Sarah Heitmeyer is an artist specializing in sculptural wall tile using ceramics and computer aided design. With 15 years of experience, her business creates work for private and commercial commissions.

Sarah received an emerging artist award from the National Council on Education of the Ceramic Arts in 2019. She received her MFA at the State University of New York at New Paltz and BFA from Alfred University. She exhibits her work across the US and has worked for ceramics studios such as KleinReid, Kala Stein Design, and ModCraft Tile, as well as in digital design and fabrication labs such as the Hudson Valley Additive Manufacturing Center and Polich Tallix.

Yeliz Saydan is a ceramic artist and researcher born in Turkey. She graduated from the Ceramics Department of the Fine Arts Faculty in Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University. She has a MA degree in the same discipline in 2009. In 2012, she participated art classes in The Art Students League of New York City. Along with practicing clay art, she is interested in culture-art, media-communication, social and educational projects. She gained experience and involved in several EU projects in Turkey, Germany, Spain and Italy. In particular, she has been conducting research on destinations of ceramic cities. In 2022, she took part in an Erasmus+ internship program at the Italian Association of Cities of Ceramics, collaborating with Çanakkale Municipality to specialize in this subject. Currently studying at the Art and Design Department of Izmir Dokuz Eylul University as a Proficiency in Art student. She carries out her art works and research in Çanakkale.

Abby Digital has been involved with computers since they were programmed with punch cards and paper tape. He learned Computer Science at Yale University under the tutelage of several graduate students, while he was still in high school. Over the years, he has been a pioneer in HVAC, Desktop Publishing, Video Special Effects, and Television Post-production Scheduling systems. A long time consultant for Judy Schwartz, Abby was involved with the realization of the concept of the Ceramic World Destinations map, and the architecture of its application.

Carla Aviles-Davidson holds an MBA in Marketing from the Zicklin School of Business and BA in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her lifelong passion for learning and storytelling fuels creative digital marketing initiatives that emphasize human connection. She has previously worked for the McCann agency pitching campaign recommendations for the Verizon and HomeGoods brands. When not diligently researching consumer trends and working on digital marketing projects, Carla is either reading an ever-growing pile of books or cooking some new, delicious recipe. She currently lives with her husband in Austin, Texas.

Jacqueline Tse is an artist and designer. She was awarded the Multicultural Fellowship in 2020 from the National Council on Education in the Ceramic Arts. Her work was selected for the 61st Faenza Biennale at the International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza, Italy, and has been featured in various publications about contemporary ceramic art. She is also a seasoned designer with over 15 years of experie nce in design consulting, development, and project management in branded consumer products. As a global citizen and tech-savvy individual, she is excited to work with MoCA/NY to enhance and enrich the digital experience of Ceramic World Destinations to all the ceramic art lovers out there.

Ilsy Jeon is a multidisciplinary artist and writer born and based in New York. She studied drawing and painting at Pratt Institute for two years and received her B.F.A Hons in Sculpture and Environmental Art from Glasgow School of Art where she completed a dissertation about the epistemology of museums through a postcolonial lens. She has participated in residencies in Iceland, Hungary, and the United States and has exhibited in New York, Glasgow, Seydisfjordur, and Budapest.

Leigh Taylor Mickelson is an artist and independent arts management consultant with 24 years of experience in nonprofit arts management, exhibition curation, and program development. From 2013-18 she served on the board of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) board as their Exhibitions Director and is currently a board member for Studio Potter. She received her MFA from Rochester Institute of Technology’s School for American Crafts.

Hailing from Austin, Texas, Will Resen is responsible for the development and digital infrastrucure of MOCA-NY and the Ceramic World Destinations web application. He currently works as a Senior Developer at Vitech Systems Group and a Senior Engineer at Iternal Technologies, and volunteers as a board member and director at the Museum of Ceramic Art - New York.