Where did you go to school?

Im a graduate of Pendleton High School and Columbia College at Columbia University.

What do you do?

The best thing in the world: I facilitate creative experiences for people in Pendleton and our surrounding communities that is to say, I run the arts education and outreach programs at the Pendleton Center for the Arts. (Im also a proud board member of the Pendleton Farmers Market, a PFLAG member, part of the group behind Pendleton Connect, and lots of other things besides!)

What’s the best thing about your work?

Witnessing the creative blossoming of all kinds of folks. Our classes and workshops cater to a wide variety of people of all ages. I watch people surprise themselves as they bravely try something new and I see how that confidence helps them build connections with one another. Each class, whether its a group of teens painting a mural or adults learning the guitar, builds a really beautiful, supportive network among its students. And, oh man, do I love our after-school program for teens. Its free and attracts the most wonderful assortment of cool, curious, and fabulously weird individuals.

Who is the historical figure you most admire?

The artist Georgia OKeeffe gets a bad rap for being too popular or too accessible, but Ive been really interested in her for a long time. At a time when the art world was all about the scene, she believed that she could make authentic, meaningful work from outside of the trappings of art.

The living person you most admire?

I have heroes who live all over the world, mostly strong and incredible women, some of whom I know personally and some of whom I know only through what Ive read. One of the people Ive been looking up to a lot lately is the poet and writer Bette Lynch Husted, who lives right here in Pendleton. I love her memoir, Above the Clearwater, and her most recent non-fiction work, Lessons From the Borderlands, both of which delve into issues of class, gender and race and make really cogent arguments for the power of education.

What is your proudest accomplishment?

Each summer, Im overcome with pride at our Rock & Roll Camp showcase concert. I came late to this program it grew out of work by Peter Walters, Elizabeth Scheeler, JD Smith and Roberta Lavadour, plus the musicians of Point Juncture, Wa. but its one of the highlights of my year. Its a free camp organized by the Arts Center and it draws accomplished musicians and hard-working teens from around the region. Like the Grinch, my heart grows three sizes when I watch them play. Its all real punk, real DIY, and real rock n roll.

What is the most difficult challenge in your life these days?

Work-life balance! I have a job that requires a lot of engagement, and as an introvert, I have a very strong desire to just curl up in my little cocoon/apartment in my free time. I have to work really hard to give myself enough alone time while continuing to foster the relationships that make me happy.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I love being outside, walking along the river and communing with the birds, or heading up to Cabbage Hill to sit on the hilltop. And Im a dancer and music-lover at heart, so I really value participating in Nia and yoga classes at Pendleton Yoga & Dance Studio or tapping my toes at a concert at Great Pacific or one of our other fun venues.

What type of electronic equipment do you carry around with you?

Just a phone. I begrudgingly upgraded to a smart phone and am a bit alarmed by how dependent upon it Ive become. (But I love it.)

If you had to live in another country for a year, where would you go?

If I were lucky enough to live in another country for a year, Id head straight back to Madagascar. I was there as a Peace Corps Volunteer from 2006 until the end of 2008, and I miss it desperately. I strongly believe that living and travelling in other countries helps people become more compassionate, resilient, resourceful and open.

If you could change one thing in your community, what would that be?

Id create more opportunities for young people to meet and mingle in environments outside of bars. More music, more dancing, more games, more meaningful conversations!

What is at the top of your bucket list?

Id really like to try rock climbing. I love being up high and have done a fair amount of clambering around on boulders, but Ive always been a little intimidated by all the rock climbing gear.

What is your favorite beverage?

Black coffee or a really delicious sangria.

Tell us about the best book you’ve read lately.

I just finished Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope by bell hooks. She asks radical questions about the way higher education functions and how people who are social minorities (per their ethnic background, gender, socioeconomic level or sexual orientation) fit in or dont.

Your most prized possession?

I love things beautiful things with great stories. I have two favorites right now ones a beaded necklace by Jo Motanic Lewis. Another is a painting by my mother that hangs in my apartment. She uses abstract shapes, line and color to represent our world, and her work really resonates with me. I guess its pretty obvious that my mother is another one of the people I most admire.

What’s the funniest thing that ever happened to you?

Theres a funny and really embarrassing story about the time I was in a bush taxi i.e. under the canopy of a tiny pickup truck in Madagascar some fellow Peace Corps Volunteers. I ate some bad roadside food (maybe it was one of the little fried baby birds on a slightly grubby tray??) that resulted in food poisoning. At a brief stop, I had to climb over the other passengers and launch myself out of the canopy window, tumble down into a ditch and find an appropriate treethe rest Ill leave to the imagination.

What is your guiltiest pleasure?

I have a weakness for any Law & Order syndicate. My college grades would have been a lot better sans access to Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

What’s the one question we didn’t ask that you’d like to answer?

Whats your dream car? A 1960s cherry red El Camino!