Winifred Westergard is a Seattle based fine art and commercial photographer with degrees from the University of Washington and Cornish College of the Arts in Creative Writing, Journalism and Art. Her art making foundation is rooted in the early processes of photography, fully embracing the slow processes of 19th century photography. She is a visual creator with a strong base on human emotion and storytelling. She has managed the photography studio at Cornish College of the Arts since 1999 and has taught Photography and Portfolio Development through Summer@Cornish since 2003.

Aaron Norman is an educator, performer, and artist/activist in town. Aaron’s formal training includes studying at Biola Conservatory of Music, studying with opera singers in Heidelberg German, and Cornish College of the Arts. With a background in vocal performance, vocal health/technique, Aaron has performed in many musical arenas and has worked with incredible musicians  across Europe, Canada, and the United States. From opera, to musical theatre, to gospel Aaron appreciates any chance he gets to be on stage working with other talented performers. Aaron can be found teaching and music directing at Village Theatre Kidstage and Cornish College of The Arts and also performing in shows around town. 

Brian is a musician who has worked with Jonny Copeland, Bobby Radcliffe, Bunny Domino and others.  He was a founding member of BBQ Bob and the Spare Ribs and produced their first recording.  He came to woodworking by experimenting with a more ergonomic design for basses to alleviate periodic bouts of tendonitis.  

He learned the basics of woodworking from master carpenter Joe Guida (Guida Woodworks, Flagstaff, AZ,) during the course of building his first prototype.  Since then, he improved his skill by trial and error and getting advice from the master wood workers at IsGood WoodWorks and Ballard Woodworking.  In 2020, he started Miller Basses and produces about three uniquely designed basses each year.  

Bradley Taylor is a Seattle based artist, and printmaker. He is currently working at Cornish College of the Arts as the Printmaking Studio Technician. Proficient in all forms of printmaking Bradley specializes in woodblock prints. His work has been shown in numerous galleries in the Seattle area. He has also work collaboratively with many notable Seattle Artists.

Lael Rogers is a Seattle-based writer & director hailing from Juneau, Alaska. Her 2020 short film, The Claw, was produced with the support of Film Independent and received a Vimeo Staff Pick. Her award-winning films have played at top tier festivals around the world including Fantasia International Film Festival, Fantastic Fest, Palm Springs Shortfest and more. Her work has been featured in publications such as Rolling Stone, IndieWire, and The Seattle Times. In addition to writing & directing, Lael’s practical SFX design work is featured in the short film Dream Creep, which premiered at Sundance, played SXSW, and made someone throw up at a screening. She currently teaches film at Cornish College of the Arts.
 

Zoe Crago is the co-founder of Duo Design + Media. A partnership of two creatives specializing in graphic design, social media, and video production for individuals and businesses/organizations looking to expand their visual presence. As the lead graphic designer and illustrator, Zoe's project list includes (but is not limited to) the 2023 Festival Design for NFFTY (National Film Festival for Talented Youth), illustrator for The Rise Book Project, event campaigns for TEDxSpokane, and social media marketing for Washington Filmworks and Seattle Creates! Her love for illustration and hand-lettering often finds its way into her regular projects creating a beautiful hybrid of traditional and digital art.

After 6 years in the design world, Zoe hopes that her work, collaborations, and community involvement will ultimately impact those who want to grow and succeed in the creative industry!

Robynne Raye is a co-founder of the Seattle-based Modern Dog Design Co, an internationally acclaimed design and illustration studio that opened in 1987. Her client list includes Showtime, The New York Times, Coca-Cola, Nordstrom, HarperCollins, Warner Bros. Records, Hillary Clinton, and K2 Snowboards. Her posters have been exhibited internationally, and are collected in the archives of major libraries and museums worldwide, including the Library of Congress, Bibliothèque National de France, Museum Fur Kunst und Gewerbe, the Smithsonian Institute’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Guan Shanyue Art Museum, and the Louvre’s Musee Des Arts Decoratifs, among others.

For over thirty years, Raye has lectured extensively about design issues and led workshops around the world. In 2013, Graphic Design USA Magazine listed her as one of the "50 Most Influential Designers Working Today.” She is the co-author of Modern Dog, 20 Years of Poster Art and Inside the World of Board Graphics: Skate, Surf, Snow, and author of 1000 Dog Portraits.

Born and raised in Seattle, after high school, Nikki moved to California to attend college, receiving a BFA in Film Production in2002 from Chapman University. For the next 6 years she worked various office jobs in the film industry while also earning a Masters Degree in Secondary Education. In 2006 Nikki decided to shift her career to special effects make-up from there segueing into the stop motion world, beginning in 2008 with Shadow Machine on the Adult Swim hit show, Robot Chicken: Season 3. Nikki has worked as a puppet fabricator, lead fabricator and department head on numerous stop motion television shows, commercials and films, helping create iconic stop motion characters for such shows/films as Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas, Happy Honda Days (SoCal regional commercial campaign 12 years running), Ask the Story Bots, Buddy Thunderstruck, Anomolisa and Ted Lasso to name a few. In 2022, the next adventure brought Nikki back home to Seattle to be closer to family and to hang out her own shingle as Puppets Northwest, offering a one stop shop for puppets of all kinds, SFX, 3D modeling/printing and educational outreach.

James Miles worked as an educator in the New York City public schools for almost 20 years prior to moving to Seattle in 2017. Originally from Chicago, Miles has worked internationally as an artist and educator, and his work has been featured in magazines, books, podcasts, and newspapers. Miles is an assistant professor at Seattle University, Chief Strategy Officer at Path with Art, and on the advisory board of SXSW EDU. His work has been featured in media including Complex magazine, the Seattle Times, the New York Times, NPR, Billboard Magazine, CBS, NBC, the US Department of Education, ASCD, and more. His acclaimed Tedx Talk focuses on his mission to narrow achievement gaps using the arts as a tool to navigate systems of educational inequality. He is the author of Gotta Stay Fresh.

Moving between avant-garde, jazz, classical, rock, and pop, Abbey has been busy gigging as a bassist for nearly two decades, playing with Seattle’s best and beyond: including Alvvays, La Luz, Wayne Horvitz, Macklemore, Jonathan Wilson, and Cassandra Jenkins. However in the last handful of years, she has begun to focus more on composing and leading groups of her own, namely her self-titled solo project as well as the instrumental trio Rae.

Under her name, she has released an EP, and three LPs, each garnering notice from all corners of the web and beyond. Her songwriting calls back to the lyrical, hanging melodies of Sibylle Baier and Linda Perhacs, with angular, geometric chord progressions that lean in satisfying directions. Rendered through a self-assured and distinctive musical vocabulary, her songs offer an inspired and idiosyncratic take on “personal” songwriting, with insights into the central pressure points of human experience that run deeper than transparently confessional.

Outside of performing, she teaches private lessons at Cornish College of the Arts and in her own studio. She also leads the Garfield HS Jazz 2 Big Band and runs clinics and sectionals in a variety of public schools and through STG. Abbey holds a master's degree in Jazz and Improvised Music and a bachelor’s of music in Double Bass Performance from the University of Washington.

BC Campbell is an American composer of contemporary music. Working with Academy and Emmy Award winning storytellers, BC's music is featured in the Smithsonian, PBS American Masters, NPR, NatGeo, as well as Kanopy and Amazon. As an interdisciplinary composer and multi instrumentalist, he works in film, theater, contemporary dance and performance as well as the concert stage. Recently, NPR's "Lost Patients" was nominated for a Peabody Award.

BC Campbell is an American composer of contemporary music. Working with Academy and Emmy Award winning storytellers, BC's music is featured in the Smithsonian, PBS American Masters, NPR, NatGeo, as well as Kanopy and Amazon. As an interdisciplinary composer and multi instrumentalist, he works in film, theater, contemporary dance and performance as well as the concert stage. Recently, NPR's "Lost Patients" was nominated for a Peabody Award.

Lael Rogers is a Seattle-based writer & director hailing from Juneau, Alaska. Her 2020 short film, The Claw, was produced with the support of Film Independent and received a Vimeo Staff Pick. Her award-winning films have played at top tier festivals around the world including Fantasia International Film Festival, Fantastic Fest, Palm Springs Shortfest and more. Her work has been featured in publications such as Rolling Stone, IndieWire, and The Seattle Times. In addition to writing & directing, Lael’s practical SFX design work is featured in the short film Dream Creep, which premiered at Sundance, played SXSW, and made someone throw up at a screening. She currently teaches film at Cornish College of the Arts.
 

Winifred Westergard is a Seattle based fine art and commercial photographer with degrees from the University of Washington and Cornish College of the Arts in Creative Writing, Journalism and Art. Her art making foundation is rooted in the early processes of photography, fully embracing the slow processes of 19th century photography. She is a visual creator with a strong base on human emotion and storytelling. She has managed the photography studio at Cornish College of the Arts since 1999 and has taught Photography and Portfolio Development through Summer@Cornish since 2003.

Emma Lawes (she/her) is a dancer, educator and producer based between Los Angeles and Seattle. Currently, she is in creation processes with Keyes Wiley (SEA) and Sean Ardor (CA) to premiere in 2025. She is on faculty at Orange County School of the Arts and California School of the Arts SGV, and producing work with CO-, G.U.M. Collective and zoe | juniper. She has presented her own work at Base: Experimental Arts + Space, 10 Degrees Arts + Events, Mutuus Studio and Atwater Village Theater. She is a graduate of the University of the Arts with a BFA in Dance Performance under the direction of Donna Faye Burchfield.

Olivia Anderson is a Seattle-based dancer, educator, and stage manager who is continually growing into her own practice and purpose. You may have seen her performing her own work around Seattle, or dancing with companies/artists such as dani tirrell and the Congregation, Keyes Wiley and the NOGOODDOERS, EL SUEÑO, Gansango Dance Company, Malacarne, Chamber Dance Company and badmarmarDANCE, among many others.

She recently began teaching dance at the Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences and the University of Washington. Olivia is moving through the world with care, intention, and a great curiosity that drives her love of people. 

Ashley Menestrina (she/her) is a movement artist with deep ties to improvisation. She has been performing her own work around the world since 2016. Her solo work, 'The Human Condition: Absent Presence', premiered at The Martha Graham Theater in April 2018 and has since toured in New York City, Los Angeles, Turkey, Mexico City, Portugal, Oklahoma City, and Germany (receiving ‘Best Creation’ Prize at Solocoreografico Festival in both OKC and Frankfurt). Her most recent work, 'Combative Echoes', was originally shown in Thessaloniki, Greece for Die Wolke Art Group’s Unit Motives: GRM festival in 2019, and was accepted into the 24th International Solo-Dance-Thetare Festival Stuttgart in 2020, the 39th Edition of NYC's Battery Dance Festival in 2021, and Seattle International Dance Festival in 2024. She has further worked as a performer/collaborator/choreographer for the following: Manhattanville College (NY), Alice Gosti (Malacarne), Gonzaga University, 5th Ave Theater production of Afterwords, Anna Mlasowsky for the Amazon Artist in Residence program, DX arts department at UW, Emily Schoen Branch, and Maia Melene Durfee.

KEYES WILEY (they/them), also known behind the decks as DJ dark_wiley, is a multi-hyphenated performing artist, DJ, light/sound designer, and educator based in Seattle. Their work spans the worlds of performance, nightlife, and sound, with a practice rooted in collaboration, community, and queer expression.

By day, Keyes serves as a dance faculty member at Cornish College of the Arts and is the artistic director of the experimental performance group The NoGoodDoers. By night, as DJ dark_wiley, they are the resident DJ for TUSH—Seattle’s premier destination for drag and queer performance at the Clock-Out Lounge.

Known for genre-blending, mood-shifting sets, DJ dark_wiley has played at some of Seattle’s most beloved venues and events, including Bad Idea, Pride in the Park, Peekaboo, White Center Pride, The SAM Remix, Rapture at The Timbre Room, Legendary, Pony, Heels at The Cha Cha Lounge, and Dance Floor Feelings at Vermillion. Whether on underground dance floors or main stages, their sets are designed to move bodies and build connection within queer and allied communities.

Previously, Keyes served as the Managing Artistic Director of the DIY arts hub Studio Current and was the founder/director of the dance company The New Animals. They’ve collaborated with artists including Keith Hennessy, Keyon Gaskin, Alice Gosti, BenDeLaCreme, Jinkx Monsoon, dani tirrell, and Kitten n Lou, and their performance work has been presented at venues such as On the Boards, Gibney (NYC), Velocity Dance Center, Risk/Reward (PDX), Bumbershoot, and the Seattle International Dance Festival.

Keyes also designs original soundscapes for dance, theatre, and fashion—including for Janelle Abbott’s New York Fashion Week collections. A natural-born collaborator, they thrive in spaces that center shared vision, experimentation, and radical joy. 

Lexi Dysart is a versatile and accomplished dancer who has trained extensively in various styles, with a specialization in Contemporary and Improvisation. Her diverse training background includes institutions such as Chapman University, Broadway Dance Center, and educators like Tillman O’Donnell from The Forsythe Company, Jermaine Spivey from Kidd Pivot, Adi Salant from Batsheva Dance Company, Medhi Walerski from Nederlands Dans Theater, Justin Conte, and more.

Having danced with Erica Sobol’s Lobos Art Collective for four years and serving as her assistant, Lexi has gained valuable experience in professional dance settings.  She has showcased her own choreography on various stages, including Rhapsody’s Sirens After Dark, Club Jete, DM Art Festival, and the Young Choreographer’s Festival.

In addition to her dance pursuits, Lexi is pursuing a degree in Photography and has expanded her artistic expression to include dance for camera.  Her commitment to education is evident through her passion for teaching, which she has developed over the past 13 years.  In her classes, Lexi strives to create a safe and encouraging environment for students, fostering a space where they can take risks, let go of self-judgment, enhance physical awareness, and, most importantly, have fun!

Lexi’s teaching credits span across notable institutions such as Gonzaga University, New England Dance Movement, Peridance Capezio Center, Broadway Dance Center Children and Teen Program, Boogiezone Utopia, Starquest International, and Spotlight Dance Cup.  This extensive teaching experience reflects her dedication to sharing her knowledge and nurturing the growth of aspiring dancers.

Sarah Bixler is a painter and educator living and working in Seattle Washington.  She began her artistic studies focusing on the figure and observation, at Gage Academy of Art in Seattle Washington.  There she was able to deepen her understanding of the human body through intensive focus on long-form sculpture, anatomy and drawing from direct observation.  In 2011, Sarah received a BFA from the University of Washington where she studied contemporary drawing and painting, with a focus on paint language, form and color.

Jodi Rockwell is a Seattle-based artist with a 25-year career rooted in pottery, sculpture, drawing, and installation. After relocating from Michigan and California to earn her MFA in Ceramics from the University of Washington, Jodi has become a fixture in the Pacific Northwest arts community. Her work has been exhibited at notable venues including Koplin Del Rio Gallery, The Henry Art Gallery, and the Whatcom Museum of Art. 

Beyond her studio practice, Jodi is a dedicated educator and community builder. She co-founded and directed Rockland Residency for a decade, supporting artists across all disciplines. With 30 years of teaching experience at institutions like UW, and Lakeside School, she now operates JRock Studios in Seattle’s Central District—a vibrant neighborhood hub for memberships, lessons, and sales. When not in the studio, she f inds inspiration in cooking, raising teenage boys and being in the moment. 

Winifred Westergard is a Seattle based fine art and commercial photographer with degrees from the University of Washington and Cornish College of the Arts in Creative Writing, Journalism and Art. Her art making foundation is rooted in the early processes of photography, fully embracing the slow processes of 19th century photography. She is a visual creator with a strong base on human emotion and storytelling. She has managed the photography studio at Cornish College of the Arts since 1999 and has taught Photography and Portfolio Development through Summer@Cornish since 2003.

Lael Rogers is a Seattle-based writer & director hailing from Juneau, Alaska. Her 2020 short film, The Claw, was produced with the support of Film Independent and received a Vimeo Staff Pick. Her award-winning films have played at top tier festivals around the world including Fantasia International Film Festival, Fantastic Fest, Palm Springs Shortfest and more. Her work has been featured in publications such as Rolling Stone, IndieWire, and The Seattle Times. In addition to writing & directing, Lael’s practical SFX design work is featured in the short film Dream Creep, which premiered at Sundance, played SXSW, and made someone throw up at a screening. She currently teaches film at Cornish College of the Arts.
 

Following a brief stint at art school, Megan Kelso completed her B.A. at The Evergreen State College in 1991 where she studied history. Inspired by the explosion of zines, bands, and DIY art projects in Olympia, she started her “Girlhero” mini comic which ran for six issues. She was the first woman to receive funding from the Xeric Foundation for self publishing. In 2007, she was invited by The New York Times Magazine to serialize her “Watergate Sue” comic as part of the weekly comics feature. In 2019 she was selected for a public art commission for the Climate Pledge Arena project in Seattle Center. The piece, “Crow Commute,” was installed in 2021. Over her career, Kelso has published four books of comics with Seattle comics publisher Fantagraphics and received three Ignatz awards for her work. Her most recent book was published in 2022. She is a longtime volunteer and board member for the annual Short Run comics festival.

Zoe Crago is the co-founder of Duo Design + Media. A partnership of two creatives specializing in graphic design, social media, and video production for individuals and businesses/organizations looking to expand their visual presence. As the lead graphic designer and illustrator, Zoe's project list includes (but is not limited to) the 2023 Festival Design for NFFTY (National Film Festival for Talented Youth), illustrator for The Rise Book Project, event campaigns for TEDxSpokane, and social media marketing for Washington Filmworks and Seattle Creates! Her love for illustration and hand-lettering often finds its way into her regular projects creating a beautiful hybrid of traditional and digital art.

After 6 years in the design world, Zoe hopes that her work, collaborations, and community involvement will ultimately impact those who want to grow and succeed in the creative industry!