Faculty (A–Z)

Art Department faculty and staff are listed in alphabetical order. Use the list menu (right) to quickly find a specific faculty or staff member.

Eoin Breadon

Assistant Professor of Art (Glass)

Office: 228KFA
Phone: 715.425.0605
Email: eoin.breadon@uwrf.edu
Website: www.eoinbreadonglass.com

Morgan Clifford

Professor of Art (Fibers)

Office: B100 KFA
Phone: 715.425.3308
Email: morgan.e.clifford@uwrf.edu

Morgan Clifford is a professor of art at UW-River Falls. Clifford has a B.A. from Beloit College and an M.F.A. from Cranbrook Academy of Art. She attended Statens Laereskole I Forming in Notodden, Norway to study textiles. She taught the fibers program at Macalester College before coming to UW-River Falls in 1990. She has received grants to study textiles in Indonesia and Japan and has recently spent time in Peru studying Precolumbian textiles.   more

Stephanie De Armond

Associate Lecturer of Art (Drawing)

Office: 211 KFA
Phone: 715.425.0639
Email: stephanie.dearmond@uwrf.edu

Heather Delisle

Associate Lecturer of Art (Art Education)

Office: 211 KFA
Phone: 715.425.0639
Email: heather.delisle@uwrf.edu

Amy DiGennaro

Associate Lecturer of Art (Drawing)

Office: 211 KFA
Phone: 715.425.0639
Email: amy.digennaro@uwrf.edu

Amy DiGennaro is a professional artist based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, whose primary studio practice is drawing. In  2007–2008, she was awarded the prestigious McKnight Visual Arts Fellowship. Amy has exhibited her work locally and nationally and has been teaching college art and art history for the last eleven years. She earned her BFA from Syracuse University in 1990, and her MFA from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in 1998. Between degrees, Amy completed the American Arts Course at Sotheby’s in New York City. Although the primary focus of her art and education has been painting and drawing, Amy has also concentrated on art history, theory and criticism and has created work in printmaking, ceramics, performance, sound and video. Amy is currently studying Art Therapy.

Bernice Ficek-Swenson

Professor of Art (Printmaking)

Office: B87 KFA
Phone: 715.425.3236
Email: bernice.ficek-swenson@uwrf.edu
Website: www.berniceficekswenson.com

Bernice Ficek-Swenson has been a Professor of Art at UWRF, teaching printmaking and drawing courses since 1991. Before joining the faculty at UWRF she was Co-Director of Land Mark Editions, a fine-art print atelier in Minneapolis, MN. Her imagery is created using copper plate photogravure, a unique 19th century process and is exhibited nationally and internationally.   more

David Heberlein

Professor of Art (Photography)

Office: B91 KFA
Phone: 715.425.3308
Email: david.a.heberlein@uwrf.edu
Website: www.davidheberlein.com

David Heberlein is a Professor of Art in Photography.  He has taught at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls since 1978.  He has also held teaching positions at the University of Wisconsin-Stout and the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis.   more

Lauren Herzak-Bauman

Associate Lecturer of Art (Foundations)

Office: 218 KFA
Phone:715.425.0639
Email: lauren.herzak-bauman@uwrf.edu
Website: www.laurenhb.com

Through the use of fired and unfired clay and found objects, Minneapolis artist Lauren Herzak-Bauman creates sculptures and installations about death and loss, commemoration and mourning. Her work has been exhibited at The Soap Factory in Minneapolis, Northern Arizona University Art Museum and at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, PA. Lauren keeps a studio at the former Canada Dry bottling warehouse in Minneapolis.   more

Lynn Jermal, Ph.D.

Professor of Art (Art Education)

Office: 215 KFA
Phone: 715.425.3375
Email: lynn.m.jermal@uwrf.edu

Dr. Jermal directs the Art Education Certification Program, Pre-professional concentration in Art Therapy Program and MSE-Fine Arts Program and teaches studio drawing. She has served on regional art boards and is Past President of the Wisconsin Art Education Association. Jermal does frequent regional and national workshops and presentations on Collaboration, Leadership. Personal Narrative and Creativity in the visual arts Her recent work includes community collaborative art projects. She is very involved in international Education and interest in traditional arts conservation and documentation lead to research with remote villages in China. She is married with three sons who are all involved in the arts and live in Hudson, WI.   more

Randy Johnston—
Art Department Chair

Professor of Art (Ceramics)

Office: 172 KFA
Phone: 715.425.3266
Email: randy.johnston@uwrf.edu
Website: www.mckeachiejohnstonstudios.com

Randy Johnston has been working in ceramics in his Wisconsin studio for more than thirty eight years. He is recognized internationally as an artist who has pursued functional expression and brought a fresh aesthetic vision to contemporary form, and for his many contributions to the development of wood kiln technology in the United States. He is currently a professor at the University of Wisconsin, River Falls, where he teaches ceramics and drawing. His work is exhibited internationally and he is the recipient of numerous awards including the Bush Artist Fellowship granted by the Bush foundation in Minnesota and two Visual Artist Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. Johnston received his MFA from Southern Illinois University and a BFA in Studio Arts from the University of Minnesota where he studied with Warren MacKenzie. He also studied in Japan at the pottery of Shimaoka Tatsuzo who was a student of Shoji Hamada. Johnston has presented hundreds of lectures and guest artist presentations worldwide. He has work in the permanent collections of the Minneapolis Art Institute, Boston Museum of fine Arts, Los Angeles County Museum, Nelson Aitkins Museum, Victoria and Albert and numerous other International Public and Private collections.   more

Jeannine Kitzhaber

Associate Lecturer of Art (Painting)

Office: 152 KFA
Phone: 715.425.3236
Email: jeannine.kitzhaber@uwrf.edu
Website: www.jspoonerkitz.com

Jeannine Spooner Kitzhaber is a national/regional artist and college-level educator who works in mixed media, painting, drawing, digital, sculpture and printmaking. She has a BFA and MFA in Studio Art, with an emphasis in Painting and Drawing from the University of MN, where she also studied Art History and English. A first-generation college graduate, Kitzhaber considers herself a life-long learner. In 2007, she took a workshop with renowned digital artist, Maggie Taylor in Berkeley, CA. In 2008, she studied digital drawing in Seattle and Asian Art History with UMN professor Dr. Robert Poor. She also furthered her understanding of screen printing by assisting Karl Bethke in his studio from June 2008 to April 2009. Currently, Kitzhaber teaches Introduction to Art and Design Foundations at UWRF. She also teaches classes through the Learning Communities and Honors Programs on campus, and advises transfer and new students in Art. Kitzhaber and her husband Nick live in the Twin Cities and have three daughters. Two of her daughters are alumni of UWRF in Social Work and Art. Kitzhaber has a studio in NE Minneapolis at the Northrup King Building.   more

Ann Lawton

Associate Lecturer of Art

Office: KFA211
Phone: 715.425.0639
Email: ann.lawton@uwrf.edu
Website: http://aelawton.com/home.html

Ann Lawton is a masters level art therapist, professional artist and associate lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. Ann received her Bachelors of Science from UWRF and her Masters of Science in Art Therapy from Mount Mary College in Milwaukee. As an art therapist, Ann has worked extensively in clinical and community settings. Ann's therapeutic focus is with oncology patients and their families provides a means of emotional and physical healing through stages of creation and contemplation of art making. Through her personal artwork, Ann works with both photography and mixed media, documenting and exploring the essences everyday day experiences, from the meaningful to the mundane. Ann currently teaches introduction to art classes for non-art majors at UWRF, and is passionate about exposing students to the necessities of art and bringing awareness to the enrichment art provides to our everyday lives and culture.

Peter Mak, DFA

Associate Professor of Art
(Painting & Drawing)

Peter has taken a leave of absence but may be contacted through email.
Email: peter.mak@uwrf.edu

Peter Mak is an associate professor of art at the Art Department, University of Wisconsin-River Falls, where he has taught since 2004. Peter Mak’s artwork comprises of a range of medium from drawings, prints, digital photos, paintings, ceramic sculptures to installation work. He has been honored with awards (Best of Show and Distinguished Teacher), grants and museum permanent collections, has participated in over fifty-five solo and invited joint exhibitions, and has taught over 25 years in colleges and universities both Hong Kong and America.   more

Asako Nakauchi

Associate Lecturer of Art (Sculpture)

Office: B89 KFA
Phone: 715.425.3308
Email: asako.nakauchi@uwrf.edu

Dan Paulus

Assistant Professor of Art
(Graphic Design)

Office: 217 KFA
Phone: 715.425.3236
Email: dan.paulus@uwrf.edu
Website: www.infusiongraphics.com

Dan Paulus received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Utah State University and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Central Oklahoma. He brings ten years of design experience to the classroom, as well as four years of teaching experience in the design field. As a graphic designer and educator, Dan considers himself a determined problem solver and someone who enjoys a challenge. Design is his way to organize and clean up a noisy cluttered environment. Solutions to communication problems become the goals that drive the decisions, which influence his work. His research interests include how design can possibly influence consumer debt. He continues to practice graphic design through his studio, Infusion Graphics, which moves where he moves. Dan is excited to work with such a talented group of professionals here at UWRF.

Kaylee Spencer, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Art (Art History)

Office: 230 KFA
Phone: 715.425.0605
Email: kaylee.spencer@uwrf.edu

Kaylee Spencer is Assistant Professor of Art at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, where she has taught Art History since 2006. She offers introductory surveys in art history, along with upper-division courses focusing on pre-Columbian and contemporary art. Dr. Spencer’s research focuses on the artistic traditions of ancient Mesoamerica. Her recent work employs phenomenological approaches to explore imagery at Classic Maya sites in Mexico and Guatemala.   more

Rhonda Willers

Lecturer of Art (Ceramics)

Office: 218 KFA
Phone: 715.425.0639
Email: rhonda.willers@uwrf.edu
Website: www.rhondawillers.com

Susan Zimmer

Academic Department Associate

Office: 172 KFA
Phone: 715.425.3266
Email: susan.m.zimmer@uwrf.edu

Susan Zimmer, Academic Department Associate, has worked for the Art Department for fifteen years. She is an integral member of the department providing information on budget, class schedules, student contact as well as office support. Susan also maintains Gallery 101 working with the art faculty, staff and visiting artists to ensure the professionalism required for a formal art gallery.