Our Teachers
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Jen Kaplan, President
Jen has been president of Young at Art since 2015. She is both a teacher and the administrator of YAA. She primarily teaches the Parent-Child classes and in preschools. Jen was trained by Donna Wiener, the original owner of Young at Art, in the YAA Teacher Training Program. Her background is in nonprofit management and fundraising. She has a Masters in Organizational Change from The New School and has taken classes at Parsons School of Art. Jen has travelled extensively, living in Moscow, Russia for several years. She speaks Russian and knows several other languages. She is an artist by hobby and works in oils and acrylics. She also enjoys decorating cakes and cookies, which she calls bakery art.
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Kören Beck Tomlinson, Art Teacher
Kören is an accomplished artist and knitter who has lived and worked in London, Minneapolis, Düsseldorf, and New York. She has been working with Young at Art since April 2019. Kören has an MFA from Parsons School of Design. She is an art and knitting teacher for children and adults and owns Edgemont Art Barn in Westchester. She has taught in both Waldorf and Montessori schools as an enrichment specialist and is a visiting artist at Greenburgh Library and Mt. Sinai Hospital. Her classes are designed to enhance whole learning and personal development. She creates open-ended, process-driving projects that allow the students to develop their ideas and personal communication skills as well as their art skills. She works with students in drawing, collage, assemblage, and more. Kören also helps teens develop their portfolio for college admissions.
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Ashley Veselis, Art Teacher
Ashley has a BS in Art Education from the University of Vermont and an MA in Art Business from Sotheby's Institute of Art. After a brief stint working in the art world as an art advisor and creative program manager, Ashley has returned to her first love - teaching. She has four year of experience instructing adults and children as young as four-years-old in art making. She joined Young at Art in September 2020. Ashley loves all creative endeavors and is constantly exploring new medias and ways of working. From painting and printmaking to embroidery and ceramics, she is always looking for her next creative adventure.
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Jon Berry, Art Teacher
Jon joined Young at Art in January 2018. He has had a wide range of teaching experience from young children in head start to the undergraduate level. Jon received both a BFA in Printmaking and an MFA in Digital Media from the Rhode Island School of Design. He is an active muralist and has had work featured in multiple publications. While Jon works in all types of media, he believes it all starts with a strong foundation in drawing.
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Katya Meykson, Art Teacher
Katya received her Bachelor's of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is a multidisciplinary artist working in painting, drawing, and fiber sculpture. Katya has been teaching art for over nine years, she has taught at Manhattan JCC, Art Fairy Education, L2COLAB, and other schools in New York area. She began working with Young at Art in May 2017.
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Michelle Frick, Art Teacher
Michelle has taught as a visiting artist at Lower Eastside Girls Club, Newark Museum, New York City YMCA, Bronx River Art Center, Wave Hill, NewYork-Presbyterian, and P.S. 81 in Riverdale. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Pratt Institute and studied at School of Visual Arts. Her work has been exhibited in cities such as Rome, New York, and Los Angeles. Michelle's teaching style focuses on process and the art-making experience over the finished result. She provides supportive guidance to each student she works with, so that they may develop creatively in the own unique way. Michelle worked for Young at Art in the early 2000s, and she has come back to teach again in 2021.