Meet Our Instructors

Susan Davitti Darling hails from Marietta, PA with a degree in Commercial Art from Millersville University and studies at Pennsylvania School of the Arts. Her education positioned her to take on numerous projects, such as creating greeting cards and calendar art and several label designs for a local winery.

"My approach to painting and collage is playful. I work intuitively. Exploration and experimentation keep me company. Collage satisfies the collector in me. There is an endless source of materials to choose from. A smooth stone that I found on a walk, old library catalog cards, bottle caps and feathers join papers from discarded book pages to have a new life in my work. Reuse, recycle and reinvent are the words of the day. My Inspiration comes from music, the rustling of fall leaves, poetry or the color of the evening sky. I am inspired by the company of friends and family, who love and support me. Making art provides me with Joy and Gladness. ART is the poetry of my world."

http://davittidarling.com/

Elicia Frazier Bachelor's in Fine Arts and Master's in Art Education, BCPS teacher for 7 years, teacher at Zoll Studio in Timonium, MD for 10 years. Trained in creative and classical methods of painting. Specializes in color, composition, dramatic lighting and thoughtful focal points.
Elicia's art career began at Howard Community College where she received an Associate Degree. During this time, she worked with an interior design firm to complete their renderings and an art dealer to learn the business of art. She was a scholarship recipient at the Maryland Institute College of Art and was showcased while painting abroad in Italy. Elicia received her Bachelor's in Fine Arts, and later, received a Master's in Art Teaching. She also received a National "Advanced Certification in Art Teaching K-12," and was a public-school art teacher for 7 years, teaching at a top-rated Art Magnet School and High School in Baltimore County. She furthered her art education and development at Zoll Studio, learning techniques and skills of the Old Masters, while teaching ALL ages, 5 years old to adults. She has studied a variety of diverse, and effective, teaching techniques for kids that are gifted, twice exceptional, have special needs, and for kids with emotional trauma. In addition, Elicia furthered her teaching knowledge as an assistant teacher at Montessori Manor School, ages 2-13, learning how to help students become self-directed, independent, and engaged in their purpose. Due to her high interest in homeschooling, she is well-studied in all aspects of homeschooling philosophies, from "Classical" through "Unschooling." For her artistic career, she has been a part of countless art shows, featured in the front window of Old Town Ellicott City's Art Gallery and had a private art show in Chantilly, Virginia with 60 pieces of artwork with Corporate Office Properties. Elicia was featured in The Howard County Times Magazine for Plein Air painting and the following year received the "People Choice Award" for her studio artwork. She has received 5 profitable rewards through chalk art contests in Howard County and her chalk art has been seen in many restaurants and bakeries throughout Maryland and Virginia. Elicia has also done commission work for big corporations in Washington DC and Baltimore and has completed several murals for residential houses and commercial buildings all over Maryland. She has sold a countless number of paintings and drawings throughout her lifetime. She plans to continue branching out, after taking a break to raise her, now, 5- year old son, Easton. Elicia's professional goal is to educate art students in finding their inner voice; becoming thoughtful of what they hope to purposely create; exploring how they are making art; and understanding how it speaks to other art connoisseurs. Her mission and dream are to give breath to each student's inner artistic evolution. Elicia's personal belief is that on-going, personal exploration and learning helps to shape a student's artistic gift.

https://www.eliciafrazier.com/

Bradley Gebhart is an award winning artist with art in galleries, museums and private collections around the world. Mr. Gebhart graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the College of William and Mary, studied graphic design at the Maryland College of Art and Design and began his Master’s degree at Arizona State University. He currently serves on the Board of the Art Association of Harrisburg, is the editorial cartoonist for The Central Voice and The Burg magazines and entertains and delights at events as a caricaturist. Mr. Gebhart has been teaching art class for over 25 years. His classes have included Japanese Anime, Acrylic, Superheroes, Political cartooning, Drawing from the Right Side of the Brain, Caricaturing and more at the Mechanicsburg Art Center, Learning Annex, Northampton Community College, Lancaster Art Association and Art Association of Harrisburg.

Susan Nicholas Gephart is an internationally recognized artist. Susan, influenced by her artist father, developed a deep appreciation of the earth and its relationship to art when she was a young child. Her passion to explore the landscape is expressed through a unique use of color, texture, and atmosphere, capturing the emotion of a moment with spontaneity and directness. Susan is an associate member of the Pastel Society of America, and a past president and Signature Member of the Central Pennsylvania Pastel Society. She also co-founded the Plein Air Painters of Central Pennsylvania. She has been instructing pastels since the mid 80’s and organizing the Hameau Farm Studio Artist Retreats for all levels and mediums. All of Susan’s workshops are supported by top national art supply companies, allowing her students to sample a variety of fine art products. Her workshops are advertised in Pastel Journal and PleinAir Magazine, and her art is advertised in Fine Art Connoisseur, and has been Plein Air Convention faculty since 2015. https://www.snicholasart.com/

Central PA Pastel Society

Hameau Farm Studio Artist Retreats Coordinator

Jack Richeson Certified Instructor

Sennelier Demonstrator

Gamblin Oil Dedicated Workshop Instructor

MultImedia Artboard Demonstrator

Farmland Preservation Artist

Plein Air Painters of Central PA Co-founder

Christine Kirk earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Parsons School of Design in Communication Design. She worked as a graphic designer for Family Circle Magazine and freelanced in the New York metropolitan area until taking time off to raise her children. She started making paper sculptures to decorate her home and has continued to explore the medium for over 20 years. Her work can be seen in many venues around York with the gallery group. In addition, The PA Guild of Craftsmen store in Lancaster sells her pieces. In recent years, Christine has received three awards from the Lancaster Art Association and has earned master artisan status from the PA Guild of Craftsmen.

You can learn more about Christine and her art on her website, www.papermeditations.com or @PaperMeditations on Instagram. Also, check out these recent features on All Things Paper and Trendy Art Ideas.

Sue Marrazzo is an award-winning experimental artist who works in collage, mixed media, acrylic, sculpture, and encaustic painting. Sue's art tends to be influenced by fashion, interior design, and art history. She believes, "Art is about learning to see." Sue's strengths as an artist are with color theory and composition. She describes her art as : "BOLD, COLORFUL, EXPERIMENTAL, and INDIVIDUALISTIC."

Sue Marrazzo has exhibited in numerous local, regional, national and international juried shows, and exhibits. She currently teaches collage, abstract painting and experimental mixed media.

Nature, movement and color have long been Anita William’s inspiration. Anita seeks to find the magical element in nature, whether it is in trees or flowers, waterways or twisting vines. She hopes to transfer her sense of beauty to her audience.

Anita grew up in on the New Jersey shore. She met her husband while living as a young adult in Philadelphia and moved to York County in 1984. She earned her Bachelors in Art Education at Millersville University. Anita taught Art at Spring Grove Area School District for 15 years. While teaching, Anita earned an M.S. in Education from Wilkes University and an MFA in Visual Arts from Wilson College in 2017.

Anita retired from public school teaching in 2019 and has been painting in her studio above the Handsome Cab restaurant in York. She currently teaches painting at the York Art Association and the Adams County Arts Council.

Anita has participated in many juried exhibitions and won several awards. In 2020 she won an “Award of Excellence” for the Healing Power of Art from Manhattan Arts International. She also won “Best of Show” at the Yorkfest Adult Juried Exhibition.

https://anitawilliams-art.com/

Lynne Yancha

Shelby Young is an illustrator based out of Lancaster city, PA. He is currently working towards his teaching certification at Millersville University, a goal to become a K-12 Art Educator. Shelby is great addition to our children's education program as he is excited to be able to continue his dream of being an art educator by working with the York Art Association as an instructor.

Linda Benton McCloskey enjoys discovering creative ways of expression and totally keeps traditional rules of painting out of the picture. Since she loves to vary her palette of colors and new approaches, Linda's most recent works are experimental water media (abstract), mixed media, cold wax and oil and encaustic (beeswax) with lots of texture and exciting color. Diversity with all its fascinating choices, intrigues her and is evident in her work. Since Linda begins a new work without a preconceived outcome in mind, she simply begins painting and then intuition, love, desire, and experience take over. As she begins to see images, she develops them further. No matter what the results, the works take Linda to a new destination.After changing careers and researching her family's history, Linda discovered that Thomas Hart Benton (an American Regionalist Painter 1889-1975) was her great uncle. She has a Nautilus membership with International Society of Experimental Artists, and a Signature membership with Baltimore Watercolor Society, Philadelphia Watercolor Society and also Pennsylvania Watercolor Society. Linda is an instructor of acrylic and cold wax has a studio and gallery at The Millworks in Harrisburg, PA.

https://www.lindabentonmccloskey.com/about

Deb Watson is a self-taught artist. Although she displayed an early talent at art, her parents discouraged it. She spent her adult life working as nurse and raising a family, but continued to paint in her spare time. As her work began winning awards and selling, Deb quit nursing to become a full time artist and teacher.

Now, her paintings have been exhibited throughout the U.S. in major art competitions and museums. Deb's watercolors have been published in national magazines and she's a recognized teacher, with how to paint books and a Craftsy class on Pet Portraits. After a bout with cancer, Deb became serious about creating her best work. She added oil painting as a medium, and began a new series of western art.

"Living in the East, I limited myself to painting what I saw. Now, I'm traveling and enjoying the process of exploring the west, the ranches, the people and the wildlife. It's opened a door to an exciting new leg of my artistic journey."

https://www.debwatsonart.com/

York Art Association 220 S. Marshall Street, York, PA 17402 717-755-0028 office@yorkartassociation.org