Meet Our Team
Middletown Leadership Team
Jennifer Stetson | Director
Growing up in Florida, Jenn's earliest artistic interest was in dance. Jenn graduated from Florida Atlantic University with a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts where she concentrated in ceramics. After relocating to New Jersey with her husband, dance and ceramics remained as a focus of her creative activities. Jenn built a career in management where she educated and developed talent, maintained customer loyalty, and effectively led teams to accomplish personal and corporate goals. As part of a desire to return back to her love of art, Jenn found One River. Now she hopes to help associates experience the best possible work environment, provide students of all ages the opportunity to explore art in a fun way, and continue to strengthen the relationship between the school and the community.
Angela Slattery | Assistant Director of Education
Angela Slattery received her BA in Studio Art from Manhattanville College. She specializes in both mixed media and digital media. She has been doing commission work for over 7 years and participated in awarded exhibitions including the Grebstiend Award and Fagen Award. Angela believes art is an outlet for mental health and utilizes art to advocate for a healthier lifestyle.
In-Studio Educators
Monica Alvarado
Monica Alvarado graduated from Rutgers University–New Brunswick with a Bachelor of Arts in Art History. She is passionate about Impressionism and 19th-century female artists such as Lilly Martin Spencer. She previously worked at the Zimmerli Art Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she contributed to visitor experience and helped guests feel welcome in creative spaces. Monica enjoys working at One River School because she values creativity, community, and student growth.
Christina Brancella
Christina Brancella graduated from the School of Visual Arts in 2021 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, where she majored in 2D animation. She has worked with children and adults of all ages for 10 years while also working as a freelance artist and small art business owner. She truly enjoys working in all different mediums, but has a passion for digital art. Christina loves working at One River because she not only gets to help the next generation of artists find their own creative voice and style while helping them nurture their artistic talents. Christina also finds that being in a creative space like One River helps her students connect and develop their creative ideas.
Nicole DeBarberie
Nicole DeBarberie is a passionate artist and a NJ state-certified teacher of the arts. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the School of Visual Arts in NYC and completed her graduate studies with an MAT from the Monmouth University School of Education. Her accolades include the SVA Chairman’s Merit Award, Graduate Fellowship Award, and she was a NJ Distinguished Student Teacher Award nominee. With a dedicated passion for the process of creative problem-solving, artistic exploration, and over 15 years of teaching experience, her students have spanned the ages of 3 to 83 years old. Nicole loves teaching and writing curriculum for One River because she can utilize her art therapy background to tailor instruction to diverse learning styles, striving to motivate students of all abilities and skill levels. Nicole specializes in ink, pastel, charcoal, watercolor, and mixed media.
Katie Hodges
Katie Hodges graduated from Montclair State University with a BFA in Illustration in 2024. She works in a variety of mediums but acrylic paint and colored pencils together are her favorite. Her art primarily focuses on fantasy illustrations, and she draws lots of inspiration from TCGs like Magic The Gathering. She is very enthusiastic about working at One River because she gets to inspire a new generation of artists with her experience that she's picked up along the way!
Amber Manoski
Amber Manoski is an artist and educator who received her BFA in Illustration from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Since 2017, Amber has been an arts educator and a freelance illustrator/animator. While she primarily works digitally, she finds joy in exploring a variety of artistic mediums from project to project. Amber’s personal art practice delves into themes of memory, home, and identity. She approaches these topics with a blend of humor and sensitivity. Outside of art education, Amber also works as a teaching assistant at her local elementary school helping students with reading, writing, and math. When she's not creating or teaching you can find her shopping for plants and silly knick knacks for her home, or hanging out with her lovely tuxedo cat, Luna.
Franki DeSaro
Franki DeSaro is an interdisciplinary artist and art educator based in New Jersey. She holds a BFA in Painting from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and has exhibited her work internationally, including exhibitions at the Rema Hort Mann Foundation, Deep Space Gallery, MK Apothecary, Art Fair 14C, and at SCAD. DeSaro has participated in artist residencies with Bell Works, ChaNorth, and The Pingry School. In addition to her role at One River School, she teaches private access art classes at the Montclair Art Museum and has led natural dye and eco-printing workshops for middle and high school students in diverse community settings. Dedicated to making art accessible to all, Franki brings warmth to her teaching and studio practice for all ages. She enjoys teaching at One River because she finds joy in nurturing opportunities for children, adolescents, and adults to express their authentic selves through artistic expression.
Join Our Team
Career opportunities at One River School allow passionate artists, educators and lovers of art to share their love and knowledge of art and enhance the lives of people they connect with everyday.