Our Faculty
Our courses are delivered by a faculty consisting of leading international practitioners in conservation, design, and sustainability, including master tradespeople, designers, planners, academics, and artisans.
Lori Anglin
Lori Anglin is a cultural resource planner and architectural conservator. She works internationally for multilateral agencies, government, and consultancies. Her interdisciplinary skills enable cross-cutting work in tourism, conservation, and development, with projects centered in developing economies. Lori has obtained degrees in Canada, University of Waterloo, B. Env. Studies, Urban and Regional Planning and Australia, University of Sydney, M. Sc., Architecture Conservation. Her Willowbank sessions are a part of the second year program, introducing students to conservation management planning and World Heritage Site practices.
Danny Barber
Danny Barber is a Banker Mason. He started his career in stone-work at his family’s monument business working under his grandfather and father. He studied in the U.K. as an Architectural stone carver earning his Higher National Certificate and the National Vocational Qualification Level 3 in Architectural carving and Restoration. His company, Smith & Barber Sculpture Atelier Inc. is based in Ottawa and founded the Canadian Stone Carving Festival.
Ashleigh Bell
Ashleigh Bell graduated with the Willowbank class of 2013 and currently holds the position of Capital Project Manager in the Operations unit at Ontario Heritage Trust. Previously, Ashleigh was with the Tourism & Culture division of the City of Hamilton, coordinating capital projects on municipally-owned cultural facilities, museums and historic sites.
She is involved with a number of community and professional organizations, including the Hamilton Community Land Trust and the Hamilton-Burlington Society of Architects, for which she has coordinated two educational series on conservation discourse. Ashleigh attended OCAD and has a background in Interior Design. She currently teaches two courses in the Willowbank diploma program, Architecture in Canada & Architectural Styles and Historic Interiors.
Anna Beznogova
Anna Beznogova is an Intern Architect with the OAA, a Certified Passive House Designer, and a RELi AP. As a Faculty Associate at Willowbank, she team-teaches the Sustainable Design course to first-year students and the Feasibility Study course to third-year students. Her main interests lie in sustainable, socially responsible, and resilient design and architecture. She holds a Master’s degree in Architecture and a BAS from the University of Waterloo. She was involved with the design and production of The Evidence Room exhibit for the 2016 Venice Biennale as part of the University of Waterloo team led by Robert Jan van Pelt, which subsequently traveled and was displayed in Madrid, Toronto, and Washington DC.
Keith Blades
Keith Blades is known nationally and internationally as Canada’s leading masonry conservation consultant and has worked extensively on Parliament Hill and other nationally significant sites. He has also taught at major preservation centres both in Canada and abroad. He combines an intimate understanding of both theory and practice in the field. Keith has an MA Conservation Studies from the University of York, England.
Lyse Blanchet
Lyse Blanchet is an engineer with an MA in Wood Science and Technology from Laval University. Lyse has over 20 years of experience in the Conservation of historic structures. Her specialities are developing specialized training and R&D Projects for traditional materials, including “Modelling of Traditional Timber Joints” and the “Evaluation of NDT for Wood”. She has coordinated national projects such as the “Development and Update of the National Master Specifications in Conservation”, “Guidelines for the use of Mortars in Historic Structures and Buildings” and the “Establishment of the Life Cycle and Risk Assessment of Historic Timber Structures”. She is a project leader and an accomplished lecturer with attendance at International conferences on timber engineering and on timber structures conservation.
Ed Bowkett
Ed Bowkett specializes in metals conservation. Ed graduated from the Art Conservation Techniques Program at Sir Sanford Fleming College, Peterborough, Ont. Ed’s company, Bowkett & Co. has served many institutional and private clients in the Montreal – Toronto corridor. Ed has provided both hands-on conservation as well as consultation services to The Canadian War Museum, Canadian Conservation Institute, Public Works & Government Services Canada, Parliamentary Precinct Directorate, The Canada Science & Technology Museum, Fulford Place-Brockville, and various other heritage sites across Canada. Ed has supervised the daily efforts of student interns on placement from Sir Sanford Fleming College; attends several institutions as a guest lecturer, and periodically guest hosts a CBC phone-in show on the preservation of antiquities.
Cosmo Condina
Cosmo Condina, is a photographer who specializes in travel imagery and emphasizes details of light, colour and subject matter. He published a commemorative book: Niagara at War 1812 for the bicentennial of the War of 1812 and he provided the photography for the limited edition reprinting of Early Architecture of the Town and Township of Niagara by Peter J. Stokes.
Alison Creba
In her professional, creative and academic work, Alison addresses themes of stewardship, care and the interconnection between physical and cultural spaces. Through her project Local Technique, Alison conducts research, workshops and writing which explores the role of demolition in reflecting and shaping urban landscapes and the potential for building deconstruction to intervene on these processes. Alison holds a Masters in Heritage Conservation from Carleton University, a diploma in Advanced Woodworking from Humber College and a Bachelors in Development studies and Community Design from Dalhousie University. She works as the Building Operations Manager for Artscape Wychwood Barn, a rehabilitated streetcar facility now serving as artist residences, studios and venue space in Toronto. In addition to this, Alison is a member of the City of Toronto’s Circular Economy Working Group.
Christa Deacy-Quinn
Christa Deacy-Quinn holds a M.A. in Anthropology from the University of Illinois and a B.A. in Anthropology and Museum Studies from SUNY-Oswego. She has been in the museum field for over twenty-five years and has served as the Collections Manager at the Spurlock Museum at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign since 1991. As Collections Manager, Christa specializes in collections care and preservation, artifact storage, packaging, transport, exhibit design, and Integrated Pest Management (IPM).
She is a strong advocate for low-chemical, low-cost IPM solutions. She has conducted preservation-focused workshops that address IPM and has consulted with numerous institutions on developing or expanding their IPM programs. She has designed a number of databases in use at the Spurlock, including those that help staff to track the occurrence of pests within the museum and that monitor the general condition of the artifacts. She is a Certified Technician for General Use Pesticides in Illinois and a Certified Mold Remediation Worker.
She is active in the field of preservation serving as a Peer Reviewer for the Museum Assessment Program for the American Association of Museums and as a member of the Preservation Working Group at the University of Illinois. Christa is an instructor at the International Preservation Studies Center. In addition, since 2010 she teaches in the Museum Studies program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and has, on a bi-annual basis, taught MUSE 420: Collections Management- Preserving the Physical Integrity of Museum Collections.
Marc Denhez
Marc Denhez is a lawyer, author and adjudicator with 30 years of experience in the planning and legal frameworks surrounding built, natural and intangible heritage. He has advised on legal policy, governance and drafting on related topics, in ten provinces, over a dozen countries, and at UNESCO. He served as a Commissioner of the National Capital Commission and chaired a national task force on capacity-building for the residential renovation industry He has taught at four universities and lectured at another thirty in North America and Europe. He is currently an adjudicator for the Ontario Municipal Board.
Lynne DiStefano
Lynne DiStefano co-founded the Hong Kong University Architectural Conservation Programme and served as its Director from 2003-2005. She was previously a tenured professor at the University of Western Ontario, as well as Chief Curator of Museum London in Ontario, Canada. Lynne has been involved through UNESCO and ICOMOS as a World Heritage Advisor and with the planning and monitoring of numerous Asian world heritage sites including Vigan World Heritage Site in the Philippines, China’s Kaiping Diaolou and Villages, China’s “Fujian Tulou”, South Korea’s “Historic Villages of Korea: Hahoe and Yangdong”, “Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras,” and in Laos on the “Vat Phou and Associated Ancient Settlements within the Champasak Cultural Landscape”.
Dr. Ian Ellingham
Dr. Ian Ellingham is an architect and land economist with a background in property development, research and writing. His academic background includes an MBA from the University of Western Ontario, a Master of Philosophy in Land Economy and a PhD in Architectural and Urban Studies, both from the University of Cambridge. In Canada he works with the Quartek Group, and in the UK with Cambridge Architectural Research.
Passionately interested in heritage and buildings, he brings a financial, analytical, investigative and managerial perspective to Willowbank. He has written books and numerous articles, including some on his special interest in the areas of decision-making and human response to the built environments.
Currently, he is a member of the board of the Association of Ontario Land Economists, and lives in Niagara.
Walter Furlan
Walter Furlan is a Willowbank graduate with 30 years of experience in joinery, design and fabrication. His area of focus is the conservation of historic fabric, particularly windows, doors and other wood elements, through consultation and hands-on conservation. He endeavours to bring Willowbank’s cultural landscape philosophy and approach to his heritage conservation practice, which he runs out of his storefront shop in Hamilton’s north end. Walter’s projects have included: Auchmar House in Hamilton, the Leacock Museum in Orillia and Gore Mutual Insurance Building in Cambridge. Walter also sits on the Municipal Heritage Committee in Hamilton.
Angela Garvey
Angela Garvey graduated with the Willowbank class of 2015 and currently is a Heritage Planner at ERA Architects. She provides project management, report development, and coordination of cultural heritage evaluations and conservation plans, including large rehabilitation and master planning projects for institutional and public landscapes in Ontario.
Angela brings a cultural landscape approach to the heritage planning process and draws on holistic methods for understanding the interrelationship between the natural landscape, built environment, and the practices that heritage properties support. An associate of the Willowbank Centre for Cultural Landscape, Angela contributes her time to teaching heritage conservation students and connecting with practitioners across Canada and internationally who are working within this topic of inquiry.
Philip Hoad
Philip is the principal of Applied Roof Technology Ltd, providing consulting and project management services in the conservation and restoration of historic buildings and structures, with a special emphasis on traditional roofing, sheet metalwork and masonry components, in particular, architectural terra cotta and faience, where he represents Darwen Terra Cotta in Canada. He has worked on many significant National Historic Sites during a career spanning over 35 years in both the UK and Canada having worked in both the public and private sectors, including a 6-year tenure with Parks Canada at the Fortress of Louisbourg, and latterly at the City of Hamilton. Philip is currently Heritage Projects Director at Robertson Restoration of Brantford, a multi-trade and traditional crafts contractor, with a history of serving the built heritage community since 1972.
Carol Jackson
Carol Jackson is a Banker Mason trained at Algonquin College at their Perth Campus in Heritage and Traditional Masonry. Carol works mainly in residential and small institutions as a restoration mason, in brick, stone and even plaster. Carol became affiliated with Willowbank when she worked on the stabilization of our Southwest Wall.
Lloyd Johnston
Lloyd Johnston is a blacksmith with over 40 years of experience. Trained as an Electrical Engineer, Johnston was drawn to the hands-on work of blacksmith and never looked back. Lloyd teaches blacksmithing, and works on heritage sites to reproduce missing elements and repair existing iron artifacts and architectural features. He co-founded the Ontario Artist Blacksmith Association in 1982, which has kept the craft of blacksmithing alive in Ontario.
Alexandre Krucker
Alexandre Krucker, Class of 2019. Pursuing his interest in masonry restoration and conservation Alex joined the talented team at Hunt Heritage Ltd. in Toronto for his third-year placement. While working on such projects as 88 Ossington Ave., The Evergreen Brickworks, and The Winchester Hotel, Alex practised masonry skills in repair and reconstruction, masonry salvage, and traditional English tuckpointing. Now he is using those skills in his own endeavour as the owner and operator of Two Rivers Restoration based in Guelph, Ontario. For Alex it is important to bring conservation practices and theory out of the classroom and onto the job site, regardless of whether it is a recognized historic building or an old family home.
Mark Laird
Mark Laird is a landscape architect, conservator, teacher, historian and author. Mark teaches Landscape History at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. Mark has numerous publications, his books include: Mrs. Delany and Her Circle, A Natural History of English Gardening: 1650-1800, The Formal Garden: Traditions of Art and Nature and The Flowering of the Landscape Garden: English Pleasure Grounds, 1720-1800.
Lori Lemare
Lori Lemare is a professional commercial decorative painter and teacher with experience in large scale commercial and residential surface design. Having initially studied decorative painting in Poole, England, Lori co-founded the first school for decorative painting in Canada in 1989 (Applied School for Decorative Painting and Ritins Studio Inc.) Since 2000, Le Mare has operated Lori Le Mare Studio Inc. with classes and projects held in Hamilton Ontario and around the world (USA, China, Spain and Italy).
Dave MacDonald
Dave MacDonald teaches 1st-year carpentry. He took Carpentry at Nova Scotia Community College and has his Red Seal, as well as a post-grad in Project Management from Ryerson University. He has over 25 years of experience in carpentry, construction, and project management and has been the Project Manager (ICI Construction) at Black & MacDonald since 2017.
Chris Mahood
Kristina Martens
Kristina Martens graduated from Willowbank in the class of 2013 and is currently working as a Project Manager and Cultural Heritage Specialist with Archaeological Services Inc. Since graduating, Kristina has worked for Taylor Hazell Architects, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, and Vitreous Glassworks. Her work focuses on large-scale studies with an emphasis on proactive, municipal-wide conservation of cultural heritage resources. Recent projects include the creation of a prioritized list of non-designated properties for inclusion on the City of Brantford’s Heritage Register following a review of nine-thousand properties of interest; and the identification and evaluation of significant cultural heritage landscapes in the Township of Centre Wellington. Kristina was the project manager and technical lead for the Exhibition Place Cultural Heritage Landscape Assessment which received an Award of Merit from the Canadian Association of Heritage Professionals.
Dean McLellan
Dean McLellan, is a professional member and certified instructor of the Dry Stone Walling Association of Great Britain. His work has taken him across North America and into the United Kingdom. He has taught dry stone walling courses both here and overseas. He is currently working his way towards his Masters certificate with the association in the UK. His specialty beyond walls is the creation of complete dry stone buildings having built the only known three in recent times.He is passionate about the craft and about ensuring that it lives on well past the lifespans of the thousands of students he has taught.
Thomas Neumeyer
Thomas Neumeyer is a stonemason and stone conservator. From Canada originally, Thomas’ conservation practises, Neumeyer Stone and Sculpting, is based in Denmark. Thomas was trained by his father, Per Neumeyer, a stone carver who worked on many historic sites in Ontario.
Christope Rivet
Christophe Rivet is co-founder of EVOQ Strategies, an affiliate of EVOQ Architecture dedicated to heritage and sustainability solutions. He worked for Parks Canada as a policy advisor, a park planner and project manager. There, he led the development of the archaeology section of the Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada as well as the World Heritage nomination proposal for the Landscape of Grand Pré. Since 2015, he’s been in the private sector offering services in protected heritage management, World Heritage, and integrating the principles of heritage conservation with sustainability goals. He is the President of ICOMOS Canada. Christophe holds a PhD in Archaeology (University of Leicester), a M.Sc.A in planning and heritage (Université de Montréal), and a B.A in Anthropology/ Archaeology (McGill University).
Nikolay Savov
Nikolay Savov is a third generation craftsman. H graduated from a Specialized Arts and Crafts School in Bulgaria, Europe in fine woodworking, carving and wood-turning. He has been exhibiting his art pieces in galleries in Bulgaria, Romania, Finland, and Canada. His major projects include restoration and conservation of buildings and furniture in Dvoreca, Bulgaria and sites in Bucharest, Romania, wood carved iconostasis, and the project Kalevala. Currently, following his passion for preserving cultural and heritage buildings, Nikolay works at Heritage Grade, Ottawa.
He is a member of The Chamber of art and crafts, Bulgaria and Kalevala Seura, Finland.
Gary Sharp
Gary Sharp is an engineer, building scientist, builder, renovator and early adopter of new technologies. For more than 30 years he has worked to move the building industry forward in terms of technology. Having won a Healthy House Award in 1996, he has also participated in R-2000, Advanced Houses, and Net-Zero. He has been responsible for the updates to the Canadian Home Builders’ Association’s Builders’ Manual and has recently taken on the responsibility of creating a Renovators’ Manual. His training courses aim to be practical, fun and information-packed.
Mark Shoalts
Mark Shoalts is a professional engineer. He has hands-on experience in historical restoration, having personally performed restoration work on such sites as Butler’s Barracks, Fort George, Balls Falls and Dundurn Castle. Mark Shoalts is the fourth generation of his family to be involved in building construction and historical restoration. He began working for his father at Shoalts Bros. as a highschool student in the early 1970s, continuing through his post-secondary education and working fulltime as a carpenter and project superintendent through the 1980s before taking over administrative and project management as an engineer.
Heather Thomson
Heather Thomson, MA, MCIP RPP is a professional planner who has been engaged in heritage planning for over 20 years at the local, provincial and national levels. Her work has been wide-ranging, from the Ontario Ministry of Culture Advisor to municipal heritage committees, to Parks Canada Heritage Planner for the Rideau Canal UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Heather is currently the Heritage Program Manager for the National Capital Commission. In her role at the NCC, she provides advice on heritage planning and management for federal lands in the National Capital Region including the Parliamentary Precinct, the Official Residences, the National Capital Greenbelt and the Gatineau Park.
Bianca Verrechia
Doug Vickers
Doug’s journey in restoration began in 1981 when he moved an 1850’s house from Tillsonburg to rural Ancaster, ON. To broaden his knowledge of historic structures and trades, he attended courses at Eastfield Village in Eastern New York. Shortly afterwards, he began his own business and hired a wood machinist who learned his trade in England. Some of their projects included dismantling and relocating houses in Southern Ontario. Our speciality became manufacturing doors, shutters, mantles, and bookcases for period homes.
Doug’s expertise in the field provided me with the opportunity to work in the US, particularly Virginia, to dismantle and relocate a house in Northern Virginia. He worked at the Farmers Museum in Cooperstown, New York to reconstruct an 1818 Federal two-story house. The More House can be found at the museum. While at the museum, he consulted on moving a story and a half 1850s house, a kitchen house, and Hops barn. His interest in pre-1850’s decorative art led to working for Adelphi Wall Hangings as a representative at their trade shows.
Throughout the years, Doug has repaired and restored paint on antique furnishings. His passion for historic buildings and furniture continues to this day
Andrew Waldron
Andrew Waldron has over 20 years of experience in heritage conservation and the implementation of program and operational management related to cultural policies. Andrew is passionate about Modernism and the conservation of Mid-Century heritage. Andrew has worked for Parks Canada where he managed the National Register of Historic Places as well as for Library and Archives Canada.
John Wilcox
John Wilcox is a stained glass conservator. He is a graduate of the Architectural Technology Program (1995), Ryerson University Toronto and various Glass Studies at both the Ontario College of Art and Design OCAD Toronto and Sheridan College of Arts and Design Oakville. John has studied glazing techniques in the USA, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. His work is primarily based in the Toronto area.
Penny Young
Penny Young is a licensed Archaeologist in the province of Ontario. She has worked as a Heritage Planner for various municipalities in Southern Ontario and for the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Sport. Penny is well versed in the archaeological process. She has undertaken one archaeological dig at Willowbank.