Meet our instructors

Shannon Ayres is a photographer and teacher based in the Washington, D.C. region. He works in the lyrical documentary of Eugene Atget and Walker Evans.

Jeanne Benson has known that she liked to make art since the eighth grade. Benson received a Bachelors degree in Art in 1970 and has continued her education in drawing and in design and sewing techniques.

Leland Bryant received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photographic Illustration from the Rochester Institute of Technology, and his Masters of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts from Goddard College.

Eliot Cohen has been teaching photography since 1975 and digital methods since 1994. He is one of the area’s best known digital educators, renowned for his ability to explain digital procedures in a clear and logical manner.

David Daniels earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant in 1970. From a young ago he loved nature, and looked to it for what he still considers an “inexhaustible supply of ideas.”

Delna Dastur received a B.A. in English and French from the University of Bombay, India. She was awarded a full student scholarship to Wellesley College, where she studied art history, and went on to receive another scholarship to The American University, where she completed her Masters of Fine Arts in oil painting.

Born in Tokyo, Japan, Aiko Shimura Erickson studied shodo and ikebana (Japanese calligraphy and flower arrangement) as a youth. After graduating from California State University at Long Beach she went back to Japan to intensify her studies of calligraphy and sumie.

Marty Kaplan was teaching music in a small town in upstate New York and became friendly with the school photographer. He knew of Marty’s interest in photography and asked him to photograph a wedding. Marty purchased a Hasselblad Camera and after some training, photographed his first wedding.

Maureen Lauran received her BFA/BS from the School of Art and Design at Pratt Institute in New York City. She went on to do graduate study in painting at Indiana University and in Italy, and then post-graduate study in Computer Graphics at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University.

Since receiving an MFA in painting in 1982, Raye Leith has taught every age group at every venue, from elementary schoolers to the aged, and from homeless shelters to universities.

Paul Matthai has been a photographer since 1975. His work has ranged from photojournalistic travelogues to contemporary fine art photography. Paul has photographed in exotic locations abroad such as Turkey, the Persian Gulf, Europe and Africa.

Bruce McKaig has been making photographs for over thirty years, living and traveling in Europe, North and South America, Siberia, and India. His photography involves meticulous processes that often produce one-of-a-kind pieces, working with chance elements of surprise and exploring techniques as diverse as pinhole photography, ambient light images, stereo photography, hand colored images and digital animations.

Jane Redmon began her study of Ikebana of the Sogetsu School in 1975 in a class sponsored by the Resident Associates of the Smithsonian Institution. She has studied continuously since that time, being certified as a teacher by the Sogetsu School in Tokyo, Japan, in 1978. From 1977-2006, she studied with Mary Sugiyama, Executive Director of the Sogetsu School in the United States.

Ann Richards, M.A., is a Certified Knitting Instructor through the Craft Yarn Council of America, and has taught knitting at the Smithsonian Institution since 2001. Her articles have appeared in Knitty magazine, and she was the editor of The Conscientious Knitter newsletter 2005-2009.

At the age of nine, Gary Shankman began his studies of art at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington D.C. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting degree from Boston University and his Masters of Fine Arts in Painting degree from American University.

Shahin Shikhaliyev works include oil painting, black and white drawings, and etching. His greatest influence was his father, the late artist Talat Shikhaliyev. Shahin has been exhibiting his work since 1989 and participating in numerous group and solo shows throughout Europe, Middle East and United States.

Barbara Southworth is a printmaking photographer known for landscapes celebrating color, wildness and native diversity. Bridging traditional sensibilities and contemporary aesthetics, her panoramic vision is rooted in the Eastern Seaboard’s maritime and woodland habitats.

In addition to teaching in the Smithsonian Studio Arts Program and being a Canon Camera instructor at Ace Photo, Josh speaks at camera and garden clubs, judges photographic competitions, and exhibits his photographs in gallery shows.

Mïa has taught classes in jewelry and beading techniques for almost 10 years, both in Washington, D.C. and in her current hometown of New Orleans. She never tires of the excitement a student feels when they complete a project and realizes "I did that!"

Max-Karl Winkler received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art and Master of Fine Arts in Drawing and Printmaking from The University of Texas at Austin. He first started teaching studio art courses in 1968 at the College of the Mainland Texas City, Texas, where he helped design the art curriculum.