Institute Faculty - Classical Iconography

Alice Bolgova
Instructor of Iconographic Calligraphy & Ornamentation, Institute Librarian

Alice Bolgova was born and raised in Moscow into a Polish-Russian family.

Alice Bolgova |Iconographic Calligraphy Instructor & Institute Librarian

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She holds an engineering degree in computer science and has been studying theology at St. Thomas Institute of Philosophy and Theology in Moscow. She arrived in Oregon in 2017. Being far away from home she rediscovered her interest in traditional Slavic culture including embroidery, traditional costume, and subsequently, iconography.

Alice is the Classical Iconography Institute Librarian and teaches traditional Russian, Greek and Latin iconographic calligraphy, as well as specialized courses in Iconography Ornamentation.

Fr. Jon Buffington
Advanced Iconography Instructor

Fr. Jon Buffington, a Chaldean Catholic Priest, began his priesthood in 1981 as chaplain at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California.

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Fr. Jon Buffington |Advanced Iconography Instructor

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For three years, he served as secretary to the new Chaldean Bishop and Chancellor of the new Chaldean Eparchy in Detroit, returning to San Francisco to begin a 30-year career in hospital chaplaincy. In 1990, Fr. Jon become a Chaplain at Providence Portland Medical Center in Portland, Oregon.

Intrigued by iconography, Fr. Jon began teaching himself from books until two years later he found the Iconographic Arts Institute in Mount Angel, Oregon where in 1999 he began his formal training. In 2007, Fr Jon spent his three-month sabbatical studying with master iconographers in Florence, Rome, and Siena. In Evian les Bains, France, Fr. Jon studied with Fr. Egon Sendler – the recognized authority and leading figure in 21^st century iconography who authored a seminal book on the subject. Fr. Jon spent a portion of his sabbatical working with Fr. Egon Sendler in Evian les Bains, concluding his sabbatical with an additional three months in Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Turkey and Greece, studying the development of the icon.

Fr. Jon has written numerous icons in various styles, which are now in churches, chapels and in private collections in more than six countries on three continents and in over twenty US states. In 2012, Fr Jon began teaching at Trinity Iconography Institute where he converted instruction from the acrylic medium to traditional egg tempera.

In 2022, Fr. Jon joined the Classical Iconography Institute to instruct the advanced students in the ancient medium of egg tempera iconography.

Emma Fitzgerald
Byzantine Drawing Instructor & Executive Admin. Assistant

Emma Fitzgerald (Coley) began studying with the Classical Iconography Institute in 2021.

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Emma Fitzgerald |Byzantine Drawing Instructor

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The following year, she began apprenticing with lead instructor Ania Kocurek-Williams, with a focus on iconographic drawing. Emma now teaches the online and in-person Byzantine Drawing I classes and is preparing to teach Byzantine Drawing II.

Emma moved to Portland in 2020 after graduating from Princeton University with a degree in religious studies. In addition to teaching drawing and assisting with technology at the Institute, Emma is a live-in volunteer at the Simone Weil Catholic Worker in NE Portland. You will likely be in touch with Emma first, as Emma is the Institute’s Executive Administrative Assistant and first touch to the community.

Nachi Kobayashi
Institute Icon Board Specialist

Nachi is originally from Hiroshima, Japan and moved to the US in 2001. She was baptized into the Catholic Church with her newborn first child, Luca, in 2003.

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Nashi Kobayashi |Institute Icon Board Specialist

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Since then, she has been looking for ways to connect with God and the church. One day, she attended Mass celebrated by Institute Iconographer Fr. Jon Buffington and learned that he taught iconography classes. She enrolled in her first iconography class at the Iconography Institute in 2019 and has been involved ever since. During this time, Nachi discovered the tactile process of making gesso boards to be very peaceful and healing. She has become the Institute’s specialist in producing professional quality icon boards. She currently purchases European Linden wood boards, applies linen, and gessoes the icon boards for Institute classes and her icon family.

Ania Kocurek Williams
Lead Iconography Instructor

Ania Kocurek-Williams was born in Poland where she received her formal education in art and art history.

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Ania Kocurek-Williams

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She came to the US in 2001 and shortly thereafter, began her studies in iconography at the Iconographic Arts Institute in Mt. Angel, Oregon where she became an instructor in 2006. For over thirteen years, Ania’s primary responsibility was teaching the foundation of iconography to beginning students. Her passion for drawing and sacred geometry served as a strong foundation to teach not only painting, but drawing within the rubrics of underlying geometry.

To further her evangelization of iconography, she welcomed the invitation to join the faculty at Trinity Iconography Institute in 2019 until 2022.

In 2022, she became the Lead Iconography Instructor for the Classical Iconography Institute at for the Beginning Iconography Program, instrumental in directing the development of essential iconography skills that serve as the foundation of our pedagogical program.

Ania directs instruction for all year-round Beginning Iconography Levels, the Beginning Summer Intensive Programs, as well as Byzantine Drawing courses which focus on utilizing the ancient art of geometry to develop placement drawings that are scalable and dynamic, focusing on the Byzantine iconographic Style.

Ania drew the cartoon of the Myrrh Bearing Women icon after scaling it to Cathedral size (42″ x 48″) from a 12” prototype by Leonid Ouspensky and assisted in painting the icon with Fr. Jon Buffington, Master Iconographer, and Christine Thum Schlesser, Director. This icon is located at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland and is featured on the cover of the Kyr All Night Vigil CD produced by Cappella Romana. Ania also works on private commissions in her time outside the Institute.

Laurie Muench
Beginning Iconography Instructor

Laurie Muench first discovered iconography in 2017, and it quickly became much more than just an interest—it changed her life.

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Laurie Muench

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She was immediately drawn to the beauty, symbolism, and theology behind the holy images. What started as curiosity turned into a calling. Since then, Laurie has written over 50 icons, each one created through prayer, study, and a growing love for this ancient sacred tradition.

Laurie loves to explore sacred art in monasteries and churches. She has traveled with the Classical Iconography Institute and Fr. Ilya Gotlinsky to the Balkans and personally has explored sacred art throughout Europe as part of her devotion to iconography.

Laurie is excited to share what she’s learned at the Institute and worldwide with others—especially those just beginning their journey into iconography. She has worked with students as an assistant at the Classical Iconography Institute and enjoys leading workshops on ways to deepen your prayer life through Holy Images. She believes that anyone with a heart for the sacred can step into this tradition and find it a deeply meaningful way to pray.

When she is not writing icons, Laurie cares for her covey of quail, gardens, and travels to new and exciting places in search of an adventure.

Tony Montes
Procurement & Marketing

Tony is a native of Puerto Rico who began his art career at 7, learning oil painting with Albert Pels in New York!

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Tony Montes|Procurement & Marketing

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He later studied Interior Design at NYU, Scenic Design with Lester Polakov, photography with Todd Walker at UCLA and Ruth Bernhard in San Francisco. Tony served in the US Army in Korea capitalizing on his expertise in set design for Special Services Entertainment where he worked with Helen Hayes, Johnny Mathis and Our Young Generation. His post-military career was centered around aspects of printing, having also owned a printing company that produced Russian Bibles for the Old Believers. Tony resumed working on art in his second retirement and loves watercolor, acrylic and of course, Icon Writing.

Tony helps the Classical Iconography Institute with procurement and marketing.

Christine Thum Schlesser
Executive Director

Christine Schlesser grew up spending summers with her family in Germany, where the ancient churches and monasteries sparked a deep love for antiquity and sacred art.

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Christine Thum Schlesser | Executive Director

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She went on to earn a BA in International Studies, Russian, and German from Willamette University, where she also immersed herself in every Art History course available. At the time, she had no idea that traditional icons were still being written today.

That discovery came in 2017 when Christine began studying traditional egg tempera iconography with Fr. Jon Buffington. She later continued her formation at the Iconographic Arts Institute at Mount Angel Abbey, and has since studied with international iconographers from a variety of sacred traditions.

In 2019, Christine was appointed Director of the Trinity Iconography Institute. There, she combined her deep passion for sacred art with her background in nonprofit and corporate management—overseeing operations for a $250 million organization. During the pandemic, she brought the community online through international enrichment programs and completed the cathedral-sized icon of the Myrrh Bearing Women, now known worldwide as the cover art for Robert Kyr’s All-Night Easter Vigil CD.

In 2022, Christine assumed the Iconographic Arts Institute nonprofit to launch the Classical Iconography Institute, building on the rich legacy of two of the oldest iconography programs in the US—the Iconographic Arts Institute and the Trinity Iconography Institute. She focused on expanding the academic aspect of the program, strengthening curriculum, and developing faculty. Today, she leads this fine arts nonprofit dedicated to preserving the cultural and liturgical heritage of iconography – the oldest sacred art of the Christian East and West.

Christine shares her passion for icons through speaking engagements, podcasts with Mater Dei Radio on the Hail Mary App, and curated Sacred Art Pilgrimages. The Classical Iconography Institute offers in-person and online iconography courses, foundational painting and drawing rooted in sacred geometry, summer retreats, intensive workshops, and pilgrimages to UNESCO-recognized religious sites around the world.

Kathy Sievers
Advanced Iconography Instructor

By age three, art had become my response to the world around me. I began drawing and never stopped. I completed a BA in Art at Portland State University, then moved on to teaching and graphics.

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Kathy Sievers | Advanced Iconography Instructor

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In 1985 I began attending Mt. Angel Abbey’s Artists Workshop, which became the Iconography Institute in 1987. Every year we had presentations by monks or teachers from the Abbey/Seminary. The subjects were Christology, The Rule of St. Benedict, the Iconoclastic Controversey, Discernment of Spirits, and presentations on individual icons such as the Transfiguration and Pentecost.

I began teaching at the Institute in 1994 and taught there each summer through 2003. In 2004 the Institute moved to Queen of Angels Monastery in Mt. Angel, where I continued teaching annually until 2019. I also taught at the North Florida Iconography Institute (2009 – 2013) and at St. Edward and Christ Episcopal Church in Joliet, IL (2010-2015). I have taught private lessons in my home since 2009. I’ve also taught art to people of ages three through ninety-three.

My icons are in churches in the northwest, as well as California, Illinois, and Iowa. Some are over eight feet tall. I also do private commissions for individuals.

In iconography, my experience as a calligrapher and graphic designer combined with my love of color and painting and my interest in liturgy, theology and spirituality. I am a contemporary classical iconographer within the Byzantine Tradition. As an iconographer, I am called to assist in revealing the mystery of God made human through painting, teaching, and prayer. As a member of the Church, I am called to put my skills at the service of the people of God, and to welcome each person to the mystery of Christ.

Natalie Wood
Exhibitions Curator

Natalie is an artist, curator, and iconographer-in-training with a deep passion for the intersection of art and spirituality.

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Natalie Wood|Exhibitions Curator

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She currently serves as the Artistic Development & Coordinator for the Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts, where she curates dynamic, thoughtful exhibitions. Her past curatorial work includes collaborations with Art in Oregon and the Classical Iconography Institute.

Natalie is pursuing her undergraduate degree at Harvard University with a concentration in religion, with plans to continue at Harvard Divinity School to explore how spirituality can be expressed and experienced through art. She lives with her wonderful husband and their two exceptionally fluffy cats.

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Alice Bolgova Instructor of Iconographic Calligraphy & Ornamentation, Institute Librarian

Fr. Jon Buffington Advanced Iconography Instructor

Emma Fitzgerald Byzantine Drawing Instructor & Executive Admin. Assistant

Nachi Kobayashi Institute Icon Board Specialist

Ania Kocurek Williams Lead Iconography Instructor

Laurie Muench Beginning Iconography Instructor

Tony Montes Procurement & Marketing

Christine Thum Schlesser Executive Director

Kathy Sievers Advanced Iconography Instructor

Natalie Wood Exhibitions Curator

Alice Bolgova
Instructor of Iconographic Calligraphy & Ornamentation, Institute Librarian

Fr. Jon Buffington
Advanced Iconography Instructor

Emma Fitzgerald
Byzantine Drawing Instructor & Executive Admin. Assistant

Nachi Kobayashi
Institute Icon Board Specialist

Ania Kocurek Williams
Lead Iconography Instructor

Laurie Muench
Beginning Iconography Instructor

Tony Montes
Procurement & Marketing

Christine Thum Schlesser
Executive Director

Kathy Sievers
Advanced Iconography Instructor

Natalie Wood
Exhibitions Curator