Painting, Mixed Media Instructor

Ceramics Instructor

Jake is originally from Dutton, Montana, and spent his childhood in the country. As a child, Jake was well acquainted with nature and the outdoors — taking many fishing, camping, and hunting trips with his family. His mother being a public-school art teacher, Jake spent many hours in the art classrooms of Brady and Dutton Public Schools where he found a love for the arts.
       Jake discovered wheel-thrown pottery when he took his first pottery class here at Paris Gibson Museum of Art in 2014. After graduating from high school in 2016, he completed a bachelor's degree in Environmental Horticulture Science at Montana State University. He moved to Great Falls in 2023, where he took a horticulture position with Great Falls Parks and Recreation. Having a deep love for both nature and ceramic art, much of his artwork is inspired by the imagery, rhythms, and movement found in nature. Currently, Jake is passionate about creating primarily wheel-thrown functional stoneware and porcelain.

Figure Drawing Instructor

Growing up in rural North Dakota, Aaron spent a majority of his time creating art. It remained an informal pastime until he moved to Seattle, where he took a more academic approach to his work. Through studying at Gage Academy of Fine Art, Aaron familiarized himself with more traditional methods of drawing and painting. To further his education, he moved to New York City to earn an MFA at the New York Academy of Art while taking courses at Grand Central Academy. Since graduating, he has produced and sold work through solo and group shows. He continues to create work while living in Great Falls, Montana.

Textiles

Tammy is a fourth-generation fiber artist who enjoys sharing her passion with everyone she meets. She has a fiber-arts business, Goldieknots Montana, specializing in Montanagrown wool, yarn, spinning fiber, and Made in Montana gift items. Prior to moving to Montana, she lived in Southern California and the Pocono Mountains where she was a Humane Education specialist for the SPCA. Her teaching style is fun, creative, and interactive. When she’s not in her studio creating, spinning, knitting, or felting, you can find her spending time with her dogs, sheep, horse, and other barnyard critters.

Instructor- Adult Drawing & Painting

Ashleigh McCann primarily creates abstract and nonrepresentational artwork, and she believes that practice rendering landscapes, the human figure, and still life enhances every form of artmaking. McCann emphasizes that developing a vocabulary of engaging mark-making and color theory elevate her student's representational artwork. McCann completed a 9-month residency at the Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art in 2017 and received her BFA in Drawing & Painting from BYU-Idaho in 2016. You can view her website at www.ashmccann.com.

Ceramics Instructor

Instructor—Youth & Adult Ceramics

Dino Pfaff has 30 years of K-12 art teaching experience in multiple mediums here in the great state of Montana. His love and skill for pottery is evident in his teaching style and works of art. He has been teaching pottery classes here at the Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art for 6 years.

Printmaking/ Ceramics Instructor

Celia Rangitsch earned her BFA with a 3D emphasis from Brigham Young University- Idaho in 2009.  A ceramic sculptor with a passion for storytelling, she draws inspiration from folk and fairy tales, often featuring expressive animal and human forms in her work. In addition to ceramics. Celia is an avid watercolor painter and printmaker, continually exploring new mediums that allow her to bring narrative and imagination to life.

She lives in Great Falls with her husband, their five children, and a small menagerie that includes a dog, a cat, and a bearded dragon. When she can find the time, Celia loves to travel and read.  

Easterseals-Goodwill & AWARE Program Instructor

Instructor- Beginning Ceramics

Linda Walters traveled extensively throughout the United States before settling in Great Falls in 1982 with her husband and their four children. Linda has been a professional potter for more than 25 years; she was a longtime member of Gallery 16 until its closure in 2020. She also spent many years affiliated with Great Falls Pottery. Following her retirement from that role, she became an instructor at The Square where she continues to pursue her ceramic practice.

Youth Drawing, Painting Instructor