HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

4 Elements Studio began in 2008 with a love of ceramics, a passion for the arts, and an empty basement. Founded by ceramic artist Vartan Poghosian, the studio initially focused on ceramics classes and exhibitions.

As interest and community demand grew, so did 4 Elements. Over time, our programming expanded beyond ceramics to include a wider range of artistic disciplines, classes, exhibitions, and creative experiences. In 2019, 4 Elements Studio became a nonprofit organization, continuing its evolution into a community arts center.
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In 2024, 4 Elements purchased its current home at 809 Court Street in Utica, creating new opportunities to expand our programs, exhibitions, partnerships, and community impact. We continue to grow and evolve in response to the needs of the community we serve, creating space for artists, students, and neighbors to connect, learn, and make.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Pete Blanchfield - President

Maria Pazzolanella McNiel  - Treasurer

Mamie Faga - Secretary
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Shannon Stockbridge - Member

OUR TEAM

Meet the artists, educators, and community builders behind 4 Elements Studio.

Audrey Hasen Taylor

Executive Director

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Audrey Hasen Taylor is a sculptor, artist, and arts educator living and working in Russia, New York. She received her MFA in Sculpture from Cranbrook Academy of Art and her BFA in Sculpture from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, with additional study through the University of Georgia’s Lamar Dodd School of Art program in Cortona, Italy.

Her artistic practice has taken her across the United States through exhibitions, residencies, and visiting artist opportunities. She has participated in prestigious artist residencies including MacDowell in Peterborough, New Hampshire, the Fountainhead Residency in Miami, Sculpture Space in Utica, and the Robert M. MacNamara Foundation in Maine. Her work has been exhibited in New York City, Miami, Detroit, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, and throughout the United States, with exhibitions at venues including Mixed Greens, Dorsch Gallery, Wave Hill, NurtureArt, and the Philadelphia Art Alliance.

Audrey’s work and exhibitions have been featured in publications including The Wall Street Journal, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Miami New Times, Hyperallergic, The L Magazine, and Whitehot Magazine. She has also served as a visiting artist and lecturer at institutions including the University of Wyoming, University of Tennessee, SUNY Geneseo, and the College for Creative Studies.

Alongside her studio practice, Audrey has dedicated much of her career to arts education and community engagement in Central New York. Since 2015, she has worked in community arts education at Munson in Utica, helping create opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds to engage with the arts.

Dana F. Kelsey

Director of Arts Education

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Dana Kelsey is an emerging, self-taught ceramic artist whose work draws inspiration from nature, organic forms, and the subtle beauty found in the natural world. She began exploring ceramics in 2021 after joining 4 Elements Studio, where she continues to develop her skills and expand her artistic practice.

Without formal academic training in ceramics, Dana has built her practice through hands-on learning, experimentation, and a curiosity for the possibilities of clay. Her work explores the relationship between texture, shape, and natural form, often highlighting the patterns and imperfections that make the organic world unique.

Dana is currently developing a series of ceramic plants inspired by the structures, rhythms, and repeating forms found throughout nature. Through this body of work, she continues to explore how clay can capture the delicate qualities of living things while transforming them into lasting sculptural objects.

Vartan Poghosian

Director of Arts Education

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Vartan Poghosian is a contemporary ceramic artist, educator, and founder of 4 Elements Studio. Born and raised in Yerevan, Armenia, he studied Ceramic Arts at the Mkhitar Sebastatsi Educational Complex and continued developing his practice through mentorships and hands-on experience.

Following his military service, Poghosian relocated to the United States and settled in Upstate New York, where he became involved in teaching and volunteering with local art centers and community colleges. In 2009, he founded 4 Elements Studio, growing what began as a ceramic studio into a community arts center dedicated to providing creative opportunities, exhibitions, and arts education for people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities. In 2020, he established Clayville Pottery as a platform for his original ceramic work and continued artistic exploration.

Poghosian uses his work as a visual language to explore personal experience, identity, memory, and emotion. Drawing from cultural, historical, spiritual, and natural references, his ceramics balance functionality and sculpture while creating a sense of movement, energy, and environment. Color, texture, form, and symbolic motifs become tools for investigating his Armenian heritage, personal history, and evolving sense of self.

At the heart of Poghosian’s practice is a continual process of exploration—using clay not only to create objects, but to communicate experiences and ideas that extend beyond words.

Eh Pleh Hsoe

Admin Assistant

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Eh Pleh Hsoe immigrated to the United States from Thailand with her family in 2009, settling in Utica’s Cornhill neighborhood at the age of eight. While adapting to a new language, culture, and community, she discovered creativity as a powerful outlet for self-expression, confidence, and connection.

Eh’s artistic journey grew through her involvement with 4 Elements Studio, where she developed a passion for ceramics and found a strong sense of creative community. The studio became an important part of her growth both personally and artistically, encouraging her curiosity and willingness to experiment with new materials and techniques.

In 2022, Eh attended Mohawk Valley Community College, studying welding and metal fabrication and expanding her understanding of craftsmanship, design, and working with different materials. She later returned to 4 Elements Studio, where she continues to develop her own practice while sharing her skills and experiences as an artist and educator.

Rooted in curiosity, resilience, and lifelong learning, Eh’s work reflects her experiences as an immigrant, student, maker, and educator. Through ceramics, metalwork, and continued experimentation, she explores the possibilities of making while celebrating art’s ability to connect people, tell stories, and build community.

Andrea Vedder

Art Services Administrator

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Andrea Vedder is a working artist based in Dolgeville, New York. For more than 15 years, she has dedicated herself to the study and practice of oil painting, creating primarily still lifes from her home studio. Her work is rooted in classical painting techniques, with a strong emphasis on color theory, careful observation, and the ability to accurately mix and recreate virtually any color.

Inspired by the surrealist works of Salvador Dalí and other master artists, Andrea explores the use of symbolism and visual narrative, creating pieces that invite viewers to look beyond the surface and discover deeper meaning. Her paintings balance technical precision with imaginative storytelling, reflecting both traditional influences and personal expression.

Over the past three years as an artist and instructor at 4 Elements Studio, Andrea has expanded her practice to include ceramics and acrylic painting, broadening her artistic vocabulary while continuing to refine her skills. Committed to lifelong learning, she embraces every opportunity to grow as both an artist and an active member of her local creative community.

OUR INSTRUCTORS

Meet the artists and educators who bring creativity, experience, and hands-on learning to 4 Elements Studio.

Lisa Gambacorta

Creative Movement / Drumming Instructor

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Lisa Gambacorta is a certified yoga and Pilates instructor with a background in holistic fitness, mindfulness, education, and community wellness. Over the years, she has taught adult yoga classes through local studios and private organizations, facilitated children’s yoga programs in area schools, and developed a teaching practice centered on intentional movement, mindfulness, and personal well-being.

Lisa earned a Bachelor of Science in Child Life Psychology from Utica College and is a permanently certified New York State teacher in Human Services and Family Studies. She retired from public education in 2019 after more than 30 years of teaching. During her career, she often incorporated yoga and mindfulness practices into the classroom to support the emotional and physical well-being of her students.

Her dedication to education has been recognized throughout the community. Lisa was twice named an Outstanding Educator of the Year by the Utica Rotary Club, was recognized for the Friends of Children Award by the Mid-York Child Care Coordinating Council, and received the Mohawk Valley Education Distinguished Teacher Service Award through the Genesis Group. She was also awarded a full scholarship to attend the Mindfulness in Education teacher training at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York.

Lisa earned her yoga certification while still working as an educator after experiencing the transformative effects of yoga and meditation in her own life. That experience inspired her to help others discover greater balance, connection, and well-being through movement and mindfulness.

In addition to yoga and Pilates, Lisa is an accomplished hand drummer with many years of experience facilitating community drum circles and teaching hand drumming in elementary schools and local organizations. Her personal interests include hiking, nature photography, and playing the piano.

At 4 Elements Studio, Lisa continues to share her passion for yoga, intentional movement, mindfulness, and rhythm, creating welcoming experiences that encourage connection, creativity, and joy.

Victor Lenuzza

Painting Instructor

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Victor Martin Lenuzza is a Utica, New York–based artist whose work explores the presence, demeanor, and poise of people who live in the public eye, particularly performers, dancers, musicians, actors, and models.

Born in Utica, Lenuzza studied at Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute and is an alumnus of Syracuse University. He also spent two summers at the Illustration Academy in Kansas City, Missouri, studying alongside some of the country’s leading illustrators, including Mark English, Fred Otnes, and Malcolm T. Liepke. His work has been featured in Step by Step Graphics, the Society of Illustrators, and The Kansas City Star, and has been exhibited in New York City, Kansas City, Boston, Rochester, Utica, Italy, and Switzerland.

Travel has played an important role in Lenuzza’s artistic development. He has spent time throughout the United States and Europe painting, drawing, and exploring his Italian roots. His experiences abroad reinforced his belief in art as a universal form of communication—one capable of creating connections that transcend spoken language.

Lenuzza remains a prolific artist, continually working on multiple pieces and experimenting with new ideas and approaches. His practice is driven by an ongoing desire to push beyond the familiar and explore the unknown. He currently lives and works in Utica with his family.

“The work that I do is the result of an ongoing study of people who are in the ‘limelight’—performers, dancers, musicians, actors, and models—and the demeanor and poise of people who make a living being observed.”

— Victor Lenuzza

Tony Thompson

Pottery / Painting / Drawing Instructor

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Tony Thompson is an Upstate New York–based visual artist who grew up in Baldwinsville and now lives and works in Utica. He began gaining recognition in the early 2000s for his vivid, unconventional style, initially influenced by street art, urban culture, and three-dimensional design.

Over the years, Tony’s work has evolved through constant experimentation with sculpture, murals, acrylic, spray paint, and mixed media. He is especially drawn to unconventional and discarded materials, often transforming them into unexpected surfaces for his work and incorporating upcycling into his creative process. After years of balancing multiple jobs with exhibiting his artwork, Tony made the leap to becoming a full-time artist around 2011.

Despite health setbacks that challenged and ultimately helped reshape his artistic practice, Tony has continued to create, experiment, collaborate, and push his work in new directions. His largely self-taught approach has also been shaped by the knowledge and inspiration of fellow artists throughout the Upstate New York creative community.

Today, Tony is honored to pass those experiences on as an instructor at 4 Elements Studio. After once briefly pursuing college with the idea of becoming an art teacher, he never imagined he would eventually have the opportunity to teach professionally while continuing his own career as an artist. He encourages his students to experiment, take creative risks, and understand that mistakes can often become some of the most valuable tools for learning.

David Mentus

Pottery / Painting / Drawing Instructor

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David Mentus is a Utica-based artist, muralist, illustrator, and art educator whose work is deeply influenced by nature and the environments around him. Born in Brooklyn and raised in Utica, New York, David earned an Associate degree in Fine Art and Graphic Design from Mohawk Valley Community College.

Working across traditional and digital media, David’s practice includes illustration, painting, murals, printmaking, and mixed media. His work frequently draws inspiration from animals, insects, plants, and everyday encounters with the natural world. Through bold linework, color, and observation, he explores the relationship between personal experience, place, and the often-overlooked details of nature.

David is an Art Instructor at 4 Elements Studio, where he teaches painting, drawing, printmaking, pottery, and digital art to students of varying ages, backgrounds, and abilities. His approach to teaching emphasizes experimentation, accessibility, and helping students develop confidence in their own creative voice.

Alongside his studio and teaching practice, David is active in public and community-based art throughout Central New York, creating murals and collaborative projects that bring art into shared spaces. Whether working on a large-scale mural, an illustration, or alongside a student, he approaches art as an opportunity to remain curious, experiment, and continually grow.

Will Hubbard

Pottery / Painting / Drawing Instructor

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Will Hubbard is a multidisciplinary artist whose primary focus is illustration and ceramic sculpture, though he enjoys experimenting across a wide range of mediums. For Will, art has always been a way of communicating thoughts, emotions, and experiences that can be difficult to express through words.

His creative process is deeply personal and often cathartic, allowing him to explore and better understand his emotions through visual and sensory forms. Music is a major influence on his work, and he often draws inspiration from its rhythm, texture, and energy, translating those sensations into visual form.

Will believes that art should remain playful and exploratory. While challenging oneself is an important part of growing as an artist, he strives to maintain the curiosity and freedom that often come naturally to creating as a child. Through experimentation, he continues to develop his artistic voice while encouraging others to approach creativity with the same openness and sense of discovery.

Rayn-Boe Shutler

Pottery Instructor

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Rayn-Boe Shutler is a CNY-based interdisciplinary artist working across sculpture, printmaking, animation, painting, and pottery. They earned their BFA from the Alfred University School of Art & Design, where they concentrated in Sculpture & Integrated Practices and Video Art while pursuing an independent study in Performance Art.

Rayn-Boe’s work explores the relationships between ecosystems, transformation, and identity. Influenced by Abstract Expressionism and Lowbrow Art, they create playful yet visceral work that balances beauty with distortion. Through organic forms and imagined environments, Rayn-Boe invites viewers into strange, colorful worlds where wonder and discomfort exist side by side.

Alongside their studio practice, Rayn-Boe is an experienced art educator. They have developed and taught courses across a wide range of visual arts disciplines for students of all ages and experience levels through Munson Community Arts and 4 Elements Studio, encouraging students to build technical skills while developing their own creative voice.

Behind The Scenes