Staff​
Yvette Contois; Founder/Director and Art Instructor
With an early love for Art and Art Education, Yvette began her formal education in Philadelphia, starting as a high school student attending Moore College of Art. She went on to receive her Degree in Visual Communications & Graphic Design at The Art Institute of Philadelphia and soon after, received her BFA & K-12 Art Teaching Certification from Rosemont College, PA.
Yvette has been giving art lessons to adults & children since 1990. Her guiding passion is bringing art into the lives of her students. You will also find her teaching art at the Cabrillo College Stroke Center and at Santa Cruz Montessori. When not in the studio/classroom, Yvette continues her freelance career as a technical illustrator and commercial artist.
The Art Factory has been Yvette’s creative vision, long before it opened in the Spring of 2009. She enjoys the studio’s continual growth and looks forward to the future expansion of it’s programs, to serve more of our county’s youth, teen and adult community.
Abbey Andersen; Art Instructor
As a kid growing up just outside of Portland, Oregon, Abbey loved learning about animals and loved sketching them all over her homework papers. She took her passion for drawing to the art department at Humboldt State University, where she earned a degree in Art and Creative Writing.
As an illustrator, she specializes in “garden portraiture” with her own line of heirloom vegetable pun prints. Abbey enjoys all forms of art, from ceramics and colored pencil drawings to cake decorating and sewing projects, writing children’s stories and ukulele-ing.
She has been sharing her love of nature and art with students here each week since 2016!
Megan Eldredge; Art Instructor
Megan is currently enrolled in the Cabrillo College Honors Program and majoring in Studio Art. She draws and paints commissioned portraits, and has also designed infographics, flyers, company logos, and wine labels in the past. Aside from the Art Factory team, she has previously taught art lessons to kids’ summer camps––both in California and Ireland!––and looks forward to educating more young artists and encouraging their creativity.
Reyna Gallardo
Reyna is a local artist who has been working with kids since 2016. She is
a student at Cabrillo College and will soon be working on a B.S. in Visual Communication Design at San Francisco State. Her creative interests include printing, painting, sewing, and graphic design. Some of these works have recently been shown at Cabrillo Gallery and Subrosa Community Space. "I love working at the Art Factory because it is such a privilege to learn and grow alongside our students in their exploration of the natural world through art."