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Rena Karanouh is a graphic designer, illustrator, and educator whose work bridges visual storytelling, cultural memory, and place. For over 25 years, Rena has taught drawing, illustration, and printmaking, alongside her practice that includes book design, cultural collaborations, and international exhibitions. Her recent projects center on oral histories, printmaking, and the visual archive as tools for storytelling.

Rena Karanouh
Drawing | Collage | Printmaking

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Valerie Kniazeva is a York Region-born artist currently completing her final year in
the Bachelor of Education program at Queen’s University. Working with many mediums
throughout her life, she has found a calling to the depths of oil paints with the diverse tool of the
palette knife. Working on various projects and being inspired by the world around her, she
doesn’t hold back with art and is open to exploring and communicating with audiences through a
variety of colours, mediums, and expressive strokes.

Working at KSOA since her second year of undergrad, Valerie has been a Teaching Artist for
almost three years, using her national and international teaching experiences to help create a
comfortable and positive atmosphere in the studio. Working with all ages, she is motivated to
ensure that every student feels like the true artist they are, learning to lean into their unique
style, helping them learn how to use the arts for self-expression.

Valerie Kniazeva
Art History | Painting|
​Children's Programming

Nancy Steele
Oils | Acrylics | Plein Air​

Nancy Steele is an enthusiastic educator who teaches the foundations of observational painting and drawing practices, both indoors and outdoors. Nancy graduated from NSCAD and Queen's University, and continues to study master classes worldwide. Nancy seeks to explore, understand, and capture those moments when pauses in our awareness meet spaces in our environments. Nancy earned Best in Show at SquareFoot 2021 and 2025 at the Tett Centre in Kingston. 

Lisa Leskien
She/Her
Printmaking | Acrylic Painting | Crochet

Lisa Leskien is an artist on the loose.  Always exploring with her camera in hand, she enjoys collecting inspiration from the beautiful, rugged scenery of the Canadian Shield near her home North of Kingston.  Lisa creates stylized, representational oil paintings and lino & woodcut prints of scenes and objects from her life that radiate joy and energy using bold mark-making, thick "juicy" paint and a highly exaggerated use of colour. Lisa enjoys spreading that joy through her own artwork but also through teaching and coaching others in their artistic journeys at the Kingston School of Art where she teaches beginner, intermediate and landscape-focused painting classes, printmaking classes, crochet classes and arts workshops.

Lisa has a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from York University, and a Bachelor of Education Degree from Brock University.  She followed her dream to become an artist in 2021 after a 16-year career as an elementary school teacher.  Catch up to Lisa through her website.

Marta Scythes
Watercolours

Marta Scythes is a medical illustrator-researcher-educator. She teaches at the Haliburton School of Art & Design and Southampton Art School. Her illustration work has been published by Simon & Schuster, Camden House, Harper Collins, U of T Medical Society and McClelland & Stewart (UP NORTH nature series). She has designed and produced scientific animations on Type 1 Diabetes for The Hospital for Sick Children. Marta is currently collaborating with Queen's University, researching novel strategies for stroke rehabilitation at Providence Care Hospital in Kingston. ​

Floriana
​Ehninger-Cuervo
She/Her
Drawing & Illustration

Floriana Ehninger-Cuervo is an artist and illustrator with a love for drawing people. Her teaching focuses on building drawing skills, and helping others find the lines and rhythms that move through faces and bodies. She leads classes for teens and adults. ​
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Maevis Chamberlain
She/Her
​Children's Programming

Maevis Chamberlain is a multimedia artist who is currently working towards her Bachelors of Fine Arts at Queen's University. She works primarily in graphite, charcoal, and oil paint but enjoys experimenting in other mediums such as textiles, clay, and pastels. Her teaching philosophy is that art is a form of play and should be fun, and that she has as much to learn from her students as they do from her. Maevis looks forward to helping all of the creative and passionate projects that her students have. 
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Shannon Dickie
She/Her
Oil Painting | Mixed Media | Children's Programming

Shannon Dickie is an oil painter with a love of colour mixing and capturing memories. Shannon holds her Bachelors of Art from the University of Guelph with a major in Studio Art and a minor in Art History.  She has been an artist and arts educator for 15 years including Camp and School programs at the Art Gallery of Ontario and running the Visual Arts program at an Elementary School in Downtown Toronto.  Shannon shows her painting at Art Interiors and Blue Crow Gallery in Toronto as well as The Hive in Bath.
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Alanna Hakim
She/Her
Stained Glass | Weaving

Alanna Hakim is a self taught textile and stained glass artist, specializing in the combining of the two art forms. She enjoys creating with textures, shapes, and colours, while using both traditional and non-traditional techniques for both crafts.

Arshnoor Kaur
She/Her
Mixed Media | Sculpture | Oil

Arshnoor Kaur, mostly referred to as Arshi, is a mixed-media artist and educator specializing in sculpture and painting from Brampton. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) and is finishing up her studies in the Bachelor of Education program both at Queen’s University. She specializes in sculpture and oil painting but always seeks new media to explore. Her work emphasizes introspection, the passage of time, childhood, curiosity, family, and more. Furthermore, she aims to expand on immersive artwork by expressing feelings of familiarity, liminality, the BIPOC experience, and the concept of home. She is an active artist in her community and is currently living and working in Kingston, Ontario

Sarah Kaye
She/Her
Children's Programming

Sarah  Kaye  is  an  interdisciplinary  artist  based  in  Katarokwi/Kingston  currently  working 
towards  her  Bachelor  of  Fine  Arts  (Honours),  Bachelor  of  Education,  and  minor  in  Geography  at Queen’s  University.  She  specializes  in  performance,  printmaking,  and  sculpture  to  examine narratives  of  lived  experiences  and  the  body’s  capability  of  storing  memory.  In  her  teaching practice,  Sarah  strives  to  foster  creativity  and  exploration  through  meaningful  collaboration.

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Sumera Khan
​She/Her
Children's Programming

Sumera Khan has an Honors Bachelors in Visual Arts from the University of Toronto. Her personal art journey focuses mainly on painting human emotions and engaging portraiture works with traditional media. She has also found a valuable presence as an art content creator on YouTube (@ContemporarySumera) inspiring a global audience with art tutorials and artistic insights.
 
Sumera established herself as a known professional artist and art educator in her community in Saugeen Shores by showcasing her works at local galleries, teaching popular art programs at Southampton Arts School for kids ages 3+ and running her own coveted art classes as part of her Art Skool with K programs for more than 4 years. Sumera's playful and supportive approach ignites the creative spark in her students, encouraging them to explore and express themselves artistically. Through her dedication to both her own artistry and the growth of aspiring artists, Sumera remains a valuable figure in her art community. With her recent move to Kingston, she is looking forward to continuing her role as a traditional artist and art educator nurturing the young minds with the power of creativity and self expression. 
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Carleigh Candice Mignonne Milburn
​​She/Her 
Gouache | Upcycled Textiles | Sculpture | Mixed Digital Art-Media

​As both an artist and educator, my journey is characterized by a profound commitment to the intersection of artistic expression and Indigenous art-education. Holding certifications in Intermediate & Senior Divisions of Visual Arts and First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Studies, my qualifications, endorsed by the Ontario College of Teachers, attest to my dedication to culture and creativity.

Currently, I am completing my doctoral degree at Queen’s University, exploring the transformative potential of artificial intelligence and Indigenous artwork as a potent medium for storytelling. Specifically, I am investigating the dynamic interplay between digital design and the creation of impactful narratives within both public and digital spaces.

More Teaching Artists of KSOA!

Susana Beitman - Mexican Art
Margaret Bignell - Printmaking Open Studio
Nicholas Crombach - sculpture, life drawing, KSOA Open Studio Night
Bonnie Humber  - drawing
Fiona McMillan - multi-media & children's programming
Sheila Sim - calligraphy
Megan Sullivan - children's programming
Majella Turcotte - multi-media, & children's programming
Samantha Waddell - oil painting
Paul Whittingham - graphic design & artist workshops