The Portfolio: Four Schools of Art & Design Share Tips and Techniques

As Principal Admissions Counselor and Secondary Outreach for the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Kris Musto spends the school year traveling and working closely with art teachers and students in high school art classrooms around the country. Kris graduated with a BFA from MCAD and has worked in Admissions for 18 years. In between taking trips and making things, Kris teaches workshops on book binding, altered books, soft sculpture, intuitive drawing and developing a portfolio for art school. 

Courtney Richter is the Assistant Director of Admissions Recruitment at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles.  Along with the rest of the Admissions team, she helps clarify the admissions process for both domestic and international prospective students. Over the years, Courtney has worked at community printmaking workshops, artists’ studios, non-profit organizations in the arts, and gallery spaces. Courtney loves learning about the ideas and motivations of young artists, making her role at Otis College a true pleasure.

Courtney earned a BA in Studio Art and Art History from Wellesley College, and a Master of Fine Arts from the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University.

Lee Ann Adams has over thirteen years of experience working in nonprofit management, higher education, marketing, communications and arts administration, and has worked in the arts in various capacities since graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2003. She is currently the Assistant Director of Programs and Operations at the Association of Independent Colleges of Art & Design (AICAD) - a nonprofit membership organization of the 42 leading colleges of art and design. Her role with AICAD centers around leading the marketing and communications efforts of the organization, program development, event planning, and AICAD's financial and operational management. She works tirelessly to drive enrollment at AICAD member colleges, and to build the public recognition of the value of an art and design education more broadly.  

Prior to joining AICAD, Lee Ann worked in Admissions at the Rhode Island School of Design, as an Administrator in the Fine American Paintings Department at Christie’s Auction House in New York City, and as Assistant to the Director at the National Museum of American Illustration in Newport, Rhode Island.

Marie Manski is an Admissions Counselor at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA).  She earned her MFA from PAFA in 2013 and continues to live and work in Philadelphia, PA.  Marie is also a practicing visual artist who primarily works in installation and multimedia.  She recently won the ‘Best of Show in Sculpture’ and the ‘Museum Purchase Prize’ in the Art of the State exhibition at the Pennsylvania State Museum.  She also recently won the Fleisher Wind Challenge, an annual juried competition designed to showcase emerging artists.  Marie enjoys sharing her PAFA experience with prospective students as they consider colleges and their future.  She takes pride in encouraging and guiding young artists along their journey.

Olivia Logan hails from the Gulf Coast, but lives and works in Memphis, TN. She received her Bachelor’s in Design Art in Illustration from the Memphis College of Art in 2013 and is going on her 3^rd year working in her alma mater’s Admissions Office. When she’s not traveling or recruiting, she likes to study mythology, work on her comics and play Dungeons and Dragons.

Rebecca Stone-Danahy has worked in four independent schools serving in a range of positions from teacher to fine arts administrator. She has served as an adjunct faculty member and Instructional Leader for the North Carolina Virtual Public Schools, and to date, Rebecca has co-written nine online courses and authored several more independently. As a result of her work in independent schools and distance education, Rebecca was named a 2011 National Association of Independent Schools Teacher of the Future. She is the current President and founder of the NAEA Independent School Art Education Special Interest Group, the NAEA Advisory editor, and she is a co-facilitator and co-moderator for the NAEA monthly webinars series.