Rockville, Maryland, for seven years. Elizabeth has co-authored two books—Using Art To Teach Reading Comprehension Strategies (Klein & Stuart, 2013), and Using Art to Teach Writing Traits (Klein & Stuart Whitehead, 2018)—along with other articles published by the Arts Education Partnership and School Arts Magazine. In 2023, Elizabeth received the NAEA Gilbert A. Clark and Enid Zimmerman Leadership Award. In 2021 she received the University of Maryland Outstanding Volunteer of the Year Award, and in 2020 she received two major awards from NAEA: the National Supervision and Administration Award and the Marion Quin Dix Leadership Award. She has presented at museums, as well as numerous state and national conferences on various topics concerning literacy, curriculum, assessment, and instruction. She is a past NAEA Board Member and a past Research Commissioner. She loves to find ways for children to use art to deepen their understanding of other subjects and believes that all children can access the same level of understanding in different ways. Elizabeth lives in Maryland, with her husband, Christopher, and her two children.