The Violette de Mazia Foundation currently has seven instructors teaching at various locations and reaching a diverse student body. The Foundation instructors are selected based on their mastery of the objective method as well as their ability to transform and adapt that mastery into stimulating, challenging, and informative educational lessons.

Executive Staff

MARCELLE PICK
President
mpick@demazia.org

Marcelle Pick was born in France and educated in both France and England. In 2003, Ms. Pick became president of the Foundation after first serving as executor of Violette de Mazia’s estate, then trustee of the Violette de Mazia Trust, which she established in 1988.

Ms. Pick began her studies of the objective method in 1969 at the Barnes Foundation under Violette de Mazia. Through her years of study at the Barnes she co-authored a syllabus on the objective method for elementary school children which she then introduced and taught to 5th graders in the Lower Merion School District and The American Society for Aesthetics. She also developed a syllabus and taught project “ACE” (Aging is a Creative Experience) to groups drawn from academic, industrial and senior citizen’s organizations.

In addition to Pick’s work on the Board of the Violette de Mazia Foundation, she has served on the board of the Delaware Valley Chapter Ohara School of Ikebana (President), Ikebana International Chapter No. 71 (Parliamentarian), Movement Theater International (Board Member), The Wilma Theater (Board Member), and the Merion Narberth Coalition for older Adults (Board Member).

ROSS LANCE MITCHELL
Executive Director
rlmitchell@demazia.org

Ross Mitchell started his career as a painter and studied at the Barnes Foundation with Violette de Mazia and Harry Serfarbi.Mr. Mitchell previously served Executive Director of Historic Laurel Hill Cemetery and the Friends of Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia where he repositioned the cemetery as a heritage tourism destination. Among his accomplishments there were the founding of the Gravediggers’ Ball fundraiser, creating unique programming, a major re-branding initiative including a guerrilla marketing campaign, and the development of the Urban Mourning Project, a program addressing gun violence.

For seven years he was the Gallery Director at the Barnes Foundation in Merion Station where he led the fourteen million dollar renovation of the gallery, including the de-installation, storage and re-installation of the entire Barnes collection. His duties included managing administration, departmental finances, conservation and security. Among his accomplishments were the implementation of a collection management system, the upgrading of environmental controls and electronic security to state-of-the-art systems, and he oversaw the professionalization of security personnel.

Mr. Mitchell was also Senior Associate for Viart Corporation, a Manhattan based art-consulting firm whose main clients included Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Teachers Insurance. The firm managed the corporate art collections and purchased art at auction.

He is Vice President of the Lower Merion Historical Society and actively involved in historic preservation efforts in the region, and is overseeing the preservation of the 1695 Merion Friends Meeting House. Mr. Mitchell currently serves on the board of the 150 year old Philadelphia Sketch Club, the oldest artists club in the country. He is the former Executive Chair of the Friends of Artists Equity, a support group for Artists Equity. In addition to his studies at the Barnes Foundation, Mr. Mitchell has a degree in organizational management from Eastern University. He was formerly a board member of the Violette de Mazia Foundation before becoming the foundation’s first executive director.

LESLIE FISHEL
Executive Assistant
lfishel@demazia.org

Leslie Fishel has been an Executive Assistant for the Violette de Mazia Foundation since 2008. Prior to working for the Foundation, Leslie worked for four years as a Human Resource Manager and Executive Assistant for American Hospital Service Group, a company that staffs military base hospitals. Leslie’s experience also includes five years as a Public Relations Manager for a large department store chain, as well as three years as a Corporate Trainer.

ANNA LEWICKY
Development Coordinator
alewicky@demazia.org

Anna Lewicky has been a Development Coordinator for the Violette de Mazia Foundation since 2010. Prior to joining the Foundation, Anna worked at SEI Investments, an asset management company for fifteen years as a Project Manager and Product Development Specialist.

Additionally, Anna serves on the board of the Ukrainian Heritage School and is active with Plast, the Ukrainian Scouting Organization, both in Jenkintown, PA. Anna holds an MBA from the Wharton School.
 

Education Department 

MARILYN BAUMAN
Director of Education
mbauman@demazia.org

Marilyn Bauman, The Violette de Mazia Foundation’s Director of Education, began her study of the objective method in 1976 when she enrolled in Violette de Mazia’s first-year class at The Barnes Foundation. Her teacher for the second-year class, Angelo Pinto, introduced her to the Traditions of Art. She then joined the seminar, also led by de Mazia. During her 10 years in the seminar, she presented many lectures. Two of these talks were published in Vistas: “Informed Perception: A Personal View,” and “Born Again!”

Prior to Marilyn’s arrival at the foundation in 2000, and after receiving a master’s degree in English, Marilyn taught for twenty-five years in the writing programs of several universities, including sixteen years at the University of Delaware. In 1991, she was named executive director of the Delaware Institute for the Arts in Education (DIAE), an aesthetic education program for Delaware teachers and their students based on John Dewey’s educational theories and modeled on the Lincoln Center Institute in New York City.

Marilyn has written articles about art and artists for Delaware Today magazine, the Wilmington News Journal, and Vistas (a journal of The Barnes Foundation). Her book, Edward L. Loper, Sr., The Prophet of Color: A Disciple’s Reflections, was published in 1999. Rhonda Graham, a reporter for The News Journal, calls the book the “first and most comprehensive biography of Edward Loper.” Marilyn has also been exhibiting her oil paintings regularly for more than twenty years in regional, solo, and group shows. Her work is in many private and public collections, including WilmingtonTrust Bank, MBNA, the Division of Libraries Art Collection of the State of Delaware, and the Blount Collection of American Art.

WILLIAM M. PERTHES
Assistant Director of Education
wperthes@demazia.org

In his role as Senior Instructor for the Violette de Mazia Foundation, Bill has taught classes in a variety of settings in cooperation with several institutions. He has taught classes for the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts held in the galleries of the Barnes Foundation; for Villanova University at Graterford Prison; at West Chester University; and most recently at La Salle University in the La Salle Art Museum.

As an Undergraduate Bill studied music for several years before completing his B.A. in Philosophy at Temple University. He received an M.A. from Villanova University where he explored the aesthetic and analytical theories of John Dewey and Albert Barnes for his Masters project. He is currently again at Temple pursuing his Ph.D. in Art History. To further his understanding of the Barnes method, Bill has also studied with both Barton Church and Harry Sefarbi at the Barnes Foundation in Merion.
Bill is a member of the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy, the American Society for Aesthetics and the College Art Association.

Instructors

DEBORAH KRUPP
dkrupp@demazia.org

Deborah Krupp began her study in the Barnes method of art appreciation in 2001. She has studied at the Barnes Foundation continuously since then. In 2004, she became a docent at the Barnes and continues to conduct tours for the public there to this day. In September 2007, Deborah sought to deepen her understanding of “the method” by studying with the de Mazia Foundation. She is now teaching for them. Her formal education and career was as a psychologist. She received her Ph.D. in 1978 from Temple University where she studied psycho-educational processes, group dynamics, and clinical psychology. Dr. Krupp was a clinical psychologist in private practice until 2005.

ELIZABETH LATHAM
Education Coordinator for Young People's Programming
elatham@demazia.org

Elizabeth Latham is a native of West Chester Pennsylvania and attended The Pennsylvania State University where she earned a Bachelors of Science degree in Art Education and a Bachelors of Art degree in Art with a concentration in Photographic Studies. Through professional and educational endeavors, Elizabeth has taught art and photography to k-12 learners in urban Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, as well as Kennett Square, State College, and West Chester, Pa. Most recently Elizabeth worked with the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Center City Philadelphia where she assisted with group tour programming, hands-on workshops in silkscreen printing, stamping and felting for k-12, college, and adult learners. Elizabeth’s philosophy in arts education is that learning through art is valuable for all and believes that this concept is evident in the Violette de Mazia Foundation’s educational philosophy and methodologies. She excited about and looks forward to the challenge of further developing a youth program in arts appreciation with the Violette de Mazia Foundation.

EDWARD NOLAN
enolan@demazia.org

Edward Nolan, a Wilmington, Delaware, artist works with oils, watercolor and acrylic paint. He specializes in landscape paintings and drawings. He is a graduate of the Art Institute of Philadelphia and has studied at The Barnes Foundation, La Salle University, and the Delaware Art Museum in Violette de Mazia Foundation classes. He has designed and produced many theatrical stage sets for a variety of groups including the Delaware Theatre Company, Delaware Children's Theater, Upper Darby Performing Arts Center, Wilmington Drama League, Brandywine School District, S.M.R.D. Theatricals, New Jersey Shakespeare Festival and the Delaware Shakespeare Festival.

DAVID NOLAN
dnolan@demazia.org

David Nolan is a Delaware artist who works primarily in oils and has studied with Delaware area artists, Edward L. Loper, Sr., Marilyn Bauman, and Al Staszesky. David graduated from the Hussian School of Art in Philadelphia, PA, and continued his education at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. He learned the objective method for the aesthetic appreciation of art as a student in the Violette de Mazia Foundation class “Informed Perception” held at the Delaware Art Museum. He then furthered his studies at The Barnes Foundation in Merion, PA, in “The Traditions” class with Harry Sefarbi. Currently, he works as a graphic designer. He has taught for the Violette de Mazia Foundation for three years, teaching “Informed Perception to 6th graders and “The Traditions” to 11th graders at the Cab Calloway School of the Arts. He has also taught at the Ferris School for Boys through Delaware Theatre Company's Across Arts Curriculum.

CHRISTINE STOUGHTON
cstoughton@demazia.org

Christine has received a Ph.D from Boston College, an M.Ed. from The University of Louisville, and a B.A. from St. Louis University; in addition to her PAFA Certificate. Christine began her time at the Violette de Mazia Foundation by studying under the instruction of Marilyn Bauman and William Perthes from 2001 to 2005. Christine also studied at Chicago Art Institute, Boston Museum School and Ontario College of Art. Christine, an award-winning artist who exhibits internationally and regionally, maintains a studio with a group of collaborative artists at BaseKamp in Center City, Philadelphia.