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.

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.

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!

J. Gordon brings over two decades of experience as an artist, educator, and curator, to his classrooms.  Gordon earned his BFA and MFA in painting from the University of Kansas and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts respectively. While his current professional practice centers primarily around the medium of drawing, he incorporates aspects of traditional and contemporary painterly practices in both his teaching methods and mixed media art works.

Gordon is a recipient of multiple scholarships and awards, as well an artist fellowship from the state of Delaware.  He has taught drawing at many colleges, art centers, and museums including the Tacoma Art Museum and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He is currently represented by Gallery Strega, where he also plays a supporting role in exhibition design and curation.

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.

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.

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.

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!