Meet the Faculty
Biz IQbal
Title: ProfessorDegrees: M.F.A., UC Berkeley; B.F.A., Academy of Art University
Teaching Experience: Since 2017
Career Highlights: Afghan-American artist and professor, exhibiting locally and nationally. Spearheaded sculpture renovations, curated exhibitions, and pioneered engaging curricula, blending tradition and innovation to inspire creativity and cultural understanding in diverse student communities.
Hobbies: Hiking, Playing tablas, Photography, Video Editing, Travel, Playing tag with my little daughter
Quote: "Painting is easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do.” - Edgar Degas
Website: bizrasam.com
Noah Buchanan
Title: Adjunct ProfessorDegrees: M.F.A., Painting, New York Academy of Art; B.A., Art, University of Santa Cruz; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Painting
Teaching Experience: Since 2003
Career Highlights: Exhibiting in the National Portrait Gallery, Museum Collections: Crocker Museum of Art (Sacramento, CA), Woodmere Museum of Art (Philadelphia, PA), Seven Bridges Foundation (Greenwich, CT). Painting the Salmagundi Club Library doors in New York, NY.
Hobbies: Surfing, playing guitar, and going to museums!
Quote: When I paint and think about paintings, I think about dreams, and what it feels like to be in a dream; the painting is felt through this lens. Both are a place where we surrender to a strange mode of existence made up of our hopes and fears, curiosities, pain, and love. The subjects we find there are pieces of our own psyche; from them we learn to see others in ourselves, and ourselves in others
Website: noahbuchananart.com
Zina Deretsky
Title: Adjunct ProfessorDegrees: M.A., Medical Illustration from the Department of Art As Applied to Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; B.A., Biology, Art, Yale
Teaching Experience: Since 1992
Career Highlights: Luce Scholarship and in person show in Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia. Fulbright to Spain for etymological illustration. A decade producing explanatory science graphics for the National Science Foundation.
Hobbies: Open water swimming, hiking, gardening and motorcycling.
Quote: "Bring me that horizon..." - Captain Jack Sparrow
Website: zina-studio.com
Meiru Huang
Title: Adjunct Professor
Michelle P. Kern
Title: Adjunct ProfessorDegrees: M.F.A., Fine Arts, California College of the Arts; B.F.A., Ceramics, California College of the Arts
Teaching Experience: Since 1996
Career Highlights: Recipient of the Ernie Kim Award for Ceramics in 2002 at the Richmond Art Center.
Hobbies: I enjoy crochet and fiber arts, digital photography, bookmaking, and printmaking, and learning new things. I buy a lot of books with the intent to read them, and sometimes do.
Quote: "First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you're inspired or not. Habit will help you finish and polish your stories. Inspiration won't. Habit is persistence in practice." - Octavia Butler
Emily Slapin
Title: Adjunct ProfessorDegrees: M.A., Medical Illustration, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; M.F.A., Drawing, New York Academy of Art; B.F.A., Illustration, Rhode Island School of Design
Teaching Experience: Since 2011
Career Highlights: Starting a medical illustration studio at Brown University Health.
Hobbies: I love spending time with my dog and rehabbing my historic house.
Quote: "Empathy is the most important trait for effective teaching"
