Teachers and Staff

Lauren spent her childhood in Long Island, New York, and she was fortunate to have parents who exposed her to both art and skiing at a young age. Lauren loved to do anything creative and this became her passion growing up. When it came time to select a college and a major, her family was incredibly supportive of her love of art and everyone brainstormed ideas that would allow her to pursue art as a career. There were many conversations around the dinner table that sparked the idea of opening an arts center someday! 

Lauren attended University of Michigan’s School of Art and Design and she explored as many art mediums as she could fit into four years. After college, Lauren accepted a K-12 Art Teacher position at Vail Mountain School and moved to beautiful Vail, Colorado which quickly became home. Her love of teaching, connections with families throughout the valley, and role on the board of Eagle Valley Artists Alliance sparked the idea to open Alpine Arts Center for the community. Lauren is thrilled to realize her lifelong dream and explore this journey as Alpine Arts Center’s owner and founder. Lauren’s Portfolio

Val spent her childhood in Belgium with a very crafty mom. She moved to the Vail Valley (after an 8 year stop in the South East of France) to become a ski and fitness instructor. She teaches various mediums during summer camps, but her favorite is to reuse materials and repurpose them to create art. Currently, she’s also hooked on watercolor! Val loves skiing, cooking, nature, photography and her sweet family (2 daughters, plus her handsome and handy husband). Valerie’s Portfolio

Debbie has lived and worked in the Vail Valley for 30+ years. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Ohio University with a major in painting, however, realized in her final quarter that her passion was really ceramics. From graduation on, she pursued ceramics beginning with work in a small pottery studio on the upper west side of Manhattan. Eventually, she began teaching pottery classes, entering her work in art shows around the city and finally became one of the founding members and owners of the 78th Street Pottery Coop in New York City.

In 1976 she attended a summer workshop at the SummerVail Art Workshops, where she studied ceramics and fell in love with Colorado. She accepted a position with the SummerVail Art Workshops as ceramics assistant, and moved to Vail. Debbie says, “It was an inspiring summer and I continued to work for the Workshop for several summers, in addition to teaching pottery classes at Colorado Mountain College’s two facilities in Vail and Eagle.” She produced a line of dinner ware in her East Vail pottery studio, and her pottery was sold in galleries in Vail, Minturn, and Glenwood Springs, as well as numerous art shows and festivals throughout Colorado, including Vail Arts Festivals where she won Best of Show several years running. In addition to her ceramics career, Debbie taught Art at Red Sandstone Elementary School for many years. Debbie’s Portfolio

Emma grew up in Idaho and has spent the past three years living and working in mountain towns across the West, including Bozeman, Montana, and Alta, Utah. Deeply inspired by alpine environments and an active outdoor lifestyle, she spends her free time skiing, climbing, biking, and rafting whenever possible.

Her artistic practice spans multiple mediums, with a focus on paint, pen and ink, graphite, and printmaking. Emma enjoys exploring texture, line, and movement in her work, often drawing influence from the landscapes and communities that have shaped her.

Now a new face in the Vail Valley, Emma is thrilled to call the area home and is excited to continue growing both creatively and professionally within the local art community.

Kaela grew up in the Vail Valley, where her parents took her on all manner of outdoor adventures. She enjoyed doing art projects with her grandfather who was an art teacher for most of his career, and loved getting hands on with everything from science projects to fixing bikes with her dad. She also loved to bake with her grandmother and mom, and would do any kind of craft she could get her hands on.

After working a few biology-based jobs out of college, Kaela moved back to the Vail Valley with her now husband and reconnected with the outdoors and art. She works as a ski patroller at Beaver Creek in the winter and a trail builder in the summer. She painted her first mural in 2023 and has done several murals and other large scale projects since then. She’s also dabbled in photography, finding any excuse to get outside and find inspiration for her next pieces of art. You can check out her work on Instagram: @little_bear_creates

Abigail has lived in the Vail Valley her whole life, growing up surrounded by mountains, creativity, and community. She has always loved art and being crafty, taking many art classes in school and exploring a wide variety of artistic mediums. Abigail enjoys expressing herself through design and hands-on projects, and she’s always eager to learn new techniques. She also loves helping people, which led her to teach gymnastics to little kids and spend time babysitting. Through those experiences, Abigail discovered how much she enjoys caring for children, helping them learn, and making sure they have fun. Her warm personality, creativity, and dedication to others shine through in everything she does.

When Emily first picked up a camera years ago it opened her eyes in a way that encouraged her to slow down and see the daily surroundings in a new light, and she began self teaching. Emily believes that we cultivate empathy and new approaches to our ingrained modes of thought when we stay open to viewing our environments from different angles, in various lights, and from others’ perspectives as well. As a member of Nature First, a global alliance for responsible nature photography, a lot of Emily’s work focuses on our natural surroundings as she is passionate about the care and preservation of our outdoor spaces and wild places. She enjoys working with nature networks and organizations doing good things for the community and for the environment. Emily Kent loves being able to capture unique moments with those you love in the artistry of our natural surroundings. 

Emily grew up in the state of Minnesota and worked for both undergraduate and graduate degrees, in Psychology and Education. After college, Emily and her husband, along with two daughters moved around the country during the family’s 16 years in the U.S. Air Force. The Kents transitioned to the mountains of Colorado in summer of 2019 and are overjoyed to call this beautiful place home.  Emily’s Portfolio