LIAFA Instructors
Steve Forster was born in Boston but spent most of his life in central Florida. He was educated at the Florence Academy of Art in Italy and the New York Academy of Art, where he received his MFA.
He is Co-Director of the Long Island Academy of Fine Art and also teaches painting at the New York Academy of Art. Steve’s paintings have been exhibited in solo and group shows nationally and internationally and are currently represented by Island Weiss Gallery in NYC and Grenning Gallery in Sag Harbor.
LIAFA’s Co-Director and Administrator Rebecca Forster grew up in southeastern Tennessee, where it was easy to fall in love with the beauty of the mountainous landscape. Her interest in naturalism led to her undergraduate studies in art at Union University, followed by two years in Italy, where she studied drawing and sculpture at the Florence Academy of Art. There she met her husband, Steve Forster. Returning to the States, Rebecca used the techniques she’d learned abroad to teach sculpture to students of all ages, first in Elizabeth Rogers and Cessna Decosimo’s studios in Chattanooga, TN, and then in New York City.
A New York City native, Daniel G. daSilva began his career in the decorative arts studying at the Van Der Kelen School of decorative painting in Brussels and fresco painting at the Fondazione Villa Fabris in Venice. His fine arts studies continued at the Barnstone Studios in Coplay, PA, the Art Students League in NYC, and as a proud alumnus of Atelier Armetta right here at LIAFA. He most recently received his MFA from the New York Academy of Art in TriBeCa. He continues to make paintings in Brooklyn and is head artist at Felix Chavez Inc, a leading and established art restoration, conservation and design firm in New York.
Felicia Feldman was born in Taegu, South Korea. She was adopted when she was 3 months old, and grew up in Moline, Illinois. Throughout her youth, she planned on a career in music, playing both violin and piano, but made a decision in 2003 to pursue art instead. She decided to concentrate on representation, with an emphasis on the figure. Some notable achievements include a 4-month study with Norwegian painter Odd Nerdrum, selling work at Sotheby’s Auction House, NY, and showing in juried exhibitions in Iowa, Illinois, Baltimore, and NYC. Felicia is a 2007 graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art and a 2010 graduate of the New York Academy of Art. She currently resides in New York.
Website coming soon…
Tanisha Hanley is an Early Childhood Educator who believes in allowing children direct contact with the best of history’s art. She desires to cultivate in children a love for learning and to lead them to self education. Education to her is an atmosphere, an art and a way of life. She is from Brooklyn, NY and first began her artistic training at The Art Students League of New York where she studied figure drawing. Since then she has attained her Master’s degree in Education from Brooklyn College with an additional focus on studio art (ceramics, painting, printmaking, charcoal drawing) and art history. Trained by the renowned Valerie Jaudon in Advanced Painting she desires to share her passion and knowledge of this subject with young artists. She has volunteered doing Art Therapy at the Behavioral Health Unit at Lutheran Hospital in Brooklyn, NY and believes in arts’ ability to heal all ages. She subsequently saw this in practice at the VA Hospital in New York where she worked in the Mental Health Department with war veterans suffering from PTSD and other neurological issues. Recently educated at The Long Island Academy of Fine Art in Still Life Drawing and Painting she is excited about teaching it’s “little artists” with the quality of instruction and care in which she herself received. She currently teaches at Saint Dominic’s Elementary School.
Nino Chavchavadze is passionate about teaching kids and teens and greatly enjoys seeing their willingness to interact and be engaged in learning. With her teaching methods she thrives to develop relationships with children that help them build a sense of confidence, be motivated and grow as learners. Nino is from the country of Georgia, where she attended the prestigious Tbilisi State Academy of Arts before moving to New York and continuing her education and teaching. Though she already has her Masters Degree in Fine Art from Long Island University, she is currently working on her MFA at the Fashion Institute of Technology, SUNY. She also volunteers at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as an art instructor in the Department of Art Education and has taught Portfolio Development courses and workshops across Long Island.
Michael Korol is a versatile Long Island-based artist with an MFA from Cranbrook in Photography, Ceramics, and Printmaking. He has since had a distinguished career in commercial photography whose work appears in every major art publication, including Architectural Digest Town and Country, Art in America, and Art News. He was a featured artist in Jill Enfield’s Guide to Photographic Alternative Processes: Popular Historical and Contemporary Techniques.
Michael took a step back from commercial photography in 2012 in order work with children with special needs in the public school system. This opened a door that has since expanded into a robust second phase of his career, teaching kids in workshops, after-school programs, and summer camps.
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Long Island Academy of FINE ART
14 Glen Street, Suite 305-6
Glen Cove, NY 11542