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Our Instructors
OIL PAINTING
Charles Gulbrandsen
See AvailabilityCharles graduated from the Cooper Union with distinction in 1985 as a painting major and soon began a career in art restoration. After many decades of in-painting the missing and damaged areas of thousands of paintings, he had to resolve many technical challenges, and in so doing, synthesized this experience into the development of his
own style.
Major Restorations include:
St. Bartholomew’s Cathedral, Café Des’ Artiste, The
Daugherty murals.
He was fortunate enough to participate in the restoration of the ceiling of Grand Central Terminal, which his grandfather, also Charles Gulbrandsen, painted in 1945. The younger Gulbrandsen continued to pursue his passion for painting large scale works throughout his career. The mature phase of his own painting style would surface in pieces like “Rising” 2016 in which techniques both old and new reveal a luminous nebulae of organic structure.
ART INSTRUCTOR, BUSINESS OWNER
Dee Dee Colabella
Gallery Studies | Monday’s 3:00pm - 6:00pm
Publication Studies | Wednesdays 4:00pm - 6:00pm
Dee Dee Perrone Colabella is an art dealer and gallerist, and the owner and director of the D.Colabella Fine Arts and RPAC Art Center and Academy based in Ridgefield, Connecticut. She holds a master’s degree in fine arts from the Western Connecticut State University. She has over 30 years of experience in the arts, with a focus on graphic arts, advertising, event planning, and education. She is also an artist, capturing mood and emotion in still life and figurative works on canvas.
Not only is Dee Dee passionate about art, but as an art dealer she knows how to foster the creative process and development of an artist, expanding their opportunities to turn their dreams into reality. She has a keen eye in discovering talented emerging and mid-level artists and knows how to evolve their careers towards higher levels of success.
“In addition, through the RPAC Art Center and Academy (Dee Dee’s studio and art education center), we are able to do everything from helping a student prepare his or her portfolio for art school to supplying a creative and nurturing studio space for artists to create and develop their artistic vision.”
Dee Dee plans to expand into different collector markets and to give more artists the representation they need to succeed. “I love art in all forms, and I believe in the artists who I represent. My mission supports their careers.”
PHOTOGRAPHY
Dylan Miller
Intrigued by the life in his backyard from a very early age, Dylan picked up a camera and never put it down. In the last 15 years, he has produced and sold fine art focusing on nature and landscape photography and worked professionally in several different fields. “I have always felt a sense of deep peace in the forest,” he said. “I grew up with easy access to the woods and spent many long afternoons looking for creatures or buiding forts with neighborhood friends, so my experience of nature is now imbued with a sense of childlike wonder. I do my best to allow that perspective to come through in my photography.”
Professionally, he has worked as a reporter and has a lot of experience with documentary and event photography, portrait and family photographer, and product photography. There are many niches of this craft, but Dylan works with the idea that by understanding the basics of camera operation and practicing with it will unlock abilities in any type of photography. The camera should be a key, not an obstacle, and he brings this philosophy into every lesson. Whether a beginner in photography or an advanced hobbyist looking to dive into a new area of the craft, he is here to help.
PUBLICATION STUDIES
Greg Mursko, MA, MFA
Publication Studies - Graphic Design
Co-Founded the RPAC Gallery & the RPAC Art Center and Academy
Publisher of 068 Magazine
Advisor to NVCC Digital Technologies Department
With over 30 years of advertising and graphic design experience, Greg offers students tons of real-world experience including working with some of the top fashion photographers and top illustrators in the country. He has earned several accolades, including Festival International de la Photographie de Mode at Canne, three Ozzie design awards, and more. He has over six years teaching graphic design, illustration and studio art at the collegiate level.
“Students are looking for a job after college not a piece of paper and a handshake.”
He currently holds a Master of Arts degree from Syracuse University and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Western Connecticut University.
ILLUSTRATION
Jesse Navarra
Jesse Navarra is an illustrator/designer who also teaches on the college level. He has experience in logo design and t-shirt design and focuses on portraiture and poster work.
Jesse’s Fundamentals of drawing class visualizing in two and three dimensions is just the beginning. Students of all ages will be introduced to various media techniques and orthographic delineation methods including perspective drawing systems. Use of objects and figures in developing rapid visualization skills.
He is one of our instructors who has been with us the longest and has helped many of our younger students develop their skills in preparation of the college/professional environment which is his specialty. He is very good at working individually with students, helping them find their skillset and passion, and allowing them to explore their interests and meet their goals on their own time.
ILLUSTRATION & PAINTING
Dylan Desmarais
Dylan Desmarais is an illustrator and comic artist who just graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a BFA in Communication Design focusing in Illustration. Dylan was also awarded the Robert Weaver Award for Excellence in the Visual Essay upon his graduation from WashU. Through his comics, Dylan explores themes of religion, family, mythology and loss.
ZEN ILLUSTRATION
Charlie Rose
As a child, Charlie Rose recalls spending countless hours curled up in the sun, crayon in hand. Coloring always seemed to soothe her soul. Her early love of art led Rose to study botanical illustration at the New York Botanical Garden. Here, she pursued her love of nature and embraced it in her creative endeavors. As a fine artist with work in numerous private collections around the country, Rose acknowledges the importance of technique as a fine artist. Yet, she holds fast to her core belief that the creative process is inherently therapeutic. To explore this concept further, Rose pursued and holds a masters degree in Art Therapy from NYU. Rose emphasizes that the process is just as important as the product and, in some instances, even more so.
Rose offers technical classes in Botanical Illustration and mixed media, for students of all levels, as well as mindfulness art workshops for those seeking peace and balance.
Dale Griffith
My name is Dale Griffith, I am an illustrator based in Ridgefield Connecticut that practices in traditional and digital painting. My practices involve concept art, landscapes, and promotional artwork for subjects surrounding science fiction, fantasy, and historical settings. I graduated from the School of Visual Arts in 2021 with a Bachelor's Degree in Illustration and have passionately pursued my skills to share artwork that can truly engage the imagination of the mind. My goal with my artwork is to translate my imagination and immerse the mind using captivating colors, well thought out and detailed designs, with sprawling settings that intrigue the mind to imagine what lies beyond the canvas. Through my connection with nature growing up in the woods of Connecticut, my nostalgia through movies and media, and my fascination with history, I had pursued a career doing art for as long as I can remember with great passion and imagination.
ILLUSTRATION & PAINTING
