Artist of the Month Judges

From professional artists and Teen Voices staff to talented teens, all equipped with a wide array of knowledge and experience, Teen Voices covered the bases in selecting our Artist of the Month Contest judges. Each month during 2012, the 12 judges will pick their favorite submissions corresponding to the monthly theme which might be love, school, beauty, or body image. Our judges will base their decisions on the following criteria:

• artistic connection to the theme
• originality and creativity
• handling of medium
• depth of the concept
• expressiveness and personality of the piece, and
• overall effectiveness as an artistic work.

The submissions receiving the most votes from the panel of judges will be put on the Teen Voices Facebook page so that you can vote over a period of ten days (the 6^th to the 15^th of each month), and make the final decision about the monthly winner, who will then be considered a semi-finalist for our Artist of the Year contest.  Here are our judges!

Sarah Binning

Sarah graduated from Ohio University’s E. W. Scripps School of Journalism in 2010 and before graduating, was named its Most Outstanding Senior in the Magazine Journalism sequence. During the winter of 2010, Sarah was Editor-in-Chief of Southeast Ohio magazine. She started at Teen Voices in the summer of 2009 as an administrative assistant and editorial mentor. She found that she loved the organization so much that she moved to Boston and returned to Teen Voices in August 2010 to work as an AmeriCorps VISTA in the position of Marketing Coordinator. In August 2011 she joined the staff full-time as Marketing and Editorial Coordinator.

Marc Cote

Based in Framingham, Mass., Marc is a professor of the arts at Framingham State University, teaching in both the graduate and undergraduate programs. He received his B.A. in Fine Arts from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, later attending the University of Connecticut, where he graduated with a Master of Fine Arts degree. He is currently a board member of both the Boston Printmakers and the Danforth Museum in Framingham, where his work is featured. Specializing in woodcuts, etchings, and monotypes, Marc draws from sources such as stories and storybook characters, using art to explore human nature and emotion. His artwork has been displayed at a variety of venues, both nationwide and internationally, in locations from the Kingston Gallery in Boston to the Kyoto Woodprint Association in Japan.

Gracie Gralike

Gracie is a Teen Voices contributor, an artist, and a student at Webster University in Saint Louis, f ocusing on marketing and graphic art. From the time she was in kindergarten and received the Golden Paintbrush Award, Gracie has known she would include art in her future. Her passions lie in color and creation, and she enjoys brainstorming new ideas. Her work has been featured in the publications KidSpirit, Teen Ink, Skipping Stones, and Hutch, and is currently displayed in the president’s office at Webster University. An eBook of Gracie’s artwork will be available in the spring. (Gralike Photo credit: Sonya Lalla)

Lily Lui-Krason

Lily Liu-Krason is a senior at Boston Latin School. Though her interests lie in many areas, such as science and writing, she is an avid artist with a newfound love of photography and an established love of painting, specializing in the use of acrylic paints. Lily finds that using her creativity offers her a chance to be both curious and fearless, and she seeks inspiration for her art through sources such as nature, film, and books. In the future, Lily hopes to channel her strengths in both writing and painting as tools for helping others.

Laura Menucci

Laura is a nationally registered art therapist. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Vermont before attending the Pratt Institute, where she obtained a Masters of Professional Studies in Art Therapy and Creativity Development. She worked as an art therapist and art teacher in residential, psychiatric, and community settings until 2007.  At that time she joined Raw Art Works (RAW), an organization focused on fostering a welcoming, creative community for children and teens. Laura is the Outreach Coordinator at RAW, where she leads several groups of RAW’s youngest artists and co-leads the RAW Chief and Art Tag program while also developing relationships between RAW and the North Shore community.

Carole Parrish

Carole’s art focuses primarily on landscapes, drawing inspiration from light and natural settings. She began her career in 1980 as a graphic designer, later becoming an art director for the Genesis Project in New York City. After moving to Cincinnati, Ohio, Carole worked as a freelance artist while teaching graphic design at a local college. Today she lives in Massachusetts, spending ample time on Cape Cod, a setting that inspires much of her work. Carole is a graduate of Boston University’s School of Fine Arts, receiving a Masters in Education from Boston University and a Masters of Science in Communication Design from the Pratt Institute in New York. She also works with the J. E. & Z. B. Butler Foundation, an organization dedicated to the improvement of conditions for at-risk children, individuals, and families.

Denesha Peter

Denesha is an 18-year-old Teen Voices Peer Leader who attends Boston Latin Academy. Her interest in art is long-standing; her creativity celebrated by friends, family, and teachers. While her favorite medium is pencil and paper, she has also spent time in film work. Denesha’s film, Strawberry, which she wrote, produced, directed, and filmed, was screened in Boston at both the Museum of Fine Arts and the Roxbury Film Festival. After graduating from Boston Latin Academy in the spring, she plans to major in interior design at college.

Melissa Phung

From Medford, Mass., Melissa is a 16-year-old artist, student, and member of the Museum of Fine Arts’ Teen Arts Council in Boston. An avid writer, she maintains a blog that she uses as a forum for venting her feelings and rapping. Melissa believes that words are powerful and capable of influencing others greatly, and she chooses to use this power to send a positive message to her readers. Her interest in the visual arts is more recent; she attributes it in part to her role on the Teen Arts Council, although she finds inspiration everywhere.

Mia Rybeck

Mia is currently a junior at the Cambridge (Mass.) Rindge and Latin School. Influenced by her teachers during freshman year, Mia learned to look at art in new ways and improve her techniques. She loves drawing, painting, and creating collages, and begrudgingly learned to appreciate visiting art museums. Like Melissa, Mia is a member of the Museum of Fine Arts’ Teen Arts Council, a group of 12 motivated teens from the Boston area who work to make the museum more teen friendly. She assists in event planning and working to increase teen attendance; she strives to break down the unfortunate stereotypes that some teens hold about art museums.

Janette Santos

Janette is the current Teen Voices editorial art assistant. In her final year of study at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, she will be graduating in the spring of 2012 with a major in studio art and a minor in anthropology. She is experienced with ceramics and pottery, having spent time as an intern at the Massachusetts-based Surfside Ceramics Studio, although she prefers two-dimensional media such as chalk pastels and conte crayons. She enjoys volunteer work, donating her time to such events as Project Bread’s Walk for Hunger and the Multiple Sclerosis Challenge Walk.

Erika Swift

Erika is a co-founder of the Teen Voices Art Contest as well as the illustrator and designer for the contest. She is in her final semester as a student at Framingham State University (FSU), pursuing her Bachelor of Arts in Illustration and Ceramics. She has always had a passion for the arts but has fallen in love with writing and illustrating children's books and crafting ornate, functional ceramic wares. Erika lives in central Massachusetts and enjoys spending time with her family, being an active member of her church, and working with children. As a freelance illustrator and ceramic artist, she is currently working on a self-authored picture book and also sells her line of ceramics at the Art and Frame Emporium in Westborough, Mass. She exhibits her work when opportunities arise and for three consecutive years has been chosen to show in FSU's annual juried art show.

Katie Wheeler

Katie is the editor of Teen Voices magazine. She has more than 20 years of experience in girls’ development, education, and programming. She was the founding Executive Director of the Girls’ Coalition of Greater Boston, a local consortium of girl-serving agencies that became a national model. A former researcher at the Center for Research on Women at Wellesley College, Katie participated in projects focused on gender equity in education and on improving the quality of out-of-school time programs. She is a trustee of the Anna B. Stearns Charitable Foundation and runs a consulting business that offers research, development, and evaluation services. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from Pitzer College and a Masters and a Doctorate in Education from Harvard University.