Visual Arts Faculty
Joy Carson has been a working graphic designer for the past 25+ years. Her experience in the industry is multi-faceted. She was an art director for many years and has worked in various venues including; advertising agencies, display companies, creative groups as well as freelancing. Joy co-owned a corporation employing 25+ people that designed and produced technical training software for Fortune 500 companies and employed graphic designers, animators, audio engineers, and programmers as well as writers, and creative directors. Her experience is vast and varied.
Joy earned her B.F.A. in Graphic Design from Bowling Green State University. She completed her Masters in Education from the University of Toledo.
Joy is married to a photographer and video producer and they have one son, Zack.
Liz Hayes is a Maumee native who came to us from Kent State University where she received an extensive Bachelor of Arts degree in Art Education. While attending KSU she was a dancer/musician in the KSU African Music Ensemble and lead vocalist in the Kent based band, Courageous Minority. Liz has played several roles in many musical theatre productions, performed with a nationally recognized drum line, and has helped organize and teach Deca students leadership and motivational skills at summer retreats. Her concentrations in the visual arts include, but are not limited to, painting, drawing, surface design, & photography. In Liz’s spare time she continues to play all over Ohio with her band Courageous Minority and enjoys spending time with her new husband Jared. Her extensive experience in the arts and her passion for teaching kids has enabled Liz to contribute greatly to the Toledo School for the Arts. She could not have asked for a better place to teach.
Lydia Horvath is an artist with a passion for 2-dimensional media, especially drawing, watercolor, printmaking, and portraiture. She also has a broad knowledge of art history. She holds a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Toledo (magna cum laude) and an Associate of Arts degree from Rochester College (cum laude). Lydia comes to TSA after seven years teaching art at Alliance Academy of Toledo, teaching Toledo Museum of Art summer camps, and working as a caricaturist and face painter at the Toledo Zoo. Lydia is the alto section leader in the Collingwood Presbyterian choir, and has participated in various musical and dramatic organizations in the Toledo area, including the Triumvirate Productions, Waterville Playshop, the Toledo Opera Chorus, Toledo Choral Society, the Bowling Green Old English Madrigals, and the Toledo Area Presbyterian Combined Choir. She has been an exhibiting artist in a number of local art shows, such as Artists Who Teach, NOWOH in Bowling Green, and Art on the Mall at UT. She has been a presenter at the Ohio Art Education Convention, and was chosen to participate in the Art Institute of Chicago's TICA summer program for art educators in 2010. In addition to teaching art at TSA, she also helps run the TAG program with Mrs. Hayes. She has the best job on earth!
Stephen Johnston joined the staff of TSA during its initial year of operation, serving as teacher in both the visual art and social studies departments. He brings many years of experience in the arts and education to TSA. After teaching visual art and social studies at the senior high school in Washington C.H., Ohio, he developed community art education programs for the Toledo Botanical Garden. He also served as director of Images, Images, Images, Inc., an educational photography organization with a gallery in Cincinnati. In leadership positions with community art organizations including the Toledo Potters' Guild and the Toledo Friends of Photography, he volunteered his expertise to create educational activities for organization members and the public. In 1991, Stephen received the Toledo Federation of Art Societies Special Award in recognition of his ongoing efforts to promote the visual arts in Toledo.