Art Department Faculty
Do you like to sing, draw, act, or dance? Do you write music or follow the score?
However you answered these questions, you’ll be in good company among Cate’s arts faculty. They are accomplished performers who lend their eyes, ears, and hearts to the job bringing young artists along.
Visual Arts Department Chair
joy_doyle@cate.org / 805-684-4127 x114
BA, Kenyon College
Appointed: 2015
Originally from Delaware, Joy moved to California in 2015 to join Cate’s Visual Arts Department. After graduating from Kenyon College in 2010 with a Bachelor’s Degree in studio art, Joy worked for a graphic design company where she developed skills as a designer and an understanding of how a small business operates. In 2012 she moved to Chicago to assume the responsibilities of a cross-divisional art teacher during a brief leave at Francis Parker School. She remained at Parker following her stint in the art department and began working as an assistant in a fifth grade contained classroom. Her experience teaching fifth grade provided insight into teaching as an art in itself, and she was able to integrate various visual assignments into writing, math, and history lessons, helping students draw connections and understand various subjects through an artist’s lens.
Joy graduated from St. Andrew’s School in Delaware in 2006 where she boarded for four years. She is familiar with dorm life, and lives in Schoolhouse.
Performing Arts Department Chair
john_knecht@cate.org / 805-684-4127 x115
BA, University of North Carolina
MS, UCLA
Appointed: 2011
John has been performing and teaching music since he was 14 years old. His musical journey continued at the University of North Carolina, where he earned top honors as a drummer and percussionist.
In 1994, he first moved to the West Coast to join the Los Angeles Performing Arts Center. John’s role was to design and manage long-term arts residencies in the LAUSD public schools. After earning a master’s in business from UCLA, he headed to Chicago to work in strategic consulting. He then formed a company called Pulse Beat Music, which offers world music programming in the Chicago public schools. John also taught privately at Chicago high schools while performing professionally. Additionally, he taught arts education programs through the House of Blues, Chicago Symphony, and Urban Gateways.
Over the last 6 years, John and his wife Ashley have traveled to study music in over twenty countries. John is extremely excited to be back on the West Coast and living on the Mesa with Ashley and their sons Ashton and Dylan.
Director of Vocal Music
BA, University of Delaware
MA, Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University
Appointed: 2022
Born and raised in South Jersey, Gabriel earned a bachelor’s degree in the honors program at the University of Delaware. During that time, he created a major that combined music education, voice, and theatre; participated in music education exchanges in Sweden and Jamaica; and founded and directed two outreach ensembles for the University’s ProjectMUSIC initiative.
Moving west, Gabriel pursued a master’s degree in voice at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, where he was the choral graduate assistant. After graduating (and singing with the Rolling Stones), he joined the Latin School of Chicago as a private voice instructor before becoming their full-time vocal music director. Other former Chicago pursuits include performing locally and regionally; leading events for Sharing Notes, a non-profit that brings live music to hospitals; and, back in Delaware, directing musicals for the Cab Calloway School of the Arts’ SMArtSummer program.
Serendipity moved Gabriel even further west to Cate School, where he now leads Chorale, Camerata, and No Strings Attached; music directs the spring musical; teaches Modern Band, Foundation Arts, and Advanced Performing Arts; and lives on the Mesa with his beloved wife, their two miraculous children, and a cuddly meatball disguised as a dog.
Director of Theater
’25 House Dorm Parent
kiara_downey@cate.org / 805-684-4127 x141
BA, University of Montana
MA, Trinity College Dublin
Appointed: 2021
With over 20 years of international school experience, Kiara Downey arrives on the Mesa as the new Director of Theater. She comes to Cate most recently from United Nations International School in New York City, where she has taught since 2002 and served as the Head of Theater since 2014.
Kiara began her theater career as a member of the Living Stage Theatre Company, the groundbreaking social change theater of Arena Stage in Washington D.C., where she learned to develop performances for diverse audiences including incarcerated men and women. Her early experiences making theater for social change continue to inform and inspire her work today.
Kiara earned her bachelor’s degree in philosophy and politics from the University of Montana and received her master’s in theater from Trinity College Dublin. She was the co-founding director of Minc Theater Ireland, an international theater company in Dublin, before embarking on her teaching career.
Much like she did at UNIS, Kiara has plans to expand the performing arts offerings at Cate from playwriting courses to the creation of a social justice theater program that tackles pressing issues through meaningful performances.
In addition to her role as the theater director, Kiara will be a dorm parent in ’25 House and an advisor, and she is looking forward to continuing the theater program tradition of incorporating the rubber chicken into every production!
Photography Instructor
mikaela_ducote@cate.org
BA, James Madison University
Mikaela’s roots are from the southeast part of the US. She was born in Texas, grew up in Georgia, graduated with a BA in Communications from Virginia’s James Madison University in 2012, and lived in Nashville, TN for 5 years after college. She fell in love with photography while in college, where she got a job through the University at the Department of Technology and Design- an organization that employed students of all creative mediums. After graduation, she moved to Nashville in pursuit of photography, where she spent 5 years freelancing everything from musicians to weddings to lifestyle content for brands. She continued that pursuit when she headed to California in her built-out van, lovingly called Fran the Van, at the beginning of 2018. She is thrilled to share her experience and glean inspiration from Cate students this year.
Mikaela hiked the John Muir Trail in 2018 and is always eager to go hiking or backpacking. She is a big fan of soccer (go Chelsea and of course, Rams), poetry, and hosting gatherings with loved ones.
Assistant Theater Director and Manager
BA, UC Davis
MFA, Brooklyn College
Appointed: 2020
Richard McDonald joins Cate as the Assistant Theater Director and Manager. He is extremely proud of his Australian/Fijian roots, which inform his art, his political views, and his island style. After graduating from UC Davis in Economics, Richard decided to pursue acting and earned a conservatory degree from Stella Adler Studio in New York City. Richard went on to earn an MFA in Acting from Brooklyn College where he also taught as a graduate fellow in the Performing Arts department. Richard has performed in regional theatre across the U.S. and has also studied theater in the UK and performed in Australia. Richard is a multi-hyphenated performance artist who has written and directed short films which have been featured at The National Black Film Festival and the Culver City Film Festival where he took home the Social Impact Award in 2018. Richard is eager to share his energetic approach to theatre with the Arts department at Cate and collaborate with Lydian Blossom.
Richard lives on the Mesa with his wife Maude Bond who is the Director of College counseling. They enjoy traveling, dancing, listening to music, playing Spades, hosting game nights, and making each other laugh.
Art Instructor
amy_sharp@cate.org
BA, Whitman College
MFA, Art Center College of Design
Amy Sharp is a native of Colorado, where her passion for the outdoors and aesthetics grew. After receiving her BA in Art History, she left the land of Walla Walla sweet onions for the PNW and worked in the arts until moving to Los Angeles to complete her MFA in sculpture. Seattle called her back to teach outdoor leadership and art for a handful of independent schools, a magical mash-up of worlds.
A strong believer in the power of the handmade, she is eager to work alongside students as they explore the world of sculpture and to share her passion for wild places. Amy teaches studio art, art history, and rock climbing in the winter season.
Amy lives with her partner and son Cosmo and can often be found in her woodshop or biking around Ventura.
Ceramics and Foundation Arts Teacher
john_swain@cate.org / 805-684-8409 x264
BA, Pomona College
MA, Columbia University
Appointed: 1997
No stranger to the world of residential education, John grew up at Midland, a California boarding school, where his father was the head of school and his mother was the business manager. After graduating from Pomona College, where he majored in art and played soccer, lacrosse, track and football, John returned to boarding school to teach and coach at Dunn School in Los Olivos, California. After a brief hiatus in the East, where he taught at Rutgers Preparatory School in New Jersey and earned an advanced degree at Columbia University, he returned to his native California. Since his arrival at Cate, John has served as athletic director, dean of students, assistant head of school, and he currently leads Cate’s ceramics program.
John spends his free time reading, making furniture, and riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle. He lives on the Mesa with his wife, Linda, and their two children.