Your creative retreat since 2009
What We Do
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Art Factory Studios is a community-centered artistic hub. Facilitating creative experiences through education, and events since 2009, Art Factory Studios creates impactful, artistic opportunities for corporations, adults and children – at in-person, destination and virtual locations. Corporate clients include; Apple, Adobe Systems, Applied Survey Research, Cabrillo College, Premiere Capital One, Safeway, County Park Friends of Santa Cruz County, Live Like Coco Foundation and many more. Whether you are seeking a corporate team building event or youth art instruction we bring you the gift of incredibly thoughtful services that usher you into the vast possibilities of the creative sphere.
Art Factory instructors bring cross-curricular experience to art education, using art as a medium to explore everything from history to mathematics to science. With an emphasis on art history, technique and creative expression, students will develop or expand their art practice. Our classes are held in a positive, non-competitive environment.
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©2023 Art Factory
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Yvette Contois; 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 and building strong creative teams in the workplace.
Art Factory Studios 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 its programs, to serve more of our county’s youth, teen and adult community.
When not in the studio/classroom, Yvette continues her freelance career as a technical illustrator and commercial artist and creative team builder.
Jaquelyn Johnson
Community Engagement & Customer Care Specialist
Jaquelyn comes from a theatre background, both as an actor and administrator. She worked for LA's largest non-profit theatre company, Center Theatre Group, for 10 years before moving to Santa Cruz. As CTG's Audience Engagement Manager, she designed and implemented immersive lobby experiences for patrons and managed a team of 30+ front of house staff. Her experience at CTG and her love of the arts have prepared Jaquelyn well for her role here at AFS. Jaquelyn is also an Event Specialist for the City of Capitola, where she plans and executes events like Capitola Plein Air.
David Fremont
Comics Instructor
David Fremont grew up in Fremont, California—yep, a Fremont from Fremont! He loved watching Underdog cartoons, reading comics and drawing with his brother. When David was 11, his cousin showed him a super cool shark comic that he had drawn, inspiring David to start drawing his own comics. When David grew up, he moved across the Bay to San Francisco, where he got a job painting cartoons at an animation studio. While at Colossal Pictures, he created projects for Cartoon Network and Disney. After moving to Los Angeles, he created a pilot for Nickelodeon and an online kids series for DreamWorksTV, called Public Pool.
Sami Moses
Studio Manager
Sami was an excellent student; her teachers’ only qualms being that she doodled in the margins of nearly every assignment she ever turned in! She graduated from the Visual Arts Conservatory at the Orange County School of the Arts and went on to achieve her B.S. in Ecology & Evolution and her M.A. in Education from UCSC. After serving as a middle school teacher and as her school’s Science Instructional Leader for several years, she joined us as Studio Manager to not only lead in scheduling and operations, but to support art instructors in refining their art curriculum and classroom management to drive impactful arts education here at AFS!
John McKinley
Studio Art Instructor
John began drawing at an early age and followed his passion to a long career in commercial illustration. After attending Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, John pursued freelance jobs in editorial art, advertising, character design, and most recently children's books. Locally John is a regular in the Santa Cruz Arts Council Open Studios Tour.
John loves creating amusing characters from his imagination and drawing subjects from the natural world. He believes improved drawing skills are available to everyone through practice and patience.
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Melissa Martin
Art Instructor
Ever since she can remember, Melissa has had a heart full of art! Her creative spirit has led her to explore all kinds of artistic mediums such as paint and pen to clay and beyond. Alongside her love for visual arts, she’s also passionate about writing, especially poetry and journalism.
As a multi-media artist and writer, Melissa earned her associate degree in both studio art and journalism. She continued to share her love for creativity by working as an after-school instructor, where she helps students discover their own unique artistic voices through fun, inspiring lessons that celebrate individuality.
Bishop Musgrave
Art Instructor
Bishop was born and raised in Aptos and has been working for the Art Factory for a little over a year. He primarily works with graphite and assists Comics classes with David. Outside of work he enjoys biking and working on vehicles. He also cares for two wonderful French bulldogs named Cece and Bailey, who are 4 and 8 years old respectively. Along with working at the Art Factory, he is attending Cabrillo College pursuing a degree in engineering technology.
Jason Matthews
Character Illustration Instructor
Jason earned his Studio Art degree from Cabrillo College in 2020, and began his role at the Art factory shortly thereafter. He currently teaches Character Illustration, a remote drawing class that introduces students to the magical world of visual storytelling.
His professional endeavors have included graphic design, storyboarding, game development and caricature art. In his downtime, he broadens his creative horizons by capturing illustrious nature photography.
Aralyn Ortega
Art Instructor
Aralyn Ortega graduated from high school a year ago and has always had a deep passion for art. Her journey with Art Factory Studios began while she was still a student, where she first discovered her love for ceramics. Over time, her skills and confidence flourished, and she transitioned from student to Teacher. Today, Aralyn teaches ceramics classes, inspiring others with her creativity, warmth, and dedication. She continues to grow as both an artist and educator, with dreams of making teaching a lifelong pursuit.
Jules Pennington
Art Instructor
Jules Pennington is an art and science educator from San Diego, CA. They enjoy creating all forms of art, specializing in printmaking and fiber arts. Jules believes that art education is essential for fostering creativity and self-expression. They are passionate about designing lessons that promote critical thinking skills, as well as the social and emotional development in our students.
Daymia Rousseau
Art Instructor
Daymia is an artist and UCSC History major studying to become a Public Educator. Daymia’s art career first took off during her education at the Walt Disney Family Museum, where she learned to advance her skills in character illustration, collaboration, and the animation process. Her main goal is to incorporate those skills into an academic environment, giving children the ability to healthily express themselves, collaborate and incorporate their interests, and explore their communities.
Kristen Sell
Art Instructor
Kristen Sell is a multimedia artist primarily working with oil paints, acrylic paints and soft pastels. Her main inspirations stem from surrealism, abstract patterning, the human figure, and natural wonders. She explores many themes including the human experience, interconnectedness, environmentalism, and child-like wonder. She is informed by her childhood imagination, personal life experiences and the human condition. With her art, she hopes to inspire others, encourage the joy of creativity within others, and contribute beauty to the world.
Socials: @kristensellart
Tiina Seppalainen
Artful Administrator
Tiina is a self-taught landscape artist and painter of nature. A native of Finland, she grew up exploring the natural world and doing art from a young age. Retiring from a tech career allowed her to dedicate time to her painting practice and continue her art education. She uses water-based media to represent our unique coastal areas. Tiina was selected to participate in the 2023 Capitola Plein Air. She regards art as a never-ending journey that teaches us how to really see, soothes our souls, and brings beauty into the world.
