Diane Enger

Art Instructor

Diane started her glass journey working in stained glass, switched to fusing and have been fusing glass for over 30 years. After receiving a master’s degree in art, she taught art in the Illinois Public School System, Kindergarten through Junior College, as well as gifted classes for 26 years. Diane chose to retire with her husband to the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina. She now finally has the time to be a full-time artist and fused glass teacher.

Glass fusing is a process of combining different glasses and components and heating them in a kiln. By manipulating time and temperature, different depths and surfaces can be created. She says her art is about reflection and contrast; to create visual pieces that give form to her thoughts and observations, using glass and the variety of textures that can be created using it. This combination creates a flow of designs intended to portray her reflections on life – external and internal. She hopes that her work inspires you to take time to reflect…

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Lara Hicks

Cooking Instructor

Chef Lara Hicks grew up in the Oak Hill area of Morganton and after graduation from Freedom High School continued education at Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte NC. After spending about 8 years between school and teaching culinary classes to the refugee community in east charlotte, Lara moved back home and found herself making random meals and cakes for friends of the family.

Not too long after moving home, Lara started an LLC and continued with private chef work through the present time and now holds the title for 3rd Best in Burke for caterer in 2023. She currently resides in Morganton with her sweet boyfriend, who assists with many private events and private classes. When she isn't teaching special cooking classes at the Burke Arts Council each month, Lara loves feeding her community and has a wholesome approach to teaching and creating beautiful food sourced from as many local farms/markets as possible.

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Dan Hoyle

Art Instructor

Dan Hoyle is a retired principal in the Burke County Public School System. He has been working with stained glass as a hobby for over forty years. He has taught many classes over the years in stained glass, lamp making, etching, kaleidoscope making, and 3-D projects.

Joey Allen Martin

Art Instructor

Joey Allen Martin is a Morganton-local artist with a focus in painting and drawing, exploring themes of absurdism, environmental degradation, and the subconscious. He received his MFA from Western Carolina University in 2025 and a BFA from UNC Greensboro in 2020. Joey’s painting practice has encompassed a range of approaches over the years.

By blending intuitive mark making with figurative imagery, he invites viewers to engage with layered narratives which distill the absurdity of contemporary life. Nature, in its vast scale and intricate beauty, serves as a central inspiration—both as a source of awe and wonderment and as a subject of human hubris. These same conceptual and technical sensibilities inform his teaching practice, where he fosters confidence and creative risk-taking by meeting students with empathy, curiosity, and mindfulness.

Nora Mosrie

Art Instructor

Nora Mosrie is a professional visual and performing artist who is committed to integrating the arts into education and community events. She is dedicated to sharing her passion and enthusiasm for the arts with intergenerational audiences through educational programming, theater, music performances and art exhibits. Nora believes that education through the arts is a powerful tool in building relationships, developing critical thinking skills, transforming lives and fostering positive change.

Visual art, music, acting, and dance are interwoven within Nora’s artistic journey. She has many years of performing experience in a variety of music genres and styles including solo work, ensemble and musical theatre. Nora is both a vocalist and instrumentalist with a primary focus on piano, guitar and the mountain dulcimer. Nora is also a painter, sculptor and costume designer. Nora is the music director for McDowell Children’s Theatre and a music director and costume designer for Tanglewood Youth Productions at Asheville Community Theatre. Nora received an M.A. in Art and Design in addition to a B.A. in Arts Education from Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia.

Cheri Natoli

Art Instructor

Cheri Natoli is a graduate of Indiana University with a Bachelor’s and a Masters degree in Fine Arts. She has studied under several artists throughout the years including Bonnie Skylarski and Tom Nachreiter.

Natoli's work has been featured in art shows in New York, Florida, California and North Carolina.

Natoli taught both Science and Art to middle school students. After retiring from teaching for 30 years in New York, Cheri moved to Morganton to be near her grandchildren.

DeAnna Steiner

Art Instructor

DeAnna took her first pottery class at Pullen Arts Center in Raleigh NC in 1998. It was an introductory class to wheel throwing. While she found it challenging, seeing the clay respond to slight changes in her movement was just magical. She was hooked!

She continued to work in information technology at IBM. During that time, she took numerous workshops and classes to expand her knowledge and hone her skills. She learned new throwing techniques, transitioned to handbuilding, and explored surface design methods. There was always something new to learn; there still is.

Cut to today, she lives in her childhood home in Morganton, NC. In 2020, she started Fig & Owl Studio and devoted all her energy to improving her craft and sharing what she loves with those in the community. She has recently started teaching and finds it so rewarding.

Zan Thompson

Art Instructor

Zan grew up playing and experimenting with art in his parents’ Atlanta studios. Of all the mediums, he loved watercolor, but found it more difficult than the other mediums. In fact, he would get so frustrated with watercolor he would walk away. His love for the medium would bring him back again and again till he finally conquered his frustration and found the joy and excitement he had always expected. Today, Zan paints strictly in watercolor, is a signature member of Watercolor Society of North Carolina, and teaches several classes which include; intro to watercolor equipment, drawing and perspective sketching, intro to watercolor basics, mixing color and paint consistency, varnishing watercolors, painting in watercolor and Plein-air tricks and techniques which is painting on location.

He loves to teach art from drawing to painting but especially watercolor painting. He likes to share with his students the little tricks that helped him conquer the difficult medium of watercolor.

Brittny Charity Valdes

Art & Music Instructor

Brittny graduated with a bachelor's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from Florida International University (FIU) in 2013 - during and after which she reported for the Miami Herald and Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers. By 2016, this first-generation Cuban-American daughter of immigrants, fully pivoted her career; leaving her tropical South Florida nest to travel the country in pursuit of an authentic creative career. Britt picked up the ukulele, paint brush and hula hoop, and created her own art business called Ukes 4 Dreams. U4D originated in Asheville, NC, with a four-part mission: music, art, education and charity. It consisted of playing and making ukulele music; hand-painting and selling playable, custom ukes for people; teaching children and adults how to play the uke; and living out her name Charity, by giving back to marginalized communities through music and art. Over the course of the years - and before settling in Morganton the fall of 2022 - U4D has changed a lot, but the heart of Brittny's art has always remained the same: to use music and art to give H.O.P.E.: Help to Other People Everywhere.

Our Teachers