About Us

Onolee Zwicke, Ph.D., Executive Director, Owner and Certified Instructor.
Three years ago, I decided to start KidzArt to share my passion for art with "kids" of all ages, to add more art to my own life, and to have fun. I wanted to inspire children and unleash their creative energies through the multi-faceted areas of visual arts. Now whether I teach or observe in KidzArt classes, I am fascinated and thrilled to watch a student come alive creatively and become more confident in their art and in other areas of their lives. With KidzArt, students have a safe and secure environment where they can experiment, problem solve, build skills, and produce fantastic art creations.

New parents often ask me if I drew their child's picture or if it was traced. I explain that every piece of work that children do in KidzArt is the ORIGINAL art of that child and that we never "touch" a child's work. The techniques by which we teach build success in every child. Students learn the language of art and to "see" how images are constructed. We guide children to problem solve, teach them to slow down and focus, and to patiently complete their work to the best of their ability.

As a life long educator with over 20 years experience teaching children and adults, I strive to offer the highest quality art curriculum and to hire teachers and staff who love working with kids. My undergraduate degree is in Child and Family Development from Virginia Tech and my PhD is in Education from the University of Connecticut. I was an elementary school teacher in Virginia and a visual arts teacher at Cold Spring School. I worked for the University of California, Santa Barbara as the Director of Training and Organizational Development for twelve years and currently for the County of Santa Barbara as a consultant in prevention policy and community advocacy. On a personal level, I try to impart my love for art to my daughters, ages 7 and 4. Through KidzArt classes, my girls are growing into wonderful young artists!

Laura Hubbard, B.A., KidzArt Program Manager and Certified Instructor.
In addition to her management responsibilities, Laura is our KidzArt teacher trainer and a top notch instructor of children. She is passionate about KidzArt and students of all ages in her classes are truly passionate about her! (if only I could clone her!) Laura was attracted to KidzArt because of its philosophy and creativity. She experiences a great deal of satisfaction because children love the work they create and parents are amazed at the quality of the projects their children bring home. Laura received her teaching credential at Antioch University and her B.A. from UC Santa Barbara where she double-majored in Art and Communication. She was awarded UCSB's William Dole Memorial Award for academic achievement in metal sculpture. Her artistic endeavors include oil painting, drawing and metal sculpture.

Meet Our KidzArt Certified Instructors!
KidzArt of Santa Barbara offers an enthusiastic and very talented staff of certified instructors. With experience in Education, Music and the Fine Arts, our certified instructors have a passion for children and for the mission of KidzArt.

Marina Delio, B.A.
Marina joined the KidzArt team for the 2006 Summer Camp. She previously taught sixth grade at Notre Dame School in Santa Barbara, and was the director of fine arts. Marina immediately loved the KidzArt program and sharing her passion for art and teaching. She was struck by the quality of work such young children were producing, and continues to be amazed by the improvement each student makes over the course of a KidzArt session.  Marina earned her B.A. in Education with a minor in Art from Westmont College, which included an internship teaching art at Cold Spring School. She also spent a semester in Florence, Italy studying art.

Devon Espejo, B.A.
Devon graduated from UCSB in 2002 with a double major in Art History and Italian Studies.  During her junior year, she studied abroad in Florence, Italy amongst the greatest masterpieces on the Renaissance where she was greatly inspired.  Influenced my her mother who is a second grade teacher at Cold Spring School, Devon has worked as both a teacher's aide and a substitute teacher in the community.

Kelly Scripps, B.A.
Kelly graduated from Principia College with a B.A. degree in Fine Arts. Her favorite media is watercolor. She loves teaching children the art of creating and helping to develop their strengths and styles. She shares the excitement and pride her students have when they create a wonderful piece of art. Kelly finds KidzArt a very rewarding job and believes it is a great place for the child artist to enhance their confidence and explore truly great artwork.

Tiere Jenuine
Tiere is a student at UCSB majoring in Communications with a minor
in Art History. Before joining the KidzArt team, she worked at an arts camp for kids in her hometown, San Diego. In her free time, she enjoys reading, being outdoors, painting and live music shows. Tiere is excited to be part of bringing visual arts into Santa Barbara and Goleta after school programs and watching creative minds grow!

Katrina Soltero
Katrina Soltero graduated with a B.A. degree from Dartmouth College.  While in New Hampshire, she was the Senior Intern for a program called START (Student Teachers in the Arts) at the Hopkins Center for the Performing Arts, which brought college students into the local schools to teach arts and crafts, dance, and drama.  Currently Katrina enjoys helping children explore their own creativity as a fourth grade teacher at Marymount of Santa Barbara during the school day and through KidzArt classes after school.  She is pursuing a Masters degree in Educational Leadership and Social Justice at Antioch University.