A vital part of the Portfolio education, our Artists-in-Residence are professionals who bring their expertise into the classroom. At school and in venues across the city, they work with the children, teaching them various skills and helping them to create work that is central to the culminating project of a unit of inquiry.
Nicole Skibola Illustrator, storyteller
Nicole Skibola is Brooklyn based writer and artist. Her primary medium is ink, graphite and gouache, and occasionally linocut and woodcut printmaking. Her writing and visual art explore memoir, personal myth and storytelling, as well as modern feminism. She has written and illustrated several self-published small art books and is currently collaborating with several hospitals to bring art therapy and personal storytelling to oncology patients. She has a BA from UC Berkeley and a Juris Doctor from the University of San Francisco School of Law.
“Working with the team at Portfolio School was an exercise in unfettered imagination, both in terms of what we could accomplish creatively and what these amazing kids were capable of accomplishing on their own. In the end, the life size cave that we constructed, complete with an LED fire, glow in the dark wall paintings, ceremonial masks, glittering stalactites and eery sound installation remains one of the most creatively fulfilling projects I have ever done as an artist.”
Liz Evans Clothing designer, pattern maker
Liz Evans' love of sewing began in elementary school where she enjoyed projects such as making MC Hammer pants and dashikis. By the time she got to college she was working on more ambitious projects for student theater and dance groups as well as the Princeton University Theater department and NJ Opera Theater. After college she continued to work on theatrical costuming for a while, but also worked on bridal gown alterations, industrial displays and custom interiors fabrication. She recently decided to continue at the Fashion Institute of Technology to deepen her knowledge of apparel manufacturing and computer Pattern making. She currently works for a denim manufacturer in the garment district. Liz is very excited to share her love of sewing with the students at the Portfolio school.
“Working with the students at Portfolio School was a very cool experience for me. It helped me remember the excitement of learning to use a sewing machine for the first time and how cool it is to have a new tool or skillset to create and express yourself with. I can’t wait to see how the students use these tools in the future and what new things they create with them!”
Luke Namer Filmmaker
Luke is the founder of Redefined Films and the director of the documentaries 'Lenscapes,' 'Steep Education,' and 'Himalayan Grains.' Luke started Redefined Films
after working in Africa and Latin America for two years as the Creative Director for Global Brigades, an international development organization. His recent projects include a short film on child tea shop workers in Myanmar and a documentary short on the heritage grain movement led by female farmers in northern India. To increase collaboration with documentary subjects and viewers, Redefined Films introduces workshops on film, story, and photography before production with local communities and with audiences during film tours.
Alex Allaux Filmmaker
Alex is a freelance Filmmaker and Creative Director based in New York City. With work experiences ranging from filming with National Geographic’s underwater research vessels to projection mapping and music video directing on the city, he is constantly expanding and exploring storytelling through motion and light.
Davíd Lockard Designer
David is a Jerusalem-born designer. His recent projects involve developing tools for the promotion of playful learning as a form of social practice. His work at ITP has been supported by the Tisch Foundation for Creative Research and xStory. He has worked for NYU's Institute of Arts and Civic Dialogue, and is on the editorial team of Adjacent, ITP's new online journal of emerging media. Before attending ITP, he produced news journalism for Haaretz.com and worked as a videographer, an animator and in theatre. Lockard has worked for numerous Israeli human rights NGOs. As part of The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, he taught civic participation through cinema at Jerusalem high schools. He studied screen-based arts at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem, where he was supported by grants from PCATI, Perach, and UNESCO.
“Designing strange new pianos with the students has been an exciting journey!! I am amazed at the ideas they came up with and it’s been a pleasure turning these ideas into tangible creations.”
“It was a joy to guide students through a real-world project - combining carpentry and technology to design and build a three-story mansion for their pet guinea pigs, with a rooftop farm to grow guinea pig food and moisture sensors to detect when the mansion was dirty. All children deserve these opportunities to work together to create and to solve real-world challenges.”
“Our kids- like all kids-are natural storytellers. They would tell you stories all the time if you let them. Giving them new tools to tell their stories is an incredible thing to watch. You see their eyes light up with new possibilities, and laugh and delight in the new thing they’ve created. They are surrounded from an early age with movies and videos so in a sense it’s second nature to them. But when the mystery is broken down and they can actually use the techniques on their own. It’s magical.”
Join us!
If you're a maker, musician, artist, or an art teacher in the NYC area and are interested to join our program, please tell us a bit about yourself and we will get in touch with you: