What We Do

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.

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. She also serves on the Board of Trustees for the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History.

See More of Yvette's Work Here.

Meet our Staff

Our instructors are professional artists and experienced art teachers that can't wait to bring more creativity into your life.

Danielle Lewis

Ceramics & Studio Art Instructor

Danielle is a ceramicist who finds inspiration in all animals. Growing up in the Sierra Nevada mountains in a small log home with 5 acres of farmland, Danielle raised chickens llamas, and goats. Through her sculptures she aims to capture each animals spirit, infusing every piece with a sense of whimsy and personality.
Danielle specializes in pet memorial artwork. These pieces serve as a tangible tribute to the cherished memories and love we hold for our furry companions. Each sculpture is imbued with love and respect that she holds for animals and their devoted human companions.
To see Danielle’s art visit her Instagram @openeye_studioart

Grace

Studio Art Instructor

Grace is a practicing artist and educator and recently received her BA from UCSC in 2024 with working primarily in both painting and printmaking. She has been working with student artists since 2018 and is invested in promoting accessible and encouraging art education for all. In her personal practice she is invested in form, figure, and abstraction and continually strives to investigate the relationship between medium and meaning. She hopes to embolden all students to question and explore all corners of their creative minds through drawing, painting, and printmaking through critical observation and expressive study.

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.

Kalil Mitchell

Drawing & Painting Instructor

Kalil received Associates degrees in Fine Arts, Art History, and Liberal Arts from Cabrillo College in 2019 and her BFA in 2021 from San Jose State University. She specializes in pictorial arts, focusing on drawing, painting, and printmaking. She has exhibited works at Sweet Lorraine Gallery NY, Theta Belcher Gallery CA, and the Addison-Penzak Jewish Community Center CA. Kalil loves teaching art to all age groups. Kalil regards art as a beautiful modality for self expression, healing, belonging, and problem solving.

Autumn Kobayashi

Studio Art & Fiber Art Instructor

After studying at Cabrillo College to receive their Associate of Arts degree in 2019, Autumn began working from San Francisco graduating from SFSU with their BFA in 2021. They have taught art education to artists of all ages and have developed a passion for encouraging young creatives to explore their interest in the arts. With a focus on figurative imagery, Autumn works with both digital and traditional mediums to blend observations with fabricated concepts influenced by Anime, Surrealism, and naturally occurring patterns and textures.

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.

Website and IG

https://www.tiinaseppalainen.com/

https://www.instagram.com/tiinaseppalainen/

David Fremont

Drawing & 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. His latest project is a graphic novel series for kids entitled Carlton Crumple Creature Catcher published by Pixel + Ink / Holiday House. David and his family currently reside in Aptos, Ca. He teaches online animation courses at the Academy of Art Institute, SF.