Cara Livorio is the owner, the creative director, and a lead educator at Artissima Studio.
Cara Livorio is a professional artist native to Pittsburgh with a fierce love for art, culture, and travel. She obtained her BFA in drawing and painting and a minor in art history from the Pennsylvania State University and pursued graduate studies in visual art and curatorship at NABA in Milan, Italy.
Cara had never entertained the idea of teaching until life intervened. During her time living in Italy, she accepted a position as an art and art history professor at a beautiful private school in Monza, north of Milan. This amazing experience and opportunity made her fall in love with art education and realize that she loved sharing her craft and passion with others.
Upon returning to Pittsburgh, while continuing to pursue her artwork, she taught art classes at local art centers and privately, and she was an educator at The Andy Warhol Museum.
Cara’s artwork has been exhibited nationally and internationally in Italy and resides in private collections throughout the United States and in Europe. Her painting, “Flourish” from her B(L)OOM! series was acquired by the Westmoreland Museum of American Art for its permanent collection. A painter to the core, her craft centers on color, form, light, and the tactual physicality of the paint. She uses a myriad of techniques to construct dynamic and palpable experiences.
Her artwork and murals can be seen in various locations throughout Pittsburgh and in Italy, including an installation of large-scale paintings in the lobby of the Jefferson Regional Hospital and an extensive mural/artwork commission in Ospedale dei Bambini Buzzi in Milan, Italy.
Cara loves teaching her students at Artissima, and she’s obsessive about instructing foundational skills and techniques and delivering inspiring curriculum. She is blessed to have such a talented and passionate team of artists and educators working at her side to deliver such fantastic arts enrichment to the community. Thank you families for investing in creativity!
Hannah Wolfe
Miss Hannah “Banana” Wolfe is a passionate and extremely energetic and fun-loving lead educator at Artissima Studio. She often teaches our younger artists for semester art classes, she leads inspiring summer camps, and she is the instructor of some of our favorite time-tested art workshops. She is the director of the toddler art program at the studio, and she has a penchant for rainbows, beads, sparkles and pompoms. Miss Hannah is always inventing incredible art awesomeness with all kids of fun materials.
“Let the beauty of what you love, be what you do”- Rumi. This is the quote that inspired Hannah to decide to become an art educator. She studied Art Education K-12 at Penn State University. She has enjoyed teaching at Artissima Studio since 2017, where she has been able to make an impact on students in the local community thanks to the tremendous passion Artissima has for art education.
Lauren Kirkpatrick
Miss Lauren Kirkpatrick is a passionate and extremely dedicated lead educator at Artissima Studio. Miss Lauren teaches many workshops and puts together some of the most incredible art experiences for Artissima art camps. She is also the summer camp coordinator. If you see a woman picking up 1,000 sticks in a field, don’t worry, it’s just Lauren harvesting art materials to make insane Harry Potter wands. She’s the real deal- always ready for a challenge, always reaching for the stars.
Miss Lauren graduated from Carlow University with a Bachelor’s degree in Art Education an Art History in 2017. She has been working at Artissima since 2016 in addition to working as a public school art teacher. Miss Lauren has had an affinity for art making for as long as she can remember and has always loved to create! She primarily works with oil paints and a palette knife, but she also enjoys screen printing, digital art, and watercolor painting.
Katie Kirwan
Miss Katie Kirwan is a passionate and extremely creative lead instructor at Artissima Studio. Miss Katie teaches semester art classes, fun and spirited workshops, some birthday parties, and she is most famous for her colorful summer camps, especially her Disney-inspired art curriculum. Katie can be seen covered in glue and sparkles or darting in between children who are launching paint filled poms poms from their homemade catapults at screen printed dragons. It’s all in a days work. She’s awesome and always ready for the art insanity.
Katie is an artist, and she graduated with a degree in art education from the Pennsylvania State University. Katie also works as an educator at the Discovery School.
John Joy
Mr. John Joy is an extremely talented artist and creative lead educator at Artissima Studio. John has had an incredible artistic journey as a student, educator, animator, illustrator and producer. He has killer draftsmanship, and he generously shares his passion and knowledge in many of his classes aimed at character development, storyboarding, and cartooning. The sky is the limit! He also collaborates on some pretty cool art projects with his daughter.
John studied art & art history at Middlebury College in Vermont and started his career as a middle/high school art teacher in NY. He studied graphic and digital design at Parsons in NYC and went on to pursue his graduate degree in visual development at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. John fell in love with production, and he kicked off his career in the video game industry, where he is now a Senior Producer at Forward XP. He is thrilled to teach a new generation of artists.
Monica McElwain
Miss Monica McElwain is an enthusiastic and ambitious lead educator at Artissima. Monica leads popular summer art camps which are jam packed with knowledge of multi media. Drawing, image transfer, encaustic, collage, 3-d building, mosaic, painting, print making, you name it. Monica leads the students in self discovery and technical exploration as they learn to experiment with different mediums and subject matter. Diving into art with Monica is a wild and exciting ride where the students exercise expression and imagination. Monica is always ready for the artistic journey.
Monica is a talented artist, and she is an art instructor at Shaler. She enjoys creating murals and exploring various materials in her own artwork. @mcervonem
Sabrina McQuarrie
Miss Sabrina McQuarrie is a vivacious and talented art educator at Artissima Studio. Sabrina leads many of our colorful birthday parties and workshops at the studio with her endearing zest and positivity. She is an organizational magician and helps to tame the art material chaos that erupts continuously at the studio. She spreads love, creativity, and positive energy in the studio.
Sabrina is a talented artist, she is following her passion by finishing her degree in art at the University of Pittsburgh, and she owns her own business, Sabrina’s Spells and Crystals.
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412 968 5858
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