METAL

JOANNE LANG

Originally from Wisconsin, Joanne Lang moved to North Carolina to attend Duke University and has lived in Greenville for over 20 Years. She studied and worked in the sciences and medicine until becoming a stay-at-home mom and started taking art classes in the community. She has always had a love of arts and crafts and in the course of time, it developed into a passion. For seven years, she shared that passion of art with elementary students. She experimented in ceramics, weaving, stained glass and mixed media but what really kindled her creative fire has been metalsmithing. For the last four years, she has attended numerous workshops in the USA and Italy.

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.

Hosanna Rubio

Born and raised in Southern California, Hosanna Rubio currently resides in Greenville, North Carolina, where she recently graduated from East Carolina University with an MFA in Metal Design. She received her BA in Art Education from California State University Long Beach, where she also studied Metals and Jewelry. Hosanna specializes in creating wearable art pieces and small-scale sculptures that explore themes inspired by her personal experiences with issues such as health, medicine, and nature. Her work has been exhibited regionally and nationally.

Lisette fee

Lisette Fee has been designing and making jewelry for over twenty years. She moved to Eastern North Carolina nine years ago to get her Bachelors of Fine Arts in jewelry and metalsmith at East Carolina University. She also has a degree in Anthropology. Lisette became enamored with the beauty and culture of Eastern North Carolina, especially from the animals and wildlife. Lisette creates stunning jewelry cast from owl talons, crow Claws, bear claws, badger claws, cat claws and many others.
Fierce and edgy jewelry pieces are created by hand and through the process known as lost wax casting. Combining the raw energy of talons and claws with one of a kind gemstones and crystals Eilisain Jewelry embodies a sense of wildness and energy that will empower you daily.

CERAMICS

JULIE ROGERS

Julie Rogers: Originally from Chicago, Julie lived in Clearwater Beach, FL and Nashville, TN, before settling in eastern North Carolina in 1988. Although she always enjoyed dabbling in different crafts, the opportunity to explore any in depth didn’t present itself until her children left home. After taking one pottery class at a local arts center in 2004, she was hooked. Within a few years, a hobby became a passion. Julie has continued to learn and perfect the art of making pottery on the wheel through attending numerous workshops and by spending countless hours in the studio refining her technique. She also enjoys sharing her insights and techniques with others interested in learning the skill of wheel throwing. Julie strives to make pieces that are elegant and feminine, yet balanced and functional. Together with friend and potter Rae Brown, they started a small business — A Bit Off Center — selling their wares at Arts & Craft festivals and at several NC stores.

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 N.C. 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.

PAINTING, DRAWING, MIXED MEDIA

GAIL RITZER

Gail Ritzer received her B.S. in Art Education from the University of Missouri-Columbia and an M.F.A 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, 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.

TEXTILES

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

jeremiah barnes

Jeremiah is an artist and photographer based out of Greenville NC. His origin story starts near Bath in Eastern NC, it was there where Jeremiah’s love for creating first began with tracing and drawing the characters from his comic books. Through his education Jeremiah would take every offered art classes, absorbing all the information he could form his teachers. Jeremiah has obtained an Associates in Fine Arts at Pitt Community College where his love for traditional forms of photography was born. Currently, Jeremiah is finishing up his Bachelor’s in Fine Art’s Photography Program at East Carolina University in fall of 2019. Jeremiah has developed his abilities in both traditional and digital photography, videography, techniques in professional lighting; and is skilled with Adobe programs, photo editing/sequencing, and creative design. In his current work, Jeremiah has been exploring the landscape and architecture of Eastern NC towns and how it can inform an outsider of its residents stories.