Teacher/Instructor Archives - CreativeSonoma.org

Jerry Dodrill Photography, Teacher/Instructor, Visual Arts "Jerry Dodrill is an adventurer and award-winning photographer who has traveled to remote corners of the world in search of unique perspectives and experiences. His immense talent and creative eye have been well recognized through international awards and exhibition in fine galleries, such as the Ansel Adams in Yosemite, Mountain Light, Mumm Napa Valley, and the Banff Center for Mountain Culture. As a workshop facilitator for Mountain Light Photography, Visionary Wild, and Sierra Nevada College, he has proven himself as a highly engaging and effective photographic educator. An expert mountain climber with degrees in Fine Art and Photography (Pacific Union College 1997), Jerry is passionate about preservation and was a protégé of legendary Galen Rowell in the late 1990's. Today he resides in the Sonoma Coast village of Bodega, California, focusing on assignment photography, writing, exhibitions, and sharing his vision and expertise with others through destination-based photo workshops and tours. Jerry's work has been widely published in ad campaigns, books, and publications and is represented by the stock agency Aurora Photos. He is a writer and senior contributor to California Climber Magazine, has been published in Sierra, Orion, Vanity Fair, World of Fine Wine, Wine Spectator, Men's Journal, Smithsonian, Outside, Alpinist, Rock & Ice, Climbing, and many other magazines. He was fundamental in product development and creation of the exciting new camera backpack company MindShift Gear, serves as Vice President of the Rock Ice & Mountain Club and sits on the board of directors of the B-Rad Foundation."

Ruth Donovan Design, Functional Art, Graphic Design, Holidays Shop Local, Illustration, Mixed, Multi-Media, Other, Painting, Performance Art, Sculpture, Teacher/Instructor, Visual Arts I am a local artist and cofounder of The Beluga and Bee Studio located in Santa Rosa's Railroad Square District. For the last decade I have been heavily involved in Sonoma county's art community. I have dedicated my time and studio space to host group art shows for other up and coming local talent. This is important to me because I was taken under the wing of a retired photographer, Ron Emanuel, when I first moved to Sonoma county. I feel inspired to pay it forward to other aspiring artists. Community and active support are key to a healthy art community.

Deborah Eliezer Acting, Choreography, Dance, Directing, Folk Art, Improvisation, Modern, Music, Other, Other, Performance Art, Puppetry, Teacher/Instructor, Theatre, Vocal Debórah Eliezer, writer/performer/professional voiceover is a Core Company member and the Co-Artistic Director of foolsFURY, producing new work, a national festival, internship opportunities and public educational programs. She holds a BA Cum Laude from SFSU and a certificate in Sound, Voice, Music Healing from CIIS. Her latest show, (dis)Place[d], written and performed by Eliezer is a solo tour de force about the Iraqi Jews and contemporary American identity. (dis)Place[d] is currently available for touring. Visit www.foolsfury.org Accolades for (dis)Place[d]:

“Eliezer is an expressive actor, and her story, lyrical and affecting, is one you’ve probably never heard before...She sings haunting, presumably Mizrachi (Jewish Middle Eastern) songs and prayers that send chills up your spine and embodies, with exquisite, dancerly physicality and vocal power (and clothed in a gossamer, enveloping cape), non-human entities such as the land itself."--Jean Schiffman, San Francisco Examiner “As she speaks, she’s wrestling or dancing with something that’s invisible and constantly shape-shifting, always just escaping her grasp.”--Lily Janiak, San Francisco Chronicle

With foolsFURY, Eliezer has created and performed in world premieres: ”The Unheard of World,” by Fabrice Melquiot, “Faulted,” by Angela Santillo, “Port Out Starboard Home,” with Sheila Callaghan, Monster in the Dark, with Doug Dorst, “The Devil on All Sides,” by Fabrice Melquiot, “All You Can Eat,” by Steven Morgan Haskell, and “The Jensen Files” by Ben Yalom. Eliezer directed and choreographed “The Seeing Place”, by Elizabeth Spreen and Debórah Eliezer. Choreographic credits include: Boxcar’s “The Speakeasy”, FoolsFURY’s “Port Out, Starboard Home,” “Monster in the Dark,” Charles Mee’s “Big Love,” Shakespeare’s ”Twelfth Night,” and foolsFURY’s adaptation of Don Delillo’s play, “Valparaiso.” Incubator Series performances include: Lucinda Otto’s “Threshold,” Mia Rovegno’s “The Apartment,” Doug Dorst’s “(R)Evolution X,” and Angela Santillo’s “Sera.” Eliezer has also worked with Golden Thread (SF/Cairo), Woman’s Will, The Puppet Players, Marin Shakespeare, Antenna Theater and TJT. She was the Co-Artistic Director of Eclipse Dance Theater from 1996-2002. As a professional voiceover, you may have heard her voice in over 25 Leapfrog Toys, Sims 2, 3 and 4 video games or numerous radio ads. Eliezer teaches throughout the Bay Area, and maintains a private coaching practice. She produces weddings, workshops and retreats, at Venado Retreat, a 33-acre artist retreat center. For more information, visit Venado www.venadoretreat.com

Simmon Factor Mixed, Painting, Teacher/Instructor, Visual Arts

Poetic narrative art in mixed media, featuring surreal and playful juxtapositions, patterns-painted and collaged, strong forms and colors.

Art studies and degree at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Northeastern Illinois University. Successful career in graphic arts and design. In 1993, he started Village Art Supply in Santa Rosa, California, a rich resource to the Sonoma County artist community and thousands of students, artists, and crafters.

After selling Village Art in 2012, Simmon continues to create, exhibit and teach at Chroma Gallery which he and Robin Factor founded in 2014. Most of these works are available for sale or as Giclee prints.

Kerstin Fletcher Children's, Illustration, Instrumental, Literature, Mixed, Music, Other, Painting, Photography, Recovery Fund Grantee, Teacher/Instructor, Visual Arts I LOVE drawing and painting with all mediums. From pencil to watercolor, acrylic, or oil, I thrive on capturing light and life. Always looking for new challenges and beauty to capture, I can be found outside at sunrise painting in “plein air” or combining illustrations for a new story for my children. My faith fuels me to seek to paint light and life. I want to truly see, and communicate what I see to others. Raised in a bilingual household with strong ties to Europe, I am mostly self-taught. My life has brought me to delight in traveling, be an avid reader, mother of four, pastor's wife, violist, gardener, and extremely motivated to squeeze every moment out of every day.

Kate Foley-Beining Improvisation, Instrumental, Mixed, Music, Painting, Printmaking, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Adults, Teaching Artist for Youth, Theatre, Visual Arts, Vocal I am a musician, artist, and professor of German Language and Literature. Music: I am a singer, performing the works of Joni Mitchell, backed by a jazz trio. I have developed music enrichment programs for elementary schools in Healdsburg and Geyserville where I have taught vocal music for over 10 years. Working with children in music is its own reward and I am aware of the rare good fortune I have to also be paid to do it. I am a classically-trained pianist, currently pursuing challenging selections from the repertoire of Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, and Bach. Art: Sight-size realism is the method I use in painting my oil still lives. I would call my work domestic realism since my favorite subject matter is my 1940s era chrome coffeepot in which my domestic surroundings are reflected around me as I paint. Decay, in the form of rusted objects and old leather books, is set against the sharp convex images reflected in the chrome globe, offering a visual irony that I find endlessly intriguing. I have shown and sold my pieces in juried shows. Language and Literature: I am an adjunct professor of German with an emphasis on women writers in German literary history. My doctoral research, using a feminist literary perspective, was published in my book The Body and Eucharistic Devotion in Catharina Regina von Greiffenberg's Meditations. Teaching German brings me joy and of course my college students are constantly engaged in music, art, and theater as they become speakers of German

Ernesto Garay Literature, Poetry, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Adults, Teaching Artist for Youth Ernesto Garay is a poet, performer, teacher, and social justice activist. Ernesto is a bilingual teaching artist, offering residencies to students in grade 4-12. Mr. Garay holds two Masters Degrees: one in Comparative Literature and the other in Ethnic Studies. He is a poet in Residence at Creative Sonoma, California Poets in the Schools, and Azures Acres, teaching poetry as a form of healing to children, teens and adults living with intersectional vulnerability in schools and organizations in Sonoma County. Currently Mr. Garay is finishing his book of poetry: Reverberating Voices. It speaks about the experience of immigration, racism, healing the spirit, displacement and love while living in San Francisco, California, Mexico, Nicaragua and El Salvador during Central American Civil Wars of the 1970s and 1980s. His poetry has been published in the DI-VȇrRSέ-City Anthology of the Austin International Poetry Festival, Pterodáctilo, La Revista, The Ethnic Studies Journal and Desde el Epicentro. Mr. Garay has also performed and read his poetry in the Bay Area for venues such as MAPP (Mission Arts and Performance Project), Mama’s Art Café, and the University of California at Santa Cruz. He’s also read his poetry in North Bay venues like the Salon for the Arts, the Arlene Francis Center, the De Turk Round Barn, the Finely Center, the Sonoma County Museum, and in Southern California, at the Pitzer College at Claremont University. He is passionate about justice and advocating for the Latino immigrant community. Immensely creative and accomplished, he inspires us and moves among us with unfailing humility, generosity and grace.

Nicole Rose Gelormino Arts Administration, Illustration, Mixed, Other, Painting, Printmaking, Sculpture, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Adults, Teaching Artist for Youth, Visual Arts Nicole Rose Gelormino is a teaching artist and painter. A SF Bay Area native, Gelormino has maintained a studio practice alongside her career in teaching art and leading professional development in arts education for over a decade. In her studio practice, Gelormino is committed to the continued exploration of the nuances of personal memory, the body and internalized cultural paradigms. She employs the paint and painting methods in the process of reflection and discovery within the pscyho-visceral landscape. Gelormino holds a Single Subject Teaching Credential in Visual Art and recently served on the advisory panel to the California Department of Credentialing. She worked for a few years on the Teachers Advisory Group to the SF Museum of Modern Art, writing curriculum for their collection and special exhibitions. She has also worked in arts administration in schools and other non-profit and public agencies. Some additional settings she has taught in include: professional development for teachers in schools and museums, youth and families before and after school and at special events, summer arts programs run by the city of San Francisco. At Gateway High School, Gelormino also served as the Arts Department Coordinator and Teaching Coach for other teaching artists.

Lisa Damico And Gena Richman Printmaking, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Youth, Visual Arts Lisa Damico* and Gena Richman**, are excited to offer you professional development integrating Social Emotional Learning and the Arts. We offer a staff development "special" condensed workshop or an expanded two session workshop either via Zoom or in person. Either will provide you with lessons you can do with your students the following day. The Arts and SEL pair perfectly together helping students gain and/or maintain a sense of well being in the classroom. The Arts provide students a way to learn, know and communicate aspects of themselves and others. Our PD is a make and take that will walk you through lessons to use at the beginning of the year which can be repeated as check-ins throughout the year. We recommend this workshop for early to upper elementary. Professional development fees on a sliding scale. Contact us for more information. Gena Richman genarichman@att.net and/or Lisa Damico ldamicoart@gmail.com *Lisa received her BA in Child Development, a Minor in Fine Arts and went on to receive a K-12 teaching credential with a supplemental credential in Art. She provided professional development to California teachers and presented in state and national conferences through her association with the California Literature Project, integrating Visual and Performing Arts into teaching and assessing in Language Arts. Lisa retired after 32 years in the classroom and has now become a happy gardener and shamelessly spoils her Labrador Retriever. **Gena received her B.S. in Arts, followed by a K-12 teaching credential from SSU. She provided professional development to teachers on how to integrate the Arts into Mathematics during many sessions at the California Mathematics Conference at Asilomar. Gena retired after 20 years in the classroom and works out 5 days a week in order to keep up with her young grandson! Thank you for checking out Creative Sonoma! Look for grants and other workshops on their site!

Scott Gibson Media, Photography, Teacher/Instructor, Video, Visual Arts Landscape/Nature/Wildlife. Ground-based and aerial/drone. Stills and Motion. Assignments, Commissions, Prints, Licensing, Photo Products. Award-winning photographer Scott Gibson creates the images for Gibson Outdoor Photography from his picturesque base in Northern California's Wine Country. From there, he travels the region, the western United States, and the world to capture images to educate, entertain, and inspire viewers. A serious hobby photographer for decades, Scott has spent recent years carefully refining his craft. His artistic eye helps him see and feel what others miss and his deep technical training helps him capture and share these experiences in his photographs. Scott's search for the next great image often provides opportunity for adventure. He is particularly proud of the acclaim for his images from an ascent of 14,505 foot Mount Whitney in California's Sierra Nevada mountains – camera in hand the entire 22 miles. Willing to go 'all in' to get the shot, Scott camped for days in the Oregon wilderness to capture the August 2017 total solar eclipse. His FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot certificate supports capturing fresh aerial points of view. His award-winning images are featured in private collections, winery publications, popular photo products, and stock photo services.

Linda Goodman Painting, Printmaking, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Adults, Teaching Artist for Youth, Visual Arts A painter, printmaker and educator, Linda remembers how good she felt as an 8-year-old artist wearing the lanyard keychain she made on her favorite ladybug-buttons dress. The impish girl grew up to be an award-winning artist, earning an M.F.A. in Printmaking, at Mills College and a B.A. in Fine Art from Stanford. Her prints and paintings are in numerous museum and private collections. Ms. Goodman shares her passion for making art with her students, encouraging expressive freedom and fearlessness while honing perceptive and hands-on skills. She has been a studio art teacher for over 20 years in the U.S. and abroad. She worked with physically and mentally challenged students at Creative Growth and East Bay Recovery art centers through the Oakland Unified School District, and with clients with disabilities at a Chalk Hill Artist Residency in Healdsburg. Linda also worked as Vespa-riding cafe photographer in Florence, editor, graphic designer, and publisher of books on alternative energy.

Kelly Gray Creative Sonoma Grantee, Fiction, Literature, Non-Fiction, Other, Poetry, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Adults, Teaching Artist for Youth Kelly Gray (she/her/hers) lives in Northern California on unceded Coast Miwok and Kashaya Pomo land. She writes about what she knows or is trying to know; parenting, eco-grief, mental health, dead things, monsters, prophetic animals, relationships to self and others, and rural life. She comes from a background in union organizing, birth work and reproductive justice, & is a certified UC California Naturalist and trained raptor handler, all of which informs her writing. Gray is the author of Instructions for an Animal Body (MoonTide Press, 2021), Tiger Paw, Tiger Paw, Knife, Knife (Quarter Press, 2022) and the audio chapbook My Fingers are Whales and Other Stories of Cetology (Moon Child Press, 2021). She is the recipient of the 2022 Neutrino Short-Short Prize from Passages North and has been a finalist for Best of the Net, nominated for Pushcart Prizes and Best Short Fiction. Her writing appears or is forthcoming in Northwest Review, Passages North, Menacing Hedge, Newfound, Pithead Chapel, Atticus Review, trampset, Literary Mama, and other incredible journals & anthologies. Currently, she is the Outreach & Assistant Editor at Bracken Magazine.

Janet Greene Children's, Dance, Instrumental, Literature, Music, Other, Storytelling, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Youth, Vocal Janet Greene is a teaching artist specializing in arts integration using music and movement. Janet received her M.A. in Early Childhood Education with an emphasis on Curriculum Development from Sonoma State University. She has a Level 3 Orff Certification and received Fulbright and Austrian Government Grants to attend the one year Special Course at the Orff Institute in Salzburg, Austria. Janet is in her 14th year as the TK-3rd grade Orff Music and Movement Specialist at Oak Grove Elementary School in Graton, California. For several years she was the pre-orchestra teacher for the Simply Strings El Sistema program sponsored by the Santa Rosa Symphony and was a mentor teacher for the San Francisco Symphony Keeping Scoreproject for classroom teachers. Janet has received numerous district grants to integrate music and movement into the K-4 Language Arts, ESL, Math and Science curricula. She currently has a 3-year grant to bring music and creative movement into the NGSS science curriculum at Oak Grove Elementary School. Her course Music, Movement and Language in Early Childhood is offered every spring at Mendocino College. She also teaches Introduction to Orff Schulwerk and Classroom Applications at the San Francisco International Orff Course. Janet has been a presenter for local and national music conferences. She has shared her interest in music, language and movement by offering courses for teachers and children in Bali, Bhutan, South Africa and Thailand. Janet enjoys dancing and playing the harpsichord, percussion, and the accordion.

TerriAnne Gutierrez Choreography, Composition, Dance, Instrumental, Music, Other, Performance Art, Professional Performance, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Adults, Teaching Artist for Youth Artist and community activist TerriAnne Gutierrez established Sirens Studio in 2001 We create, produce, present, and teach; *multicultural dance *theater *music Engaging a diverse group of Sonoma County and Bay Area artists, audiences, and students. Many racially mixed, and culturally specific ensembles consider Sirens Studio & Theater their artistic home, creating a thriving inter-generational community. Sirens is a non-profit 501©3 organization and over the past 15 years our programs and numerous activities have contributed to community development, stability and access to creative art making. Presenting, co-presenting, scholarship, work exchange, apprentice, sponsorship and more are all here to serve the large dance, music and theater communities in Sonoma County and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Alan Hall Composition, Instrumental, Mixed, Music, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Teacher/Instructor, Visual Arts

Alan Hall

Musician, Composer, Drummer, Mixed-Media Artist, Band Leader of "Ratatet"

I started my life as a professional drummer at 13 years, a visual artist 20 years later, now I'm also an active composer and band leader of my own neo-jazz sextet, Ratatet.

In addition to being an active performer and artist, I teach drum lessons, workshops and ensembles at schools and Jazz camps throughout the Bay Area. My teaching is based at California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley and Cal State East Bay in Hayward.

My art work is in several private collections on East and West coasts and can be viewed at my art website: www.amiguelart.com

My compositions can be heard at www.ratatet.com and www.jazzdrumming.com.

Music and Visual Art are two different modes of expressions for me. Both seem to function as positive feedback loops for me, and I hope, others. I'm striving to integrrate the two art forms in both a personal and social context.

Jackie Huss Hallerberg Literature, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Youth Jackie Huss Hallerberg is a Sonoma County Poet-Teacher for California Poets in the Schools and also serves as its Board President. She holds several academic degrees (including a teaching credential) and teaches in an experiential manner. During the past three years, she has brought poetry to over two thousand Sonoma County students ranging from K-12 in a variety of settings including public and private schools, Valley of the Moon Children’s Home, and summer arts camps. She is especially interested in reaching at-risk students who might be underserved in their communities. Jackie’s poetry has been featured in many publications. Her chapbook, Along Poetic Lines, and CD, Poems of Motherhood, were self-published. She is a member of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers.

Jenny Harp Artisan, Mixed, Printmaking, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Adults, Visual Arts, Woodworking I am an artist and educator living and working in Sonoma County. I have been a professor of studio arts at Sonoma State University for 8 years teaching drawing, fundamentals, and printmaking. I also teach workshops within the community. My creative work includes many different mediums and explores color, texture, limitations, and mark-making.

Lindsay Hunter Artisan, Design, Fashion Design, Fiber Art, Functional Art, Furniture, Media, Mixed, Multi-Media, Other, Other, Other, Sculpture, Teacher/Instructor, Video, Visual Arts LINDSAY HUNTER Santa Rosa, CA nutbarstudios@gmail.com SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS • Successfully promotes own business, stays in budget and executes projects on time. • Develop and implement K-9 enrichment programming: classroom, after-school, homeschool, county library, and summer camp; kid's area manager for large public events. • Demonstrated instructional and classroom management experience providing interesting and thought-provoking lessons supporting a personal mission of excellence. Provides a caring, safe and supportive environment for student learning. • Workshop presenter at reMAKE Education. • Network with businesses and community leaders and recruit volunteers for events. • Warm effective communication with both children and adults from diverse backgrounds, in person and written. • 10 years consumer product design and development, mostly for leading fashion manufacturers: Levi’s and Esprit, from initial concept through preproduction. • Initiated and created product concepts, materials development, textile patterns, garment styling and presentation materials. • Managed development of logo and graphics, hired artists, directed art concepts and approved final artwork for production. • Traveled throughout Asia and US working with sample and production manufacturers ensuring excellent products. • Researched market trends, analyzed competitor’s products for style, fabric, fit. • Conducted focus group research and marketing studies to identify target consumer. • Presented findings and product line concepts to Executive Management in order to advise and influence them on fashion trend direction and product design selections. • Nominated for Outstanding Faculty award at FIDM. Twice recognized for initiative, leadership and team building at Levi Strauss. EMPLOYMENT HISTORY 09/04-present Nutbar Studios Owner • Rincon Valley Education Foundation After-school Enrichment Program Provider • Whited Elementary Digital Storytelling Instructor • Rincon Valley Unified homeschool and Instructor Lego Robotics Trainer • Sonoma County Library Enrichment Program Provider • Sonoma State Excel Kids Summer Program Provider • Workshop Presenter at reMAKE Education • Levi's (Leipheimer) Granfondo Kid's Area Manager • The Great Handcar Regatta Kid's Area Manager • Gaia Online Merchandise Developer 01/13-06/15 Paraeducator Rincon Valley Unified 08/12-06/13 Science Facilitator, Noon Duty Rincon Valley Unified 03/03-08/04 College Instructor Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, SF 02/02-02/03 Administrative Assistant Feldenkrais Resources, Berkeley 04/01-11/01 Office Manager VoiceWare Systems, San Francisco 06/99-12/00 Student UC Berkeley Extension, Berkeley & San Francisco 09/94-03/99 Apparel Designer Levi Strauss & Co., San Francisco EDUCATION Bachelor of Arts in Industrial Arts – Emphasis in Product Design and Fashion San Francisco State University Project Management Certificate University of California Berkeley Extension PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT • SCOE Teaching and Learning Institute 2015 • Lego Learning Symposium at SCOE 2015 • SRJC Basic PC Repair and Maintenance Workshop 2014 • RVUSD Technology Summit 2013 • SCOE iPad Symposium 2013 • California Association for the Gifted Symposium 2013 AFFILIATIONS • Northbay Maker Educators • 180 Studios Community Maker Space

Sarah Hylton Artisan, Creative Sonoma Grantee, Improvisation, Mixed, Other, Painting, Sculpture, Teaching Artist for Adults, Teaching Artist for Youth Expressive Artist and Arts Facilitator specializing in a whole person-centered approach for creating art. An avid painter, dancer and ceramic sculptor; often found dancing while painting. Sarah’s paintings have been featured in galleries, juried exhibits and are in private collections. She is currently represented by Lori Austin Gallery in Sebastopol, CA. She began receiving awards as a child for her original artwork though has always resonated with the outsider and naïve artist. She is a self-taught artist and process oriented. After raising her artistically talented son, as an only parent, she is whole heartedly devoting herself to her own creative process and arts based restorative community projects. She is a 2020 Creative Sonoma Pop Up Art Grant recipient. Her current projects include the Hexagons Of Dignity Tapestry and the Art Tent. The community mural installation on the Art Tent is postponed due to Shelter In Place.

Leslie Ihrig Functional Art, Furniture, Illustration, Painting, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Youth, Visual Arts I am an artist living in Petaluma, CA. I taught in Petaluma schools for 23 years. I am, currently, on the Board at the Petaluma Arts Center. My passion is painting and finding ways to connect arts to education. Years ago, I was a furniture design coordinator and a visual merchandising manager for Macy's California. I have a BA in Art from San Jose State University and a teaching credential from Dominican University (San Rafael). I always worked art into the curriculum, using integrated strategies in my classroom in all subject areas - ELA, math, science, history, and, of course, fine art. I incorporated VTS (Visual Thinking Strategies) throughout my curriculum, as well. My work has been sold at Studio Gallery in San Francisco and at the Petaluma Arts Center. I have also shown my work at the Cabrillo College Gallery, Aqus Cafe, and I have greeting cards available at Vibe Gallery in Petaluma. I painted a piano for the Friends of Petaluma River Project (Petaluma Pete) and participated in the Black Lives Matter street mural in Petaluma. My work includes portraits of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Alexandria Ocasio Cortes, Greta Thunberg, and other important figures as well as commissioned portraits. Please visit my website to view my work.

Matthew Isais Bowker Composition, Instrumental, Music, Teacher/Instructor Matthew Isais Bowker is a Mexican-Italian- American Saxophonist, composer and educator. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education and California Teaching Credential from Sonoma State University. Matthew’s mission in music is to bridge the gap between classical music and music of the Latinx/ Hispanic communities. Many members of the Latinx community don’t feel welcome in a concert hall because of the Western European traditions which have excluded them. His hope is to welcome people into classical music by playing music they’re used to hearing but set for a classical ensemble. There are many classical works written by Latinx composers that are never heard because classical ensembles don’t program them. Matthew is actively trying to change that by personally performing those works, as well as folk/ Mariachi, and arranging them for saxophone and piano to get them heard. As an educator, he feels it is important to have representation in the classroom and have children play music they can relate to instead of the same music that has been used for years. He is arranging Mexican folk music, mariachi music and many other traditional Latinx music for school ensembles like concert bands, wind ensembles, string orchestras, and symphony orchestras. He hopes that these arrangements can act as an avenue to diversity the classroom and teach about Latinx culture and traditions. If we want to see real change in our community, we have to start within the classroom.

Jennifer Joyce Artisan, Ceramics, Functional Art, Instrumental, Jewelry, Music, Other, Other, Sculpture, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Adults, Teaching Artist for Youth, Visual Arts, Vocal

Jennifer Joyce, a native of Southern California, embarked on a life of creating functional and sculptural ceramics in 1995.

Joyce is a sculptor and ceramist whose body of work is both thoughtful and whimsical. She brings a unique background in dance, music, archaeology and photography to her art. As a past modern dancer and working archaeologist, Jennifer weaves lightness and whimsy, movement, dance and music into her pieces.

Jennifer opened her own ceramics school in Santa Monica, California in 1995 for 18 years and established another location in San Clemente in 2013. In her San Clemente studio she continued her ceramics school and also founded the Artists Studios of San Clemente, an artist studio collective that is still thriving.

Since moving to Sonoma County, Jennifer has opened her private studio to teaching ceramics and sculpture, has taught numerous classes and workshops at the Sonoma Community Center, teaches for the Mentor Program and has taught part-time at the Sonoma Academy in Santa Rosa. Her emphasis is on hand building, wheel throwing and figurative sculpture.

Christina Klauenburch Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Youth, Visual Arts Christina Klauenburch is a visual art teaching artist offering a variety of relevant arts programming for students. Christina has been sharing her love for art with children for the past fifteen years. She has taught students in school arts residencies through the Luther Burbank Center for the Performing Arts during the school year. Christina has also worked as an art teacher at the Luther Burbank Center for the Performing Arts' Summer Visual Arts Camp, helping students discover their love for arts. She has also volunteered as an art teacher at Cali Calmecac Language Academy. Christina worked and taught in the Arts and Trauma Teaching Artist Residency Program offered through Creative Sonoma. Her trauma-informed training has led to a deeper and richer understanding of how she can used arts education to help students identify, heal, and feel empowered. She is currently pursuing a teaching credential at Sonoma State University and in her free time, she enjoys photography, gardening, and spending time with her family. Contact Christina to learn more about arts and integrated arts lessons she has to offer students of all ages!

Tyehimba Kokayi Creative Sonoma Grantee, Dance, Folk Art, Other, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Adults, Teaching Artist for Youth At 15 in Oakland, I began taking formal dance classes, and by the age of 18 began my dance career while teaching gymnastics at a dance studio in Alameda, Ca. My formal training expanded to include Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Modern and Dunham, while concurrently performing with the Oakland Children’s Chorus and The Oakland Youth Chorus. I later moved to Sacramento and began studying theater under the late great Dr Thomas Michael Gates, mentored in dance with James Wheatley of Celebration Arts and Pepper Von of Step 1 Dance Academy, choreographed with the Black Repertory Dance Troupe of UC Davis and began training in West African Dance with Linda Faye Johnson, Zak and Niaomi Diouf, the late greats Alasane Kane and Abdoulia Diakite by joining "CEEDO” (Chedo) West African Drum and Dance Troupe in 1986. I learned the Djembe and mastered it while completing ten years of rigorous training and founded Lions Den Entertainment, which was incorporate in 2002. Exactly 20 years later, in 2022, I established The Lions Den Education Institute, to further educate about West African culture and I also teach ZUMBA to encourage some form of movement. I received a Neighborhood Arts Program grant in 2006, began and served as President of The West African Drum and Drum Club at CSUS, from March 2007 until March 2008, hold a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Ethnic Studies, minor in Dance, a Master of Arts Degree in Education. For 2023, I am a grant recipient and part owner of a new movement studio Cotati Moves.

Jacqueline Mallegni Artisan, Design, Fiber Art, Graphic Design, Mixed, Sculpture, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Adults, Visual Arts I create mixed media sculpture with rattan, handmade paper, cast flax and silk fiber, sometimes embellished with mono-prints infused with indigo, sumi ink and handmade plant based inks and stains. Making and the art of transformation from tangible to intangible returning to a tangible form is very alluring for me. I am interested in working with materials that translate my appreciation for mother-nature's installations formed by water, wind, light and dark. Patterns in nature, textures and seasonal changes inform my sculptures that reveal primitive and refined qualities. Aside from nature's inspiration, I’m also interested in the concept of the ethereal journey, motherhood, vacancy, loss, renewal and how emotional responses can evoke beauty. I began making Asian style paper with kozo fiber in 1987. My journey with paper and sculpture has been varied from light fixtures to stone carving to ethereal mixed media sculpture. The thread of my creative process always begins with paper. I’m excited about creating the Chrysalis series that feels like a merging of many techniques developed over the years bringing many voices together that I refer to as contemplative sculpture.

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