Monica Hampton
Executive Director
Monica Hampton has had a lifelong interest in the arts and education. Her background is a combination of fine arts, art history, education, and public outreach, with an emphasis on program development for museums and organizations specializing in history, fine art, craft, and design.
As an independent consultant, she produced the American Craft Council’s 2016 conference. Monica served as the Director of Education at The Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG) and was formerly the Director of Education at the American Craft Council (ACC).
Past positions include working with the Society for Environmental Graphic Design (SEGD), Metropolis Magazine, and the Cooper-Hewitt.
She studied fine arts and art history at Bard College, received a dual fine arts/art history BA degree from George Washington University, and holds an MS in Museum Education from Bank Street.
Pam Robinson
Director of Education
Pam Robinson is a Chicago-based jeweler, artist, educator, arts administrator and hockey fan!
For over 27 years she worked at Lillstreet Art Center where she had taught classes, was the Director of the Metalsmithing, Jewelry & Glass department and was their Director of Education.
She is a member of The Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG) and served on their Board of Directors. As their conference liaison, she was instrumental in organizing, planning and scheduling conferences. She helped implement changes to the structure and schedules within the conferences and created policies and contracts to streamline these complex events. In addition, she managed the Education Dialogue, the Trunk Show, workshops, and tirelessly edited the conference brochures. In 2019 she received the SNAG Volunteer Recognition Award for her service.
She is currently on the board of the Women’s Jeweler’s Association (WJA) — Chicago chapter as their Programming VP and was a founding member of The Chicago Metals Art Guild (CMAG).
Pam earned her BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, minored in art history, and studied at The Gemological Institute of America. She is proud of her community outreach work, has exhibited her work nationwide, published in books and magazines, and is happiest when she’s in her studio creating and sharing her passion with others.
Katrina Carlson
EFASO Intern
Katrina (Duperree)Carlson is a Western Pennsylvania based artist and furniture maker. She received a BFA from Edinboro University in 2016 and apprenticed in Egg Collective’s Brooklyn based studio the following year. She is a recipient of the Windgate Fellowship and Ruth Clark Scholarship for furniture design. She currently spends the majority of her creative practice building a tiny house with her husband.
Lauren Verdugo
Administrative Intern
Lauren is a Southern California based artist and woodworker. She currently lives in San Diego, CA and is finishing her BA in Applied Design at San Diego State University.
Since 2012, Lauren served as both Art Education Assistant and Workshop Assistant at the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts. She has served her local community through her work in K‑12 arts education and continues to work alongside local non-profit art organizations to promote emerging artists in her hometown and surrounding areas.
Lauren’s work ranges from furniture to sculpture with no limitations on mixing media. Found objects, steel, wood and cardboard are all in constant experimentation. Her furniture acts as a reaction to her roots in studying mid century furniture while exploring the limits of simple/minimal design. She is a recipient of a 2020 California Arts Council grant, an Art Council Award from the School of Art and Design at SDSU, and has been featured in various Southern California based art publications including Woodworker West Magazine.
Check out Lauren’s website and on Instagram

Alexander Zimmerman
Video Editing Intern
Alexander Zimmerman is an artist, musician, YouTuber, podcaster and father. He likes to define himself as a creative as he does not align with any one particular form of creativity. Currently he is a MFA candidate at San Diego State University school of Art and Design. When he is not working on a project you can find him watching the Seattle Seahawks, watching Marvel movies, hanging out with his kids, or taking naps.
Check out Alex’s work on:
His Website, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter