faculty SPOTLIGHT

The educators in the Visual Arts Department are practicing artists who specialize in a variety of art mediums. Each member specializes in one or more areas, including architectural design, art foundations, art history, ceramics, computer graphics, drawing, film, painting, photography, sculpture, and videography.

Leah Decker

Leah Decker joins us from the Red Door Playhouse in Roswell. She’s a painter, actor, art director, as well as a set and costume designer. She hails from the University of Georgia with a BA in Early Child Development with a wide-range of experience in visual arts. She has significant experience in children’s literature and has contributed to many arts programs throughout Metro Atlanta. She has performed at the Center of Puppetry Arts in Atlanta and was an instructor for the Evanston Arts Council in Chicago, IL. She has also contributed large installations to the University of Wisconsin Children’s Center. Leah founded the Red Door Playhouse with her husband Seth Decker in April 2003. When not making art she loves to be out in nature with her husband and two chocolate labs, Zeke & Finn!

Gina Reynoso is an Atlanta based printmaker working primarily in relief, serigraphy, and lithography. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Master of Fine Arts in Printmaking from The Ohio State University. Active in the Atlanta arts community, she served on the Board of Directors of the Atlanta Printmakers Studio (APS), a nonprofit community printmaking studio recently relocated to Hapeville. Also, she is on the organizing committee for The Book As Art, an annual international exhibition of artist-made books, sponsored by the Decatur Arts Alliance, the Dekalb Library Foundation, and Georgia Center of the Book. In addition to Board and committee service, Ms. Reynoso is a teaching artist for APS’ community outreach programs and has assisted and led workshops at Hammonds House Museum, Spelman College, West End Performing Art Center, the High Museum of Art, and as an independent artist at Chastain Arts Center and the Museum of Contemporary Art, GA. Her work has been exhibited nationally and can be found in many collections including the Kala Art Institute in Berkely, CA, the SCG International Print Collection and Archive at the Zuckerman Museum of Art in Kennesaw, GA, and the Fulton County Public Arts Division, Atlanta.

Vernon Smith, studio artist, teaches Ceramics and Foundations of Art at Lovett. He received his BFA in Ceramics from the University of West Georgia and studied at the Arts Students League of New York. He has been a resident artist at Tom Coleman’s Studio in Las Vegas and Callanwolde Fine Arts Center. Vernon has shown in and curated national ceramics exhibits and conducts workshops and classes around the Southeast. He has been a visiting artist and teacher at numerous art centers in the greater Atlanta area and currently leads semi-annual wood firings at Hambidge Center for the Arts. In addition to teaching, Vernon creates functional pottery as well as sculptural installations at his home studio.

Katherine Schneider

Katherine Schneider teaches middle school art classes at Lovett. She holds a bachelor of fine arts degree from the Rhode Island School of Design in ceramics. She received a Master’s of Art in Art Education from the University of New Mexico. Katherine has studied at Studio Arts Centers International in Florence, Italy. She is a veteran of advanced workshops at the Penland School of Crafts, and the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. She has researched indigenous artwork of the Southwest and participated in workshops in Abiquiu, New Mexico at the Ghost Ranch Education and Retreat Center. Her personal mixed media artwork has been influenced by her travels.

Amy Story

Amy Lee Story is the Visual Arts Chair and Cross-Curricular Coordinator for Fine Arts. She also instructs foundations, painting, and Honors Visual Arts. Amy grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, and later went to Tulane University to pursue her Bachelor of Fine Art. She also taught elementary art at Ursuline Academy in New Orleans while getting her master’s from Loyola University. In addition to teaching, Amy also illustrates children’s books. She works in all media, including painting, sculpture, ceramics, drawing, and photography. Her work is narrative in nature, allowing each piece to tell a story through the different layers of media. Her portfolio may be viewed at her website www.amyleestory.com.

Courtney Strickland

Courtney Strickland is the K-2 art teacher. She has a BFA in Illustration from SCAD and has recently become a published children’s book illustrator. She has an extensive background working with children through her time at the Children’s Museum of Atlanta and Georgia Aquarium. Notable projects rebranding the Children’s Museum of Atlanta t-shirts, creating a map for the museum floor, backdrop designs/painting for plays, and a coloring book for the education department. Courtney has been with Lovett’s Fine Arts Department since 2014 doing artist presentations/ tutorials, summer camps, and substitute teaching for grades K-12, along with stage design for Lovett’s US theatre. She wants to help students learn more about how the arts are a major role in this growing/ diversely communicative world.

Karey Walter

Karey Walter is a recognized fine art, black and white photographer and educator. Born in Pittsburgh, PA, she holds a MFA degree from the University of Utah. Walter directs Lovett’s photography program, where she has taught for the past 18 years. Walter’s prior work varied from black and white documentary to landscapes from across the United States, Mexico, and Europe. Her current body of work is based on mixed media concepts. She uses photography, resins, oil pastels, acrylic paint, various gel mediums, and varnishes in her abstract works on canvas. She also explores historic processes from the 1800s to understand the function of historic processes, chemistry usage, and the photographic art as a creative form. She has worked with a variety of professional artists on assignment and workshops with advanced education teaching photography and mixed media arts, including Rocky Mountain School of Photography in Montana, and Spoleto Summer Abroad in Italy and France. Her works have been displayed throughout the Southeast and are included in numerous private collections.