| The CAT faculty are actors, jazz musicians, printmakers, cartoonists, animators, singers, pianists, comedians, poets, performance artists, clowns, television producers, choreographers, stage managers, graphic designers, writers, fine artists and installation artists. The CAT faculty are experts in their respective fields who hold PhD's and MFA degrees. In the CAT classrooms you learn from professionals who merge traditional arts with the latest technology. |  |
| Discipline Coordinators | |
| Lisa Rabinowitz, Chair, Fine Arts & Art Education | |
| Lynne Oddo, Animation | |
| Hank Smith, Digital Video | |
| John Towsen, Game Development, Multimedia & the WWW, Theatre | |
| Nancy Bacci, Graphics for Print/Digital Media | |
| Laura Nova, Introduction to Creative Arts & Technology | |
| Peter Gordon, Music Technology | |
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| Lisa Rabinowitz is a printmaker and writer who earned her B.A. in art history and studio art from Oberlin College, and two masters degrees and a doctorate from Columbia University Teachers College. She is the co-founder of the CAT program, the first director of Westminster Gallery, and past president of the Board of Luna Stage, an Actors' Equity theatre. Lisa is enthused about turning visions and plans into realities, whether it is a student's dream of becoming an art teacher or the creation of our next new lab. | |
| Lynne Oddo No stranger to the Arts, Lynne combines a background in dance with a fine art education in sculptural ceramic forms. Lynne continued her education at the University of Siena (Italy), where she developed a love of painting and architecture. In her graduate degree brought together her interest in traditional fine arts and computer graphics. She then went on to study 3-D computer animation for the purposes of returning to her roots in dance and sculpture. Since then Lynne has been teaching in various graduate and undergraduate programs in New York and New Jersey, and exhibiting paintings in the New York and Philadelphia area. | |
| Hank Smith combines a rich background in television production with a career as an interdisciplinary performance artist. Over the past 30 years, he has worked as associate director, stage manager or director at WPIX-TV, ABC, NBC, PBS and on independent productions, including 20 years with Sesame Street, where he functioned as stage manager, associate director, choreographer and performer. His work promoting the art of tap dance earned him a 1998 Ethnic Dance Award. He is a member of the Lincoln Center Theatre Directors Lab and the recipient of a 1999 NJ Council on the Arts Fellowship Award in Interdisciplinary Performance. | |
| John Towsen grew up in show business as a TV child actor, and has been hyperactive in the arts for four decades. He holds a Ph.D. in drama from NYU, and he has taught at such institutions as Ohio University, NYU, Princeton University, and Juilliard. Honors include an NEH Fellowship, and a Fulbright Research Fellowship to France. At Bloomfield he co-founded CAT and created Circus Works, Common Ground arts magazine, the Interactive Multimedia specialization and most recently the Game Development specialization. | |
| Nancy Bacci has been teaching Fine Arts and computer courses at Bloomfield College for the past 13 years. She is a dedicated teacher who finds the teaching/learning process a rewarding one. Nancy did her undergraduate degree work at the University of Delaware and received a Master of Arts degree from Montclair State University specializing in printmaking. As the new head of the Graphics for Print and Digital Media major, she looks forward to creating professional ties for her students within the graphics industry. Her interest lies in finding ways to combine traditional studio imaging methods with computer generated material, especially in printmaking. | |
| Laura Nova is a visual artist working in video, sculpture and installation. Her work is rooted in social relationships and literalized emotions. Using the gallery and site-specific spaces, she creates installations using a wide range of media to explore concepts of public and private behavior and the relationship between the human body and architecture. She received her B.F.A. and B.A. in art and history from Cornell University in 1996 and an M.F.A. from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2001 as a Jacob Javits Fellow. She lived and worked in London as a Rotary International Scholar and completed Associate Research at Goldsmiths College in 2002. She has exhibited internationally, most recently at the Bronx Museum of the Arts in New York City and VTO Gallery in London. For the past year she participated in the Henry Street Settlement Artist in Residence Program. | |
| Peter Gordon | |
| Adjunct Professors | |
Bloomfield College has a teaching force that includes exhibiting artists and celebrated musicians. Whether you are interested in studying classic design principals or the latest techniques, our group of industry professionals can guide you on the correct path. |
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| Jim Cadorin is an actor and musician who graduated from Bloomfield College, where he was a star of many a theatrical production and was co-founder of Controversy, the school's improvisational theatre troupe. | |
| Fred Collins is an actor, acrobat & stilt dancer who teaches students to see the world from great heights. Fred has put his circus talents to use in theatres here and abroad, including a residency in Japan. Fred is a member of the Bond Street Theatre (NYC) and Two Too Far, a circus arts education company. | |
| Steve Colson is a renowned jazz musician, composer, pianist and bandleader. November 13, 1989 was declared "Adegoke Steve Colson Day" in honor of the debut of "Greens, Rice and a Rope," his original composition, at Newark Symphony Hall. Steve represented NJ in a National Endowment for the Arts pilot project to develop artist residencies in the schools. | |
| Patrice DeVincentis holds a Bachelors Degree in Music from Westminster Choir College, in Princeton, studying piano with Harold Zabrack. While at Princeton she also had the opportunity to study Electronic Music with Richard Cain at Princeton University under the tutelage of Milton Babitt. She completed her Masters Degree in Music at Temple University in Music History with an emphasis on Electronic Music Studies. Her areas of expertise include multi keyboards, classic analog electronic music techniques, Studio Engineering, Midi Programming, and Digital Music Technology. A nationally published writer, as well as a solo Recording Artist on Jazzical Records, she has performed across the country including New York, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. She maintains a Digital Audio Studio, Sonic Surgery, and performs on a regular basis. | |
| Dave DeVries has been illustrating for numerous companies for 13 years. Over that time, he has worked for a varied list of clients including DC Comics, Universal Studios, Fleer Trading Cards, Marvel Comics, Tor books, The 3DO Company, Sega Video Games, Columbia Records and Capitol Records to name a few. Using kinetic compositions, Dave has attracted a loyal comic book following and has won both gold and silver awards from Spectrum Annual: The Best in Contemporary Fantasy Art. He has been included in the Society of Illustrators 41st annual juried art collection and was also awarded the strange title “4th coolest trading card artist in 1995” by Cards Illustrated magazine. DeVries has had several two man shows in New York’s Four Color Images Gallery and has also been featured in the Words and Pictures Museum in Northampton, Mass. | |
| Brett Fuchs is a producer, engineer, composer, and musician who grew up immersed in the explosion of modern electronic and urban music of the 1990's. Possessing a well-rounded background of all things analog and digital, he is attracted to technology as a route to untapped musical ideas and expression. Having worked in Film, TV, and Music studios, Brett balances his unique and progressive musical philosophies with a practical curriculum encompassing Sound Design, Audio Engineering, and Synthesis. | |
| Dean Goldberg began his professional life as a film editor for David Sawyer, a democratic political consultant. As an editor, then producer, Dean worked on more than fifty campaigns, including races for Ted Kennedy, John Glenn, Robert Abrams, Jim Hunt and Kevin White. During the eighties and early nineties, Dean worked as a writer/director. As a member of the Directors Guild of America, Dean wrote and directed episodes for Missing Reward with Stacy Keach, Hard Copy, A Current Affair and many others. In 1994 Dean created one of the first branding campaigns for TKR Cable, a division of TCI, he then went on to create hundreds of television and print campaigns for the Cable Television and entertainment industry. Since 1989 Dean has taught at various colleges, including Hunter College and Pratt Institute. Dean holds a BFA from C.U.NY at Hunter. | |
| John Harford is a multimedia artist and photographer
currently working in the northern New Jersey/New York metropolitan area. After
graduating with an MA in 1997, John pursued both professional photography,
graphic design, advertising, and web design before returning to graduate
school in 2000. He achieved his MFA in Photography and Visual
Media at Maryland Institute College of Art in 2002 and since has continued
producing art in various mediums as well as collegiate teaching at Bloomfield
College, Richard Stockton College, and Maryland Institute College of Art. In addition to studio courses he also lectures on the historical and modern context of image, media, information exchange and illusion. His most recent work includes a second full length audio CD of electronic soundscape, several video based projections and installations, and continued work in web art and photography. While entertaining a baroque visual and audio sense, all of his work encompasses socio-political critique and examination. John's works have appeared recently through out the New York/New Jersey tri-state area, Russia, as well as western European media arts venues. |
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| Nabaté Isles is a Trumpeter, Composer and Educator. He holds his BM from the Eastman School of Music/Univ. of Rochester and his MA from New York University. While attending Eastman, Nabaté was a featured soloist with the Rochester Pops Orchestra. He has performed and/or recorded with esteemed musicians Mos Def, James Newton, Charli Persip, Steve Coleman, Ravi Coltrane, Lonnie Plaxico, Mike Longo, Uri Caine, Buster Williams, Grady Tate, Jay Hoggard, Christian McBride, David Gilmore, Brad Jones, and the Mingus Big Band. He has performed and toured with the Jose Limon Dance Company and composed scores or music supervised for 5 short films. He also composed a solo double bass composition called 'Lessons', which was premiered by world-renowned bassist James VanDemark at Louisiana State University. In December of 2004, Nabaté played and acted in the musical 'Ella Fitzgerald: First Lady of Song', which starred Freda Payne and was directed by Maurice Hines. | |
| Marvin Jefferson attended Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts, and has been a professional actor for over 20 years. He was the Producer and Artistic Director of the Ensemble Theatre Company located in Newark and has taught at Bloomfield College for 10 years. | |
| Robin Koss earned a BFA in painting and illustration from the University of Delaware, continuing on to receive a Master's degree in computer animation and digital film production at New York University. She has had the opportunity to study painting in Florence and Siena, Italy. Whether in painting or animation her inspiration is in the creation of images that convey thought provoking stories through lighting and color. The combination of digital art and fine art continues to be an important focus in her work. | |
| Vincent Potuto is a musician and animator who studied animation privately for 10 years with Milt Neil, master animator for Walt Disney. He has conducted high school bands for 24 years, including performances at the White House and Disney World, and he has been the recipient of the governor's Teacher of the Year award. His Tyson HS animation students have won countless awards and been featured at the Chicago Animation Festival, the Toronto Animation Festival, and the New York Independent Film Festival, as well as on Channel 9 and HBO. | |
| Liz Seaton received her MFA from Vermont College. She was a co-founder and then trustee of Newark's famed Aljira Arts Gallery, and has exhibited widely. An inventive and enthusiastic teacher of children and adults at the Montclair Art Museum since 1988, her own work deals with womens' issues and with nature. | |
| Phyllis Scott is a veteran choral director and classical pianist who received her B.A. from Evangeline College and did graduate studies at Rutgers. She has been active as accompanist at Elizabeth HS, Minister of Music at Trinity Presbyterian Church, and pianist at St. Paul's Baptist Church, Newark. | |
| Peter Syak is the founder of Artifacts by Design, a custom ceramic tile business in Bloomfield. After acquiring an undergraduate degree in bio-medical engineering, an MBA from Carnegie Mellon, and ten years of experience in the corporate world at AT& T, he decided to change his life. Art became everything to him. His special love in clay is primitive firing methods: "If I can set it on fire, I like it." | |
| Tom Toynton has over 15 years of training and teaching experience within the corporate world and public institutions. He also spent five years consulting in new media projects specializing in Web development for public and non-profit clients. In 2003 Tom graduated Summa cum laude from Bloomfield College with a BA in Interactive Multimedia, and is currently working on his MS in System Design and Programming from Capella University. His artistic passion is dynamic storytelling through interactive technology and writing. | |
