Classes

James Hendricks,  is an artist that graduated from University of Tennessee Knoxville in 2014 with a focus on therapeutic Art Programming, Special education with Autism and Spectrum services as well as behavioral health and Addiction Art Programming. 

With a career spanning five decades, Sandy is one of Sumner County’s preeminent art educators and a revered instructor at Monthaven Arts and Cultural Center. She began teaching in her home state of Pennsylvania in the early 1970s before moving to Hendersonville to work at Hawkins Junior High School. In 1985, she moved to Hendersonville High School, where she remained until her retirement in 2022. From the outset, Sandy never limited her creative activities to her day job. In the mid-1970s, she joined the newly formed Hendersonville Arts Council. She remained with this organization when it moved to Monthaven Mansion in the 1990s, and she continues today working with the hundreds of students enrolled in classes at the Monthaven Arts and Cultural Center. Sandy has sparked the creative imaginations of several generations of students. In the process, she has made Sumner County a more art-minded place. For Sandy, it has always been a labor of love.

“I love teaching and love working in mixed media. I’m blessed with four grown children and a flock of grand and great grandchildren”

Brooke is a Nashville-based artist with a passion for painting and sculpting. She expresses herself through creating surrealist art inspired by nature and self-discovery. She is enthusiastic about teaching art and helping others experience creative learning. Brooke teaches Color and Clay, Expressive Arts Fusion, and Sculpted Expressions. These classes cover everything from acrylic and oil painting to sculpting with clay and recyclable materials. She also works with the MACC’s arts outreach department and its marketing team.

Sadie Collins is a director, actor, writer, stage manager, and graduate student of Randolph College studying Theatre Directing. While pursuing her Bachelor’s degree in Theatre at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, she revitalized a student-led Shakespeare Company and was a co-creator of the Chattanooga Film Festival: The Roosties. Throughout her career in the performing arts, she has had the opportunity to work with many wonderful theatre companies including The Chattanooga Theatre Centre, The Robertson County Players, and Obvious Dad. 

A life-long theatre advocate, Collins is interested in directing performances that show the importance of the arts in our everyday lives. 

Megan is an artist and experienced educator with a BFA in Graphic Design from The Art Institute of Atlanta. She has been devoted to empowering kids and women through art for the past 10 years. Her mission is to inspire women to tap into their artistic potential, manage anxiety, and reduce stress by fostering intuition and self-expression. With a rich background in both art and teaching, she loves helping women discover their creativity. Megan teaches collage, mixed media and watercolor classes at Monthaven Arts and Cultural Center.

Cole has been playing music for as long as he can remember. He first fell in love with music when he picked up the fiddle at age 3. He started touring at the age of 8 with a group of violinists and played all over the southeast. He picked up singing and playing the guitar at 13 when he was gifted his great-grandfather's instrument. This was the beginning of Cole's artistry. Cole’s favorite part about playing with his band The Night Owls is getting to share stories and precious moments with friends and fans. No one has passion for music like Cole. His soulful, jazzy voice mixed with his country and rock-and-roll roots gives his band a unique sound.

Brooke Sanders is a classical pianist turned singer-songwriter and theater musician based in Nashville TN. Brooke recently graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston MA with a degree in songwriting and minors in musical theater writing and musical theater conducting. Brooke wears a lot of hats as a musician working in writing, performing, music direction, orchestration, business and arts administration. As a theater music director, Brooke recently music directed the Curtain Up concert at Berklee, featuring original theater songs that won the Curtain Up contest for new musical theater. She also recently music directed Anastasia at Boston University earning her an award from Boston University: On Broadway for Best Music Direction of the 2023-2024 season. She is also coming off her term as the President of the Broadway Band, the premier student run orchestra for musical theater at Berklee.

As a music director and lover of theater, she is known for being collaborative and a great communicator with people from all different kinds of backgrounds. She has worked as a director and music director for a variety of camps and community theater productions in the Nashville and Southern Kentucky areas including Mathilda the Musical with the Franklin Simpson Arts Council (2023), the Alice in Wonderland performance camp at Davidson Academy (2019), any Camp Creative at Calvary Baptist Church (2016-2023). She has also worked extensively as a private instructor for piano and voice, having taught students from ages 6-70.

Her love of theater stems from her love of storytelling and she hopes to help instill that love in young artists discovering their passions for the arts! 

Janice Patrignani is a design professional, visual artist, and art educator who develops custom teaching programs in a variety of media including watercolor, acrylic, silk painting, fiber arts, mosaics, bookmaking, encaustic wax, and clay. Her wearable art features layered Shibori techniques on silk—transparent, translucent, and opaque—dyed and discharged with natural, fiber-reactive, and acid dyes. She often enhances these pieces with needle-felted wool to accentuate pattern and texture.

Her mixed media sculptures incorporate found and forgotten objects, juxtaposing materials and keepsakes to create metaphor-rich works that reflect personal and collective resilience. Creating is a cathartic process for Janice and a lifelong survival skill.

Her current focus, the “Wide Blue Open Series,” explores texture, shadow, and memory using indigo-dyed Shibori and WWII parachute fabric, combined with encaustic wax. Janice has received multiple grants for her work in arts education, sculpture, and community art. She shares her passion for the healing power of art through workshops, public projects, and exhibitions throughout the tristate area.