Hillary loves Sonoma Academy because "the arts are embraced here." She earned a BFA in Illustration at RISD, then an MA in Studio Art at NYU. Her artwork has appeared in magazines and has been shown in galleries and museums around the country.

Hillary is a founding teacher who was hired as the art teacher while considering a job at an East Coast boarding school. She was drawn to the challenge of building a program from scratch and says she has found something new to stay excited about every year.

Students see her classes as calm and creative spaces that challenge them and let them express themselves. Puppetry is her favorite class to teach, which she describes as full of laughter. She values critiques as a chance for students to reflect on their work and see what everyone has made.

Outside school, Hillary is a frequent blogger who often writes about artwork made in her classes. She is passionate about world travel and connecting with people from other cultures, and she has lived in Italy and France. She is glad the school now has a thriving International Student program.

Her goals are to make Sonoma Academy an art destination for the county and to carry forward the creativity that schools often lose between elementary school and high school.