METAL

LIz Steiner

Liz Steiner holds a BFA in Jewelry and Metalsmithing from Kent State University with a minor in Geology and an MFA in Metal Design from East Carolina University. In 2012, she curated the international, juried exhibition Hot Under the Collar and was the Artist Fellow in Fine Metals at Peters Valley Craft Center. In addition to teaching at Emerge, she currently teaches adjunct at Craven Community College in New Bern, NC and Pitt Community College in Greenville, NC.

Joel Morris

A native of Greenville, NC, Joel is a senior at ECU, working towards his BFA in Metal Design and Film and Video Production, as well as a minor in Communications.
Describing his work as unorthodox or bizarre, Joel’s work often features complex designs, sculptural structures, and unconventional functionality, and his work has been displayed on campus in student exhibits. Having a wide range of experience, from casting to chasing, jewelry design and tool making, Joel’s passion lies with forming, wood working and incorporating natural materials into his work.
Joel also enjoys taking on the role of leader and volunteer in his community, having had major roles in organizations on campus, and working on projects around Greenville, including Campus Movie Fest, Down East Flick Fest, and the Evan’s Street Mural Project in Greenville’s Uptown District.

CERAMICS

GAIL RITZER

Gail Ritzer received her BS in Art Education from the University of Missouri-Columbia and an MFA in Ceramics and Painting from East Carolina University.  She has been exhibiting her work nationally since 1980 at such locales in New York, The University of Missouri-St. Louis, Eastern Kentucky University and the University of Nebraska.  Her work has appeared in several publications including FiberArts Design Book, Art/Quilt Magazine, and exhibition catalogs. Gail has been fortunate to receive a number of grants from the North Carolina Arts Council to pursue a variety of personal and community arts projects. She has been teaching surface design techniques, mixed media methods, painting, and ceramics to students of all ages for many years at workshops, as Outreach Coordinator for the Greenville Museum of Art and as an instructor at the Pitt County Arts Council at Emerge.

Charlotte Fitz

Charlotte Fitz is a ceramic artist whose work consists of functional and sculptural handmade artworks that are inspired by stories, myths, dreams and symbols drawn from her ancestral home of eastern Kentucky. Charlotte is a graduate of Guilford College, where she studied English and creative writing. She continued her studies at the School of Art and Design at East Carolina University and received a degree in ceramic design as well as a Master of Arts in Teaching. She is the curator of the Janice Hardison Gallery at Joyner Library, East Carolina University, where she researches, designs, and implements a variety of art and history exhibitions.

Heather mae suter

Heather is a graduate of East Carolina University with a BFA in Studio Arts with a concentration in Ceramics. She was born in Michigan and moved to Apex NC in 2001 where she began to pursue her love for both visual and theater arts. Moving to Greenville for college in 2007, she explored her loved for jewelry design, interior design and pottery. Heather is currently our Educational Coordinator and loves being involved with our children's classes and public events. As an artist her inspiration comes from colors, repetitive imagery, and organic patterns found in nature. The objective of her artwork is to simultaneously create decorative and utilitarian ceramics.

Rae Koenig

Originally from Charlotte, NC, Rae Koenig is in her fourth year as a BFA in Painting and Ceramics at East Carolina University. She is drawn to textured surfaces, soft color, and intentional designs, frequently incorporating such elements in her own work through wood and soda firings. Rae is a firm believer in visual art as a powerful tool for growth, connection, and healing, and desires to help others take steps towards those goals through creative expression. After obtaining her Bachelor's degree, Rae plans to move back to Charlotte to gain more work experience before moving on to grad school.

Rachel Breitinger

Rachel Breitinger is a Senior at East Carolina University earning their Batchelor's of Fine Art in Ceramics and k-12 Art Education. They have a wide array of experience in ceramics, including wheel throwing, hand building, slip casting, and installation art. The current focus of their personal studio practice has two avenues, wheel thrown functional objects with illustrated surface decoration, and conceptual figurative sculptures. They are always looking for ways to cross other disciplines and media with ceramics and are always happy to help answer any ceramic question or brainstorm for a new idea.

Cheyanne Ludlum

Cheyanne was born and raised in Wilmington, NC where she received her Associates degree at Cape Fear before attending East Carolina to earn her BFA in ceramics. While her original passion was illustration, she fell in love with the art of ceramics and now combines the two by using various surface design and firing techniques. Although her main focus is wheel thrown functional ware, Cheyanne greatly enjoys using hand building methods to create large coil pots. She is on her final semester in the BFA program and hopes to take everything she learned back home after graduation, where she will continue to grow as an artist and maker.

PAINTING, DRAWING & MIXED MEDIA

GAIL RITZER

Gail Ritzer received her BS in Art Education from the University of Missouri-Columbia and an MFA in Ceramics and Painting from East Carolina University.  She has been exhibiting her work nationally since 1980 at such locales in New York, The University of Missouri-St. Louis, Eastern Kentucky University and the University of Nebraska.  Her work has appeared in several publications including FiberArts Design Book, Art/Quilt Magazine, and exhibition catalogs. Gail has been fortunate to receive a number of grants from the North Carolina Arts Council to pursue a variety of personal and community arts projects. She has been teaching surface design techniques, mixed media methods, painting, and ceramics to students of all ages for many years at workshops, as Outreach Coordinator for the Greenville Museum of Art and as an instructor at the Pitt County Arts Council at Emerge.

Joseph Bounds

Joseph Bounds holds a BFA in painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His work has received numerous awards, been featured in publications in print and on the web, and has been shown in galleries throughout North Carolina, Chicago, New York, and Italy as well as in the Contemporary Art Museum of Raleigh and the Saatchi Gallery in the UK. His work is currently represented by Gallery NK in Washington, DC.

BOOKMAKING

Liz Steiner

Liz Steiner holds a BFA in Jewelry and Metalsmithing from Kent State University with a minor in Geology and an MFA in Metal Design from East Carolina University. In 2012, she curated the international, juried exhibition Hot Under the Collar and was the Artist Fellow in Fine Metals at Peters Valley Craft Center. In addition to teaching at Emerge, she currently teaches adjunct at Craven Community College in New Bern, NC and Pitt Community College in Greenville, NC.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Sarah Lazure

Sarah Lazure is an artist living in Greenville, North Carolina who likes to get her hands dirty. Sarah is the Marketing Coordinator at Pitt County Arts Council at Emerge. She received her BFA from Barton College in Wilson, North Carolina and her MFA from East Carolina University. Sarah’s work is a combination of traditional darkroom printing with digital manipulations, printmaking techniques, and image transfer processes. She explores creating layered imagery with textiles, mixed media, and small metals.