ArtHaus Instructors

LEA DONHOWE LOVELACE

DIRECTOR OF LITTLE MASTERS ART STUDIO, CO-DIRECTOR OF ARTHAUS

A Decorah native and a Luther College graduate, Lea has worked in the field of Art Education for over a decade. She has worn various hats including that of a teaching artist working with diverse populations of varied ages; a program director for a not-for-profit community art school; the manager of teacher programs at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago; and an independent contractor/consultant, connecting diverse audience members to museum exhibitions. Lea has her Master of Arts in Art Education from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 2007 she moved back to Decorah with her family, a mere two-block commute away from ArtHaus which she co-founded with Kristen Underwood in 2008.

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KRISTEN UNDERWOOD

DIRECTOR OF UPSTART CROW THEATREWORKS, CO-DIRECTOR OF ARTHAUS

Kristen Underwood has been a theatre professional for the past twenty-five years. She earned her BFA from the University of Colorado/Boulder, and her MFA from San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theatre. As an actor and director, Kristen has been involved in over one hundred professional productions for companies around the country, in addition to teaching theatre for CU/Boulder and Luther College, among others. After ten years as a managing Core Artist/Education Director for the Commonweal Theatre, Kristen founded Upstart Crow Theatreworks in 2002 and ArtHaus in 2008.

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KAREN BERLAND

INSTRUCTOR

Karen Berland became familiar with Pilates while living in Charleston, SC. This particular form of mind-body exercise held her interest and she pursued her teaching certification after moving to Decorah four and a half years ago. Karen enjoys sharing the benefits of Pilates, and is finding new motivation in her practice since the birth of her son Elliot.

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AARON BODLING

INSTRUCTOR

Aaron has a Bachelor of Arts from Luther College, where he studied art and met his partner in life, sculptor, Jenna Haug. When he isn’t taking photos and exploring non-traditional printing techniques, you can find him wearing the hat of the Wine Buyer at the Oneota Community Co-op. Aaron feels he is the luckiest guy he knows as he resides in Decorah with Jenna and their finest their finest collaborations, daughters, Myra and Lucy.

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RACHELLE REIS BRANUM

INSTRUCTOR

Rachelle is an artist/educator with a degree in Art Education from the University of Northern Iowa. She has experience teaching art in public schools and art centers, and as an artist-in-residence. She has also focused on museum education as a docent at the Minneapolis Institute of Art and is the former Assistant Curator of Education at the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska. Rachelle, originally from the area, recently moved back to Decorah with her husband, Mark. When Rachelle isn’t teaching she is attempting to do her own artwork while tending to the needs of her two small children, Caden and Mara.

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AMANDA COUTURE

INSTRUCTOR

Amanda Couture has studied jazz, modern, hip-hop, tap, ballet, and lyrical dance for the past 15 years, and has taught young artists through the Eau Claire School of Dance, as well as independent creative camps, since 2004. A Theatre/Dance major at Luther College, Amanda has been trained through Luther’s Movement Fundamentals curriculum, which focuses on a holistic approach to using the body through movement. By teaching weekly classes at Luther College for area youth, Amanda began conducting research on dance as a way of channeling children's natural energy to maximize creativity in the young artist. She served as 2009 director of dance at Dorian Arts Camp.

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LINDA ELKINS

INSTRUCTOR

Linda Elkins has a Bachelor of Arts in Education from Eastern Michigan University and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Fiber Arts from Eastern Michigan University. When Linda isn’t creating her own artwork she is the Field Placement Director for the Luther College Education Department. Over the years Linda has taught classes in book arts, weaving, 2-D design, paper making, and many others. She is the mother of three grown children.

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LINDSEY HARMAN

INSTRUCTOR

Lindsey Harman holds an M.F.A. in Theatre Performance and currently directs the Mabel-Canton Speech and Drama program. She also creates theatre and teaches voice in Decorah, IA. When not creating work for the stage Lindsey makes jewelry and attends births -- all four components weaving together to comprise Arrival Arts. Lindsey spends most of her time with her husband Andrew and their greatest gift and creation, Ezra.

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JENNA JO HAUG

INSTRUCTOR

Jenna is a local sculptor and graduate of Luther College. She has taught art in Iowa and Montana and now makes her home in Decorah with photographer and wine aficionado, Aaron Bodling, and their exceptional daughters, Myra and Lucy.

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ALAN HOCKERSMITH

INSTRUCTOR

Alan Hockersmith, named local swing dance pioneer by the Twin Cities City Pages, was a driving force behind the swing dance renaissance in the Twin Cities from 1995-1999. His classes, and Swing in general, gained local and national notice after having been featured in the Star Tribune, City Pages, Pioneer Press, Elle magazine, and Minnesota Monthly. Alan’s teaching experience includes Swing, Cajun, Country Western, Salsa, Waltz, and Polka. His teaching style emphasizes the fun that any form of dance brings to our lives--his many students at ArtHaus over the past year would agree.

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JENNIFER FISHER JONES

INSTRUCTOR

Jennifer graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art from Macalester College and holds a K-12 Teaching Certification in Art from the University of Iowa. She has experience teaching art in private and public schools and has designed and taught after-school art programs and summer art camps in California and Iowa. Her love of Contemporary Art led her into galleries where she had the opportunity to serve as an art consultant in San Francisco and later Washington D.C. Jennifer and her husband, Brian, moved to Decorah in 2004. They have two children, Adam and Greta.

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RICHARD MERRITT

INSTRUCTOR

Richard Merritt is Associate Professor of Art at Luther College teaching courses in drawing, graphic arts, and art history, among others. He has worked in many different disciplines and has published in diverse academic journals. Much of his academic research focuses on the historic interactions between the arts, literature, mathematics and science. His own artwork has been exhibited nationally and internationally and he has lectured throughout the United States and Europe.

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BEN MOORE

INSTRUCTOR

Ben attended Luther College majoring in Art and receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in 2002. Studying painting and drawing, with a secondary focus in printmaking, at the University of Iowa, Ben completing his Masters of Arts degree in 2005 and his Masters of Fine Arts in 2006. He also studied printmaking and drawing at the Scuola Internationale de Grafica in Venice, Italy. After teaching as faculty at the University of Iowa and Kirkwood Community College, Ben finds himself full-circle as an Assistant Professor of Art at Luther College teaching painting, drawing, and new media. His work has been exhibited at Arizona State University, Grain Belt Artist Collective in Minneapolis, the Foxtax Gallery Minneapolis, and various other institutions throughout the US.

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SCOTT NICHOLS

INSTRUCTOR

Scott has a Bachelor of Arts in Education from Bethany College and a law degree from Lewis and Clark College. Scott was introduced to the joys and mysteries of encaustic painting at the Northwest Encaustics studio in Seattle, WA. He has also studied painting and printmaking at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, MA and the Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle. Scott lives in Seattle with his partner and 8-year-old son and is a frequent visitor to Decorah.

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LIZ ROG

INSTRUCTOR

Liz Rog has been singing, picking, and inviting others to sing along for almost 50 years. She knows that we were all born to make music, and loves to help children and adults find simple ways to do it.

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TOM SAVRE

INSTRUCTOR

Tom Savre has been a guitarist and songwriter since before he can remember. Sometime in the late 1980’s while on an extended road trip through the kingdoms of Folk, Pop, Blues, and Rock ‘n Roll, Tom was quite unexpectedly taken into custody by radical members of the Jazz persuasion. Since that time he has been in constant struggle to gain personal freedom through harmonic improvisation. Tom is a native of Minnesota with a long history of connections to Decorah stretching back to his college days at Luther. He has taught guitar to many people over the years and led workshops through community education classes in Minneapolis.

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CERRISA SNETHAN

INSTRUCTOR

Cerrisa Snethen is a recovering English major from the Omaha area. She's been writing poems for as long as she can remember, some of which have been published. She's a regular at the ArtHaus Poetry Slam, and agrees with Charles Bukowski that "…writing…is like a vast bridge that carries you over many things that claw and tear." The oldest of eight, she's been bandaging knees, singing songs, and reading stories for a long time.

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AMY WELDON

INSTRUCTOR

Amy, an Alabama native, holds a Ph.D. in 19th-century British literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she edited The Carolina Quarterly. Her fiction and creative nonfiction have appeared in StoryQuarterly, The South Carolina Review, Yemassee, Southern Cultures, The Carolina Quarterly, and The North Carolina Literary Review, and her personal essay “The Fruits of Memory” is reprinted in Cornbread Nation 2: The Best of Southern Food Writing (Univ. of North Carolina Press, 2004). Having completed a short story collection, Traveling Grace, she is now at work on a novel, Mansions. Amy is a regular columnist, as “The Book Doctress,” for Decorah’s Inspire(d) Magazine. and assistant professor of English at Luther College.

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PINE WILSON

INSTRUCTOR

Pine Wilson fell head-over-heels for Eastern European folk dancing in the early 1990's, and has since traveled to festivals and workshops throughout the Midwest, from coast to coast, and to Bulgaria pursuing her passion. Pine has been teaching international dancing in the Decorah area, both privately and in schools, festivals, and celebrations, since 1992.

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LEE ZOOK

INSTRUCTOR

Lee Zook MSW, PhD is a licensed independent social worker in the State of Iowa. He recently retired from Luther College where he taught social work for many years. He also has a varied background in clinical social work practice. He works part time for the Regional Medical Center’s office in West Union also known as Backbone Area Counseling Center.

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