• About Us
• Classes
• Birthday Parties
• Gallery
• Community
• Blog
• Calendar
• Contribute

Our staff consists of enthusiastic, talented practicing artists, with collective backgrounds in teaching, early childhood education, transformative arts, museums studies, and outreach. All have prior experience in teaching, and are reflective practioners of their craft. Many are bilingual.

** Click on each staff member's name that has a link (indicated in underlined blue) to expand their full bio.

PROGRAMS

Molly Campbell, Programs and Operations Manager
Close Molly Campbell, Programs and Operations Manager
Molly joined SFCAC in January 2007. She holds a BFA in painting from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and has been a San Francisco resident since 2004.  She is a practicing mixed-media artist with a professional background in such Bay Area youth programs as The Marsh Youth Theater, Aim High Academy, and the Exploratorium. She also volunteers as co-chair of the the Art Center's Annual Benefit Art Auction, an annual fundraiser that raises money for SFCAC's programs and scholarships. In addition to working at the Art Center, she maintains a studio practice at Art Explosion Studios in the Mission district, and teaches independently at various venues throughout San Francisco. www.mollyhcampbell.com

TEACHERS

Gail Tarantino, Lead Teacher
Close Gail Tarantino, Lead Teacher
Gail Tarantino holds a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts, Boston and has been engaging children in the creative process at SFCAC since 1989. Gail is a painter and video artist whose work has been shown at the SFMOMA Artists Gallery, Linc Art, and other venues. Her work is also included in a number of Bay Area private collections. “Being an active participant in witnessing the creative spark that children emit is an experience that I treasure. After a decade of supporting children's creative ideas, I continue to be smitten with their poignancy of language, the visual impact of children's representations and the associations they make while looking at each others project work. Each child's aesthetic choices are so particular to their own unique way of absorbing the world around them. Being an observer of the multiple possibilities for invention that children utilize is an endlessly enriching time spent in the studio” Thanks to the generosity of an art center supporter, Gail traveled to Italy to attend Reggio Emilia study tours in 2001 and 2003. Thanks to the support of the SFCAC Board and SFCAC parents, Gail was able to particpate in a conference hosted by the North American Reggio Emilia Alliance in 2006.

Erik Parra, Lead Teacher
Close Erik Parra, Lead Teacher
Erik Richard Parra was born and raised in Texas. He attended The University of Texas at Austin where he studied painting with Peter Saul and Michael Ray Charles. After graduation he moved to San Francisco, where he taught at the San Francisco Children’s Art Center. One year later he was accepted into the graduate painting department of the University of Wisconsin—Madison on a fellowship. Upon completion of his MFA he moved to Brooklyn, NY where he maintained a studio, taught art and exhibited his artwork. Erik has been actively engaged with his studio practice about as long as he has been teaching, for over nine years. In his relatively young career he has exhibited in numerous places, including New York, Chicago, and Brazil. He has also lectured, garnered residencies and awards. Currently he is back in San Francisco to open Fivepoints Arthouse which is an artist run alternative exhibition space.

Kaari Diefenbacher, Lead Teacher
Close Kaari Diefenbacher, Lead Teacher
Kaari has taught art to San Francisco children for many years in various venues throughout the city. She is currently teaching art to children aged 18 months through 12 years old through Children’s Art Center, Drawbridge, Raphael House, and Recess Urban Recreation. She previously worked for two years running art groups in multiple San Francisco elementary schools. She is passionate about bringing art to the lives of children, and is devoting her life to doing so. She is a working artist and student, currently getting her Masters in Transformative Arts at JFK University.

ASSISTANT TEACHERS and ART PARTY TEACHERS Close Kaari Diefenbacher, Lead Teacher
Kaari has taught art to San Francisco children for many years in various venues throughout the city. She is currently teaching art to children aged 18 months through 12 years old through Children’s Art Center, Drawbridge, Raphael House, and Recess Urban Recreation. She previously worked for two years running art groups in multiple San Francisco elementary schools. She is passionate about bringing art to the lives of children, and is devoting her life to doing so. She is a working artist and student, currently getting her Masters in Transformative Arts at JFK University.

Theresa Holland, Assistant Teacher, Art Party Teacher
Close Theresa Holland, Assistant Teacher, Art Party Teacher
Theresa Holland graduated with a B.F.A. from the Maryland Institute, College of Art in Baltimore. Her areas of study included interdisciplinary fine art subjects as well as elementary art education. From there she moved to the Washington D.C. area, where she was an active member in several art communities. She has exhibited work with the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop and the Torpedo Factory Art League, has been commissioned for private installations, and has several private collectors on the East coast. Since moving to San Francisco in 2007 she has continued in her own artistic quests and has been teaching art to young children. She believes that freedom to make creative decisions as a child is what helps people make other decisions later in life.

Carol Bold, Assistant Teacher, Art Party Teacher
Close Carol Bold, Assistant Teacher, Art Party Teacher
Carol Bold is a fine artist and illustrator currently residing in San Francisco, CA. She received her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, MD. In addition to joining the SFCAC team at the beginning of 2010, she is also a member of the SF based Arterie Art Collective, a curatorial and gallery intern at the SOMArts Cultural Center, a printmaker at CCSF Fort Mason Campus, an art teacher at the Urban Color Gallery and a full-time studio artist working out of her Clement Street studio. www.carolbold.com

Michelle Sager, Art Party Teacher
Close Michelle Sager, Art Party Teacher
Michelle Sager is a UC Berkeley graduate with a degree in Art History. She has taught art in a number of institutions, including the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, the de Young Museum, Zeum, Camp Galileo, and Leap…Imagination in Learning. She has a passion for art and for teaching, and believes that kids who are exposed to art are better at expressing themselves and learning problem-solving skills that are important for every aspect of life.

Alli Patch, Assistant Teacher, Art Party Teacher

Laura Simon, Assistant Teacher, Art Party Teacher

Asenet Martinez, Art Party Teacher

Rocio Russo, Art Party Teacher

Beth Molnar, Art Party Teacher

Marli Jones, Art Party Teacher

Ali Keane, Art Party Teacher