Larissa Brown is a versatile artist with a tapestry of creative endeavors spanning diverse industries. Formerly an animation artist for Nickelodeon’s iconic show Rugrats, Brown has also illustrated nearly a dozen books within Nickelodeon’s licensed universe, including Avatar: The Last Airbender. Her debut graphic novel, Blake Laser, will be released in December 2024. As the founder of OC Art Studios, her educational initiatives have touched lives globally. During the pandemic she pioneered an online community for BIPOC art students, granting more than five hundred full scholarships to aspiring animation and illustration artists. Brown expertly juggles her role as a Disney fine artist with her commitment to teaching at colleges and universities in Orange County. Her artwork in the galleries of both Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resorts seamlessly blends her traditional and digital painting skills. She has a special affinity for celebrating characters of color within the Disney universe.
Amanda O'Shaughnessy is an elementary art teacher in Overland Park, Kansas, and has been teaching for thirteen years. She also runs pop-up style creative workshops for adults through partnerships with area businesses using her company Studio Art Club, which she founded in 2021. O'Shaughnessy studied at the Kansas City Art Institute and the University of Missouri in Kansas City, where she graduated with a degree in studio art and then earned a master of arts in teaching from the University of Central Missouri. In addition to teaching in schools, she spent several years at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art leading classes for all ages. O'Shaughnessy has presented at multiple conferences, including the National Art Education Association conference in 2023 in San Antonio, Texas. Printmaking, ceramics, and drawing have always been areas of interest as both an artist and an educator. O'Shaughnessy recognizes that everyone can tap into their own unique creativity, and she provides opportunities for this to happen.
Robyn McClendon is a mixed media artist. She studied paper making and bookbinding in the tradition of apprenticing, as these disciplines were dying art forms in the 1980's and were being revived by artists. She subsequently taught in universities and museum systems as an adjunct professor, often setting up the programs in the art departments of these schools nationally, as the discipline of book as art was becoming recognized as a significant art form. She also worked and taught in the book binding department at the Smithsonian Institution. She has exhibited widely both nationally and internationally, and has written a best selling book called Gel Plate Printing for Mixed Media Art, published through Schiffer Publishing. As an artaeomythologist, McClendon leads retreats and workshops that combine the visual arts, idea generation and book arts which help participants find a voice for their story, move forward, and recognize a more authentic artistic experience.
David Tamori taught at Oroville High School for more than thirty-seven years, teaching drawing, 2D design, 3D design, and jewelry making. He supervised more than thirty student teachers. Tamori received the National Art Educators Association Award for Outstanding Secondary Art Educator in the pacific region and the California Art Educators Award for Outstanding Secondary School Visual Art Educator. He served on the development committees for the Praxis, and National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and as a member of the Commission on Teacher Credentialing Bias Review Committee. Tamori is a consultant for the College Board Advanced Placement Art and Design Program, in the Western states region. While much of Tamori’s career as an artist and educator has focused on visual art, he is also an accomplished drummer and a founding member and president of the Artists of Rivertown, a non-profit group of Oroville artists.
