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CREATIVES

Entrepreneurs.  Innovators.  Interpreters of life’s jagged edges and silken pathways.  Soothsayers and sorcerers.  These words and more define the creative individuals who have chosen Sonoma as their home.  Explore their methods and mediums in these pages and be inspired.

Are you a creative professional in Sonoma County working to satisfy your artistic expression and make a living with your work?  Register HERE to have your own page included on CreativeSonoma.org.

Teaching Artists for Youth are artists who are adept at and specially trained in working with pre-school and school age children, K-12, in a classroom or workshop setting to teach artistic skills.

Shannon Abbey
Shannon Abbey Children's, Illustration, Literature, Painting, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Adults, Teaching Artist for Youth, Visual Arts ‘The future of most bird species depends on our commitment to preserving them. Are they valuable enough for us to make the effort?’ -  Jonathan Franzen  Simplicity, the beauty of the every day.

I am an environmental woman artist inspired by the landscape and wildlife of Sonoma and Marin counties, especially the wetlands along the Petaluma River and San Pablo Bay. My work is about this place, the natural world of the North Bay, combining representation with abstraction.

I work in acrylic on wood panels in the studio, or on location around Sonoma and Marin Counties and recently traveling to Glacier National Park in Montana where I was the 2022 artist in residence.

I was born and raised in a small college town in the Pacific Northwest.

My family spent summer vacations camping, fishing, boating and swimming on the lakes and rivers of Washington and Idaho. The love of the outdoors instilled in me by my  father, an avid outdoorsman, led to my passion for nature and animal life as my  painting’s subject matter. I have an optimistic view of the regenerative power of nature when aware humans intercede.
Valerie Adams
Valerie Adams Artisan, Design, Functional Art, Glass, Graphic Design, Holidays Shop Local, Other, Other, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Adults, Teaching Artist for Youth, Visual Arts

I’m a northern California girl whose been creating all my life. With a 30-year background as a graphic designer my creative vision has centered on laying out printed pieces that provoke thought, convey information, and create a reaction.

With an emphasis on kilnformed glass since 2001, I use many of the same design principles of balance, focus, and harmony. I design and create one-of-a-kind fused glass artwork and lighting, functional and decorative tableware, smile-inducing garden art, and dazzling accessories.

Juicy colors, off-beat arrangements, and clean, aesthetic layouts define my approach. I’m continually thrilled by the magical aspect of transforming individual sharp bits of colored glass into luscious collectibles that reflect your good taste. Each piece is handmade, one at a time, in my Sonoma County studio.

I’ve been honored to participate in Professional Artists in Residency programs at the prestigious Pilchuck School of Glass in Washington state and the Bullseye Glass Company’s Dealer’s Forum, which prepares artists to teach in the field of glass art. I’m an enthusiastic and generous instructor providing classes to small groups, and one-on-one mentoring for those interested in personalized instruction.
Art of Nature Amanda Rose Hopkins (A. Rose)
Art Of Nature Amanda Rose Hopkins (A. Rose) Arts Administration, Illustration, Mixed, Other, Painting, Performance Art, Sculpture, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Adults, Teaching Artist for Youth, Visual Arts

Artist's Statement Amanda Rose Hopkins Art of Nature

Throughout my work I use various mediums to help people fall back in love with nature. My work also explores the complexities of human kind's relationship to the environment. Using the  visual language of color I create an emotional feel, which connects directly to the heart and mind. The use of bright sensual colors, occasional subdued hues, and earthy elements brings about a range of feeling tones. The series of sensual flower paintings are meant to wet the palette by exciting the visual senses with their extremely bright hues and complementary colors. The most subtle hues and purest feelings I encounter when in direct contact with nature. The intricate patterns, finely composed colors, and rounded shapes fuel a constant curiosity of the organic. Ecological elements are missing from this current linear realm humans have built from concrete and synthetic materials. Thus my intention is to bring an ecological aesthetic into "built space". My art strives to insert pieces of the earth herself into man-made settings. Recently my love of painting and landscaping has combined into mixed media paintings which use found moss, bark, and seaweed with sensuously colored oil paint, to create an explosion of the senses. These hands use sensual colors with an environmental aesthetic with the intention of exciting the senses to help them focus on the beauty and magic of nature.
Audio Angel
Audio Angel Acting, Audio, Composition, Dance, Design, Directing, Film, Film Office, Graphic Design, Improvisation, Instrumental, Literature, Media, Multi-Media, Multimedia, Music, Other, Other, Other, Performance Art, Poetry, Talent, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Adults, Teaching Artist for Youth, Theatre, Video, Vocal Music. Chose. Me. Hi CS Community. Happy to be here. Hope you are well in this moment & look forward to meeting you soon. In the meantime, here's a bit about my latest LIVE project. <3 ***

Fronted by the divine Audio Angel, Audio Angel & Her Good Intentions is a playful experiment in performance art. With an incredible live band, 30-year dancehall veteran Audio Angel reinterprets her own original electronic music while shuffling in a mix tape of B-sides and rarities from that cool bestie who had the weirdest but raddest taste. Expect the unexpected, and be ready for a danceable journey through soul, RnB, jazz, indie rock, gospel and more!
Brittany Aquamarine
Brittany Aquamarine Composition, Instrumental, Music, Other, Performance Art, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Adults, Teaching Artist for Youth, Vocal Brittany Aquamarine:
  • Live Music - Ecstatically Jazzed Ethereality
  • Music Teacher - Piano, Guitar, and Vocals

Known for creating complex and intricate piano and guitar-based songs since 2004, Brittany’s newest songs, and first-time releases in 2021, were created by arranging and editing a variety of layered electronic instrumental loops. 

Brittany has collaborated and performed with many musicians, adding songwriting, instrumentation, lead and background vocals to various projects, performing live with one band, Grenadilla, at SiriusXM Satellite Radio in Washington D.C. the Clearwater Festival and Mountain Jam Festival in New York.

She believes we all can choose to use the pieces we have to instigate necessary creative expression. These expressions are the genesis of her new songs based in electronic loops of bass, drum and piano additions. All of these new songs have gone through many transformations and metamorphosis as we all do. Jienan Yuan, one of the producers for Pieces (Jienan Yuan Remix) was instrumental in making that version of Pieces. Brittany loves to share her passion for music with others. She provides private music lessons and teaches lessons at Music to My Ears in Cotati, CA and Art and Soul School of Creative and Performing Arts in Windsor, CA. Please contact BrittanyAquamarineMusic@gmail.com about music interests and booking requests.
matthew baker
Matthew Baker Design, Graphic Design, Illustration, Multimedia, Photography, Printmaking, Production, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Adults, Teaching Artist for Youth, Visual Arts I am a commercial artist specialized in promotional marketing. My clients have included Disney, Marvel, Nickelodeon, Mattel, and many other name brands. After 17 years in the industry, I have decided to give back to our community and have been teaching Graphics in both public and private schools in Sonoma County for the past six years. The Graphics classes are specialized in that they are streamlined to printing on Apparel. Students design their own brands and print new clothes.  
Jenn Ban
Jenn Ban Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Adults, Teaching Artist for Youth, Visual Arts
Jenn Ban (she/they) is a Queer Filipinx-American multidisciplinary visual artist, certified Reiki Master, youth teaching artist, community organizer, and cultural practitioner.
 
Jenns work includes natural and upcycled textiles, painting, printmaking, murals, film and installations. They also offer Sacred Skin Adornments (Reiki infused tattoos), Reiki Sessions, host community circles, and teach workshops. They intersect art and healing through intention, meditation, and movement, focusing on themes of authentic connection, soul-transcendence, and individual and collective healing.
 
As an artist and cultural practitioner, their work has been featured across the United States and internationally in numerous articles, galleries, exhibits and museums in the Philippines and Europe. They are recognized for on-going contributions to a number of community-based organizations. Jenn is a Teaching Artist with Raizes Collective, co-organizer of Warriors Grace Austronesian Gatherings, co-founder of Commune Artist, a Resident Artist at Balay Kreative Studios and at Fibershed Learning Center and a recipient of the 2022 San Francisco Arts Commission Individual Artist Grant.
Kirsten Bjøre Guerrero
Kirsten Bjøre Guerrero Multi-Media, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Adults, Teaching Artist for Youth, Visual Arts Kirsten Bjøre Guerrero (she/her) is an artist and educator who places the highest importance on supporting social and emotional connections through making. She loves developing new techniques and creating functional art objects. She is an advocate for issues of art education, mental health, neurodiversity, LGBTQ+ community, and creative entrepreneurship. She has worked in a wide array of media and accepts commissions on a limited basis. Please visit cabracreative.com to learn more. As a founder of the art collective, WonderStump, Kirsten finds joy and collaboration in all aspects of the arts. WonderStump encourages visual artists, performance artists, musicians, writers, production artists, and creatives of all types to come together to create magical things! Kirsten is also a member of the Arts Alive collective, working collaboratively to elevate the vibrant arts scene in downtown Petaluma. Kirsten currently serves as the Head of Engagement and Programming at Life On Earth Art. Her work involves forming community partnerships and developing curricula for combined methodologies of healing, artmaking, and activism-- to further the mission to unite, create, and heal through art. Please contact Kirsten to learn more about Life on Earth Art and how you might become involved. Kirsten was born and raised in Southcentral Alaska, spent 15 years teaching in public schools in San Antonio, Texas, and now lives in Sebastopol, California with her partner and their two amazing children.
Jorge Bolaños-Santillan
Jorge Bolaños-Santillan Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Youth, Visual Arts Teaching Artist Jorge Bolaños-Santillan offers residencies for older elementary age students called "World Healing Arts: How Other Cultures Express Emotions Through Art." Jorge was born and raised in Mexico City. He was educated as a cultural anthropologist and worked creating oral history workshops with indigenous communities as well as videography and visuals arts projects. He moved to Sonoma County and worked has recently begun working as a Community Couch in the Life Skills Department at Becoming Independent. He also participates in Raizes Collective, a non-profit that promotes art in the Latino and immigrant community.  
Mari Capon
Mari Capon Acting, Artisan, Arts Administration, Ballet, Ballroom, Children's, Choreography, Dance, Directing, Fiber Art, Fiction, Folk Art, Hip-Hop & Funk, Illustration, Improvisation, Improvisation, Latin, Literature, Media, Modern, Muralist, Music, Non-Fiction, Other, Other, Other, Painting, Performance Art, Poetry, Printmaking, Puppetry, Sculpture, Storytelling, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Adults, Teaching Artist for Youth, Theatre, Video, Visual Arts, Vocal Mari has been professionally involved in the arts world for over twenty years.  As a child, she was a creative dancer at Virginia Tanner's Children Dance Theater, and she oil painted and sang in choirs.  As a teen she acted, and was a make-up artist, poet, essayist, and ballroom dancer, and in young adulthood, she was a tango dancer and professional performing artist as an Art Model for artists working for Disney, EA, and countless Universities, Ateliers, Institutes, and Studios, and especially enjoyed set, costume, and lighting designs for painters and illustrators. Upon realizing that she most enjoyed coaching artists through their process, she began teaching, first creating art curriculum for a K-12 after-school program while becoming bilingual in Peru, before returning to the U.S. to become a certified cognitive movement, creative dance, and preschool music instructor.  She began providing, teaching, and consulting for bilingual preschools and Summer Camps, tutoring, and coaching gymnastics, and continued to teach the arts and sports.  She also taught inclusive sex education and spiritual development for children at interfaith, non-denominational churches, and facilitated somatic processing, while attending weekly classes in various forms. As an undergrad, Mari authored an Interdisciplinary Arts Curriculum Program for Pre-K through 12th Grade and became credentialed.  She will research, publish, and offer her program while continuing to teach Interdisciplinary Arts.
Ron Carter
Ron Carter Architecture, Artisan, Audio, Ceramics, Children's, Creative Sonoma Grantee, Design, Directing, Fashion Design, Fiction, Film, Functional Art, Furniture, Graphic Design, Illustration, Instrumental, Interior Design, Jewelry, Literature, Media, Mixed, Muralist, Music, Other, Other, Other, Painting, Photography, Poetry, Sculpture, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Adults, Teaching Artist for Youth, Theatre, Video, Visual Arts, Woodworking

My Path... Divergent visions gave rise to my creative present. A present refreshed by art as life and livelihood.

Experiences like the ‘Tubbs Fire’ that hit Santa Rosa serve to strengthen the ‘artist within me’. It foements subjective creative moments that utilize my past, present - and my future as focal lenses. Spontaneously, I chose The San Francisco Art Institute over The Rhode Island School of Design and the School of the Art Institute  at Chicago for my formal Art education. I received my BFA in Interdisciplinary Art and Public Art. I’ve studied stone sculpture for 10 years with Master Sculpture-Ante’ Marinovic, one of Croatia’s premier stone sculptors and is considered a Croatian national treasure. I explore the collaboration between artist, media and tool in such a fashion as to give rise to multiple layers of compressed info within each piece I create no matter if it is a purely visual work or an interactive space or environmental art form. For me, art screams out into all aspects of my life. As an artist in western society, dogma and bravado go hand in hand with economic choice. Art is my life. If it’s not nailed down or permanently affixed,  it’s in trouble of becoming art resource material. Well, upon further review, even that won’t deter me from considering an objects use in an art piece.
Krysta Cook
Krysta Cook Acting, Choreography, Dance, Design, Fashion Design, Functional Art, Improvisation, Improvisation, Modern, Other, Other, Other, Other, Performance Art, Professional Performance, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Youth, Theatre, Visual Arts

Krysta Cook is a multidisciplinary performance with a passion for dance, circus arts, teaching, creating costumes and producing.

Krysta is a Sonoma County native who began her own performance career as a belly dancer in her teens, which eventually led her into the wild world of circus arts. She has been featured in magazines, books, radio shows and been flown around the country to perform for elite Clients. She loved making her own costumes from a young age which eventually bloomed into making costumes and stage props for all of the artists she worked with. She has been a catalyst in the growing arts scene in the North Bay over the past ten years, collaborating with other local visionaries to produce/co-produce ongoing successes such as Circus Maximus Sonoma County, SerLaMuse- an art affair, Rouge Dance Company as well as many other one-off specialty shows. Krysta began to challenge the status quo of local arts when she decided to incorporate wild costuming, custom event entertainment packages and a wide selection of top-notch artists ready to book with just one phone call. A one-stop-shop of specialty arts as born! Krysta is single Mother of a smart young man, an environmental advocate, Licensed Nurse, Certified Personal trainer and philanthropist for local non-profits.
Catherine Cruz
Catherine Cruz Multi-Media, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Adults, Teaching Artist for Youth Artist Statement Catherine B Cruz is a French-American abstract artist who works with mixed media, multi-layered collage, and reclaimed materials. Informed by more than twenty-five years of experience in the design world, Catherine takes inspiration from a unique perspective, which spans architecture, interior design, and sustainability. Her art work is informed by textures and patterns created by the passing of time and the effects of the natural elements on the built environment.  A walk in any city like New York, Paris or Barcelona, is always a source of inspiration. In the process of observing the contrast between new and old architecture, the textures of walls, the torn posters, and the typography on the storefronts, she creates her own visual vocabulary that she utilizes in her mixed media work. She is also attracted to textures found in the rural environment such as old wooden fences, painted barns, and rusted metal that she photographs, analyzes and abstracts.  She is not interested in replicating them but instead she lets them inform her art. As a predominantly self-taught artist, she has developed her style by exploring materials and techniques. Her abstract vocabulary is based on intuitive mark making, lines and forms, as well as the exploration of visual and tactile textures and a good understanding of color.  Her process involves layering materials on wood panels or canvas such as her own painted papers, vintage papers, paint, graphite, and oil pastels. The layers are often sanded to reveal patterns and details. Artist Biography Catherine was born in Mantes-la-Jolie, France, not too far from Claude Monet’s home and gardens.  She grew up in several places including Versailles and the Cote d’Azur, attending high school in Cannes.  While a teenager, she was an exchange student near Nashville, Tennessee, and later on she moved to the US on her own to attend college. She received a Bachelor of Science in Interior Design (Cum Laude) from Florida State University in 1993 and had a successful career as residential and commercial interior designer, followed by a second career and the creation of her own business, C2 Green Solutions, as a LEED-accredited green building consultant working with international architectural firms in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York, and Houston. Always an avid learner, she has studied art history, color theory, painting, classical figure drawing, perspective, printing, and pottery in both France and the US. Her passion is to encourage others to unleash their creativity, experiment with materials, and connect with their imagination.  In 2018 she created Be You Art Studio and launched her creative workshops for children and adults.  She shares her time between Sebastopol, California, and Valence, France, with her husband and her son.
Johny Dechemin
Johny Dechemin Acting, Composition, Crew, Dance, Design, Directing, Fashion Design, Film Office, Folk Art, Functional Art, Hip-Hop & Funk, Illustration, Instrumental, Mixed, Multimedia, Music, Other, Other, Other, Other, Painting, Performance Art, Photography, Printmaking, Professional Performance, Sculpture, Storytelling, Talent, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Adults, Teaching Artist for Youth, Theatre, Visual Arts, Vocal DJ JOHNY MIX, has a natural charisma, a passion for music, and the ability to connect with people. A top-notch DJ who’s connect with listeners through engaging talk content and social interaction. He plays musical recordings on radio shows, nightclubs, corporates, private and public events. He works for radio stations, presenting programs, talk shows, and chart shows. He ensures musical recordings and advertisements are played on time and also interact with listeners through social media. As a DJ, he is responsible for engaging with listeners, queueing up playlists, presenting commercials, performing interviews, taking music requests, and generating interest in the show. He is a MC at public events and perform meet and greets.
Kate Foley-Beining
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
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
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
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! 
Linda Goodman
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
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
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
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.
Jackie Huss Hallerberg
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.
Sarah Hylton
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
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.
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