Hunter Berry - Board President
Mr. Berry is a Reporting Analyst for the Please Touch Museum. Hunter has furthered the Portside’s mission by dedicating his time coordinating fundraising events, giving financial guidance, and building partnerships with local businesses and community groups. Hunter has been an active board member since 2010.
Monica Thompson - Board Member
Since 2014, Monica has helped Portside with annual fundraising events, programs and workshops. Mrs. Thompson is a local resident whose children have participated in Portside’s visual arts, music and volunteer programs since 2013. Monica is employed by the city of Philadelphia as a crossing guard. For over 11 years Monica has volunteered on the parent board at Our Lady of Port Richmond School and helped with many of the school’s fundraising efforts.
Luca Bernabei - Board Member
Luca first came to the Portside Arts Center as a volunteer for the After-School Arts Program. Luca holds a Bachelors degree in biology from Ursinus College and a Masters Degree in Environmental Biology from the University of Pennsylvania. After earning his Masters degree, he worked as a technical consultant for an environmental firm in NJ. Since 2016 he has been working in clinical research for the Abramson Cancer Center at Penn Medicine helping develop new treatments for blood cancers. Luca has lived in the Philadelphia metropolitan area for over 10 years and has developed a strong connection with the city. Volunteering for Portside is a way that Luca can give back to the city he has called home for many years.
Claire Pavlica - Board Member
Claire Pavlica studied art history and studio art at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut before moving to Philadelphia in 1995. A member of the curatorial team at the National Museum of American Jewish History for over twenty years, Claire especially enjoys working with students and interns and has taught museum collections management graduate courses. Claire has been a Portside parent for five years and joined the board in 2018.
Kim Creighton - Founding Director - Visual Artist
In 2007, Kim Creighton was on a mission.
A member of the North Philadelphia community since 1989, she had come to realize that the youth in her area lacked the opportunities for productive extracurricular activities and creative outlets.
Kim had a solution. An accomplished mosaic and metal artist, she decided she would found and direct a community arts center, where both children and adults could learn to tap into their innate creative energies.
In 2007, she landed on a old canvas factory in Port Richmond on the corner of Lehigh and Belgrade. From there, turning the building into the dynamic place it is now was an uphill battle. Creighton devoted her full resources to the project and also left a successful career in sales at United Packaging and Shipping in order to pursue her dream. For over 12 years at United Packaging Supply, Kim successfully identified major accounts and prospects, which she had ultimately sold and maintained. Ms. Creighton’s professional and educational experience lay the groundwork for her excellent managerial skills and her ability to lead the Portside Arts Center and the development of their programs.
Ms. Creighton has received art instruction at Fleischer Memorial, Cheltenham Arts Center and privately with well-known Artist, Mary Zaccarian. Kim founded and taught the Mosaics Hands On class at the Portside for seven years before passing the torch. Kim has a unique artistic style, which is based largely on geometric shapes and simple objects. She also enjoys working with several different materials such as metals, glass, tile, wood and paints. In turn, out comes beautiful and breath-taking sculptures, mosaics, floor and wall mirrors. Kim also likes to use found and recycled objects some of which are permanently installed at the Portside.
With her background for business and love for the arts, Ms. Creighton has dedicated her life to running the Portside Arts Center and seeing it become a cornerstone to the community.
A member of the North Philadelphia community since 1989, she had come to realize that the youth in her area lacked the opportunities for productive extracurricular activities and creative outlets.
Kim had a solution. An accomplished mosaic and metal artist, she decided she would found and direct a community arts center, where both children and adults could learn to tap into their innate creative energies.
In 2007, she landed on a old canvas factory in Port Richmond on the corner of Lehigh and Belgrade. From there, turning the building into the dynamic place it is now was an uphill battle. Creighton devoted her full resources to the project and also left a successful career in sales at United Packaging and Shipping in order to pursue her dream. For over 12 years at United Packaging Supply, Kim successfully identified major accounts and prospects, which she had ultimately sold and maintained. Ms. Creighton’s professional and educational experience lay the groundwork for her excellent managerial skills and her ability to lead the Portside Arts Center and the development of their programs.
Ms. Creighton has received art instruction at Fleischer Memorial, Cheltenham Arts Center and privately with well-known Artist, Mary Zaccarian. Kim founded and taught the Mosaics Hands On class at the Portside for seven years before passing the torch. Kim has a unique artistic style, which is based largely on geometric shapes and simple objects. She also enjoys working with several different materials such as metals, glass, tile, wood and paints. In turn, out comes beautiful and breath-taking sculptures, mosaics, floor and wall mirrors. Kim also likes to use found and recycled objects some of which are permanently installed at the Portside.
With her background for business and love for the arts, Ms. Creighton has dedicated her life to running the Portside Arts Center and seeing it become a cornerstone to the community.
Jenna Wilchinsky - Program Director - Visual Artist
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Program Director of the Portside Art Center, Jenna is a graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy of Art's four year certificate program in the Fine Arts; and, holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Jenna started working at the Portside in January 2010. Currently Jenna is attending the Arts Administration Master's program at Drexel University.
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Sarah Damiano - Education Director - Visual Artist
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Sarah holds a Bachelors of Fine Arts (BFA) and a Masters of Arts in Teaching (MAT) from the Maryland Institute College of Art MICA). She is a Pennsylvania certified art teacher and has worked with children 3-18 in classroom and after school settings. As an artist she works mostly in drawing and printmaking mediums. www.sarahdamiano.com
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Kelsie Lilly - Creative Facilities Curator - Lead Pirates Teacher - Visual Artist
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Kelsie Lilly is the Lead Pirates (8-12 yr old) Teacher at Portside Arts Center. She holds a Bachelors of Fine Arts Degree from West Virginia University. Kelsie studied printmaking and sculpture where she explored art in both 2D and 3D forms. During her time at West Virginia University Kelsie founded the Printmaking Club and participated in a print exchange with Zayed University of Dubai. This experience inspired her to coordinate Portside Art Centers 1st Annual Student Print Exchange in 2016. Kelsie continues to create and exhibit work. Most recently she was an exhibiting artist for the Interactive Music and Art Organization Bangarang. Kelsie enjoys challenging the students of Portside to create with non traditional art materials, work effectively as a team, and explore big ideas.
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Anna Bockrath - Lead Minnows Teacher - Visual Artist
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Anna is very excited to be joining the Portside team as the After School Arts Lead Teacher for Minnows! She has a Bachelor’s degree in Art Education from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University. She is a certified art teacher, and formerly taught Art to grades K-8 for the School District of Philadelphia. She has a love for art history and museums, and is currently a Museum Educator at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. As a visual artist, she loves to explore and is always looking to learn about new media. Her current favorites include watercolor painting, printmaking, weaving, and blending fiber arts techniques with painting. As an art teacher, Anna strives to encourage exploration by introducing students to a wide variety of art materials and techniques. She believes that children are brave, inspiring artists and is constantly learning from their ideas and creations.
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Katherine Videira - Lead Sharks Teacher - Visual Artist
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Katherine got her Bachelor of Science in Art Education from the Tyler School of Art and is currently working toward her Masters in Art Education with an Emphasis in Special Populations at Moore College of Art and Design. As a practicing artist, she challenges unconventional materials to experiment with ways to combine painting, drawing, photography, and sculpture into hybrid installations. She believes that art teachers have as much to learn from their students as their students have to learn from them, and she therefore uses the art process within her classroom to learn about how her students think while they work. She creates a constant dialogue with her classes by using art projects, class discussions, artist statements, and critiques to engage her students in meaningful artmaking and conversation that they can be proud of. Children have such a unique view of the world, and Katherine is beyond excited to be able to explore this perspective with the children at Portside.
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Sarah Bloom - Assistant Teaching Artist
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Sarah Bloom is a Philadelphia native and current undergraduate student at Drexel University studying Art History and a minor in Photography. Sarah has been working with the Sharks at Portside since 2017's summer camp. Sarah hopes to further her education and career with a masters degree in Museum Education.
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Jesa Minnick - Teacher - Visual Artist
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Jesa Minnick is a Philadelphia based artist that gains inspiration from biological processes and human relationships. Interested in collaboration, and creates visual art in multiple media, including: paper, glass, wood, metal, paint, digital works, and video projections. Teaching style is choice-based, with emphasis on the student pushing boundaries of a medium. Studied at Millersville University for Art Education and PAFA for sculpture.
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Becky Hughes - Teacher - Visual Artist
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Becky Hughes is a visual artist who has worked with the Portside Arts Center since 2011. Becky is a certified Arts Educator who is currently working in the Philadelphia Public School District. Becky graduated from the Moore College of Art and Design in 2011 with her Arts Education Certification and a concentration in Special Populations. |
Matt Higgins - Teacher - Visual Artist
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Matt graduated from West Chester University in 2011 with a BFA in Fine Art. Matt uses various symbols, gestures and words to communicate both personal and universal themes such as perseverance, love, peace and humor within his paintings. Matt decided to commit himself even further to his artistic practice and his desire to teach which led him to get an MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. After graduating from PAFA in 2017, he was employed by Our Lady of Port Richmond Catholic School as an art educator. The excitement and curiosity children have for art making is inspiring and continues to help him to see the world in a different way. As the great Picasso said, “All children are artists, then they grow up.”
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Lillian Kirk - Teacher - Visual Artist
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Lillian Kirk is a visual artist who has worked with the Portside Arts Center’s summer arts camp since 2016. Lillian is a Certified Arts Educator who is currently working in the Philadelphia Public School District. Lillian graduated in 2015 from the Maryland Institute College of Art with a Maters in Arts Education.
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Jean Murray - Teacher - Visual Artist
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Since 2012, Jean has had the pleasure of teaching and developing programs at the Portside. At the Portside Jean teaches inbound and outbound after-school arts programs as well as their full-day summer arts camp. Jean has taught craft classes for children and adults for over 10 years and has worked with teens in therapeutic painting class. Jean's always encourages her students to talk about what they have made and how they feel while they are creating art. When Jean is not teaching others she is working in her artist studio located in Bridesburg Philadelphia. She is an abstract painter, fiber and paper collage artist.
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Amy Kelly - Lead Teaching Artist - Visual Artist
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Amy Kelly is the Lead Minnows (ages 4-7yrs) Teacher at the Portside. Amy lives in Port Richmond with her husband and two kids. Other than her family, Art is her biggest passion. She is a painter, a drawer, and a jeweler. Amy loves teaching through art. She believes Art is a powerful tool. It requires the use of all your senses. Amy is the former Art teacher from By My Side in fishtown and has a BFA in drawing from Kutztown University.
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John Price - Upholstery Teacher
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John Price has over 35 years of experience with upholstery. Before going out on his own, John worked for Regent Upholstery in Old City, Philadelphia under, Isreal Kurman for 20 years. Now John has established his own Upholstery shop in Philadelphia where he specializes in bringing old furniture back to life. Aside from refurbishing the old, Mr. Price can build beautiful custom pieces from scratch. John will work with you to create your own design from the first stitch to the last staple! He can bring furniture back from the heap next to the hearth. www.JohnPriceUpholstery.com
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