About Renaissance in Great Barrington, MA
Renaissance Art School offers personal instruction for children and adults in a variety of fine art media: drawing with pencil, charcoal, pen and ink; painting with oil, acrylic, and watercolor; and projects with collage, sculpture, cut paper, and more.
We also offer classes in digital photography techniques (in the field and in our state-of-the art photo studio) and in graphic design.
We believe...
that the art student, young or old, should experience a comprehensive training, broad enough to give every kind and every level of talent an opportunity to develop.
Projects are chosen to show the interconnectedness of the technical and visual aspects of each medium: drawing, painting, collage, sculpture, and graphics. With the development of confidence, the student/artist brings to each project his or her unique style of expression.
It's personal.
At Renaissance, we do things differently, for good reason. We strive to develop in our students not only the techniques of art-making, but an eye for seeing art in life, and a love for the discipline that art requires.
Our instructors are carefully chosen - they are more than art teachers; they are mentors and coaches who inspire the best results from students through a very personal connection. We provide highly individualized, one-on-one instruction. Open studio hours are also scheduled for students to spend extra time refining their work, under the guidance of our staff.
Meet Our Team
Patricia Navarino
founder, co-director, instructor, watercolorist, educator, curriculum designer
Pat is the Founder and Director of Renaissance Art School in Great Barrington, MA, and Millburn, New Jersey which features her successful "one on one" mentoring techniques for teaching fine arts. Pat developed this approach, developed over many years running her previous school, Renaissance in Learning, the private art school that she founded in Millburn, Short Hills, New Jersey.
Pat has taught, influenced and mentored students in the visual arts, not only developing their technical and artistic skills, but also sharing her knowledge of fine art as an academic discipline.
She helps her students to create exceptional art portfolios, and has guided many of them to college scholarships in leading arts programs at Cornell University, Parsons School of Design, Rhode Island School of Design, and the Savannah College of Art and Design, to name a few.
As the Visual Arts and Dance Supervisor in the Millburn Township School system, Patricia implemented a two-year College Board Studio Art Advanced Placement course, a Middle College program in the Visual Arts associated with Fairleigh Dickenson University, and a sequential Dance Program.
Patricia, a watercolorist, has hosted one-woman shows of her work.
She was one of nine finalists in the country selected to attend the Bank Street College/Parsons School of Design Master of Science Degree Leadership Program. She is a Curriculum and Instruction Consultant who has designed and helped to implement visual arts and dance curricula for a number of institutions, including the Professional Teacher Mentoring Programs at Kean University, Saint Mary's Elementary School, Lee, MA, and the Connecticut State Department of Education. Patricia is an active member of The National Art Educators Association and The Massachusetts Art Educators Association.
In 2008, Pat received The Award of Excellence by the Art Educators of New Jersey for her continued influence and leadership in the visual arts.
Nicholas J. Navarino
co-director and administrator
Nick has had a successful career as a school administrator at the Elementary, Middle and Junior High School levels, including the development of individualized programs in the arts and academic areas.
His honors as an educator include Public Educator of the Year, and selection as one of only six candidates for a Doctoral degree in Creative Leadership, funded by the Smith Richardson Foundation. Nicholas presently serves as a member of The Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce and the Great Barrington Business Improvement District Committee.
Stephen G. Donaldson
photography instructor
After 13 years working in the corporate sector, Steve Donaldson picked up two cameras and "threw it all away" to pursue his lifelong dream of photo-documenting a journey around the world. From 1995 to 1997 he traveled around all six inhabited continents of the world - across the United States, through Central and Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, China and Central Asia, India and South East Asia, Australia, the Middle East, Africa and South America. In total, he visited 42 countries and logged over 100,000 miles. This journey, and the images he compiled over the course of it, was the springboard to a freelance career in photography.
Steve conducts a slide-based lecture program for schools, universities, and professional organizations throughout the U.S. His photographs and writings have appeared in a wide variety of publications and he continues to travel to remote areas of the world to shoot stock and high quality editorial images of the world's exotic far reaches. He photographs weddings and social events, offers black and white portraiture packages, and does a variety of commercial assignments. His studio is located in Great Barrington, MA.
Michelle MacDonald
fine arts instructor
Michelle graduated from The State University of New York at Purchase with a BFA, with a concentration in Printmaking. She is a certified art teacher with a Masters Degree in Art Education from The College of Saint Rose, Albany, N.Y. Michelle taught art at William Lenoir Middle School, in Lenoir North Carolina, to grades 6-8.
She has exhibited her work in the "Perspectives" art show in Albany N.Y. The Woman's Caucus for Art, the Albany and Hudson Chapters. She won "Best in Show" at the 20th Annual Caldwell County Visual Arts Competition. Michelle is a freelance mural artist and works in the stained glass medium, as well.
Adam Gustavson
instructor
Adam is the award winning illustrator of sixteen books for children and numerous periodicals, as well as an adjunct faculty member at Seton Hall University and Passaic County Community College. He is a graduate of the MFA program at the School of Visual Arts in New York, and he is career artist and educator. Adam teaches traditional drawing skills and a broad range of painting media. Adam has been a teacher at Renaissance Art School in Millburn, NJ since 2003.
His work, resume and contact information can be viewed at: AdamGustavson.com