Spring Art Lecture Series

Marissa is the Gallery and Collection Coordinator for the Van Every/Smith Galleries at Davidson College. Before relocating to the Charlotte area in January 2017, she was the Curator of Collections at the Boca Raton Museum of Art. 

Marisa graduated from American University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in art history and earned dual Master of Arts degrees in art history and museum studies from the joint program between Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Museum of Art. 

Mary-Louise Biasotti Hooper, an international Italian-American artist, was raised amid the art shows of Washington Square Park, Greenwich Village NYC. She specializes in oils and watercolor inspired by her own photographs. 

Internationally, she is life-juried into the Biennale Internazionale Dell'Arte Contemporanea [Biennale International Contemporary Art Show] in Florence, Italy, has work in private collections in Italy, and shown in Germany. She is also juried into the Gallery of International Fulbright Artists/Scholars and has participated in international art projects.

Nationally, she has participated in numerous juried and non-juried individual and group shows in Michigan, California, Florida, Kansas, Washington D.C., Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. 

Mary-Louise Biasotti Hooper is presently a member of the International Fulbright Arts Task Force, an Associate member of the Oil Painters of America, and a member of Mooresville Arts where she is a master teacher of art.

Justin has been in education for over 14 years, teaching all grade levels from Kindergarten to the collegiate level.   

He received his Bachelors of Fine Arts in Time-Based Media Studies (Animation), from Columbus College of Art and Design, Masters of Fine Arts in Illustration from Academy of Art University, and Art Teacher Certification from Seton Hill University.  Justin has worked with ESPN, Wendy's, and the Walt Disney World Company within the visual arts field.   

"As an educator in the field of visual arts, I feel that it is important that every individual finds their own way to self-express themselves and to use that skill when moving forward in life's journey."

 As a contemporary artist, Anne looks for a unique point of view and often finds some unexpected beauty in what many would consider an ordinary or unattractive subject. She uses line in a unique way in her paintings. Artists that have influenced Harkness are Staprans, Diebenkorn, Degas, Japanese prints, Toulouse Lautrec, Klimpt, and Rutenburg.

If it's got a strong graphic image and it shows a unique point of view, chances are Harkness may like it. She loves the buttery texture of oil paint. Showing the process and those many lines and layers that lie underneath are part of what Harkness treasures. She says painting is like life, with its many layers peeking through to the finish.

In the past few years, her pieces have been in national and international shows, galleries and museums. 

Anne has been featured in American Art Collector Magazine, Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine, as well as in International Artist Magazine, where she won 2nd place in their Abstract/Experimental Art competition. She is represented by Lee Dellinger Fine Art, in NC. She is a member of American Women Artists and various other groups.