Step Into Art Teachers

ABIGAIL S. RISCHIN, FOUNDER & PRESIDENT

Abby Rischin is the founder and president of Step Into Art, Inc. Abby designs and teaches Step Into Art programs, builds partnerships with schools and community organizations, and leads a devoted team of educators and teaching artists. Since founding Step Into Art in 2005, Abby has developed programs introducing over 6,500 children and young teens to art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Harvard Art Museums, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Peabody Essex Museum.  Abby established Step Into Art programs through a successful five-year partnership with the Newton Mayor’s Office for Cultural Affairs and subsequently expanded Step Into Art to reach children in schools all over Boston. Making school partnerships the organization’s singular focus from 2010 forward, Abby currently leads and teaches programs that serve hundreds of Boston students each year. Abby holds an A.B. degree magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Smith College and a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Yale University. Recognized for her outstanding teaching, Abby received the Yale College Prize Teaching Award. She also created a popular Yale College seminar, “Narratives of Art: Nineteenth-Century Fiction and the Visual Arts.” She has garnered generous research and study grants from numerous institutions, including the U.S. Department of Education and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Abby and her husband David live in the Boston area and have two daughters. Abby’s family helped inspire the creation of Step Into Art two decades ago.

LINDSEY KOCUR, VISUAL ART MANAGER

Lindsey Kocur is a practicing artist working primarily in mixed-media painting, drawing, and installation. As an independent teaching artist, project manager, and consultant for non-profit youth programs, she devises cross-disciplinary projects that incorporate educational concepts and impart life skills through art in disciplines including painting, drawing, sculpture, and printmaking. She previously founded the Roxbury Prep High School Visual Art Program in Roxbury, MA, where she designed and implemented visual arts programming for grades 11 and 12.  Before that, she served as Director of Visual Art at the West End House Boys and Girls Club of Allston, MA. Alongside her other endeavors, Lindsey taught Step Into Art programs from 2013-2018, having first become involved with SIA as an Americorps Teaching Fellow at Mother Caroline Academy from 2009-2011. She holds an MFA in Studio Art from Tufts University in partnership with the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, as well as a BS in Studio Art from Skidmore College.

SUSAN FOSTER JONES, SENIOR EDUCATOR

Susan Foster Jones has been a valued teacher and advisor for Step Into Art since 2007, when she was one of SIA’s first interns. As Senior Educator on the SIA teaching team, she brings her long, deep association with SIA to play a central in SIA’s sixth-grade program in particular, a program she helped shape from the very beginning.  A museum educator with nearly two decades of experience, Susan has been the Director of Education at the Concord Museum since 2009 where she oversees school programs, teacher programs, and the visitor experience including gallery learning. She helped to start the Paul Revere’s Ride program at the Concord Museum, which fully subsidizes field trips for students in underserved communities like Lowell and Lawrence. Susan earned a Master’s degree in the Arts in Education program from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a BA in Art History from Mount Holyoke College. She and her husband Tim live in Concord with their sons, Henry and Charlie.

COURTNEY COLE, LEAD TEACHER

Courtney Cole joined Step Into Art as lead teacher in the fall of 2022. When she was ten years old, her parents took her to her first art museum exhibition, which was the beginning of a lifelong love of art and art museums.  She started her career in the for-profit sector, working for J.P.Morgan, but she steered back to working in the arts after graduating from business school.  She now has over two decades of experience with museums, performing arts, and educational institutions.  Courtney received an A.B. in German and Art History from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Harvard University.  She was Director of Strategic Research and Analysis at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston from 2002 to 2007. Since 2007, she has worked as an independent consultant to arts and educational organizations, such as MIT Sloan, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Boston Ballet, and the American Repertory Theater.  She has also served on the Newton Theatre Company Board since 2018.  Courtney lives with her husband, Jason, and two daughters in Newton.

HANNAH VARDEN, TEACHING ARTIST

Hannah Varden is an artist and educator whose connection with Step Into Art began through SIA’s partnership with Mother Caroline Academy. She is a proponent of interdisciplinary arts education and breaching barriers to museum accessibility, both of which are values exemplified by the Step Into Art program. Hannah earned a Master of Arts in Teaching from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and BAs in Studio Art and Politics from the University of Virginia. Hannah has previously taught at Mother Caroline Academy and St. Joseph Preparatory High School in Brighton. She now works at the Peabody Essex Museum as the Manager of Community Engagement.  She continues to share her expertise as a teacher, curriculum developer, and designer with the SIA team.

SARAH DEIGHTON, SIA TEACHER

Sarah Deighton is a teacher for Step Into Art (SIA), driven by her passion for connecting students with new experiences. Her long-standing connection to SIA began in 2006 while she worked at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE), where she helped establish an internship partnership with the organization. Immediately drawn to SIA’s mission, Sarah deeply values its work with students, schools, artists and museum partners. Sarah’s personal interest in art started young; she grew up spending time in museums and schools as her mother taught art at a public elementary school in Massachusetts. Much of Sarah’s career has focused on supporting students as they “step into” experiences beyond the classroom – a focus she maintained while holding various roles at Harvard, Stanford, and UC Berkeley. She continues to be passionate about helping students see beyond their current perspective by connecting them to new opportunities and ideas. She is now thrilled to work directly with elementary students, enabling them to explore museums, learn about artists, and build new connections that broaden their world through art. Sarah holds a B.S. degree from Northwestern University and a Master’s degree in Education from Harvard University. She resides in the Boston area with her husband and 3 children. 

MARGERY SOKOLOFF, SIA TEACHER

Margery Sokoloff is the Associate Director of the Teacher Leadership Program and a Field Instructor for Secondary English teachers in the MAT (Master of Arts in Teaching) program at Brandeis University.  Margery has worked as an educator since 1989 and as a teacher educator since 2006 when she joined the faculty of the Bread Loaf School of English. She has a BA and PhD in English Literature from Yale University and has taught English at the high school and college levels at schools in Miami, FL and Boston, MA. Margery loves being a part of the Step Into Art team as a teacher in the 3rd-grade program.