Cheryl Barton has been an instructor at the Academy of Art University since 2001, teaching art history and aesthetics and tutoring students with accommodations. She studied fine art at the Aegean School of Fine Art in Greece and the University of Salamanca in Spain, and holds degrees in art history from UCI and in museum studies through the classics department at SFSU. Working in a curator's and educator's role, she has been a part of the staff at several prestigious art and archaeological museums including the Norton Simon Museum, the Laguna Beach Museum, and the Southwest Museum, and has taught docents educational methodology at SFMOMA and the Oakland Museum of California. Published works include a range of art historical and process-oriented articles for national art magazines. She has traveled extensively in her life and career--a continual infatuation, starting as a student on an Aegean island in Greece, and has currently explored about fifty countries. Her living experiences in Europe, Asia, and Africa as a teacher and socio-political journalist ultimately led her to specialize in classical Greek art, but with a great passion for all the art historical eras about which she teaches (and many more!). In her classes she shares knowledge, personal experiences, and photographs in the hopes that her love of art and enthusiasm for its history adds depth and richness to students' learning experiences. She also is a printmaker in her own studio.

Sara Ellis received an MA in Art History from Queen’s University (Ontario, Canada) and a BA in History and Humanities from Simon Fraser University (British Columbia, Canada). Her research specialization is in Italian Renaissance art. In particular, her work focuses on secular wall painting – frescoes made to decorate private Italian palaces and homes – from the late 14th and early 15th centuries. More broadly, this research explores socio-cultural values of the period, relationships between patrons and artists, and the dissemination of particular visual themes and styles throughout Italy. As an instructor at the AAU, she has taught LA 120: Art History through the 15th Century and LA 121: Art History through the 19th Century and has authored and taught AHS 620: Italian Renaissance Art. In addition to teaching at the Academy, she is also involved in museum education, with experience at galleries in Canada and the US, and has an extensive background in library service. Her travels have taken her throughout Europe and include extended study periods in Florence and Prague. Outside of the classroom, her hobbies include cooking, baking, and reading.

Anna Glaze earned her BA in History of Art at The Ohio State University and her MA in Art History at University of California, Davis, where she specialized in the art and culture of late dynastic China. Her research includes scholar painting from the Ming/Qing transitional period, women’s embroidery of imperial China, and the decorative arts of the late Qing dynasty. She assisted in organizing the exhibition, Visualizing Revolution: Propaganda Posters from the People’s Republic of China, 1949-1989, held at the UC Davis Nelson Gallery in conjunction with the Shanghai Propaganda Art Centre. She is a member of the Association for Asian Studies where she has presented her research. Anna has worked as a specialist of Chinese works of art in appraisal and authentication at Bonhams Fine Art Auctioneers, San Francisco. She has taught at the Academy of Art University since 2012. Since then, she has authored AHS 600 Art History Theory and Methodologies course for incoming art history graduate students as well as AHS 634 Dada and Surrealism for continuing graduate students.

Candace Huey earned her MA in Art History at Courtauld Institute of Art (London, UK), graduating with Honors. Her thesis explores the issues surrounding the visual and material culture of 17th century Netherlandish Art. She earned her BA from UC Berkeley in the History of Art with a minor in Anthropology. Candace has worked for the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco as well as a major Bay Area art gallery and has interned at Courtauld Institute Gallery and Butterfields Auction House. Candace is a member of the Historians of Netherlandish Art and has presented her research at their conference in Amsterdam.

Gabriela Sotomayor is completing her PhD at the University of Oxford, UK, with a dissertation on the materials and techniques of Ptolemaic jewelry and engraved gems. While attaining her BA in Art History and Archaeology at Washington University in St Louis as a Gates Millennium Scholar, she studied in Florence, Italy, and Athens, Greece for a year. Subsequently, she earned her MA in Greek and Roman Art at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. Gabriela has worked in art museums and galleries in the US, UK and Chile, in addition publishing on Greek and Roman art. Gabriela continues to conduct research and publish on the subjects of ancient jewelry, luxuries and trade in the ancient world, engraved gems and the technical side of jewelry and gem production. In addition to her duties as the Director of the School of Art History, Gabriela teaches art history courses and designs jewelry.

Stephen Williams earned a BA and an MA in history at San Francisco State University. His graduate work included not only the study of civilization from antiquity through the Renaissance, but also the art of the early Renaissance. His research projects included the representation of St. Francis of Assisi in literature and art, the graphic art and text of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili of Colonna and its representation of Renaissance pagan ideals, as well as the evolution of early Christian iconography. Other topics of interest and research include the French Revolution and World War I. He is also enthusiastic about Italy and has studied Italian and history at the Scuola Leonardo Da Vinci in Rome. Mr. Williams has been teaching courses on art history and western civilization at the Academy since 2001.