Staff

Founder and Chairman of the Art Renewal Center, Ross is the leading authority on William Bouguereau and co-author of the published Catalogue Raisonné William Bouguereau: His Life and Works. Ross received his MA in art education from Columbia University. His speeches and essays are read by over 300,000 art professionals, educators, students and fans each year; and have become required reading in countless classrooms. He has given lectures and speeches at prominent venues including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Sotheby’s NY, The Dahesh Museum, NY, the Berkshire Museum, MA, The Wadsworth Athenaeum, CT, the MEAM Museum, Barcelona, as well as university campuses among other venues. Ross is also a well-known collector of 19th Century European painting and of Contemporary Realism, being published in numerous magazine and newspaper articles including Forbes Magazine and Fine Art Connoisseur among others. Ross has also been a frequent Juror in numerous competitions and is an ARC Salon and ARC Scholarship judge.

Kara Lysandra Ross is the Co-Chair and Chief Operating Officer for the world-renowned Art Renewal Center (ARC). She holds a BA in Art History from Drew University. As an art educator she has been a contributing writer for Collections Magazine, and Fine Art Connoisseur, and has been published frequently in other magazines and newspapers. She was the co-editor of the William Bouguereau Catalogue Raisonné and author of chapter 28 in the published second edition. In her role at the ARC she spearheaded the introduction of the live exhibition associated to the ARC Salon Competition which has traveled to prestigious venues such as Sotheby’s NY, Sotheby’s LA, The European Museum of Modern Art (MEAM) and the Salmagundi Club, serving as chief organizer and curator. She is an ARC Salon Juror, and has served as juror in other competitions for organizations such as the 2nd Velázquez Painting & Sculpture competition, China, the South African Portrait Society, International Guild of Realism, IX Arts, and the Ani Academy. She is also an expert on 19th century Academic French and English painting, co-authoring William Bouguereau: The Essential Works and is currently researching and writing the catalogue raisonné on Edmund Blair Leighton, for which she is accepted as the world authority, authenticating works by this artist for Sotheby's, Christie's, and Bonham's among others.

Swanson has his PhD from the Courtauld Institute of Art, London, England and was the Director of the Springville Museum of Art, Utah, where he has served for over 30 years. He is a lecturer/scholar/writer and expert on 19^th Century European Art and Russian Art through the 20^th Century. Swanson is the leading authority on Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema and John William Godward and author of the Catalogue Raisonnés for both artists. In total, the number of books Swanson has published is well into the teens.

Former Director of the Dahesh Museum of Art, Trippi is now the Editor of Fine Art Connoisseur magazine, which provides art collectors and enthusiasts with in-depth editorial coverage of historical and contemporary representational art authored by well-known experts. Mr. Trippi is also the leading authority on John William Waterhouse,(1849-1917) and the author of J. W. Waterhouse, which was published by Phaidon Press in 2002.

Michael John Angel is an ARC Living Master™ and regarded as one of the foremost figurative painters alive today; with his paintings hanging in both public and private collections on both sides of the Atlantic. From 1982 to 1988 he was the Director of the National Portrait Academy in Toronto, Canada, and from 1992-1995 the Assistant Director of the Florence Academy of Art in Florence, Italy. In 1997, his school, the Angel Academy was founded with the assistance of Lynne Barton. Angel Academy is now one of the most successful Atelier Schools in the world, requiring of its students the highest standards of traditional techniques.

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Juliette Aristides is an ARC Living Master™ and founding member of the Water Street Atelier with Jacob Collins, Aristides is a recipient of the Elisabeth Greenshields Grant; and founded the Classical Atelier at Gage Academy of Fine Art in Seattle, Washington. She has authored three books, Classical Drawing Atelier, Classical Painting Atelier, and Lessons in Classical Drawing, which includes an instructional DVD and quickly became a best seller. Her books have become well received guidelines for drawing and painting.

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Dr. Gregory Headburg is the Director of the Department of European Art at the world renowned Hirschl & Adler Galleries in Manhattan. He received his BA in Art history from Princeton University and his PHD from New York University. He was the former Chief Curator of the Wadsworth Antheneum, and was the first professional Director of the New York Academy of Art. He has worked tirelessly throughout his life to bring back a re-appreciation for traditional painting and was one of the first experts in the 19th century field.

Weisberg is a world expert in French Naturalism and a writer, lecturer, and scholar. He is the author of Against the Modern: Dagnon-Bouveret and the Transformation of the Academic Tradtion, and a contributing writer to ARC. His research and work on Jules Breton, Jules Adler, Albert Besnard, Jean-Charles Cazin and Theodule Ribot, have helped reestablish an awareness and appreciation of the entire 19th century.

Daniel Gerhartz is an ARC Living Master™ and has been featured in numerous publications including the hardbound book, Creative Oil Painting: Techniques from 15 Master Painters by Stephen Doherty. His teaching credentials include the Scottsdale Institute and his work is included in the permanent collection of the West Bend Art Museum in Wisconsin and the Huntsville Museum of Art in Alabama. Gerhartz also won Best of Show in the 1st international ARC Salon Competition in 2004, and is one of the few living realists to successfully penetrate the secondary market; with works selling at important auction houses including Sotheby's.

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Daniel Graves is an ARC Living Master™. He was a student of Richard Serrin at the Villa Schifanoia Graduate School of Fine Art, and studied under Nerina Simi, daughter of the Florentine painter, Filadelfo Simi, a student of Gérôme. Daniel Graves went on to found The Florence Academy of Art in 1991, where he still serves as the Academic Director. In April 2008 Daniel Graves and The Florence Academy of Art received the Excellence in Art Education Award from the Portrait Society of America. The academy’s programs in Florence, Sweden and the U.S. are accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design.

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B. Eric Rhoads is the Founder and Chairman of Streamline Publishing, Inc., publisher of Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine, which provides art collectors and enthusiasts with in-depth editorial coverage of historical and contemporary representational art authored by well-known experts. Rhoads also publishes PleinAir, a magazine focused on representational landscape painting with in-depth coverage of historical and contemporary artworks painted en' plein air and in studio and the Plein Air Convention. The company also produces artist videos with many masters including ARC Living Master™ Max Ginsburg. Rhoads, an entrepreneur, founded the company in 1986 and produces other magazines and conferences. He is a well known author and blogger on art marketing, has released a DVD series for artists on art marketing, and is also a landscape and figurative painter.

Patrick Wilshire is the Director of the Association of Fantastic Art, dedicated to the promotion, recognition and elevation of the art of imaginative realism. This genre includes works that were heavily influenced by the storytelling paintings of the 19^th century; artists such as Burne-Jones and John William Waterhouse. It is the organization behind the groundbreaking IlluXCon symposium started in 2008, and the Illustration Exchange, the online nexus for collectors of original paintings, drawings and sculpture from this style of realist art. In addition he is the author of Visions of Never: The Collection of Fantastic Art, (2009), The Art of the Dragon: The Definitive Collection of Contemporary Dragon Paintings (2012), and the History of Imaginative Realism. He was also honored to be the guest curator of AT THE EDGE: Art of the Fantastic, mounted at the Allentown Art Museum, PA, in June of 2012.

Jeannie Wilshire is the Co-Director of the Association of Fantastic Art, dedicated to the promotion, recognition and elevation of the art of imaginative realism. The AFA is the organization behind the groundbreaking IX symposium, the annual celebration of imaginative realism (founded in 2008) and the IX Exchange, the online nexus for collectors of original paintings, drawings and sculpture from this style of realist art. In addition, she is the author and designer of Visions of Never: The Collection of Fantastic Art (2009) and the forthcoming History of Imaginative Realism. She is also the designer of IlluXConcepts Volumes 1-5 and The Art of the Dragon: The Definitive Collection of Contemporary Dragon Paintings (2012). She was honored to be a guest curator of AT THE EDGE: Art of the Fantastic, the most comprehensive exhibition of imaginative realist art ever to be mounted in the US. AT THE EDGE premiered at the Allentown Art Museum in June of 2012, drawing record crowds to the museum. She is currently curating the upcoming infra:REAL - The Art of Imaginative Realism show for the Jonathan Levine Gallery in NYC, which premiers in August of 2015. Together with her husband, Patrick, she has been collecting original imaginative realist art for 15 years.

Anthony Waichulis is an ARC Living Master™ and is regarded as the premiere trompe l'oeil painter living today. Celebrated by critics and collectors alike, Waichulis' works have been published in nearly every major art publication worldwide including but not limited to: The Artist's Magazine, Fine Art Connoisseur, American Artist, American Art Review, American Art Collector, Art News and Art-Talk. Anthony has exhibited in a salvo of key venues across the country including the Smithsonian Institute, National Arts Club, Orlando Museum of Art, Butler Institute, Washington Museum of Fine Arts, The World Arts Museum in Beijing as well as many others. He is also the founder of the highly successful Waichulis Studio and co-founder and chief curriculum designer of the International Ani Art Academies project. In 2011 The Waichulis Studio merged with the Ani Art Academies project to form the domestic flagship of the Ani project, The Ani Art Academy Waichulis in Wilkes Barre, PA. Since then the Ani Art Academies project has seen the launch of two international Academies, Ani Art Academy Anguilla and Dominicana. Additional Academies using Waichulis' now celebrated curriculum are also scheduled to open in Thailand and Sri Lanka in 2015.

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Jacob Collins is an ARC Living Master™ and a leading figure in the contemporary revival of classical painting. He earned a BA in history from Columbia College, attended the New York Studio School, the New York Academy of Art, and the Art Students League. As a student, Collins also copied extensively in museums in America and Europe. His work has been widely exhibited in North America and Europe and is included in several American museums. Collins is the founder of the Water Street Atelier, The Grand Central Academy of Art, and the Hudson River Fellowship.

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Sadie Valeri (b. 1971) is a nationally recognized oil painter and art instructor based in San Francisco. Sadie studied drawing and painting at the Rhode Island School of Design, earning her BFA in Illustration in 1993. She later discovered the emerging realist movement of 19^th century-based Classical art training, and continued her education with living masters of realism including Ted Seth Jacobs, Juliette Aristides, and Michael Grimaldi, and at Studio Escalier in France. Her paintings, evocative of the Dutch Golden Age of still life, have shown at prestigious galleries across the United States and have attracted significant honors including First Prize for Still Life in the 2010 Art Renewal Center International Salon. Her work has been published in dozens of periodicals and books, and the originals have been acquired by prestigious collections including the New Britain Museum of American Art. Sadie was a faculty member at the 2017 Portrait Society of America's annual conference, and in 2018 she was a headlining presenter at F.A.C.E: Figurative Art Conference and Expo.

ARC Founder and Advisor of Website development and Public Relations.

Swanson has his PhD from the Courtauld Institute of Art, London, England and was the Director of the Springville Museum of Art, Utah, where he has served for over 30 years. He is a lecturer/scholar/writer and expert on 19^th Century European Art and Russian Art through the 20^th Century. Swanson is the leading authority on Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema and John William Godward and author of the Catalogue Raisonnés for both artists. In total, the number of books Swanson has published is well into the teens.

Dr. Gregory Headburg is the Director of the Department of European Art at the world renowned Hirschl & Adler Galleries in Manhattan. He received his BA in Art history from Princeton University and his PHD from New York University. He was the former Chief Curator of the Wadsworth Antheneum, and was the first professional Director of the New York Academy of Art. He has worked tirelessly throughout his life to bring back a re-appreciation for traditional painting and was one of the first experts in the 19th century field.

Allan Banks served as President of the American Society of Classical Realism for 7 years, past Chairman of the American Society of Portrait Artists, and a member of ARC’s Board of Advisors, as well as one of the judge’s in ARC’s Scholarship and Salon Competitions. He has exhibited widely in galleries and museums across the country with numerous works in private and public collections including the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford Connecticut, The Newark Museum, and The Springville Museum. Publications of his work include featured cover artist for American Artist Magazine and the Classical Realism Journal. Mr. Banks is listed in Who's Who in American Art, Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the Southwest and the Dictionary of International Biography. He is currently on file in the Smithsonian Institution and the National Portrait Galleries in London, England and Washington, D.C. as well as the Witt Library in London, the Capital Hill Club and the White House in Washington, D.C.

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Jacob Collins is an ARC Living Master™ and a leading figure in the contemporary revival of classical painting. He earned a BA in history from Columbia College, attended the New York Studio School, the New York Academy of Art, and the Art Students League. As a student, Collins also copied extensively in museums in America and Europe. His work has been widely exhibited in North America and Europe and is included in several American museums. Collins is the founder of the Water Street Atelier, The Grand Central Academy of Art, and the Hudson River Fellowship.

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ARC Living Master Richard Whitney has won over 40 regional and national awards as well as three grants from the Greenshields' Foundation of Montreal. His paintings hang in over 700 public and private collections throughout the United States and abroad. They include the Anchorage Museum of Art and History, the Anderson House Museum, the Newark Museum, the Pentagon, Harvard, Yale and Stanford Universities, and the Catholic University of Portugal.

Whitney is a board member of the American Renaissance of the Twenty-first Century and is also Chairman Emeritus of the American Society of Portrait Artists Foundation.

Former Director of the Dahesh Museum of Art, Trippi is now the Editor of Fine Art Connoisseur magazine, which provides art collectors and enthusiasts with in-depth editorial coverage of historical and contemporary representational art authored by well-known experts. Mr. Trippi is also the leading authority on John William Waterhouse,(1849-1917) and the author of J. W. Waterhouse, which was published by Phaidon Press in 2002.

Michael John Angel is an ARC Living Master™ and regarded as one of the foremost figurative painters alive today; with his paintings hanging in both public and private collections on both sides of the Atlantic. From 1982 to 1988 he was the Director of the National Portrait Academy in Toronto, Canada, and from 1992-1995 the Assistant Director of the Florence Academy of Art in Florence, Italy. In 1997, his school, the Angel Academy was founded with the assistance of Lynne Barton. Angel Academy is now one of the most successful Atelier Schools in the world, requiring of its students the highest standards of traditional techniques.

View ARC Gallery

Director of Angel Academy, Florence, Italy.

Weisberg is a world expert in French Naturalism and a writer, lecturer, and scholar. He is the author of Against the Modern: Dagnon-Bouveret and the Transformation of the Academic Tradtion, and a contributing writer to ARC. His research and work on Jules Breton, Jules Adler, Albert Besnard, Jean-Charles Cazin and Theodule Ribot, have helped reestablish an awareness and appreciation of the entire 19th century.

Director of the Academy of Realist Art, Toronto, Canada.

Living Master, Advisor of Standards and Practices, Former President of the American Society of Classical Realism.

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Daniel Gerhartz is an ARC Living Master™ and has been featured in numerous publications including the hardbound book, Creative Oil Painting: Techniques from 15 Master Painters by Stephen Doherty. His teaching credentials include the Scottsdale Institute and his work is included in the permanent collection of the West Bend Art Museum in Wisconsin and the Huntsville Museum of Art in Alabama. Gerhartz also won Best of Show in the 1st international ARC Salon Competition in 2004, and is one of the few living realists to successfully penetrate the secondary market; with works selling at important auction houses including Sotheby's.

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Alexandra York is founding president of American Renaissance for the Twenty-first Century (ART), a NYC-based 501 (C) (3) nonprofit foundation dedicated to a rebirth of beauty and life-affirming values in all of the fine arts and an internationally published author of fiction and nonfiction books. She has a regular Art and Culture column on NewsMax.com, lectures extensively on the arts, was for six years editor of ART Ideas magazine, and curated-produced several major art exhibits both in NYC venues and Hillsdale College in Michigan. Alexandra received the 1997 Whiting Memorial Award for outstanding service to the cultural world from the International Society for Philosophical Enquiry. She serves on the Advisory Council of the Florence Academy of Art, the Policy Advisory Board for Heartland Institute, and is listed in Who’s who of American Women and Who’s who in America.