Artists | CreativeSonoma.org

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.

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.

Jesus Bravo Artisan, Functional Art, Furniture, Sculpture, Visual Arts As a child, and first generation immigrant in this country I was never completely sure about my future. After graduating high school, I applied to SRJC and selected the welding program. Although I had a wonderful education and certification, I was unable to secure a job in the field due to my immigration status. After fifteen years of being undocumented, I had the opportunity to acquire U.S. citizenship. After I landed my first welding job, it was at that shop where I learned to create metal art, or what I like to call forever art. I would stay after work and began to put my skills to the test, spending long hours and weekends to create my own style which is highly influenced by Mother Nature, my ancestral roots, and indigenous tribes around the American continent and the world. I began making simple yard art, while continuing to develop my skills. I then started making various furniture pieces, doing larger jobs such as gates, planter boxes, and repair jobs. With these projects, I continued to develop my style of art, including original art and commissioned pieces. Every day was and still is spent practicing, evolving, and pushing my skills to become a better fabricator and artist. This is what I call BravoSculpt. In the South Central Mexico, the town I was born and raised in is very close to a sacred Mexica location ca led Malinalco. Since it was so close, it was a place we frequented as a family throughout my childhood. Malinalco has influenced and inspired my work because it is a place of rich history where I have learned, and continue to learn about the rich heritage left by our ancestors– a location of the monolith Cuahucalli, where the Mexica eagle and jaguar warriors were Trained and Initiated. Communities need to heal from ongoing traumas and I believe culture helps us heal, including art. I also believe that knowledge is power, and as I continue to learn more about my own culture, it helps me expand knowledge of other cultures and communities. I began attending several cultural events around the Bay Area, including Dia de los Muertos at various locations, Mexica New Year in San Jose, and Carnaval in San Francisco. These events have heavily influenced me and my art, as they highlight many BIPOC communities. It is at these events where we experience a sense of community and a sense of belonging. Al participants and attendees, including myself, learn so much from each other– it is truly beautiful and inspiring. These events include ancestral ceremonies, dances, altars, among other traditions that have taught me many ways to celebrate all of our ancestors. In my daily life, I like to incorporate traditional, ancestral ways of giving. And through my art, I aim to share the knowledge I am acquiring. In addition, I have had the great pleasure to collaborate with several local community projects through incredible nonprofit organizations and community groups including Sonoma Immigrant Services, Art Escape, the Springs Municipal Advisory Council, and El Verano Elementary School.

Monica Bryant Illustration, Mixed, Painting, Photography, Visual Arts Monica Bryant is a mixed-media artist. She was born in Kansas, received her BA in Art from the University of Hawaii and her MFA from UC Berkeley. In 2004 she was awarded a fellowship at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York. Bryant is a credentialed Art Teacher who chaired the Art Department at Ursuline High School in Santa Rosa, CA for nine years. After Ursuline closed in 2011, Bryant instructed drawing and color theory at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) in San Francisco. She also became the art teacher at Brush Creek Montessori School in Santa Rosa until June 2014. Bryant is a Sonoma County Art Trails Artist and her work has been exhibited nationally and in Singapore. Influenced by her international travel experiences, including the three years she lived in Singapore, Bryant created distinctive remixed photographs of South East Asia in the 60’s. The photographic mixed-media works were exhibited in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Caffe Museo, October 2005. Bryant’s past work includes a large rebar and fiberglass apron, papier-mâché objects and paintings and drawings. In a newspaper article years ago, Khysie Horn said “Bryant is a conceptual artist who invites reflection and introspection”. In 2002 Bryant was the lead artist for the mural on the Press Democrat Building entitled The 50 Who Shaped Sonoma County in the 20th Century. https://www.monikaiart.studio/

Cade Burkhammer Artisan, Audio, Ceramics, Design, Fiction, Functional Art, Graphic Design, Illustration, Instrumental, Interior Design, Literature, Media, Mixed, Multi-Media, Music, Other, Other, Other, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture, Teacher/Instructor, Video, Visual Arts Cade Burkhammer, born April 21st 1973, has been painting and exhibiting paintings and playing music since he was 13 years old around the country. Painting styles include surreal oils, abstract acrylic and latex, experimental and controlled mixed media, watercolor illustration, original Photoshop photography, ceramics, bronze sculpture, writing, landscape design, gardening, science, healing arts, bardic meditation, drumming, piano, DJ... Cade is the creator of 'The Wise Fool Tarot', a self-published independent manifesto that took 15 years of research, meditation, painting, writing and raising funds for printing and distributing. This year will be Cade's second tarot release collaborating with another author. His third oracle deck is in the making. Cade is the creator of 'Wrecords', a series of recordings and sound collages in the vain of Vicki Bennett and Philip Jeck, which is the musical accompaniment for the video series 'Recycled Memories.' A multi-media event featuring video and sound collage of noisy vintage meditation of the forgotten past and dreamy future combined with live drums, piano and sometimes female vocals.

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 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.

Jason Cool Acting, Architecture, Artisan, Arts Administration, Ballroom, Ceramics, Children's, Choreography, Composition, Crew, Dance, Design, Directing, Equipment, Fashion Design, Fiber Art, Fiction, Film Office, Folk Art, Functional Art, Furniture, General Services, Glass, Hip-Hop & Funk, Illustration, Improvisation, Improvisation, Instrumental, Interior Design, Jewelry, Literature, Media, Mixed, Modern, Multi-Media, Music, Non-Fiction, Other, Other, Other, Other, Other, Other, Other, Other, Other, Painting, Performance Art, Photography, Poetry, Production, Professional Performance, Puppetry, Sculpture, Storytelling, Talent, Teacher/Instructor, Theatre, Visual Arts, Vocal, Woodworking

Jason Cool/Henson

Raised by musical and artistic tallent. from my grandfather Walter cool.writing and composing set designs on and off Broadway as well as music teacher. He tought me many things about music ,set design ,and writing stories making songs.mom colleen cool was a d.j for many years growing up .her morning talk show won an addy award. experience of the evolution of radio stations format from vinal,reel to reel,8 track,cassette,cd,to digital.learned lots about the insider secrets and politics , selling air time ,being a paid musical artist.and much more.on my dad's side .the "story family." his grandmother had 21 kids .4 sets of twins ,all natural birth!all musicians playing together ofton..on ed sullvon show and groucho marks.this popular family band and I would practice at grandma's regularly. As a kid growing up. i would try many instruments pianos ,drums,accordion ,banjo ,mandolin etc. I have been in theater,loved the arts, music ,writer. open to everything since i was a young kid.arts and music are my life!if i dont know how to do something,i will be honest!i ask,try and will do all things of interest with love !and any collaboration with heart.I Compromise to learn others perspectives because im always learning. preforming on and off stage.jamming with the public.sharing what i know. Learning what others are willing or able to teach.I loved all the music,art,storys,I have been a part of, or experienced 1999 to current over 15 countries I visited. World Share

Gerald Huth Holidays Shop Local, Mixed, Painting, Sculpture, Visual Arts I have been living and working in Sonoma County for 31 years, after moving from New York City.I have had exhibitions in France, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, as well as a great many throughout the United States. I am an original member of the Sonoma County ArtTrails open studio tour, as well as a founding member of the Art at the Source studio tour, when I was on the Board of Directors of the Sebastopol Center for the Arts. My studio and gallery are in Forestville, and are open year round by appointment, as well as during ArtTrails. I am also involved in teaching art, and conduct a monthly collage workshop in my studio. I volunteer teaching art in Sonoma County schools, and have spent the past seven winters volunteering as an art teacher with foundations in Cambodia and India.

Adrian Litman Ceramics, Furniture, Illustration, Painting, Sculpture For the past 30 years, I have been working on a variety of projects for Civic, Corporate, Business and Residential clients, integrating art into architecture as well as designing free standing two and three dimensional pieces that create a sense of encounter and engagement through visual distinction or interaction. As an artist, I find inspiration and fuel for creative expression by contemplating the world around me. My inspiration is enhanced by concepts introduced by contemporary science, social issues, politics and cultural diversities. I use abstract and figurative interpretations to convey messages and emotions with sensibility, combining control and passion. Depending on the scope of design, volumes, shapes and vibrant luminous colors, are crafted to converge in an elegant harmony, stimulating the mind and emotions of the viewer. Having an eclectic approach to design, I feel comfortable flowing from dramatic subjects to whimsical and humorous themes. I have a broad range of diverse artistic skills and experience of working with a variety of durable materials like stainless steel, copper, brass, bronze, porcelain and glass as appropriate for harmonious integration with the site's architectural style and environment. For most of my large size public art designs, I cooperate with architects, structural engineers and licensed public art fabricators. As a basic principle, I create public art designs with flexibility in order to allow the project stakeholders and community input and participation.

Rayne Madison Creative Sonoma Grantee, Design, Folk Art, Functional Art, Graphic Design, Mixed, Visual Arts I view art as an exploration of life experience and the tangible means by which to share concepts, ideas and emotions. The closest I have come to describing myself is as an emerging inter-disciplinary conceptual artist. The concepts that I work with arise from my day-to-day existence, they seem to choose me, rather than the other way around. Each project leads me to learn and expand into new areas. My work explores themes of identity, femininity, humanity, attachment, connection, intention, spiritual evolution and that which underlies emotion. Using, whichever materials are best suited to communicating the concept I am working with. Lately, I am drawn to creating street art posters, paper sculptures, pop-up public art installations and collaborative projects. I have a BFA in Graphic Design from NYIT. And, I have worked in publishing, non-profit and investment banking sectors. Bringing me into contact with different aspects of our culture and a diverse field of individuals. I am freelancing as an organizational assistant, event planner, graphic designer and website builder while developing my own projects.

Mother Magica Artisan, Audio, Choreography, Composition, Dance, Design, Fashion Design, Instrumental, Jewelry, Media, Music, Other, Photography, Video, Visual Arts, Vocal

Artist , Muse, CRAZY

I am a creative designer and maker of music, videos, jewelery, clothing, wigs, dance and short storys..... I am a constant comic in all ways of life. Being able to laugh at everything is my true gift. I practice gratitude... I am sooooo greatfull to be alive and able to inspire you to create and love!

Tanya Marsh Sculpture, Visual Arts Mission-To inspire deeper thought into our daily lives and actions through steel artwork, shifting the way we think about and approach our habits and routines. Vision-To create meaningful pieces of art for home, business and outdoors while inspiring positive changes. To share and teach my metal working craft to local Women of Color and Youth offering paid apprenticeships. Values-I value our connections; to each other, the Waters, the Land, the Forests, all of the Creatures that inhabit those worlds including those in our Spirit Worlds. I value the Elements of the Earth from the North, Fire from the South, Air from the East and the Waters from the West. I deeply value diversity and inclusion, compassion, empathy and honesty.

TumbleWeed Expressions Meryl Juniper Artisan, Ceramics, Holidays Shop Local, Mixed, Muralist, Painting, Printmaking, Sculpture, Visual Arts While following the seasons within her Expressive Arts Inspirations, Meryl intertwines over 4 decades of Multimedia Arts Educational Experiences and Community Arts Activism. Meryl ignites and delicately encourages artistic expression and a sense of humility and humanity, while inspiring hands-on, process based learning, along with a curriculum integrated focus. In this we weave a healthy approach, revealing and enlivening the naturally creative self. Simultaneously, Meryl thrives within her close to 5 decades of experience engaging a life within: Multimedia Visual Arts and the Performative realms of Nature Based and Street Performance Ritual, Improvisational Movement, Dance Theater, Improvisational Vocal Play, Song Writing, Movement Infused Personal Storytelling and Somatic Movement Practices. Moreover, Meryl commits, inspires and dedicates her artistic being to Community Arts Production, Process and Presentation. Lastly, Meryl’s instinctive devotion to the natural world and the offerings of Eco Somatic Engagement, allows her to share the wisdom gleaned and harvested from all her experiences living close and being inspired by the earth, while continuously extending a steadfast faithfulness to the practices of Expressive Arts, Natural Medicine Making, Farming, Holistic Nutrition and Parenting, while moving within a Heart Centered Living Folks Arts Tradition.

Cathleen Swanson Ceramics, Dance, Folk Art, Improvisation, Media, Mixed, Painting, Photography, Recovery Fund Grantee, Sculpture, Teacher/Instructor, Video, Visual Arts I am not limited to one medium nor style. My art is an exploration, an adventure and a spiritual journey. I love to share art-making with others. The Spirit Houses are made by hand from clay.

Luann Udell Artisan, Fiber Art, Jewelry, Literature, Mixed, Non-Fiction, Other, Other, Printmaking, Sculpture, Teacher/Instructor, Visual Arts, Woodworking Ancient Stories Retold in Modern Artifacts Luann Udell is a double-juried of the prestigious League of New Hampshire Craftsmen in stitchery and non-metal jewelry. She handcrafts wall hangings, assemblages, sculptures, and jewelry inspired by prehistoric, tribal, and world art. She tells stories about ancient cultures through art, using a colorful and distinctive combination of fiber, polymer and mixed media. Running horses, fossil fish, bears, birds, bulls, otters and shaman figures are common elements in her work. By exploring our connection to those artists of the distant past, she illuminates her thoughts on what it means to be human in our modern times. “I believe we all have a place and a purpose in this world. I found mine through my art. And through my art, I encourage others to find inspiration to make their own place in the world. So much of our ancient human history sheds light on how we can make better choices today.” Luann’s interest in world art began while studying art history in college at the University of Michigan. “I particularly enjoyed seeing exhibits about ancient artifacts—pottery shards, bone tools, textile fragments too tattered and worn to indentify. Tenderly mounted under temples of glass, carefully labeled for display, they seem to speak in whispers of a time forgotten, of a people lost to us in antiquity.” When she focused her energy on becoming an artist, her first—and current--source of inspiration was the very same prehistoric cave paintings she’d studied in college so many years before. Luann’s work has appeared in national juried craft exhibitions and publications. Her work has been carried by fine art and craft galleries across the country. She teaches professional development skills for artists and craftspeople. She is also a published writer, with a book, ebooks, published articles, and two regular columns in craft magazines to her credit. In addition to her own blog about a life making art, she now writes a regular column for Fine Art Views, an online art marketing magazine. After living in New Hampshire for 27 years, she moved to Santa Rosa, California in 2014, because, she says, you’re never too old to make a major reboot in your life.

Féven Zewdi Illustration, Painting, Visual Arts

Hello! 👋🏾my name is Féven (pronounced Fay-vin) I am a passionate multidisciplinary painter and muralist.

I’m committed to elevating my skills as an artist through innovative storytelling that inspires and impact people to action. I’m currently working on my next exhibition called “Black Punch”, a portrait series inspired by the celebratory variety and beauty of the African diaspora+.

Martín Zúñiga Mixed, Painting, Printmaking, Sculpture, Teacher/Instructor, Teaching Artist for Youth, Visual Arts Between the freeways of 5 and the 99, there are rows of fields as far as the eye can see. The sun is high and hot, the fields are lush, and they are filled with thousands of farm workers. Their faces, arms and legs are covered to protect from the sun and the toxic pesticides used on the crops. The work is backbreaking, and yet, they are almost invisible. Martín Zúñiga, from Michoacan, Mexico, had his first introduction to the United States in these fields and is the product of this experience. An autodidact in work and art, Martín has learned his craft by doing. After the fields, Martín worked in construction, learning the skills he would soon transfer to his art – welding; framing; understanding the strength and qualities of wood, metal, paint, plasters, lighting. Martín’s experience as a migrant, as an undocumented worker, as a Mexican-American in the United States, as a man who speaks in an accented English, and as a target of undeserved police attention, shapes his art. However, his art claims and celebrates a new world, one that recognizes and honors his roots. Martín completed a series of public art pieces in downtown Salinas (Central Coast) and downtown Selma (Central Valley), celebrating the cities' workers and their contributions to the unique character of small, rural cities. More recently, Martín has taught and led art workshops at the Museum of Sonoma County, the Restorative Justice Program, and in Roseland Unified Schools.

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