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Jay Freer, Director of Fine Arts
Jay Freer
, Jay Freer, a 1978 Lovett graduate, received a bachelor of fine arts degree in acting from The University of North Carolina School of the Arts and was a Kenan Scholarship winner. He has taught and directed more than 74 plays and musicals at Lovett over the last 25 years. He won the Woodward Award for Excellence in teaching in 1992, the Alumni Excellence in Teaching Award in 2006, and accepted the position of director of Fine Arts in 2007. Professionally, Jay has directed at The Alliance Theater, Aurora Theatre, Theatrical outfit, and Theatre in the Square, and was also the Founder and Producing Artistic director of Actors theatre of Atlanta (ATA) - an all equity professional theatre company that operated from 2000 - 2006. Among the shows he directed for ATA are The Good Doctor, Collected Stories (Abie Award nominated in 2001), Underneath the Lintel (southeastern premiere and chosen as the number one play of 2003 by the AJC & Creative Loafing), Talley’s Folly, and Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol. Jay has also taught acting at The North Carolina School of the Arts, The South Carolina Governors School for the Arts as well as numerous professional classes. He studied in New York with Uta Hagen, considered “one of the greatest actresses and acting teachers of the 20th Century” and continues to study acting with her protégé Ted brunetti. Together Jay and Ted have founded Ted Brunetti Studios - South - a training resource for professional actors located here in Atlanta. In 2008, The Charles Loridans Foundation recognized Jay for excellence and leadership in theater education.
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Garett Arrowood, Middle School Band Director
Garett Arrowood
, Lovett's Middle School Band Director, holds a master’s of jazz and a classical artist’s diploma from the University of Miami – Florida. Mr. Arrowood has lived and toured across the U.S. as an active freelance trombonist. He has played along side such jazz artists as Arturo Sandoval, John Clayton, Ingrid Jensen, David Liebman, Dave Koz and Conrad Herwig. Mr. Arrowood has performed with the New World Symphony, Florida Grand Opera and The Symphony of America, and has played in touring Broadway productions of A Chorus Line, Mary Poppins and Wonderful Town. Garett’s playing also attracted attention in South America when he held the solo trombone chair in the Jazz Perú Orchestra '05 led by Maria Schneider at the Festival Jazz en Lima. As a music educator, Garett has worked with big bands, chamber ensembles, jazz combos, and brass choirs across the Midwest and Florida. He is excited about his first year at the Lovett School. |
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Marianne Beverly, Lower School General Music
Marianne Beverly
, Lovett’s Lower School choral director and general music teacher in Grades 2–5, has been a music teacher for 26 years. She received her bachelor’s degree in music education and performance at Converse College. While teaching in the DeKalb County school system in Georgia, she earned her master’s degree in music education at Georgia State University. She has been teaching at Lovett for 15 years. |
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Sara Cameli, Middle School Visual Arts
Sara Cameli
has been teaching visual arts to Lovett Middle School students for six years. Born in Corning, N.Y., Ms. Cameli followed her family into various, geographically diverse landscapes across the United States and several foreign countries. During her high school years in Jakarta, Indonesia, she began to paint er memories of the different places she had lived. Interested in geography, Ms. Cameli’s work continued to focus on landscapes. At the University of Kansas, where she received her BFA in painting, Ms. Cameli began examining the relationship and underlying tensions between Earth, air, and water. After moving to Atlanta in 1996, Ms. Cameli continued to work as a practicing artist and is now widely shown and collected throughout the Southeast. Ms. Cameli enjoys teaching after school art and also coaches Middle School cross country. Click here to watch a video on Ms. Cameli!
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Pete Ciaschini, Upper and Middle School Orchestra
Pete Ciaschini
is the Upper School and Middle School orchestra director at Lovett and also assists with the Lower School orchestra program. He is a violinist and violist who has appeared as an orchestra member, orchestral soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician in performances across the country and continues to maintain an active schedule as a performer. Mr. Ciaschini has taught violin and viola, coached chamber music, and conducted orchestras at all levels. Committed to life-long learning, he received a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities to study Mozart in Vienna.
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Jordan Clark, Upper School Visual Arts
Jordan Clark
joined the Lovett faculty in 2004. He teaches AP art history, as well as semester-long courses and seminars on the history of western art and architecture. He is a graduate of Davidson College, and he also received a master’s degree in art history from the University of Virginia and an MBA from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Mr. Clark is the former chief investment officer and board member of Gables Residential Trust, a NYSE traded real estate investment trust. He is the father of three Lovett graduates.
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Chris Ekholm, Middle School Theater Arts
Chris Ekholm
, Lovett’s Middle School theater arts teacher, has been a professional actor for 20 years, performing in theater, film, television, commercials, radio voice-overs, training films, and live industrials. He won the 2005 Suzi Bass Award for Most Outstanding Actor for Atlanta theater and has appeared on many of Atlanta’s stages, including Alliance Theatre, Theatrical Outfit, Georgia Ensemble Theatre, Horizon Theatre, True Colors Theatre Company, Jewish Theatre of the South, and Theatre in the Square, where he won four Jennie Awards. In addition, he has worked with such people as Steve Martin, John Lithgow, and Tyler Perry. Most recently, Mr. Ekholm has appeared in Tyler Perry’s House of Payne on TBS and a Georgia Lottery commercial. He also teaches and directs young people and adjudicates at the Georgia Theatre Conference and Shorter College. Mr. Ekholm is a member of Actors’ Equity Association and Screen Actors Guild and has a bachelor of fine arts in acting from Florida State University. |
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Charissa Gransden, Lower School Band
Charissa Gransdenis the Lower School band director. This is her fourth year at Lovett, her 13th year teaching band, and her 19th year as a private flute instructor. She holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from Georgia State University. Mrs. Gransden has been an adjudicator and guest clinician throughout the metro Atlanta area. She is also a freelance flute player who has performed with the Atlanta Pops Orchestra, Orchestra Atlanta, and the Southern Crescent Symphony. |
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Michael Halad, Technical Theater Director
Michael Halad
has been the technical theater director at Lovett for five years and was an assistant professor at Davis and Elkins College for nine years. He earned a B.A. and a B.S. from Davis and Elkins College and a master’s in scenic design from West Virginia University in 1993. As a scenic designer, Michael has worked with several professional theaters around the Atlanta area, including Actor’s Theatre of Atlanta, the Theatrical Outfit, The Aurora Theatre, and The Jewish Theatre of the South. He has also worked with Georgia Shakespeare on several of their productions as a props designer. At Lovett, he has designed the scenery for Mousetrap, The Diary of Anne Frank, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. He teaches technical theater in the Upper School at Lovett and works extensively with both the Middle and Lower School drama and musical programs.
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Kadija Johnson, Upper School Dance; Choreographer
Kadija Johnson
received a bachelor of arts degree in theater with a dance concentration and a minor in psychology from Spelman College in Atlanta. At Lovett, she teaches dance in the Middle School mini-arts rotation and in the Upper School. She is a former member of the Morehouse College Competition Dance Team, Richmond City Dance Troupe Competition Dance Team, Unique Concepts Dance Academy (company member), and is a current member of the Atlanta Hawks Dance Team (A-Town Dancers) as well as the Atlanta Thrashers Ice Girls (Blue Crew). She is also the co-founding director of Modern Movement Dance Company and has worked with the Spelman College Children’s Dance Theatre Program. In addition to dancing, Kadija has several theater and film credits in local productions, as well as productions in Bermuda. |
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Susan McCluskey, Assistant Theater Facilities Manager and Productions Coordinator
Susan McCluskey
is joining the Fine Arts staff this year as the Assistant Theater Facilities Manager and Productions Coordinator. Susan graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Arts Management. The combined business/arts degree has lead her to a variety of different opportunites from theatrical stage management to administrative support of corporate presidents, set dressing to bookkeeping, and properties design to marketing design. For the past five years, Susan has been active in Atlanta’s professional theatre arena as a Stage Manager and Props Designer, working mostly with Theatre in the Square in Marietta, and with Atlanta Lyric, Synchronicity, Horizon Theatre and 7 Stages. Her past experience also includes work with the Orlando Opera Company, Walt Disney World, Beers Construction, The Sports Authority and a few others, in addition to being a youth sponsor at Sandy Springs Christian Church working “behind-the-scenes” and has participated in two youth mission trips to Mexico. |
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Anne Page, Lower and Middle School Orchestra
Anne Page
is the Lower School orchestra director and assists with the Middle and Upper School Orchestra Programs. She received a bachelor of music degree in violin from Florida State University and master of music and master of musical arts degrees in violin from The Yale School of Music. She served as the orchestra director at Dunwoody High School and was an affiliate instructor at Mercer University and Emory University. She also performs occasionally with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, has performed with Atlanta Virtuosi for their Mexican and European tours and summer residency at Bates College, and was a member of the Atlanta Chamber Players. Anne is often asked to record and perform for shows in the Atlanta area and is a regular performer in the Atlanta freelance community. She is presently a guest performer with the Nashville Chamber Orchestra. |
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Wayne Parker, Upper School Visual Arts
Wayne Parker
, a native of New Jersey, received a bachelor of arts degree from Ohio Wesleyan University and attended Emory University in Atlanta for graduate work. He then served in the military before joining the Lovett faculty in 1971 as audiovisual specialist. Mr. Parker teaches videography and history of film in the Middle and Upper Schools and is also the director of academic teams. |
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Joy Patty, Lower School Visual Arts
Joy Patty
teaches kindergarten, first, and second grade art classes at Lovett. In addition, she is the Lovett Galleria art coordinator. Originally from Tennessee, she holds a master’s degree in art education from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Ms. Patty’s career positions in art education include the High Museum of Art in Atlanta; the Modern Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas; the Meadows Museum in Dallas, Texas; and the Glassell School of Art in Houston, Texas. She teaches continuing education studio and art appreciation courses at Savannah College of Art & Design in Atlanta and teaches Art & Design Summer Camp for Lovett. |
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Carla Quintero,
Lower School General Music
Carla Quintero
has been a music teacher for over 22 years and has experience with all ages/levels—from babies to adult. She has specialty certification and training in the area of early childhood music. Carla is a member and past national board member of the Early Childhood Music & Movement Association and is a member of the Atlanta Orff Schulwerk Association, MENC, and GMEA. She received her B.S. in music education with honors from the University of Maryland. Carla also teaches private piano in her home studio in Roswell. She teaches kindergarten and first grade general music. |
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Katherine Schneider, Lower School Visual Arts
Katherine
Schneider
teaches third through fifth grade art. She earned a BFA in ceramics from the Rhode Island School of Design and holds a MA in art education from the University of New Mexico. Mrs. Schneider also studied at Studio Art Centers International in Florence, Italy and interned during college with several working artists in New York City. She has researched indigenous artwork of the Southwest, participated in the excavation of Roman pottery in England. She is a practicing clay and mixed media artist. She is currently in her seventh year of teaching at The Lovett School. |
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David Silverman,
Upper School Theater Arts
David Silverman
joined the Lovett community in 2006. He brings to Lovett his 17 years of experience as an actor and continues to work professionally, both on stage and screen. In 2006, he was named “Best Actor in Atlanta” by Creative Loafing magazine. His professional credits include dozens of national commercials for Gold Bond Ultimate Healing Lotion, Turner Classic Movies, Florida Tourism, and Bojangles Chicken. Mr. Silverman’s local and regional commercial credits include ads for The Georgia Lottery, Krystal, America’s Home Place, Shoe World, Advance America, Kroger, and two and a half years as the on-camera spokesman for BellSouth Mobility DCS. He was also heard on the radio for the likes of Quik Trip, BellSouth, and Hank Aaron Toyota. David has appeared in countless training videos for Coca-Cola, BellSouth, The Home Depot, UPS, Chick-fil-A, and many others, and he earned a role in the HBO film, Warm Springs, winner of the 2005 Emmy Award for Best TV Movie. On stage, his credits include productions with The Alliance Theatre, Theatre in the Square, Actor’s Express, Theatrical Outfit, Georgia Ensemble Theatre, Theater Emory, ART Station Theatre, Jewish Theatre of the South, and many others. Mr. Silverman is a member of Actors’ Equity Association, a graduate of The University of Miami, and a lifetime member of The Accidental Comics improv comedy troupe. |
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Amy Story, Upper School Visual Arts
Amy Story
grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, and now resides with her husband Zach in Atlanta. This is her 11th year of teaching Upper School at Lovett. Previously, Amy taught for three years at Ursuline Academy in New Orleans, La., while pursuing her master’s in education at Loyola University. This degree compliments her bachelor of fine arts from Tulane University. She also leads summer study abroad programs to Savannah, Italy, and adult trips to Provence, France. Amy works in all media, including painting, sculpture, ceramics, drawing, and photography. Her pieces are narrative in nature. Through the use of layers and formal composition, they each tell a story. Amy is inspired by folklore, her dreams, and her travels. Common themes found in her work include imagination, youth, nature, and iconography. Each of Amy’s pieces exists as a glimpse into her unique point of view. |
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Jerry and Deborah Ulrich, Choral Program Directors, Grades 6-12
Jerry and Deborah Ulrich appointed to The Lovett School in 2011, administer a comprehensive choral program for Grades 6-12. ASCAP award-winning arranger/composer Jerry Ulrich has composed commissioned works for professional choirs and orchestras, including the Grammy-award winning Orchestra of St. Luke’s, colleges and universities throughout the United States, and churches and schools in both the U.S. and abroad. In conjunction with his position at The Lovett School, Dr. Ulrich is currently Associate Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Ulrich came to Atlanta from LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts (the Fame school) in New York City, where his choirs were featured in all major NYC concert venues and on national and international television and radio. Dr. Ulrich's prior university teaching experience includes positions in Ohio and New York. During1990-1991 he was Visiting Fulbright Professor of Music at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland. His early training included four years singing with legendary conductor Robert Shaw in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus and Chamber Chorus. Additional academic study included a Master of Music degree from Southern Methodist University and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
Deborah Ulrich has served as a middle school choral director for 15 years. Her middle school choral teaching experience includes public schools on Long Island (NY) and Cobb County. She comes to The Lovett School from Marietta Middle School. Her choirs have consistently received Superior ratings at GMEA in both performance and sight-reading. She is a recipient of the Georgia Star Teacher Award (2011). She has served in organist and organist/choirmaster positions in Texas, Ohio, New York, and Georgia. She is currently organist at St. John United Methodist Church on Mt. Paran Road in Atlanta. She has also served as adjunct organ instructor and University Organist at Ashland University (OH), and adjunct faculty member at the Long Island University. Deborah received the Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance from Wesleyan College, and the Master of Sacred Music degree from Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, with further organ study at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She is a consecrated Diaconal Minister in the United Methodist Church, and has served in various leadership positions at the conference, state, regional and national levels. She and Jerry are the parents of three adult children.
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Karey Walter, Upper School Visual Arts
Karey Walter
is a recognized fine art, black and white photographer and educator. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1968, she holds a M.F.A. degree from this University of Utah. Ms. Walter currently directs the photography program at The Lovett School in Atlanta, Georgia, where she has taught for the past fifteen years. Ms. Walters’ prior work varies from black & white documentary, to landscapes from across the United States, Mexico, Europe. Her current body of work is based on mixed media concepts. Mixed media, in visual art, refers to an artwork in the making of which more than one medium has been employed. Visual artist Karey Walter uses photography, resins, oil pastels, acrylic paint, various gel mediums and varnishes in her abstract works on canvas. Her method of image transfer is by using a silicone foundation that allows the photographic image dyes to transfer into the silicone, giving a fluid three-dimensional foundation. She has a sensitive vision of her surroundings and an appreciation of various cultures. Her works have been displayed throughout the Southeast and are included in numerous private collections. In addition to creating art she has developed an LLC called creative trek designed to instruct private workshops in Italy, France, and unique locations within the United States. Our goal is to have a creative experience with art, food, cultural experience, and the reinvention of the creative soul.
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Stutz Wimmer, Upper School Band
Stutz Wimmer
, Upper School band director at Lovett, holds a bachelor of music degree from Appalachian State University and a master’s degree in music from the Eastman School of Music at The University of Rochester. He is currently in his 22nd year at Lovett. Mr. Wimmer was also the band director for six years at Druid Hills High School while serving as the director of jazz at Emory University. He is an active clinician and has served as president and in other offices of the Georgia Association of Jazz Educators Board. For 20 years he has been a freelance saxophonist, arranger, and consultant. Under his direction, Emory and Lovett ensembles were selected to perform at the Georgia Music Educators Association’s In-Service Conference in Savannah, and his Lovett Jazz Orchestra was selected to perform at the International Association of Jazz Educators Conference in 1996. Founder of the Lovett Ellington Jazz Ensemble in 1995, Stutz has taken three of his ensembles to the national finals of the Essentially Ellington Competition at Lincoln Center in New York. He has performed with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, on HBO, and has recorded locally for hundreds of radio and television commercials and film and record projects alongside some of the industry’s most widely recognized recording artists. |
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Tom Zwierlein, Upper School Visual Arts
Tom Zwierlein
, studio artist and visual arts coordinator, has been teaching art at Lovett since 1987. He is also the ceramics instructor at the Callanwolde Arts Center in Atlanta. He is a former University of Kentucky ceramics instructor and has been a visiting artist at many craft schools and colleges, including The Penland School, the Hambidge Center, and The Georgia High School Governor’s Honors Program at Valdosta State. Mr. Zwierlein was a founding faculty member of the Anderson Ranch Ceramics Program in the late 1970s under the direction of Paul Soldner and is a contributing writer for the international ceramic magazine Clay Times. He conducts workshops around the United States. His work is exhibited on a national level. |