St. Cecilia Arts Instructors

Visual Art Instructor, Barbara Gronefeld
Barbara Gronefeld is an independent artist working in mixed media and ceramics for the past 23 years. Recent projects include a commission to produce a copper reprosse relief sculpture of St. Matthew for St. Matthew’s School as part of a donor dedication wall.

Barbara Gronefeld’s work was selected by Wynonna Judd in 2005 for the Nashville GuitarTown Sculpture Project. She is a member of the Tennessee Art League and was awarded, at the 2004 Members Exhibit, Best Mixed Media Award. Barbara was awarded a commission in Cat Fish Out of Water Sculptural Project, Nashville, TN, 2004. Her work was juried and published in the Central South Art Exhibit, Belmont University, 2003. See examples of her work in the photo slideshow below.

Barbara Gronefeld is also art instructor at St. Cecilia Academy. Barbara was nominated for the National Disney Teacher Award for 2006 and received the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts Outstanding Teacher Award in 2005. Barbara has taught the Visual Arts Program at SCA for 10 years and has completed her Master in Education from Belmont University. She has also taught at Watkins College of Art and Design, Young Artist Program and Continuing Education Department.

Dance Instructor, Lisa Gillespie

Ms. Lisa Gillespie has worked for many years as a devoted actress in the Nashville area. Some of her recent stage performances include a role as “Mrs. Potts” in Beauty and the Beast and a role as “Miss. Meers” in Thoroughly Modern Mille.

Ms. Gillespie began participating in theatre at age three and loved it. She has been acting ever since. Today, while helping with the shows at SCA, she also performs in plays and musicals at the Boiler Room Theatre in Franklin. Ms. Gillespie believes that one of the best characters she has ever played is the frightening “Mrs. Lovett” in Sweeney Todd. While she also believes that this is the hardest role she has ever taken on.

Currently, Ms. Gillespie is working on a show at the Boiler Room Theatre entitled Assassins. The musical goes inside the lives of nine people who assassinated or tried to assassinate the President of the United States. The play is very thought provoking as well as funny. The show begins on April 25.

With a job as a teacher as well as an actress, Ms. Gillespie works very hard throughout the week. Rehearsals for many of the shows last for three hours, on four or five days a week, for almost four weeks. When asked if she encourages any SCA students to perform in theatre if they have the interest, she said, “Definitely!”

Examples of Ms. Gillespie performing in plays around the Nashville area:

Visual Arts Instructor, Libby Goldammer

Libby Goldammer graduated from Xavier University in Cincinnati, OH with a B.A. in Art (concentration in drawing and painting) and a minor in Professional Education. While in Cincinnati, Libby, worked in an art gallery/framery where she assisted in organizing art shows for contemporary local artists, such as Charley and Edie Harper.

In April of 2004 she exhibited her senior thesis work at Xavier’s own University Art Gallery. The work consisted of large-scale oil paintings on hand - built wooden supports.

Today, Libby continues to work on her own artwork. She continues to paint in oils, on a smaller scale, as well as working in pastel and other dry mediums. She finds inspiration in nature and from her photography. Libby hopes to enter some upcoming local art shows.

Examples of Libby Goldammer's paintings: