Joe Baker, (Delaware Tribe of Indians), artist, educator, curator, and Director for Community Engagement, ASU Herberger College of the Arts, has a distinguished career of arts advocacy. As the former Lloyd Kiva New Curator of Contemporary art at the Heard Museum, he pioneered opportunities for emerging and under-represented artists. He is the recipient of many awards, including the National Museum of the American Indian (Smithsonian) Honored Designer Award, “Single Thread: Celebrated Native American Design & Style, 2008”. He has held various faculty appointments across the country. He holds a BFA and MFA from the University of Tulsa and completed postgraduate study at Harvard University.

Jennifer Ben, Dineh (Navajo), began playing cello at the age of 10 and has since continued to pursue this passion through her studies as a classical cellist. Initially playing in school orchestras and small ensembles throughout the Phoenix area, she now studies Music and Film at Arizona State University and hopes to accomplish more with her music by reaching into many other genres that can be further explored on cello.

Tara Browner is the author of Heartbeat of the People: Music and Dance of the Northern Pow-Wow, editor of Music of the First Nations: Tradition and Innovation in Native North American Music, and editor of Songs from "A New Circle of Voices:" The 16th Annual Pow-wow at UCLA. She has published in several major journals including Ethnomusicology, The Journal of Musicological Research, and American Music, and also regularly presents papers at national and international conferences. She is on the Native American Music screening committee for the Grammy Awards, is a pow-wow dancer in the Women's Southern Cloth tradition, and a professional percussionist and timpanist. She received her Ph.D. in Music History: Musicology, The University of Michigan; M.M. Percussion Performance, The University of Colorado, Boulder; B.A. California State University, Sacramento.

Traci Bunkers, is a mixed-media/fiber artist with multiple media interests including photography and book arts. Aside from selling spinning fibers and yarns that she dyes and creates through her one-woman business, Bonkers Handmade Originals, she also creates an artzine called Tub Legs, has a line of rubber stamps, designs knitwear for yarn companies and magazines and is a knitting, spinning and crochet technical editor. Traci has been teaching classes across the US for over 16 years. Her work has been featured in many books, including True Vision: Authentic Art Journaling by L. K. Ludwig, 1,000 Artist Journal Pages: Personal Pages and Inspirations by Dawn Sokol, Kaleidoscope: Ideas And Projects to Spark Your Creativity by Suzanne Simanaitis, and The Complete Guide to Altered Imagery by Karen Michel. website

Nick Capaci is an exhibiting artist as well as founder and director of Bluestone Editions (fine art printmaking atelier) in Orange County, CA. He has presented numerous workshops and lectures in various printmaking, painting and book arts media throughout the USA. He received his MA in painting and drawing from California College of the Arts, Oakland. Exhibitions include Smithsonian Institute (World Print), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, as well as numerous private and corporate collections. His work is in the collection of the Library of Congress and the J. Paul Getty Museum. website

Gerald Clarke is a Cahuilla Indian who spent his early childhood on the Cahuilla Reservation near Idyllwild, California. He went to college in Arkansas before moving to Texas where he earned both an MA and MFA. He has lectured on contemporary Native American Art and exhibited widely in the Southwest, Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma. Among his teaching appointments is his current position as Adjunct Instructor at Idyllwild Arts Academy. He currently lives on the Cahuilla Indian Reservation.
Personal web-site
Gallery of work in Parks Exhibition Center

Linda Darty is head of the metals program and professor of metalworking and enameling at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. She has an extensive national and international exhibition record with work in numerous publications and in the permanent collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, The Arkansas Art Museum and the Museum of Art and Design in NYC. She is the author of The Art of Enameling, and her work has been featured in numerous publications including Lark Books: 500 Enamels, 500 Vessels, 500 Brooches, and Craft International magazine. She has received the North Carolina Board of Governor’s Award for Teaching Excellence, the ECU Alumni Teaching Excellence Award, ECU’s Scholar Teacher Award and The Lifetime Achievement Award from The Enamelist Society.

Cynthia Consentino is a studio artist in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Her sculptures explore issues such as gender, social roles and cultural perceptions. She exhibits at Leslie Ferrin and Harmon Galleries in Massachusetts and received the Massachusetts Cultural Council, American Craft Council, The Society of Arts and Crafts, and The Blanche E. Colman Artist awards. Residencies include the John Michael Kohler Arts/Industry Program; La Napoule Foundation, France; and Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, Japan. Cynthia created one of the John M. Kohler Art Center’s artist-designed washrooms. Her MFA is from University of Massachusetts, Amherst. website

Michael deMeng is an assemblage artist whose work is heavily influenced by Latin American art forms such as retablos, ex votos, and milagros. Born in Southern California, he now works and resides in Missoula, Montana. As an artist he has participate in numerous exhibits that promote awareness of such issues as AIDS , breast cancer, environmental and other social issues. DeMeng is co-founder of Missoula’s Festival of the Dead, an annual event based on the Latin Dia de los Muertos designed to celebrate life, death and the arts, through education, performance, and visual arts. He is the author of the bestselling craft book, Secrets of Rusty Things. As an educator, he offers a variety of mixed media workshops throughout the country and over the years has been actively involved with VSA Montana. Through these activities, as well as his artwork, deMeng fosters community awareness, and offers creative methods to explore the human experience.
website

Marc Digeros resides in Los Angeles, CA where he works for the architect Frank Gehry, as model shop manager. He received his MFA from the University of Washington and his BFA from the University of Minnesota. He spent two years in Helena, MT as a resident artist at the Archie Bray Foundation and received the first ever Taunt Fellowship during his residency. He has taught at California State University Northridge, CSU Long Beach, as well as the University of Southern California. website

Barbara Drake is a member of the Ti’at (canoe) Society of the Gabrielino (Tongva) tribe and has served as secretary of the Tribal Council. She is a member of Mother Earth Clan, a group of Native American women educators who give cultural presentations on Southern California Indians in schools, museums and other venues throughout the region. She teaches Native Californian Lifeways at UC Riverside Extension. Barbara is a consultant to museums, nature centers and libraries and is involved in setting up cultural exhibits and living histories that reflect early California Indian lifestyles.

Robert Regis Dvorák is a California painter who finds inspiration in nature—the human form and dramatic landscape. H is watercolors glow with luminous color and dramatic light. He has had 23 one-man exhibitions of paintings, drawings and prints, and his work is shown at the Garden Gallery in Half Moon Bay, CA , and is included in many private and museum collections. Dvorák has written and illustrated six books including: Drawing Without Fear, The Magic of Drawing, Experiential Drawing and Selling Art 101; and has had articles
on painting in American Artist and Watercolor magazines. He has taught workshops around the globe, and teaches at the University of California Extensions and community colleges in northern California and Hawaii. website

Katherine England is a muralist as well as an art teacher at the Muckenthaler Museum and several local schools and adult programs in Orange County, CA . She also has taught at workshops at art centers and retreats around the country. Though born in Hawaii, she was lucky to be raised a child of the ‘60’s near San Francisco. The colors and movement in art during this decade profoundly influenced her as a youth and show up as such in her art. Her favorite medium right now is glass and she loves breaking, nipping, melting it and coaxing it into playful patterns and whimsical figures. Her largest mosaic piece is 40’ by 8’ but she also enjoys playing with tinier pieces. She lives with her four children in Fullerton, CA . website

Lisa Englebrecht is a lettering and multimedia artist and instructor in calligraphy. She teaches workshops internationally, specializing in lettering on fabric, experimental lettering and the creative process. Lisa has been on the faculty of seven international lettering conferences and teaches at collage, quilting and alternative arts conferences nationwide. She is a frequent contributor to Somerset Studios magazine and her work on fabric was featured on the covers of Legacies and Quilting Arts magazines. She is a freelance lettering artist for American Greetings, and author of the best selling book, Modern Mark Making, from Classic Calligraphy to Hip Lettering. Her DVD from Creative Catalyst features Hand Lettering on Fabric while creating a hand lettered Bali Lantern. Lisa’s work can also be seen in the June 2008 issue of Mary Engelbreit’s Home Companion. website

Daniel Essig is a studio artist and instructor living in Asheville, North Carolina. He has taught book arts workshops at Penland, Anderson Ranch, Iowa City Center for Books, Columbia College IL, Oregon College of Art and Craft, among others. He received the North Carolina Visual Arts Fellowship Grant. His work is exhibited nationally and is in numerous private and public collections, and recently his work has been purchased by the Renwick Museum (Smithsonian) and The Charlotte Smith Collection of Miniature Books at University of Iowa Libraries. Many of Daniel’s sculptural pieces are featured in The Penland Book of Handmade Books. website

Barri Evins is a feature and cable film producer through her company BE MOVIES. Her diverse slate includes Stetson Kennedy, a character-driven thriller based on a true Story, with Tobey Maguire attached to star and produce. She is working on a documentary version of the project with two-time Academy Award winning documentary director Barbara Kopple (Shut UP and Sing) attached to direct. She is former President of Debra Hill Productions, where she set up and supervised projects at studios, mini-majors and cable networks. She has worked with directors including Shawn Levy to Frank Oz and writers ranging from David Berenbaum to Frank Pierson. Her career began with writer/producers Bruce Evans and Ray Gideon (Stand By Me, Mr. Brooks), launching the Wachowski Brothers (The Matrix). She has taught at the UCLA Graduate Producer Program and AFI, and speaks at screenwriting seminars across the country where she specializes in film concepts.

Jonna Faulkner has been working with metal clay since 1999. She is certified to teach in both Art Clay Silver and Precious Metal Clay. She is a contributing artist to Art Clay Silver and Gold by Jackie Truty, Exceptional Works in Metal Clay and Glass by Mary Ann Devos and The Art and Design of Metal Clay Jewelry and More 2009 by Holly Gage. She has team-taught bracelet projects with noted beadworker Marcie Stone in France and in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Jonna also teaches out of her home studio in San Diego, CA. Her work has been sold at a number of fine craft shows and galleries.

Arline Fisch, Professor of Art (Emerita) at San Diego State University, founded its program in Jewelry and Metalsmithing in 1961. She received degrees at Skidmore College and the University of Illinois prior to studying at the School of Arts and Crafts in Copenhagen as a Fulbright grantee. She received a second Fulbright to Denmark in 1966 to pursue independent research and creative work in jewelry and metalsmithing. In 1975 her book, Textile Techniques in Metal was published; a revised second edition was published in 1996. She frequently lectures and conducts workshops on the use of textile structures in metal, as well as exhibiting her own work both nationally and internationally. Her work is represented in many public collections including the Vatican Museum in Rome, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Schmuckmuseum in Pforzheim, The Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto, the Renwick Gallery in Washington,, D.C. and the Museum of Arts & Design in New York.

Susan Folwell was born and raised in Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico, where she was immersed in the world of traditional pueblo pottery. She began working in clay as a child. Her mother, renown potter Jody Folwell, was a major influence on her interest in pottery and experimentation. Susan’s work is in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian; Museum of Art and Design in NY; Heard Museum, Phoenix;
Denver Art Museum; and more. She has won top awards at Santa Fe Indian Market, Eight Northern Pueblo Indian Market, and the Heard Museum Indian Market and Fair. website

Joe Forte is a graduate of NYU Film School and is the writer and creator of Firewall starring Harrison Ford and Paul Bettany. His career has spanned work for both major studios and independent producers alike, including Warner Brothers, Sony, Fox, New Line, Paramount and actresses/producers Jodie Foster and Charlize Theron. He is currently adapting the novel Out by Natsuo Kirino for New Line Pictures with Hideo Nakata (Ringu, The Ring 2) directing.

Amy Friedman is the author of two books of creative nonfiction, Kick the Dog and Shoot the Cat and Nothing Sacred: A Conversation with Feminism. She is currently completing a memoir, The Murderer’s House, and is the author of the long-running, world-wide syndicated newspaper for children, Tell Me A Story. She often performs her personal essays at Spoken Word venues in LA and has published hundreds of stories, columns and articles. Amy teaches creative writing as UC LA Extension and through PEN in the Schools for high school students in the LAUSD.

Rosette Gault is based in Seattle, WA and has been active in the field of artistic ceramics for over 35 years. Her award winning ceramic sculpture work has been exhibited widely and is included in public and private collections in many countries, among them Canada, USA, Italy, Finland, UK, Czech Republic, Denmark, and Hungary. Her books include Paper Clay for Ceramic Sculptors, and Paper Clay. She has contributed articles for Ceramics Monthly, Ceramic Review, Ceramic, Art and Perception, and others. She was awarded a US Patent for her innovation with balanced recipes of paperclay. website; website

Rose Ann Hamilton Mountain Cahuilla, learned the art of Cahuilla Basketmaking from Donna Largo, longtime Idyllwild Arts summer faculty member and the weaver responsible for the current revival of the tradition. Rose Ann was one of Donna’s first Cahuilla students, and has been making baskets for almost 20 years now. She is active in the Southern California Indian Basketweavers Association, and teaches basketmaking at numerous venues, including Agua Caliente Cultural Museum and UCLA.

Deborah E. Love Jemmott has shared her love for metal by teaching jewelry making and metalsmithing to others since 1978. She teaches through the San Diego Community College District and Saddleback Community College in addition to teaching many workshops and private lessons in a wide range of topics. Her students have won awards for their work and many sell work that they have produced in class. Several students have gone on to professional careers in the jewelry industry. Deb’s belief that we all have artistic creativity combined with mastery of jewelry making techniques is key to her teaching. She works at nurturing the artistic creativity in each student as well as helping them achieve their ideas in metal. Deb’s work has been featured in American Style, American Craft, Metalsmith, San Diego Home Garden and Redbook magazines as well as the San Diego Union Tribune newspaper. It has also appeared in Art Clay Silver and Gold by Jackie Truty, The Goodfellow Catalog of Wonderful Things III, Jewelry Making: A Guide for Beginners by Thomas P. Foote, and 20 years in Metal. She has exhibited widely and currently has work in galleries across the country. She continues to exhibit and create custom artwork in addition to keeping up with her jewelry and metalsmithing company, Enhancements. website

Michael Kabotie (Lomawywesa) is an accomplished Hopi artist (silversmith, painter, poet) from Second Mesa, Arizona on the Hopi Reservation. In 2003, he was named an Arizona Indian Living Treasure. He is a founding member of Artist Hopid, a group of Hopi artists experimenting in fresh interpretations of traditional Hopi art forms. Michael is committed to education in the cultural and aesthetic values of the Hopi people. He is author of Migration Tears: Poems about Transitions and he has lectured across the country, in Europe and New Zealand. His work is represented in many major museums and collections, and is featured in fine Native American art galleries around the world. website

Greg Kennedy: BS, Biology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. National Science Foundation Award for botany and geology studies in the Spring Mountain Range of Clark County Nevada. After graduating with honors in 1972, Greg turned his attention toward ceramics. Since that time, he has been a studio potter and ceramics teacher. His focus and inspiration is mountain topography and is continually charmed by nature. Respectful of traditional pottery, he enjoys meeting with indigenous potters and learning from them during his global travels. This will be Greg’s 25th year of teaching for Idyllwild Arts. His home and studio are located in the coast range of Oregon, where he practices quietness, authenticity, harmony and sustainability.

Sandra Kipp, flute: M.M. and B.M. in flute performance from California State University Northridge. Orchestra experience includes Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, Glendale Symphony, Pasadena Symphony, Long Beach Symphony and Moscow Ballet Orchestra. Director of Sterling and Strings Chamber Music ensemble and member of The Nuance Ensemble. Teaching experience includes current positions at Moorpark College, CSU Northridge, and Pepperdine University in addition to private studio instruction. Freelance recording studio artist.

Tom Krumpak creates brilliantly colored paintings that have been exhibited in the US, Britain, Spain and Korea. His work has always been inspired by his environment, from San Francisco’s Chinatown, to the village of Topsham in Devon, to LA’s Koreatown, Little Tokyo, East LA and Little India. Tom uses photography that he shoots on location as well as archive images as a basis for his abstract paintings. As an artist, writer and curator, he has presented numerous lectures on historical and contemporary American and international art at prominent universities, museums and galleries. He is a Professor of Art at Cal State Long Beach, where he has taught since 1983.

Eduardo Lazo Lazo is a professional potter/sculptor who brings 29 years of experience to his classes at Idyllwild Arts. He is an internationally recognized expert in low fire techniques and has taught in private studios, community centers, colleges and universities. He holds an MFA from California State University Los Angeles. www.eduardolazo.com

Meg LeFauve, producer of The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, and founding partner of 1-Eyed Dog Productions, is currently producing both studio films and independent films. She also has turned to screenwriting and was recently accepted into the Sundance screenwriting lab with her partner John Morgan for their script The Cavanaughs. As an executive, Meg was President of Egg Pictures, Jodie Foster’s film production company. Meg continues to work with Jodie as a producer, including a film based on the life of Leni Reifenstahl in which Foster will star. She also teaches and served as co-chair of the UCLA graduate-level Producer’s Program.

Victoria Lindsay Levine is an ethnomusicologist whose research focuses on American Indian musics. She is the author, co-author, or editor of numerous publications, including Writing American Indian Musics: Historic Transcriptions, Notations, and Arrangements (A-R Editions for the American Musicological Society, 2002). She has researched the musical cultures of Woodlands peoples of Oklahoma since 1983 and currently studies Yuchi social dance songs and Woodland ceremonialism. Levine teaches at Colorado College.

Paul Lewing, author of China Paint & Overglaze, has written for Ceramics Monthly, Studio Potter, Clay Times, Pottery Making Illustrated; work has been featured in a number of textbooks. He studied with Rudy Autio at the University of Montana earning both BFA and MFA degrees there. He has lived in Seattle, WA since 1972 where he has a studio. His passion for painting was translated into a painterly style of glazing, and he is known for the wide diversity of imagery, styles and techniques he employs in his tile art. Work has been shown in many regional and national exhibitions, and is included in the collections of the Montana Institute of the Arts, Colorado Springs Art Museum, Overlake School, and Pacific NW Bell. The Mayor of Seattle once presented pieces of his work to, among others, the King of Sweden and the Queen of Denmark. website

Ingrid Lilligren coordinates Hot Clay. A professor in Art and Design at Iowa State University, she teaches ceramics. Her recent research has concentrated in application of crystalline glazes on sculptural porcelain forms. She has been artist in residence at the State Academy of Art in Tbilisi, Georgia, Mendocino Art Center, and A.I.R., Vallauris, France. Her work was the subject of a recent solo survey exhibit at the Dubuque Museum of Art and is exhibited and collected nationally. Her MFA degree is from The Claremont Graduate University. website

Kim Marcus is one of the foremost Serrano and Cahuilla Indian Arrow and Quiver makers. He is a member of the Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla Indians and is a Traditional Cahuilla Bird Singer and Ceremonial Singer. Kim Marcus received his Ph.D. degree in the field of Addiction Specialist, B.A. in Business Administration from Sherwood University, and Addictions Counseling from the University of California, Riverside. He is a School Counselor and the Culture Department Head at a Native American Middle/High School in Southern California. His family practices the use of native plants and foods. He is dedicated to the preservation and continuance of Native American culture.

Brigid O'Hanrahan received her MA from San Diego State University and her MFA from California State University at Long Beach. She taught Metals at Millersville University of Pennsylvania from 1982-2006. Currently, she is establishing a new studio in California. Her work explores how surfaces on metal objects can serve as a record of the creative process of making. She has presented many workshops nationwide, most recently at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts.

Moto Ohtake graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute, with an MFA in sculpture. He teaches sculpture at DeAnza College in Cupertino. Ohtake’s work is inspired by the geometric manifestations of nature. He exhibits in the Bay Area, Washington, New Mexico and Tokyo. H is work includes several public art pieces in Tokyo, Dublin, Ireland, The Atlanta Botanical Garden and an upcoming project for Stockton. website

Byron Oliver, Navajo, is a turn-tablist who is native to the Phoenix metropolitan area. Representing this region of Arizona he is known as Byron Fenix when performing. A true artist of his craft, Byron explores a large range of music to draw on, adapt and interpret through House music, primarily. He is a resident DJ at Homme Lounge’s Four Letter Word and UNITY at The Ruby Room in addition to playing at other venues around the valley.

Ernesto Hernandez-Olmos shares his honor of native traditions from the Americas as an inspiring and interactive teacher. He has trained youth, adults and teachers at museums and cultural centers throughout California, including the De Young Museum, San Francisco Mexican Museum, Anthropology Department at the California Academy of Sciences, Exploratorium Museum of Science, Mendocino Art Center, and more. He was educated at the Autonomous University, “Benito Juarez” in Mexico. He has captivated viewers with art, music and dance presentations at cultural events in the US, Canada and Mexico. His art has been exhibited at many venues, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to the De Young Museum in San Francisco. A native of Oaxaca, Mexico, he currently lives and works in California.

Barbara Teller Ornelas is best known for her “tapestry” weavings (95-108 weft threads per inch). She has set several records with her weavings: she is the only weaver in history to win Best of Show at the Santa Fe Indian Market – which she did twice; she established a new record in 1987 by selling a weaving for $60,000 that she and her sister made; and she has woven the largest tapestry style Navajo weaving on record. Barbara is a fourth generation weaver who was raised near Two Grey Hills on the Navajo Reservation where her father was a trader. She has been featured in National Geographic, Business Week, Americana and Native Peoples Magazines, as well as numerous books. She has won dozens of awards, and has demonstrated and lectured at museums and institutions across the country. website

Carol Owen has been an artist for 30 years, working in weaving, handmade paper, and now mixed media. Her book, Crafting Personal Shrines, was published by Lark Books in 2003, and since then she has been teaching all over the country, both shrines and altered books. She has exhibited throughout the US and her work has appeared in many publications, including Collage for the Soul, and magazines including Mary Engelbreit’s Home Companion (Dec/Jan 2008), Somerset Studio, Legacy and Country Living. Carol lives in North Carolina where she works out of a studio in her home. website

Sean Owen has taught still photography, film production and post-production at college preparatory schools over a thirty-year period. He directed 13 Dogs, a psychological film about a State Department family's moves in South America and the effects on their lives. He produced and edited Welcoming Wholeness, a short documentary on non-religious spirituality. His most recent documentary, Borderlands, a film about a Cahuilla performance artist that was partially funded by a California Council for the Humanities Story grant and Idyllwild Arts, premiered in 2006.

Joan Michaels Paque is an internationally recognized mixed media artist. Her research and experimentation with simple and complex pleat and twist folds and tessellations has resulted in a series of unique sculptural kinetic books and sculptures. She is currently writing a monograph on the subject and has written and published three books. She also writes for trade journals, does commissions, serves on boards and exhibits and teaches internationally. Joan was recently awarded the Gary Gobberville Memorial Fellowship by the Ragdale Foundation. website or photos

Lynda Teller Pete began weaving at age 6 and won her first major award at age 12 at the Gallup Ceremonial. She has gone on to win numerous awards for her weaving including two Blue Ribbons from the Santa Fe Indian Market. Lynda collaborates with museums, schools and other art venues in Colorado and around the country to teach the public about Navajo weaving. She is also known as an accomplished beadwork artist and has won many awards for this work as well. website

Pamela Pierce: MA Screenwriting, Stanford University, BA Creative Writing/Film, San Francisco State University. Executive Director and Co-Founder of CineStory in1995; now Creative Director/Cinestory Retreat Center; Director of the prestigious competition, the CineStory Screenwriting Awards for 11 years; Conference/Competition Program Director, first Austin Heart of Film Festival conference and competition; and a writer for the Oscar-winning feature documentary, Broken Rainbow. A former Nicholl Fellowship winner, Pam has been a professor and mentor to screenwriters for 20 years, serving as faculty at Northwestern University, University of Chicago’s Graham School, and Columbia College Chicago, and conducting her own workshops across the country. Over her years in the film/television business, Pam has worked in the industry as feature and television writer, documentary producer, development executive, business affairs associate, and literary manager and consultant. website

Ron Pokrasso has been an exhibiting mixed media artist and printmaker for more than 25 years. He received his MFA degree from Pratt Institute in 1975 and has had over 40 solo exhibitions and more than 150 group shows. His work is in public, private, and corporate collections throughout the U.S. and abroad as well as being featured in several books. For eleven years Pokrasso has owned and directed Graphics Workshop (gifted to the College of Santa Fe in 1993). He is originator of the printmaking event “Monothon” and has been an ardent supporter of arts programs for youth. His teaching experience includes universities, museums, public schools and private workshops, as well as Artist Residencies in the US, Scotland, Ireland and Italy. In 2000, Ron Pokrasso received the Mayor’s Recognition Award for Visual Arts citing his artistic and educational contribution to the city of Santa Fe . In addition to numerous galleries nationwide, he is represented by Denise Roberge Gallery in Palm Desert. website

Ruth Rae is a classically trained jeweler. During her tenure as a metalsmith, she began to experiment with other forms of media and techniques. Asbtime has progressed her true passion has become “mixed media fiber art,” intertwined with transparencies, found objects and words that are bound together by hand and machine stitching. Ruth travels around the country sharing her creative process as an instructor. She is a frequent contributor to Interweave Press and Stampington & Company publications. Ruth can be seen on Quilting Arts TV (show # 204), with two Quilting Arts Workshop DVD’s available from Interweave Press. She coauthored a unique book, A Charming Exchange, filled with bounds of inspiration for creating mixedmedia jewelry. She is currently working on her next book about mixed media fabric art that will be released in 2009. website

Randy Redroad is a filmmaker, musician, and educator. He has written, directed, edited and produced documentaries, shorts, feature films, and the pilot for a television series. These efforts have earned him many awards, including his feature film debut, The Doe Boy, which premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival where it won the Sundance/NHK International Filmmaker’s Award, and went on to collect another fourteen festival awards. Randy is currently editing and directing several films which are at various stages of production. Between films, he makes music and teaches with the Akatubi Film and Music Academy–a traveling film school that brings digital filmmaking to reservation youth across the country. website

Leslie Riley Lesley Riley is best known for her Fragment series of small fabric collages, and is also an internationally known quilter and mixed-media artist with a passion for color and the written word. She has taught extensively in the US and internationally. Her art and articles have appeared in numerous publications and juried shows. In her current position as Contributing Editor of Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine, Lesley showcases new talent and mixed-media art. Her first book, Quilted Memories, brought new ideas and techniques to quilting and preserving memories. Her second book, Fabric Memory Books, combined fabric and innovative ideas with the art of bookmaking. Her latest book, Fabulous Fabric Art with Lutradur (C&T), takes a new material to a new level. Using her experience and knowledge of image transfer, she has also recently introduced a new product-TAP (Transfer Artist Paper)-that creates state of the art image (and text) transfers. Lesley has filmed instructional DVDs with Creative Catalyst Productions and Quilting Arts. Not one to be camera shy, Lesley also appeared on three episodes of Quilting Arts TV, season 1. website

Ray Roberts : was born in California and has been a professional artist for over 30 years, dividing his time between California and Arizona. Receiving his BFA from Art Center College of Design, Roberts began his career as an illustrator before transitioning to fine arts. He is the recipient of many prestigious awards including the California Art Clubs’ Gold Medal Award. Roberts incorporates his on-location painting experience into his studio works. He brings to Idyllwild more than 15 years experience conducting plein air workshops. website

Amy Salko Robertson, is an independent film producer, whose most recent credits include: The Oh In Ohio (Parker Posey, Paul Rudd, Mischa Barton, Danny De Vito); When Do We Eat? (Michael Lerner, Lesley Ann Warren, Jack Klugman) and the upcoming Emily Goodbody, with actor David Morse directing, Liv Tyler to star. Another project, Reality, will begin filming soon with Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite/Blades of Glory) to star. Amy has served as a mentor for the AFI Kodak Connect, IFP/Film Independent – Project Involve, and a judge for The Angelus Film Festival, The Cinestory Screenwriting Awards, and the Montage Diversity in Screenwriting Competition. Prior to producing, she was an agent at Creative Artists Agency (CAA) where she helped build the careers of Jamie Foxx, Val Kilmer, Woody Harrelson, Harry Connick Jr., Cheech Marin, Thomas Haden Church, Benjamin Bratt, Elisabeth Shue, Virginia Madsen and Ethan Hawke.

Barbara Roth has a degree in art from UCLA, a teaching credential with specialization in art education, and has studied art at Art Student’s League in NY, Art Center in Pasadena, and Otis Parsons in LA. For many years, she taught school and wrote and illustrated children’s books. Today, she teaches at Sierra College, Placer Adult School, at art retreats in the US , as well as in Italy and France. Barbara believes everyone can learn to draw and paint if they want to, and she enjoys helping people develop their creative lives. website

Terry Rothrock has worked as a potter in factories since 1973, for other potters, and as a self-employed artist and teacher. His fascination for working at the potter’s wheel is still the driving force in making pottery. He has explored a wide variety of forms, techniques, and surface decoration and enjoys sharing these with others. Currently, he teaches at Idyllwild Arts Academy and makes pottery with his wife, Chinlee Chang.

Margaret Scanlan is a full-time studio artist in Knoxville, TN, working in acrylic and watercolor, large and small scale work. She is a signature member of the American Watercolor Society, the National Watercolor Society, and the Watercolor USA Honor Society. For many years she has taught painting, drawing, and color theory workshops at Arrowmont, the John C. Campbell Folk School, Penland School, Le Petit Bois Gleu and Chateau du Pin in France. Her work is in numerous private, corporate, and public collections in the US and Europe, including Huntsville Museum of Art (AL), the Springfield Art Museum (MO ), Sloan-Kettering Hospital (NY), and L’Abbeye de la Roe (France). She also plays keyboards in a Celtic band, Red-Haired Mary.

Lorene Sisquoc is a descendent of the Mountain Cahuilla and a member of the Fort Sill Apache tribe. She is co-founder of Mother Earth Clan and gives cultural presentations throughout the region. Lorene is the curator of the Sherman Indian Museum in Riverside, California. She is on the board of directors of the California Indian Basket Weavers Association, as well as Natachee (a non-profit organizatiuon dedicated to the continuance of American Indian culture and spirituality). In 1997, the city of Riverside honored her with the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Visionary Award for community cultural awareness. As a traditional artist and crafts person, she is dedicated to the preservation and continuance of Native American culture, and to insuring that the public is accurately educated about Native American history.

Ernest H. Siva is a musician and teacher. He currently directs the Pass Chorale, the community chorus serving the San Gorgonio Pass. He is the cultural advisor and tribal historian for the Morongo Band of Mission Indians. Siva formerly taught public school music in Palm Springs and Los Angeles before teaching courses in American Indian music at UCLA for 12 years. He and his wife June are Idyllwild Arts alumni and its ardent supporters. His flute book, Ten Little Indian Tunes and More, was produced specifically for the Idyllwild Arts Native American Flute Workshop. He is president and founder of the Dorothy Ramon Learning Center.

David St. John has been honored with many of the country's most significant prizes for poets, including fellowships from the NEA and the Guggenheim Foundation, as well as The Rome Prize in Literature and an Award in Literature from The American Academy of Arts and Letters.  He currently teaches at the USC. St. John is the author of nine collections of poetry, most recently The Face: A Novella in Verse.

Mark Tahbo is known as one of the finest Hopi potters today. Born and raised on the Hopi Reservation, First Mesa, Mark learned the art from his great grandmother Grace Chapella, Nampeyo’s neighbor and a principle pottery “revival” artist decades ago. His distinctive pots have been exhibited worldwide in museums and galleries. Among the many top awards he has earned at the Santa Fe Indian Market is the prestigious Helen Naha Memorial Award for Excellence in Hopi Pottery which he earned for 3 consecutive years. Mark has been profiled in various publications including Native Peoples Magazine, and is included in numerous books and articles on Pueblo pottery.

Heather Trimlett has been creating lampworked beads since 1994, designing colorful and illustrious glass beads, marbles, buttons and amphorae vessels. She is known for her bright, bold, whimsical colors and combinations, and her tight, clean designs. Her creations contain designs that range from two-color twists and raised bumps to delicate floating murrini images. Her work has appeared in many publications including, The Washington Post, and Glass Art Magazine. Most of the books written on beadmaking feature her work, among them: The Complete Book of Glass Beadmaking (Kimberly Adams), and Formed of Fire (Bandhu Dunham), and The Brightly Colored Beads and Vessels of Heather Trimlett, (Jim Kervin). Her work is shown in numerous galleries across the U.S. and she teaches classes throughout the country as well. Prior to this she designed stained glass windows for restaurants, synagogues and homes. website

Richard Tsosie is a Navajo jeweler and sculptor from Flagstaff and the Wide Ruins area of the Navajo Reservation and is currently living in Scottsdale, Arizona. His work has been featured in American Indian Art Magazine, Arizona Highways Magazine, the video “Beyond Tradition: Contemporary Indian Art and Its Evolution”, as well as several books including, Southwestern Indian Jewelry by Dexter Cirillo and Enduring Traditions, Art of the Navajo by Jerry Jacka. Richard’s work has been exhibited in galleries and museums from New York to California.

Pauline Warg is a metalsmith with 35 years of experience. She earned a Journeyman Metalsmithing Certificate after completing a 3 year apprenticeship to Master Goldsmith Philip Morton and holds a  Bachelor of Fine Art from the University of Southern Maine. Her work ranges from fabricated jewelry making & silversmithing to enameling both jewelry and holloware. She owns and operates WARG Enamel and Tool Center, in Scarborough, Maine. The center features a gallery of her work, a tool and supply store for jewelers and enamelists, and  teaching studio. She is the author of Making Metal Beads, and teaches at the Maine College of Art and a variety of other art centers and colleges across the country. website

Gail Wronsky is the author or coauthor of seven books of poetry and one novel. Her books include Blue Shadow Behind Everything Dazzling, Poems for Infidels, and Dying for Beauty. She holds an MFA from the University of Virginia and a PhD from the University of Utah. She is Director of Creative Writing and Syntext (Synthesizing Textualites) at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles. website

Marvin and Jonette Yazzie are from Lukachukai, a small town on the Navajo reservation in the Four Corners region of Arizona. Jonette assists Marvin in flute making, an art they learned from their relative Willard Coyote. Their flutes are carried in the Heard Museum shop and others. around the country, as well as Asia and Europe. Raven Longbow, Scott August and Michael Luetger have each recorded with a Yazzie flute. Marvin is listed in Flute Magic and Voices of the Flute. Yazzie flutes are used in the music programs of Tuscon and Klamath-Trinity school districts. website

Curtis Zunigha leads the Lenape Delaware Dance Troupe from Bartlesville, Oklahoma. He is a multi-media producer, public speaker, community activist and government consultant, whose career pursuits have centered on the world of the American Indian. He served as Chief of the Delaware Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma, from 1994-1998.