Art Department
Greta Marie Carlos
Greta Marie Carlos: Art Instructor for Adult Art Classes
Greta Marie Carlos was born and raised in Southern California and has recently moved to North Carolina. She has been involved for more than 50 years in the art field including several one-man shows, memberships in many art groups and numerous art teaching experiences. She has taught calligraphy, drawing and painting, colored pencil and pastel techniques and theories, all in the Los Angeles area. Her many art commissions have included her specialty in animal and human portraits done in water-soluble oils and in oil pastels as well as other media.
Mike Ericsson
Mike Ericsson: Art Instructor for Adult Art Classes
Mike Ericsson is an award winning graphic designer & illustrator with over forty years’ experience mostly in the Cleveland, Ohio area with American Greetings, Plus Mark, Those Characters From Cleveland, Joann Stores, Telarc Int., The Creative Group, ad agencies and studios. Mike had always done figurative paintings and pastel portraits concurrently. He has been exhibiting artwork and winning awards since the early seventies. Now he works full time in North Carolina as a fine artist painting in oils, pastels and watercolors.
Tim Stiles
Tim Stiles: Art Instructor for Pottery, Arts for All, and Youth Art Classes
Tim has three Associate degrees in Applied Science in Architecture Technologies, Science in Civil Engineering Technologies, and Fine Arts which he was honored with the title ‘Graduate of the Year’. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Winthrop University, SC with a concentration in ceramics and painting. In 2011, he earned National Board Certification in Visual Arts. Tim started teaching at Gaston School of the Arts in 2008, and currently teaches General Art classes to students 2nd through 12th grades in the after school program and summer camps. He has been teaching in Gaston County Schools for 15 years and currently teaches art at Stuart Cramer High School. Tim has been married to his wife, Holly, for 14 years and they have 3 children ages 11, 7 and 2. Together they partner with Gaston County as foster parent and have been licensed since May 2014. Tim, a native of Gaston county, is proud to share his love of the Visual Arts to students of Gaston and surrounding counties. His goal for each student would be to create visual art that expresses their ideas and interests by experimenting and most importantly having fun throughout the process!
Janie Oglesby: Art Instructor for Homeschool, Adult Art, & Pottery Classes
Janie is a multidisciplinary artist with a focus in painting and ceramics. She received her BFA in 2022 from Maryland Institute College of Arts in Baltimore. She has shown work in numerous exhibitions and won Best in Show at Longhouse Reserve Student Annual. She has also been a finalist in the Congressional Art Competition and in the Teeny Awards. Janie is from Long Island, NY, but her artwork is largely inspired by the UFOs she has seen while traveling through the states. She enjoys sharing her love of art through teaching.
Janie Oglesby
Drama Department
Sarah Buckner
Sarah has been teaching theater for twenty-four years in both public and private school settings and has been performing since she was in elementary school. She worked at the prestigious Northwest School of the Arts in Charlotte for fourteen years, teaching Playwrighting, Directing and Honors Acting classes to hundreds of students throughout her tenure. Sarah received her BS in Theatre Education at Appalachian State University and did her masters work in Arts Administration at Winthrop University. She has received five “Excellence in Directing” awards from the North Carolina Theatre Conference and has been named twice to “Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers”. Her students have won numerous acting awards and scholarships at festivals and competitions throughout the United States. In addition many of her students are currently working on Broadway, including two-time Tony nominee Eva Noblezada (Miss Saigon, Hadestown). Locally, Sarah served as the founder and Executive Director of impACT Theatre of Gastonia for nine years with her friend Tiffany Perry. In addition, Sarah has directed many shows and performed in several productions at the Little Theater of Gastonia. Sarah is also a produced playwright, and her adaptations of Medea and A Midsummer Night’s Dream have won awards at NCTC contests. Sarah also adapted and premiered the first staged production of the Young Adult novel What We Saw, which received much acclaim in the theatre community. Additionally, Sarah spearheaded the writing, production and direction of The Big Picture, which performed for eight years at the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center. Sarah also taught and coached Spoken Word poetry and teams of her students have gone on to represent Charlotte in the international Brave New Voices Youth Poetry Festival for many years. Sarah is married to Jonathan Buckner, who is also a Theatre teacher in Gastonia. They have two children, Maya Grace who is a Pre-Medicine P.A. track major at UNCC and Liam, a 15-year-old at Ashbrook High School. Sarah is very excited to meet and work with all of the students at Gaston School of the Arts Playhouse.
Sarah Buckner: Drama Instructor
Mrs. Marilyn Evans is a Children’s Theatre Specialist, Playwright, Director, and writer of children’s stories, who has taught theatre arts for over 20 years. She grew up in Brooklyn New York, but now lives in Gastonia, North Carolina. Mrs. Evans earned teaching credentials in Theatre Arts from Fresno State University in California. She has taken acting, directing, and scriptwriting at Los Angeles Southwest College and the Art Institute of Atlanta.
Mrs. Evans taught at: EGYPT Theatre in Oakland CA, Black Repertory Group in Berkeley CA, The Parks and Recreation Department in Modesto CA, and Spelman College in Atlanta Georgia, for the after school and summer camp program. Mrs. Evans enjoys teaching youth and loves to see them grow and build their self-esteem. Her goal is to let youth unfold the talents they have by realizing there is more to theatre arts than acting. She wants: Stage managers, stagehands, singers, dancers, artist, musicians, choreographers, set and costume designers to sign up to complete a production.
Marilyn Evans: Drama Instructor
Caroline Ross
Caroline Ross: Stage Manager
Caroline earned her BA in Theatre Arts from Catawba College in 1999. She has worked professionally as an Actor, Director, Stage Manager, Scenic Artist, and Props Manager. For over a decade, she has been able to do what she loves and travel all over the country doing it. She loves being a wife, mother, volunteer, and creating something new everyday.
Caroline has worked as a backstage volunteer and Stage Manager for The Little Mermaid Jr., High School Musical Jr., and Shrek Jr. here at GSOA.