Sandra Weston has been an artist “forever.” She has always enjoyed drawing and experimenting with different art media; especially coloring outside of the lines. As a first grader, she won a prestigious first place art award for her famous "Don't Run in the Hallways" poster of a stick person not running in the hallways. She has since earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from California State University at Fresno, and has taken additional art courses during and since raising (and home schooling) her five amazing children. In California she taught cultural arts classes in Fresno, children’s art classes at Fort Ord in Seaside, and private art classes for home-schooled children in Indio, Salinas, and Monterey. After moving to Blackfoot, Idaho in 2004, she began teaching art classes and workshops in the basement of her home. Needing more space (and a lot more light), she partnered with the Blackfoot Community Center where she taught after school and summer art classes before opening the Blackfoot Art Center at its downtown facility in 2015. Unfortunately, in May of 2020, COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of the downtown studio, but no worries! The BAC studio can once again be found at its original location in Blackfoot! 

  

As Founder and Director of the Blackfoot Art Center, Sandra continues to share her passion for making art. She schedules and teaches art classes and camps throughout the summer months as well as arranging private and semi-private lessons for homeschooling families, co-ops, and others throughout the school year. 


John Martin was raised in southeastern Idaho and having had some experience in the arts in primary education, his gifts in fine art, especially in portraiture, became evident.

 

After three years of education at universities, he began accepting portrait commissions and studying privately from the works of the masters. He eventually expanded his experience to life study outdoors, in painting from nature with the realization that developing sensitivity in observation and expression from nature was a sure course for great art. John had discovered the study of light and color, and how the dance together with form is so beautiful and alive. This new awareness of nature had effected a change in his style becoming more impressionistic.

 

With the realization of much potential still waiting within, John sought out contemporaries of the old masters, and discovered the work of Sergei Bongart, a Russian Master whose work he had seen and admired. It was during this time John had sought out a living master, Ovanes Berberian, who is a colorist and expressionist who had studied with Bongart. John spent several years in the influence of Ovanes personally and has developed great appreciation for the timeless insight of the old masters that are embodied in his work.

 

An accomplished art teacher as well as a forever student of art – John has received much recognition while demonstrating and teaching in various academic settings.

 

John currently resides with his family in southeastern Idaho in the quiet countryside near the small town of Firth; where he creates art and occasionally teaches art classes to help others learn the timeless truths of the old masters. You can find John's art classes, as they are scheduled, by clicking the Classes > Adult Classes tab above. 


Robin Andersen is an advocate for the arts and the development of creative thinking irrespective of a person’s age or abilities. She believes every person is innately creative, and embracing creative expression is essential to growth and well being. She holds a master’s degree in Management and Organizational Leadership with a focus on how creative thinking skills are understood within a business environment.

 

When she is not reading books on creative thinking, she spends time in her art room experimenting and learning visual art techniques from artists on-line. A few of her interests include book binding, painting, collage (mixed media), sculpting, and photography. She has participated in workshops in acrylic painting techniques, paper making from wild plants, and she has even tried the art of glass blowing. She is honored to volunteer with the Blackfoot Art Center to support its mission.


Bailey Dann comes from a family of artists. Her first memories of creating art begin when she designed and "published" her own picture book in kindergarten. Since then, she has become a master of the scribble, spilling paint on her clothes, and using right-handed scissors despite being a lefty. She recently graduated from Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa where she studied anthropology, 5-12th grade education, and studio art.

 

Bailey has a deep connection with art and believes that everyone has a deep connection too; it's just a matter of letting go of the notion that only "artists" do art, and finding a medium that excites them. Because all human beings are artists of their own lives, and they deserve to be able to tell their story in a way that makes sense to them. You can find Bailey volunteering at the Blackfoot Art Center on weekdays during the summer months.


Erica Baguley has been an artist since she can remember. In grade school she would always spend time with her best friend practicing drawing and seeing who could create something new. Throughout high school she attended multiple art classes even when she had taken the class already. She attended Idaho State University and took a handful of art classes there as well.

 

Erica has always been inspired by the world around her for ideas for her art. Many have told her she has that "artistic eye". She believes that everyone is capable of creating art in one way or another. She enjoys sketching with pencil and pen, painting with everything she can get her hands on, and has also tried sculpting. Coming from a family of teachers, Erica hopes that volunteering at the Art Center will provide her with the incentive she needs to someday become an art teacher.