Meet Our Team
Larchmont Leadership Team
Caito Stewart | Director
Caito Stewart (she/her) is a multi-disciplinary visual artist and educator. After getting her BFA in Painting from Wash U in St. Louis, she moved to Tokyo to teach English for one year. Caito loved teaching, learning Japanese, and singing karaoke so much that she stayed almost ten years! In 2017, she returned to New York and got her MFA in Sculpture from Pratt Institute. She absolutely adores teaching people of all ages and is devoted to making the Larchmont One River School location a welcoming, exciting, and fun place to learn and make art!
Renata Francesco | Assistant Director of Education
Renata Francesco is a multimedia artist, illustrator, knitting enthusiast, and educator. She has been with One River since 2020, starting as an instructor at the Allendale studio before moving to the Larchmont location in 2024. Prior to joining One River, she completed a dual major in Visual Arts and Spanish Language and Literature at Fordham University in 2019, then received a Master's of the Arts in Teaching from William Paterson University in 2022. With considerable experience teaching art in public schools, private studios, and partnering organizations, she is so excited to work with Caito, Thea, and the fantastic Larchmont teaching team to better nurture the next generation of artists!
Thea Heilbron | Assistant Director of Member Services
Thea Heilbron is a multidisciplinary artist with a BFA in Studio Art and a BA in Art History from the University of New Mexico. She spent close to twenty years in the specialty coffee industry and will excitedly share brewing best practices or latte art tips. Her professional art practice is often in flux, but primarily focused on painting, digital imagery, embroidery, and crochet. Thea’s goal is to create a fun and safe environment to encourage artists of all ages to cultivate their creativity to the fullest. She believes everyone is an artist and hopes to contribute to the artistic growth of her community. Outside of celebrating the creative expression of her peers, she is an avid fan of the WNBA, a dedicated auntie, and the best friend of her dog, Ruthie.
In-Studio Educators
Joselyn Solano | Instructor
Joselyn Solano is a versatile artist with a vast range of styles and skills that include oil painting, acrylics and her main passion of digital art. Her passion for art derives from her childhood exposure to anime and the various art styles and expressions showcased on her favorite shows which served to spark the artistic flame in her art and is what motivates her to better her understanding and utilization of her artistic skills into her own work and fuels her passion for all animated projects.She is open to all forms of creative expression and loves opening the minds of students unsure of their artistic paths, she adapts to every students individual needs and aids them accordingly throughout their artistic journey. Joselyn’s goal is to further the artistic possibilities of her students and help them refine their individual art styles and surpass their own creative capabilities.
Dora Tomulic | Instructor
Dora Tomulic is a graduate from the Academy of Fine Art of University of Zagreb, Croatia with a MA in Fine Art. Following graduation, Dora spent a decade in Sri Lanka where she first worked as an art director in advertising before transitioning into teaching. Together with a group of like-minded artists and designers, she founded a design school (Academy of Design, AoD). She was fully involved in setting up the programs and writing course curriculum. Additionally, she was the editor of a monograph about the archaeoastronomy of the Diocletian’s Palace in Split, Croatia. She also contributed a chapter to a book on the poetic and theoretical ideas in visual art. In addition to theoretical research and teaching, she is a practicing artist as well. She has participated in many shows both locally and abroad, as well as having a solo museum exhibition. In her free time, Dora enjoys hiking, gardening, and landscape design. She is excited to share her knowledge and passion for art with the students of One River.
Lizzie Cohen | Instructor
Lizzie (she/her) is a portrait photographer and painter, and she received her BFA at Manhattanville College. She is currently a graduate student in art education at Manhattanville College and working towards a Master of Arts in Teaching. Lizzie loves teaching art and finds so much joy in bringing art into the lives of her students. During her free time, Lizzie loves making and doing commission work. She especially enjoys creating abstracted portraits based on a photograph. Lizzie finds that art makes such a difference in everyday life, and she aims to bring this idea into the classroom—encouraging her students to connect with art. Lizzie is a Larchmont resident, and she is thrilled to join the One River team.
Sarah Lakicevic | Instructor
Sarah Lakicevic is a freelance graphic designer and a practicing artist. She holds an AAS in Visual Art and Communications from Nassau Community College and is currently applying to finish her BFA. She has been involved in art since a young age and has recently completed work with small artists and businesses for package design. She is always inspired by Charles Robertson, her childhood neighbor and an encaustic artist. He gave her a solid foundation of knowledge and encouraged her to paint and draw the world as she sees it. She loves to foster environments with creativity and positivity both inside and outside of One River. In her spare time, she enjoys using watercolor, sculpture, or acrylic to create whimsical and fairytale-like pieces.
Ciara Gougherty | Instructor
Ciara is a multimedia artist with a digital background in the arts. Ciara has loved recently working with watercolor and gouache to do pet portraits. Ciara received a BFA in Animation specifically in the pre-production world from Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Savannah, Georgia. Ciara is hoping to achieve higher education in the following years. Ciara’s passion for teaching comes from the ability to give students opportunities to express themselves through art. Ciara believes anyone has the ability to make wonderful and thought provoking work no matter the age, background, or ability. Ciara’s teaching philosophy is to be comfortable with being uncomfortable therefore you’re always ready to try new ideas and mediums. When Ciara isn’t creating or teaching, Ciara loves to play video games, listen to podcasts, and eat sweets!
Samuel Chen | Instructor
Sam Chen graduated from SUNY Purchase with an Interdisciplinary BFA in Sculpture and Printmaking and is currently enrolled at Hunter College to receive a MA in Visual Arts Education (K-12). Sam enjoys working with students of all ages and sharing the endless possibilities in artmaking with them. He believes art can be an outlet to creatively discover the beauty within oneself and encourage students to become leaders in the classroom. Outside of art education, Sam is a ceramic artist and frequently collaborates with other ceramicists in upstate NY. Sam also enjoys going on long roadtrips, baking bread, and playing with his dogs.
Alexandra Courtney | Instructor
Alexandra Courtney is a Panamanian-American Visual Artist who received her BFA in Communications Design (Illustration) from Pratt Institute. She works across both digital and traditional media, including Digital Illustration, Ink, Acrylic painting, and Colored pencil. Alexandra’s passion for art comes from a love of storytelling, character design, and worldbuilding, inspired by animation, film, folklore, and visual narratives. Her work explores fantastical and surreal themes, often drawing inspiration from monsters, the supernatural, and imagined worlds, while weaving in elements of culture and identity. She believes art is a powerful tool for communication, self-expression, and curiosity that helps artists explore their creativity while building confidence in their skills and artistic voice.
Emma Pettinelli | Instructor
Emma Pettinelli is a professional 3D animator with a BFA in Computer Animation from Ringling College of Art + Design. Raised in Larchmont, she spent three years in Vancouver, Canada working on television animation for Nickelodeon, Apple TV, and Disney Jr. Emma's primary skillset revolves around digital art, but she is trained in a variety of traditional materials and would never shy away from a fun craft. Always willing to lend a helping hand, Emma cares about getting to know her students and bringing out the artist within them! When she's not teaching or animating, she can be found sketching or scrapbooking with her two cats, Licorice and Papaya.
Adrian Rochester | Instructor
Adrian Rochester is a graduate from SUNY Purchase, who received his BFA in painting and drawing. He is well-versed in different painting styles and drawing techniques, as well as having skills in digital art and animation. Adrian is heavily inspired by comics, manga, and anime, and how these forms of media can be combined with more traditional styles of art. He has had experience teaching and wishes to provide students with a space where they can fully express their creativity. Adrian is open to all forms of artwork and enjoys engaging with art forms outside his comfort zone. As a former student of One River Larchmont, Adrian aims to provide the same creative environment that pushed his growth as an artist.
Join Our Team
Career opportunities at One River School allow passionate artists, educators and lovers of art to share their love and knowledge of art and enhance the lives of people they connect with everyday.