Julie Rosenthale

Julie Rosenthale has been making art since her grandfather, a prolific painter, gave her a set of canvases and paint when she was a little child. She majored in Art History/Fine Art at Emory University, where she received her B.A., and was a member of the Stipe Society of Scholars for the creative arts, and recipient of the Stipe Creative Arts Honor for her work in ceramic sculpture.  In 2004, Julie earned a M.A.T. from The College of New Jersey in Elementary Education and is a NJ-certified elementary teacher.  She taught art for five years in a preschool in Princeton, as well as in the summer program at the Arts Council of Princeton.

Art Sparks is the brainchild of Julie, whose vision includes creating an art environment where children can explore and create using a variety of art media, acquire the language of art-making, and become familiar with the materials, tools, techniques, styles, artists, and artistic movements of the world of art - all within the spirit of a no-pressure approach, learning to reflect about the art-making process, embracing “mistakes” as a chance for learning and discovery, and most of all - joy!

Julie opened the Art Sparks Studio in Hopewell Borough in 2012.   She loves the process of discoveries made by experimenting with materials, and is ever-amazed by the creative and inspiring approaches to art that she learns from her young students.

Meta Arnold

Meta Dunkly Arnold has been teaching in the Mixed Media Arts classes at Art Sparks since the studio's opening in 2012.  She has been a Teaching Artist at West Windsor Arts Center, where her “Exploring Art” parent-child class introduces the work of contemporary artists to young children. With an MA from Yale in English literature, Meta has shifted in recent years to the visual arts that have been a lifelong interest. She works primarily in assemblage, creating 3D mixed-media pieces that are often kinetic and interactive. Her work has been exhibited at the Mariboe Gallery, ABstract EXpressions Gallery in Mount Holly, and the Arts Council of Princeton, where she has studied assemblage with Donna Payton and illustration and painting with Mickey Waring. Meta’s focus in her art and her teaching is on the excitement of discovery.