2012 Artists

Anne Rutherford is an extraordinary and much in-demand storyteller, who found her calling after stumbling upon a description in the day of the life of a “chalk-talk-artist.” After the thrilling realization that she could tell stories for a living, she trained, and researched and crafted and has since produced over 30 solo shows.  She creates original stories and adapts vintage fiction, trickster tales, spooky stories and NW folklore for live performance and studio recordings. You can find more information on her shows at her website, http://www.annerutherford.com/.

Ashley Smith is a visual artist with professional training in Scenic and Costume Design.  She has designed and produced for organizations both locally and nationally, professionally and mentors at the high school level.  She also enjoys yoga, cooking, drawing, painting, reading, gardening flowers, as well as a variety of other crafty endeavors.  Ashley embraces the interaction between people and their environment and how our creative process can bring us together. 

April Rose Castillo returned to Grace Art Camp for her sixth summer working with POD campers this year. April completed her BA in Art from Marylhurst University with an emphasis on photography and watercolor painting. She finished Portland State University's Graduate Teacher Education Program in June 2012 and will be licensed to be an elementary classroom teacher, as well as an art specialist.  She is excited about Creative Advocacy Network's initiative to fund art specialist teachers in all Portland elementary schools (Learn more at theartscan.org) Current hobbies include collecting children's literature for her future classroom and enjoying local parks with her family.

Shelley Stoffer has been teaching Art for more than 35 years.  Her career as an art educator started at the Portland Children’s Museum where she initiated some of the very first art classes for children.  She went on to co-ordinate the Artist in the Schools Program, eventually becoming a working artist in the program. Known as “The Clay Lady” she visited Metro Public Schools for ten years, conducting clay workshops.  When an opportunity to teach at Oregon Episcopal School occurred she was delighted to have a permanent home and to teach a full art curriculum to elementary age children.  She has just retired after 25 happy years at OES!

Shelley maintained a working clay studio for many years and now has a glass studio in her home.  She has a BA in Art Education from the University of Oregon.

After attending the University of Texas for completion of a BFA in Painting & Printmaking, Loey Hargrove developed a freelance career in muraling, architectural finishes, and graphic design. Of late, she has been completing her first large scale exterior mural for the NE 42nd Community Collaborative. The mural spans two walls, and can be viewed at NE 42nd Ave. and Alberta Court. 

Keely Rademacher is a local artist who earned her Bachelor of Art & Design from NC State. After graduating she developed and implemented the visual arts program at the state school for the blind (K-12) in NC. She continued teaching art and ceramics in California. Summers have always been a time for art camps whether she was coordinating or teaching. Keely thrives on instilling students with love and appreciation of art as well as honoring the therapeutic and fun creative process. Her vitality for life and positive energy is infectious in and outside of the classroom.

As a professional artist Keely creates commissioned pieces and bodies of work for exhibition. She currently works in oil, acrylic, watercolor, pen and ink, and sculpture. In 2011 she won Portland Visual Artist of the Year through RAWartists.

Kelly Ramey holds a B.A. in Fine Arts from Eastern Washington University, a Master’s in Teaching from Whitworth College and recently became a National Board Certified teacher in 2011.  She has been an educator for 20 years, in Spokane and Vancouver teaching both theatre and Spanish.  Kelly also works regionally as an actress doing theatre and television commercial work.  Some of her theatrical roles include M’Lynn in “Steel Magnolias”, Lady Capulet in “Romeo and Juliet” and Glinda the Good Witch/Auntie Em in “The Wizard of Oz”.  Her recent television work includes such clients as BMW, Nordic Trac, and Nintendo.   Kelly is married and has 2 beautiful daughters Holly and Sarah and 2 adorable Westies!

Jude Cornwell (aka Judee Moonbeam), earned her degree in apparel design from Bassist College, the precursor to the Portland Art Institute. She works out of her NE Portland studio, designing wearable art consisting of piecework and cultural silkscreen motifs. In addition, she does custom sewing, prototype design and teaches children’s fibre art classes during the school year. She sells her work through juried art shows, festivals and in various shows and galleries. She has been teaching in the Fibre Art Studio at Grace Art Camp for 13 consecutive years.  Her website is www.judeemoonbeam.com.

Kristin Koop is an Assistant Studio Artist in the Visual Arts Studio. She has completed two years at San Francisco Art Institute and classes at Oregon College of Art & Craft, toward her BFA. She has been involved with the camp for 15 years.  Majoring in painting, she is currently interested in creating mixed media figurative paintings that include fabric. Kristin has designed several POD projects for Grace Art Camp.  View her work at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kristin_koop/

Sue McFadden had traveled extensively around the country and landed in Portland three years ago. A mother of two teenage daughters, Sue is active in the Grant High School community. She brings with her a Graphic Design / Printmaking background and is currently finishing up her MF in Interdisciplinary Art at Goddard College.

Byron Mercurius was born in Guyana and educated in South America; Byron continued his music education with Louis Belson, who was then Julliard. For the last 14-18 years he has been working with art and music with children. For 35 years he has been a professional musician, traveled across the U.S. and other places outside the U.S.A. When not playing music, Byron works with media studio & companies in Portland.

Meaghan Russell is a native of Portland and graduate of Franklin High School. She has been coming to Grace Art Camp since its first year (1997) and has worked in the ceramics and sculpture studio since 2004. She is in her third year at Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA, where she is double majoring in music and sociology. Her own sculpture is primarily in polymers clays.

Zahra Banzi was born in Spain and raised in Morocco and the US. Brought up by musicians, she has spent her life surrounded by the arts. Zahra spent her infancy in the studios of Mary Oslund & Co. and began formal studies at age four as a scholarship student at the Oregon Ballet Theatre. Graduating from the Los Angeles County High School of the Arts in 2006, Zahra has gone on to perform for such notables as Queen Sophia of Spain, Lady Bush & and Princess Haifa Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia. Zahra received her BFA in dance in Choreography at the California Institute of the Arts in 2010. In addition to performing and choreographing, Zahra has a passion for teaching. She founded the dance program at Budo Sport de Tangier, Morocco, and was the director of the dance program at Girls, Inc. in Santa Barbra, CA. Zahra is currently dancing with the Bouand Dance Company in Portland, OR and is teaching dance at All Star Dance Academy in Beaverton.

Kaori Hannah Freda, was born in Nagasaki, Japan and raised in Los Angeles, California and Vancouver, Washington. Currently, she is a junior at the academically rigorous Reed College, pursuing a degree in studio arts and art history. In 2012, she studied modern and Renaissance arts and history in Florence, Italy. There, she also worked on an interactive visual website and an oral history project with the Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies. She has taught English to Italian elementary school kids and 8th graders. In addition, she tutored Italian and Moroccan farmers in the English language while she volunteered on farms through the non-profit organization WWOOF (World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms). Kaori was a member of the North Bank Cooperative Artists Gallery in Vancouver, WA and as a Education Outreach board member, helped to create an internship program with the local arts high school. She has apprenticed under Portland sculptress Carole Murphy and master printmaker Swietlan Kraczyna in Florence, Italy. Kaori has shown her work in various galleries in Portland and Vancouver. She is excited to teach Grace Arts campers about the role paper has played in traditional and contemporary Chinese art and to encourage their wonderful creations in the classroom.

Deb Galaty is a Wisconsin native and long-time resident who presently produces her beautiful and provocative fused glass creations in Portland, Oregon.  Her work has been sold in several states and also in Europe.  A Spanish speaker who honed her language skills in Spain and Mexico, she is also an interpreter and English language learner’s aid in the public schools.  A winner of the Distinguished Alumni Award at her alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Deb combines her love of other cultures, her drive to serve and her sense of aesthetics in her art.  To contact Deb: or call: 503-309-7299.

Margaret Synan-Russell has been with Grace Art Camp since its first year, first as a parent and then as part of the teaching staff.  When Margaret isn’t working, she loves to spend time with her family at home, at the beach, or on a hike.  Outside of Grace Art Camp, Margaret teaches art at the Oregon Episcopal School where she is the Interim Chair of the Visual and Performing Arts Department. Along with her work as a teacher, she finds a little time to work in her studio. As the Chair for the Oregon Potters Association’s Ceramic Showcase, she led the production of the nation’s largest all-ceramic show, this past May, at the Oregon Convention Center.  Margaret is in the process of creating a selection of work drawing from a blend of styles from old country statues to sculptures by Giacometti.  Look for her work on display at Ceramic Showcase 2013.   Margaret’s must-see family exhibit in Portland this month is the Betty Feves Exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts.

Hannah Bohart grew up in an artistic family, and she has always appreciated the importance of artistic expression for children.  She attended Willamette University in Salem, OR, before moving to Portland, where she has enjoyed working with children and youth in a variety of capacities, including many summers with Grace Art Camp.  She is thrilled to be working with the glass studio this week!

Julie Romberg is primarily a ceramic artist but is working at grace Art camp this summer in Printmaking which she also enjoys. She is a graduate of the University of Southern California, a 25 year veteran of elementary teaching, and former Art consultant for the Ashland Schools. She received her Masters’ degree in Elementary Art Curriculum from Southern Oregon University. She moved to Portland a year and a half ago from Ashland after serving from 2008-2010 in the Peace Corps as a teacher-trainer in the South Pacific island country of Vanuatu.

Terrence Gasca has been a professional painter and illustrator for almost 10 years. A native Oregonian, Terrence now resides and works in Portland where the urban environment is the inspiration for much of his art. In 1998, Terrence attended The Academy of Art University, San Francisco, majoring in Illustration with emphasis in Fine Art. Given the opportunity to study with several extremely talented artists, Terrence developed his technical style and was recognized with honors for the work he produced. In 2001, he graduated with a BFA in traditional Illustration. Learning and practicing new ways of expression is what keeps Terrence passionate about Art. Though he enjoys painting and drawing a variety of subjects, his general focus is capturing the people, objects, and motion found in urban settings. With bold use of color, lighting, and design, his work heightens the viewer’s perception of the subtle beauty inherent in urban scenes commonly regarded as everyday or ordinary. When not at work in his studio, Terrence enjoys his free time as a dad, traveling, and teaching art. His paintings and illustrations are available through commission and he is also represented by galleries across the country. To view his work, visit www.terrencegasca.com

Megan Reid grew up in Indiana, attended the University of Southern Indiana, received a BS in art and science, served an art residency at Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT, in 2000, and then moved to Portland, OR.  Her main focus is woodworking, but she also teaches and does fibre arts and visual arts and ceramics.  Megan shows her work around Oregon and internationally.  She received a bronze medal in the 2000 Sydney, Australia Summer Olympics Sports Art competition.  (Megan was also an All-American soccer player in college.) She teaches elementary art classes for Young Rembrandts in the Beaverton School District. This is her fourth year at Grace Art Camp.

Susan Marshall is a painter, printmaker, and sculptor. She is currently an Art Educator with the Beaverton School District. In addition, she has had various shows in Portland and commissions in Spain. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts and a Masters in Education. Susan has been teaching at Grace Art Camp for 6 years.

Donna Cloud is a local artist and educator who specializes in printmaking and photography. She holds a BFA in Printmaking from Pacific Northwest College of Art. Donna has taught a variety of arts to youth of all ages and abilities in a number of different settings including PNCA and Camp Caldera. This is Donna's fourth year with Grace where she taught non-toxic forms of Printmaking. During the academic year Donna works in a local elementary school teaching computer skills to K-5 students. In her free time, Donna loves to travel and enjoy nature, especially camping, kayaking, bicycling and snorkeling.