Fine Arts Faculty
Art Program Director
Coordinator of 2D Art Studies
Jay Hardin is an interdisciplinary artist who lives and works in Phoenix, Arizona. His primary mediums are charcoal, oil, screen print, collage, and digital. He draws inspiration from his travels including Mexico, Central and South America, India, and the American West, with specific interests in the natural environments and the ancient art and archaeology in each of these regions.
Music and dance also inspire his visual work, helping to incorporate movement and improvisation in his painting and drawing processes. Hardin also plays steel string guitar, piano, and enjoys experimenting with field recordings to create unconventional sound compositions that connect to his 2D art. This variety of work has led to collaborations with other faculty at Phoenix College and artists across disciplines throughout Arizona. As a residential faculty member at Phoenix College, Hardin also mentors Eric Fischl Scholars, coordinates Art Program events, and teaches a variety of 2D art courses each semester.
Courses Taught: Painting I-IV, Drawing I-IV, 2D Design, 2D Media Design, Mixed Media, Art Portfolio
Education: BFA, University of Arizona; MFA, Arizona State University
Coordinator of 3D Art Studies
Tiffany C. Bailey is a contemporary mixed media sculptor. She is the head of the ceramics department, oversees all 3D areas, teaches ceramics, and also serves as the gallery director of the Eric Fischl Gallery at Phoenix College in Phoenix, AZ. She received her MFA in ceramics from Arizona State University in 2013 and BFA in ceramics from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in 2006. She currently resides in Tempe, Arizona where she operates a ceramic studio. She also has a seasonal artist residence in Bagley, Wisconsin. She exhibits her work locally, regionally and nationally. She was an artist-in-residence at Northern Arizona University during the summer of 2024, at The Mesa Arts Center, Mesa, AZ and The International Ceramics Studio, Kecskemét, Hungary in 2013, also The Pottery Workshop, Jingdezhen, China in 2011. Her sculptures are made primarily from porcelain and are heavily influenced by the topography of her childhood home in Southwestern Wisconsin.
Artist Website: www.tiffanycbailey.com
Instagram: tcbaileyceramics
Courses Taught: Ceramics I-IV
Education: BFA (Ceramics), University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire; MFA (Ceramics), Arizona State University
Photography & Digital Arts Program Director
Jennifer Laffoon is a fine art photographer and educator with over twenty years of teaching experience. She has spent the past two decades as Residential Faculty in Photography at Phoenix College, where she is dedicated to fostering creative growth and visual literacy in emerging artists. Laffoon has taught at both the university and community college levels, bringing a wide range of technical and conceptual expertise to her classrooms.
Her photographic work has been exhibited nationally, reflecting an ongoing commitment to exploring narrative, memory, and place through the lens. She is currently developing an installation-based project that expands her practice into immersive, experiential forms of visual storytelling.
Courses Taught: Photography I-IV, Portrait Photography
Education: BFA, Museum School of Fine Arts; MFA, University of Arizona
Coordinator of Art History Studies
Rudy Navarro earned the Master of Arts in Art History from Arizona State University and the Doctor of Philosophy in Art History from Stanford University. He has been teaching in-person and online art history courses at Arizona State University and Phoenix College for almost fifteen years. His course offerings have included introductory and survey art history courses, Art of the Twentieth century, and Art and Television.
Courses Taught: Introduction to Art, Art from Prehistory through Middle Ages, Art from Renaissance to Modernism
Education: MA (Art History), Arizona State University; PhD (Art History), Stanford University.
Heather Bowyer completed her undergraduate Bachelor of Arts degrees at Indiana University
Bloomington and her Masters Degrees in Art History and in Museums and Historical Administration at the University of Kansas. Her areas of research interest include Greek comic dysmorphic terracotta figurines produced at Athens and Corinth during the Late Classical and Hellenistic periods. Her future research goals include investigation of pigments used by coroplasts on comic dysmorphic terracotta figurines in Achaia Korinthos and completing a multimedia e-book for Art Appreciation students that investigates the analogous nature of art production techniques globally.
Courses Taught: Introduction to Art
Education: BA, Indiana University; MA, University of Kansas
Dain Q. Gore has been a college art instructor for nearly two decades. He received his MFA from ASU in 2009 and has also been teaching at Phoenix College since 2009. Dain has shown his art all over the world, including the 798 District in Beijing, China; Himeji, Japan and Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He also co-performs puppetry at venues such as the Great Arizona Puppet Theater using his original creations. Both his paintings and puppetry are colorful, humorous, surreal and narrative in nature, which shows up in his hobbies, too; he's been painting fantasy/sci-fi gaming minis since 1988, and has won awards at GenCon and for Warhammer's Everchosen.
Courses Taught: Color, 2D Design, Drawing I-III, Life Drawing I-III
Education: BFA, Arizona State University; MFA, Arizona State University
Lisa Von Hoffner is a contemporary figurative painter from Philadelphia. She received her BFA in painting from Savannah College of Art and Design and her MFA in painting at Arizona State University. In 2015 she was selected to partake in an artist-in-residence program in Joutsa, Finland where she invoked the richness of contemporary Finnish art to edify her work.
Lisa has exhibited extensively in the States and abroad and was selected as one of only 40 artists out of nearly 1,000 applicants to be published in the New American Paintings MFA Annual. In 2017 she was on the Phoenix New Times list of “100 Creatives You Need to Know” and had her art featured on the show Good Morning AZ.
In addition to her studio practice, Lisa is an educator at Phoenix College where she teaches painting and drawing. She continues to develop solo projects while also engaging in collaborative art initiatives throughout the Valley.
Courses Taught: Life Drawing I-III
Education: BFA, Savannah College of Art and Design; MFA, Arizona State University
Carolyn Lavender (Hughes) is an exhibiting artist who works primarily in Painting and Drawing. The major themes of her work have been environmental, animals, feminist and abstraction.
Lavender has spent her adult life in Arizona but grew up in a Seattle suburb. She alternated between being happily holed up in her bedroom and having access to plenty of woods and fields for exploration. At age 17 her family moved to the Phoenix area but Lavender was deeply shaped by her time in Washington. Lavender is a night owl who thrives on uninterrupted time for work that demonstrates introverted energy and focus. She is also experienced in socializing feral cats and is sometimes a neighborhood and political activist. Lavender has been an adjunct instructor for Phoenix College since 2011.
Courses taught: Drawing I-III, Painting I-IV
Education: BFA (Drawing) & BS (Education), Northern Arizona University; MFA, Arizona State University
Saskia Jordá is an interdisciplinary artist working on site-specific installations, soft sculptures, and drawings. Her work has referenced the relationship between body and space, cultural identity, and mapping a sense of place. She has received various awards, including an “Artists to Work” grant by the City of Phoenix Arts and Culture and the Arlene and Morton Scult Contemporary Forum Award of the Phoenix Art Museum. In 2024, Jordá was selected to represent Arizona at the New Worlds: Women to Watch 2024 exhibition at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, in Washington, D.C.. She has exhibited widely within the United States and internationally, and is currently based in Phoenix, Arizona.
Courses Taught: Textiles
Education: BFA, Arizona State University; MFA, School of Visual Arts
Lucas J. Knowles is an emerging ceramic and intermedia artist based in Phoenix, Arizona. In 2021, Knowles earned a Master of Fine Arts Degree from Arizona State University’s School of Art while being recognized for receiving the Outstanding Research & Scholarship in Design and the Arts Award. Lucas J Knowles has exhibited nationally and abroad, including two features at the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts in both 2018 and 2019. In 2019, Lucas J Knowles was selected to participate in the NCECA National Juried Student Exhibition. In 2020, Knowles received the International Sculpture Center's Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award – which included a feature in the January/February 2021 issue of the International Sculpture Center's award-winning publication, Sculpture magazine.
Courses Taught: Ceramics I-IV
Education: BFA (Sculpture and Ceramics), Florida State University; MFA (Ceramics/Intermedia), Arizona State University
Monica Aissa Martinez is an artist recognized for her life-size human studies, primarily depicting family members, friends, and neighbors. She integrates anatomy and physiology to craft compelling visual narratives,exploring the intersections of art, science, and the human experience through drawing and painting.
Born in El Paso, Texas, Martinez earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics and Metalsmithing from the University of Texas at El Paso and a Master of Fine Arts in Drawing and Printmaking from New Mexico State University, Las Cruces. She has exhibited extensively in museums and galleries both nationally and internationally, including solo exhibitions at the Tucson Museum of Art, Mesa Contemporary Arts, and the University of Arizona Medical School. Her drawings, paintings, and prints are held in public and private collections across the United States.
Since 2006, Martinez has taught drawing at Phoenix College, guiding students in observational techniques.
Courses Taught: Drawing I, Drawing II, Drawing III, Drawing IV
Education: BFA, University of Texas at El Paso; MFA, New Mexico State University
Shen Qu is an art history Ph.D. candidate at the School of Art, Arizona State University. She also served as the president of the Council of Graduate Art Historians at ASU from 2022-2024. She earned her M.A. in history of art and archeology at Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. Her research interests are contemporary art, post-war art market, feminist art history, and pre-modern East Asian art theories. She presents at CAA, AAS, AAH and multiple international and regional conferences. Her current published writing focuses on art criticism and covers public art, curation, and museum studies.
Courses Taught: Art of Asia
Education: MA (History of Art and Archeology), Institute of Fine Arts, New York University; Ph.D. candidate at the School of Art, Arizona State University.
Travis Rice is a multidisciplinary artist based in Phoenix, AZ, where he teaches in the Fine Arts Department at Phoenix College. Originally from Elkhart, IN, he earned a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Ball State University and an MFA in Drawing and Painting from Arizona State University's Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts.
With a background spanning design, illustration, graphic design, public art, and architecture, Travis brings a wealth of creative expertise to his work. He blends digital and analog techniques to craft intricate hard-edge compositions that deconstruct natural and built landscapes. His art has been exhibited across the U.S. and is represented by Moberg Gallery in Des Moines, IA.
Courses taught: Drawing I-IV
Education: BLA, Ball State University; MFA, Arizona State University
Caitlyn Swift is a multimedia artist based in Phoenix, Arizona. Her figurative paintings, drawings, and sculptures explore personal, psychological, and historical feminine archetypes. Through exaggeration, elongation, and nuanced historical poses, her figures engage in dialogue with traditional portrayals of the female body throughout art history.
Her thesis exhibition Ghosts of Girls I Could’ve Been and Once Was (2025) at the Harry Wood Gallery was fully funded through the Martin Wong Scholarship and ASU’s GRSP Thesis Grant. She was one of forty figurative artists in the United States selected for the 2024 AXA Art Prize at the New York Academy of Art, where she later returned as an artist-in-residence funded by the Academy’s Merit Scholarship. Recent solo exhibitions include Restless at Bay College (2024) and Orchid House at Subspace (2021).
Courses taught: Drawing I-II, Life Drawing, Watercolor
Education: BFA, University of Arizona; MFA, Arizona State University
Jess Tommeraasen is an Arizona-based interdisciplinary artist and educator working at the intersections of design, materiality, and sustainability. She holds a BFA in Ceramics from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and a Master of Fine Arts from Arizona State University. Her practice is driven by material research and exploration, and informed by systems ecology and architecture.
Courses Taught: Ceramics I-IV
Education: BFA (Ceramics), University of Nebraska-Lincoln; MFA (Ceramics), Arizona State University
Carrie studied ancient art in both undergraduate (Arizona State University) and graduate school (University of Notre Dame) and was fortunate to participate in a number of archaeological excavations in Greece and Cyprus. Carrie has worked in the art world, primarily museums, for over 20 years and feels fortunate to have found a profession she loves so early. Carrie currently works at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art as Registrar & Collections Manager, where she is able to bring in and share art exhibitions with the community. Being a part of this class allows her to still be involved with her first love - the art and history of the ancient world.
Courses Taught: Art of Ancient Egypt
Education: BA (Art History), Arizona State University; MA (Art History), University of Notre Dame
John Tzelepis has been dedicated to the art of jewelry and metals for thirty years. He has been teaching in Arizona and New York since 2003 and continues to work as a bench jeweler designing and creating custom work. His work has been exhibited in numerous national exhibitions, most recently at Emergency Arts in Chelsea, New York City and the Palm Springs Art Museum, Jorgensen Gallery, CA. where he has won several awards. His sculpture and jewelry can be seen in several publications including 500 Necklaces, 500 Metal Vessels, and The Art of Jewelry: Wood. He has also contributed to several project-oriented books including 30-Minute Necklaces, 30-Minute Rings, and 30-Minute Bracelets.
Courses Taught: Jewelry I-II, Lost Wax Casting I-II
Education: BS (Studio Art), Skidmore College; MFA, Arizona State University
Zach Valent is an interdisciplinary artist based in Mesa, Arizona. His work has garnered international recognition through exhibitions, collections, and publications. His creations range in size from small handheld objects to large-scale public artworks. Valent specializes in working with cast concrete and steel. He is also an accomplished mold maker, woodworker, and digital designer, which contributes significantly to his artworks' distinctive quality.
Zach Valent holds a Master of Fine Arts in studio art from Arizona State University (2017) and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in sculpture from Southern Illinois University Carbondale (2013).
Currently, he works as a full-time artist under Zach Valent Studio LLC, where he continues to push the boundaries of his craft and complete commissioned artworks. In addition to his studio practice, Valent is a faculty associate at Phoenix College where he regularly teaches design and sculpture courses.
Courses Taught: Three-Dimensional Design, Sculpture I-IV
Education: BFA (Sculpture), Southern Illinois University - Carbondale; MFA (Studio Arts), Arizona State University
Chris Vena is an award-winning artist and educator with a national and international exhibition record spanning 20+ years. He received his BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2003, having studied at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts on exchange in 2001. In 2017, he received an MFA in Painting from Arizona State University with his thesis show entitled Bodies Upon the Gears. In 2022, he received the Phoenix Art Museum’s Sally and Richard Lehmann Emerging Artist Award which featured an exhibition of his work. His solo exhibition, Likeness, was on exhibit at Gateway Community College until October 2024. His work has been published in books, magazines, and academic journals, including volume 168 of New American Paintings.
Courses Taught: Life Drawing I-IV, Figure Painting
Education: BFA, San Francisco Art Institute; MFA, Arizona State University
Ben Willis is an American artist whose recent work is an exercise in giving a third dimension to what typically has two. Carved panels, acrylic paint, holographic vinyl, glitter, pearlescent pigments, and many layers of poured resin provide the viewer with more than they typically see when looking at a flat composition on the wall.
Willis’ creations are often tactile and visceral, designed to function as a visual metaphor for treats that satisfy and or stimulate the viewer.
Courses taught: Color, Drawing I-II, Life Drawing I-II
Education: MFA, Arizona State University
Danielle is an artist based in Phoenix whose work involves ceramics, sculptural forms, and installation work. Her favorite art medium is ceramics, specifically in porcelain, but enjoys combining other mediums with ceramics. Danielle has a BFA in Ceramics from Arizona State University and Master of Fine Arts in New Mexico State University. She enjoys exhibiting her work and sharing her interest in ceramics with others.
Courses Taught: Ceramics I-IV
Education: BFA (Ceramics), Arizona State University; MFA, New Mexico State University
Kari Wyman is an experienced professor of art history at Phoenix College, specializing in Modernism, with expertise in Photography. Her research explores the history of visual culture, contributing significantly to the understanding of the societal impact of images. She has a distinguished and varied teaching background, helping students explore art and its histories from ancient times through contemporary visual trends.
Courses Taught: History of Photography
Education: MA (Art History), Arizona State University
Michel Zajac has been an adjunct faculty member for the Maricopa community college system since 2009. He holds a B.I.S. degree in Art History and Psychology (summa cum laude) and an M.A. in Art History, both from Arizona State University. He has worked as a researcher and excavator for six seasons at the site of Marion/Arsinoe in Cyprus, and he conducted his graduate research fieldwork in Naples, Italy, specializing in use-of-space reconstructions of early imperial Roman buildings in the Campanian region. A specialist in ancient Pompeian art and architecture, he has held many academic titles over the course of this career, including functioning as a Visual Resource Technician for Arizona State University’s Visual Resource Laboratory, the Principal Grant Writer for the Fine and Performing Arts Division at Paradise Valley Community College, the Secretary of the Archaeological Institute of America’s Central Arizona Chapter, and the President of Arizona State University’s Council of Graduate Art Historians (CoGAH).
Courses Taught: Introduction to Art, Art from Prehistory through Middle Ages, Art from Renaissance to Modernism, Roman Art and Architecture
Education: BIS (Art History and Psychology), Arizona State University; MA (Art History), Arizona State University