For over 30 years, Craig has been depicting figures, landscapes, CA coastal paintings and various environments in rich, vibrant oils. He has painted countless movie posters, many book covers, and album covers. Some of his most prestigious works have been his Broadway production posters for Neil Simon's Lost in Yonkers and Proposals, both originals are in the private collection of Neil Simon. During his illustrious career, Craig has won over 200 awards of excellence in various shows, five gold metals, four silver metals, and in 1996, a painting of his was chosen for the Communication Arts Annual cover.

Carolyn Meyer is also a full time faculty member teaching Landscape painting and Abstract painting classes. Her career began as an art director for an advertising agency in San Francisco. She was one of the founding principles of Paris Printing, a large size printing Company in Northern California. She received both her BFA and MFA from Academy of Art University. Her work as a professional artist is a cross between realism and abstraction. You may see her work at ArtHaus, William Lester Gallery and Hang Gallery in San Francisco as well as several others around the U.S.

Margaret Keelan received her BFA at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada and her MFA at the University of Utah. In 2003 she juried the California Clay Competition at the Artery in Davis, CA, and was invited to lecture on her latest work at the 2005 National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts in Baltimore, 2007 CCACA, Davis California and at 2007 SOFA, New York. Recent exhibitions have included "Vanitas: Transient Treasures" at the Lacoste Gallery in Concord, MA and "Regina Clay: Worlds in the Making", traveling across Canada. Other venues have been in Chicago, New York, Santa Fe, Montana, and Pomona, as well as solo shows in St. Louis, MO and Seattle, WA. Her work can also be seen in "500 Figures in Clay: Ceramic Artists Celebrate the Human Form", "The Craft and Art of Clay", "Ceramics: Art and Perception", "Confrontational Ceramics" and "Ceramics Review" in England. Check out her website at www.margaretkeelan.com.

Carrie Ann Plank is a professional artist and educator. She is the Associate Director of Fine Arts for Printmaking MFA & BFA Program at the Academy of Art University. She has taught at the Academy in the graduate and undergraduate departments since 2002. Previously she has been a Professor of Fine Arts at the Pennsylvania State University, Xavier University, and the University of New Orleans. Carrie Ann received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Printmaking from East Carolina University and her Masters of Fine Arts in Printmaking from the Pennsylvania State University. Carrie Ann is active in the local arts community as a participant, juror, and volunteer, and is a board member of the California Society of Printmakers.

Carrie Ann exhibits locally, nationally, and internationally. She is included in private and public collections including the Fine Art Archives of the Library of Congress. Currently her work may be seen at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA and at the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco. Recent noteworthy shows include the National Museum of Fine Art in Taipei, Taiwan, Los Gatos Museum of Art, Los Gatos, CA, and a residency at Monte Azul, Costa Rica.

Lawrence joined the University as a full-time Faculty member in August 2011.

Currently the owner of Noble Studio, a design and sculpture company founded in 1973, Noble originally earned an esteemed reputation as illustrator and designer of movie poster campaigns such as "Time After Time", "Flash Gordon", "Sharky's Machine" and "The Empire Strikes Back" (10th Anniversary Poster). Since then, Noble has devoted most of his talents toward sculpture, when in 1980 he was inspired by the diminutive Jedi Master Yoda from the "The Empire Strikes Back" to try his hand at sculpting. His efforts resulted in a small limited bronze of the character for the film's tenth anniversary in 1990.

Since that brush with the Force over three decades ago, Noble has evolved into a master sculptor, counting bronze installations of Civil War General Philip H. Sheridan in Chicago, The California Firefighters' Memorial, the San Bernardino County Peace Officers' Memorial, and a new life-size Yoda for Lucasfilm's Presidio headquarters in San Francisco among his many public commissions since 1990. Lucasfilm also commissioned three other life-size bronzes from Noble for their Presidio campus, including father of film Eadweard Muybridge, special effects pioneer Willis O'Brien, and television inventor Philo T. Farnsworth. A fourth commission of screen adventurer Indiana Jones is scheduled to be installed along with a second Yoda at a San Anselmo park in 2014. Finally, larger-than-life bronzes created by Noble include the 21-foot-tall Hampton, Virginia 400th Anniversary Monument as well as his Spirit of Achievement statue in Chino, CA, which is taller still at 27'.

Annamarie Nelson, also known as Anna, started teaching Still Life painting in 1992 for the summer Art Experience program at Academy of Art University and has been a member of the faculty ever since. She graduated from UCLA with a degree in Italian Language and Literature, worked for the Italian Department at UCLA as well as various travel agencies acting as tour guide for students studying in Florence, Italy. She attended Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Ca as an illustration major and after 6 terms began accepting freelance work and commission paintings. Anna received the Patrick Nagel award for best unpublished painting at the Illustration West Show, Society of Illustrators in Los Angeles. Anna has participated in local shows and auctions and continues to exhibit at Garden Gallery in Half Moon Bay, Ca as well as special event shows. In collaboration with the Academy of Art, Anna was commissioned to paint two murals on "ING" benches that were auctioned off to benefit art in education. Anna continues to contribute work to the annual Academy of Art Faculty/Alumni auction to help raise scholarship money benefiting Academy students. She also acts as the Fine Art Coordinator for Online Education.

Mr. Schifrin has taught sculpture and drawing classes at the Academy since 1993. He received his BA from San Jose State University and his MFA from Boston University. He has received several large-scale public commissions, including bronze coyotes in downtown San Jose, the bronze Firefighter in San Ramon, and the nine-foot bronze Wounded Man for the city of San Mateo's Performing Arts Center. Although his background is in figurative and portrait sculpture, Peter now creates intimate and heroic-scale "Vertical Poems," which are stylized narrative totems in ceramic clay.

Valerie L. Winslow is a professional fine artist exhibiting her paintings and drawings in museums and galleries nationwide since 1977. Her work has won numerous awards and is in many private collections.

Valerie has been teaching figurative art and artistic anatomy for over thirty years and has been with the Academy of Art University since 1989, where she is a Full-time Faculty Member and Anatomy Coordinator in the School of Fine Arts. Her artistic anatomy book “Classic Human Anatomy” was released nationally in 2008 by Watson Guptill Publications.

Tomutsu's work has been seen in many exhibitions in the bay area, including AAC, Romeo 5 Art Cafe, and Merced Multicultural Art Center. His awards include a 3rd place MFA Fine Art Painting Award from AAC, as well as a first award in oil from society of western artists national open show. Tomutsu received his BFA with distinction in Painting and Drawing from AAC in 1994, and received his MFA in Painting from AAC in 1998.

Brandon is a California native raised on the central coast, and is now residing in Oakland. Brandon is a traditional oil painter whose subject matter is primarily figurative. In addition he is known to paint street scenes, and the occasional still life and landscape. He began teaching for the Academy in 2003, and in 2008 became a full time faculty member of the Fine Art department. His paintings are represented by Grey McGear Modern in Santa Monica.

Kevin Moore was born in Rotterdam, Holland in 1976. His father's role as a missionary with the Church of the Nazarene took the Moore family to Kenya, South Africa, France and Zaire before settling in California. He has exhibited consistently in San Francisco and has works in collections in Italy and Denmark. Moore has been reviewed in ARTNEWS, American Art Collector and WHERE Magazines, and was selected as one of the top "21 under 31" emerging artists by Southwest Art Magazine in 2005. The artist lives and works in the Bay Area and is a full-time faculty member at Academy of Art University where he graduated in 2000.

Mark Jason Bowen is an accomplished fine artist. He has participated in many group and solo exhibitions in Europe and USA. He has won the Best of Show at the Capital Art Show in Utah and 2nd Place at the Tanglewood Art Exhibition. Bowen’s work has also been published in many magazines. He holds a BFA in Illustration from Brigham Young University and a MFA in Painting from American University.

After graduating from the Art Center College of Design, Jeannie established herself as a freelance illustrator gaining national recognition working for such distinguished clients as: Universal/MCA, MGM Studios, 20th Century Fox Studios, Sony Pictures, AOL/Time Warner, Disney Studios, Fox Television, Disneyland/Imagineering, Top Flight Golf Products, Honda Motors USA, and Toyota Motors. Her work has received awards from the Society of Illustrators (Los Angeles and New York). She taught painting and drawing at Art Center prior to coming to Academy of Art College in 1992 where she has taught in the Fine Art, Illustration and Foundations Departments. Currently Jeannie has focused her attention on portraiture, receiving commissions from government, corporations, academia and private collectors. Her original art is also available through various galleries. She conducts private workshops twice a year.

Warren Chang was born in Monterey, California and graduated the Art Center College of Design with honors in 1981. Upon graduation he was hired as a staff illustrator for the Atari game company. In 1983 he brached off to work as a freelance illustrator in the advertising and entertainment industries in Los Angeles. In 1990 he moved to New York City and over the next 10 years, he painted nearly 200 book covers for various publishing houses. In 2000, he moved back to California, and taught drawing and painting at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco while pursuing a career in fine art. Chang's work has won many awards of merit from the Society of Illustrators in New York and Communication Arts Magazine. In 2003, he won "Best of Show" at the Salon International held in Texas and in 2004 he won second prize in the International Artist magazine competition. In 2007 his work was featured on the cover of American Artist magazine along with a 7 page article. In 2008 his work appeared twice on the covers of International Artist magazine accompanying his 7 part series of instructional painting articles he authored. Primarily a figurative artist, Chang paints the human figure in contemporary environments, including biographical interiors, as well as outdoor genre subjects such as the fieldworkers of Monterey County where he grew up.

Mr. Chen has over 25 years of experience as a professional fine artist. In 1984 he graduated from the Guangzhou Fine Art Institute in China and became an instructor there. He then attended Academy of Art University in the United States and graduated with a MFA in 1992. Mr. Chen has been teaching at the Academy of Art University since 1995.

Mr. Chen has had many one-person exhibitions in New York and San Francisco. In 1993 he held a one-person exhibit and lecture at the California Art Museum, where his abstract works continues to be a part of their collection. In addition, he has had many solo and group exhibits throughout the world, and has sold many collections.

Baoping Chen’s artistic style has changed from realistic to expressive abstract over many years. Currently, he is teaching at the Graduate School of Academy of Art University and he also spends a great deal of time working on his own art works in his professional studio.

Daniel Cooney has worked in comic art and illustration since 1997. Cooney has done all aspects of producing comic books and graphic novels -- writing, penciling, inking, coloring, lettering, and book design, all the way through pre-press for publication. A lifelong fan and prolific collector of comics, Cooney graduated with a BFA from New York's School of Visual Arts in 1998, where he studied under famed artists Walt Simonson and Klaus Janson. Cooney's client list includes illustration/graphic design work for Rolling Stone, Sony, Tower Records, Inkworks, WAMU, Marvel Trading Cards, and Image Comics, along with writing and illustrating his own stylish action comic thriller, Valentine, under the Red Eye Press imprint. Cooney currently lives in the San Francisco Bay area, where he teaches classes on-site at Academy of Art University, writes online classes for the University, and stays busy with a variety of freelance and comic work.

Mr. Connor attended the Academia Di Belle Arti in Venice, Italy - graduated from U.C. Berkley with a Bachelors degree in fine art, then received his Masters degree in painting from the graduate school of figurative art at the New York Academy of Art, a teaching school based on Ecole des Beaux Artes which concentrates on the figure and the pictorial mode. Mr. Connor’s specialty is the figure as he has strong anatomical skills, but he is also well versed in various media. He feels, “An understanding of art, especially figurative art is important for students as they gain an awareness of themselves and what they want to express.” He has taught part time at Academy of Art for ten years.

Tae Park is an award winning fine artist with over 8 years of professional exhibiting experience. Park was a First Place Winner at the Portrait Society of America's International Competition recently. Other awards include finalist of International Artist magazine, First Place at the Beauty of Winter Show, and First Place at the Academy of Art University's Annual Spring Show for two consecutive years. Her work has been exhibited at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel as part of the Portrait Society of America's International Show as well as at Moreseburg Galleries in West Hollywood, the Kinokuniya Building in San Francisco, Dave's Gallery Bar, Ahngook Gallery and Design Center in Korea. Park's commissioned paintings include works for Weinstein Gallery, The Hearst Building in San Francisco, Washington Mutual, and various individuals. Park has taught various private workshops since 2002 and taught at the Seoul Academy for over 3 years. Park holds a BFA in Painting from Sungshin Woman's University in Korea and a MFA in Fine Art from Academy of Art University.

Nobuhito Tanaka holds a MFA in Painting from Academy of Art University and a BA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Minnesota.  Tanaka holds various awards, including MFA Faculty Choice Winner, MFA Student Choice Winner, and MFA Second Place Winner from Academy of Art University’s Annual Show.  His works can be seen at the Christopher Hill Gallery in Saint Helena, CA, and also at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria, VA.

Bryan Taylor is a talented artist with several years of exhibition experience. By the time Taylor had received his BA in Visual Arts from Brigham Young University, he had exhibited his work at several venues already. He had a one-man show at the Tivoli Gallery in Salt Lake City, the Park Place Gallery in Park City, and was professionally represented by Brownstone Gallery and Tivoli Gallery. Presently, he is represented by Galleria Luna in Half Moon Bay. His work also appeared at the San Luis Obispo Plein Air Competition. Taylor has had private training for over 3 years with Herold Demont Olsen and he has been CEO and instructor at the Venetian Gallery for over 4 years. He is currently pursuing his MFA in Painting from Academy of Art University. Taylor also served as a Religion and English teacher in Italy. He is a member of the Oil Painters of America.

Upon graduation from Art Center College of Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration, Cameron began her career in NYC as an illustrator creating images for diverse clients such as American Express, AT&T, Compaq Computer, General Foods, Johnson and Johnson, Cannon Mills, Pepsi Cola, General Electric, Time Inc, Southwestern Bell, Addison Wesley, Bantam Doubleday Dell, McGraw Hill, Reader's Digest, St Martin's Press, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Working Woman, Travel & Leisure, Seventeen, Glamour, and Step by Step magazine. Returning to California, Cameron began working within the digital realm, continuing to create illustrations, in addition to producing and managing corporate websites and developing the visual communication necessary to achieve marketing initiatives. Apart from instructing illustration students the fundamentals of portfolio website creation, illustration conceptual development, and color theory, Cameron continues to create a wide variety of projects in her studio, sometimes even for the sheer fun of it.

Zhaoming Wu was born in China and grew up in Guangzhou City. He received his BFA from Guangzhou Academy of Fine Art China and his MFA from Academy of Art University, San Francisco. Since 1983, he has been exhibitng his work in Asia, Europe, the United States and other countries around the world. He has won numerous awards, including the Merit Award at the 6th National Art Exhibition in Beijing, China, the Gustafson Fund Award, from the National Oil and Acrylic Painter's Society, 1st place in the 9th Biennial National Figure Painting and Drawing Exhibition, from Mendocino Art center, California; Second Prize Winner in International Artist magazine (Aug/Sept 2001), grand prize winner in International Artist magazine (Aug/Sept 2005); the Daler-Rowney Award from the Oil Painters of America (2000)and the Art Distributor Award from the Oil Painters of America(2005). Long active as both an artist and a teacher, he served as a professor of painting at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Art and is currently an instructor of painting at Academy of Art University. His works have been featured in many publications, including two drawing books of zhaoming wu and two painting books of zhaoming wu; Interntional Artist magazine (April/May 2003, August/September 2005), Art of the West magazine (September/October 2004, July/August 2007), Art Talk Magazine (February 2005), and American Art Collector (January 2007).

Zachary Zdrale is a prolific artist who has exhibited his work in group exhibitions throughout the bay area as well as in New York, Colorado, and Wisconsin. Among the group exhibitions in which he participated were the Oil Painters of American Western Regional, Oil Painters of America's 15th National Juried Exhibition of Traditional Oils, Show of Heads, Drawing on the Figure and the Academy of Art University's Annual Spring Show. Zdrale has been the recipient of the First Place MFA Painting Award at the Academy's Spring Show. He received an honorable mention from the Art Center of Estes Park and received third prize from I.D.A. Zdrale holds a BS in Art from the University of Wisconsin and is completing his MFA in Fine Art at Academy of Art University.

Mark Zjawinski became a self-employed artist, specializing in sculpture after graduating from Pratt Institute with a BFA and then Academy of Art College with an MFA. He has had many solo and group exhibitions. These include the Museum of Modern Art, the First Annual Bicoastal Exhibition at the Sculpture Guild of New York, Pulaski Museum in Poland, Lotus Gallery in New York, and many more. Additionally, selected private and public collections include the Brooklyn Museum, the Pulaski Museum and the Embassy of the United States in Poland. Zjawinski was awarded the Bronze Award from the Art of California Magazine for two consecutive years. He has over 20 years of teaching experience in New York and San Francisco and has taught at Academy of Art University since 1993.