Our Board of Directors

For the past 28 years she has been teaching elementary school and children's art classes, after school and during the summer. She has remained most active in her personal arts with low fire hand built and wheel thrown ceramics, which she hand paints and decorates.

Karin currently has work on display at the FolkArts Gallery in Sisters, Oregon.     close

Jim has been largely self-taught, though has had the opportunity to attend various workshops and work with several mentors. Their influence is seen in Jim's work today. He tends to develop work that is functional, yet has a whimsical flair. He feels that it is important to have a "hands on" relationship with his work. A functional piece of art, be it a jar with a lid, a cup, or a whistle, encourages that level of involvement.

Jim's work is currently represented at the Camas Gallery (formerly The Bush Barn), the Blue Pepper Gallery, Elsinore Gallery and Framing, West Coast Mud Gallery, and the River Gallery in Independence.     close

Cindy has been an ongoing student potter since 1990. Her carved pots and petroglyph rattles were featured at Salem's Bush Barn Gallery for five years. Then she began selling Pilgrim Flasks at Renaissance Faires in Oregon. Her current fascination is to make pots that seem to dance or float above the surface of the table.

Cindy has been active in several civic organizations, including the board of Very Special Arts Oregon (an international non profit organization celebrating the power that the arts have made in the lives of individuals with disabilities) and SOLV (she organized the "Down By The Riverside" clean-up of Wallace Marine Park). She taught boater safety in the Salem area from 1999 to 2006.     close

Sue has taken ceramics classes through the Salem Art Association and Chemeketa Community college for 17 years. She prefers to combine wheel-thrown pottery with hand-built additions. Most of her artwork is given as gifts to relatives and friends, but she has begun to sell some pieces at our studio events and gallery.

Sue served as President of the Friends of the Visual Arts for two years. She was also President of the Oak Knoll Ladies Golf Club for 2 years. She served on the board for Polk County Relay for Life for 3 years and was a Team Captain for 5 years.     close

Jeanine's mom was an avid slipcast ceramicist and she's been pouring pieces since she was strong enough to hold up a container of slip. She first took Pottery Wheel in 2002 and has been hooked ever since. She loves science fiction and fantasy, and most of her pieces are interpretations of elements from books.

Jeanine has many years of volunteer experience, from rescuing endangered sea turtles, to the press coordinator of a national political campaign. She served as President of the Friends of the Visual Arts in 2007-2008 and frequently volunteers at her childrens' school. She manages this website and writes most of the grants for the Friends.     close

Ken was hired at South Salem High School in 1972 and spent the next thirty years in the same classroom teaching pottery. He also taught photography and other art subjects during his years at South. He was a member of the Oregon Art Education Association for 22 years, with 8 years in leadership positions of Treasurer, President Elect, President and Past President.

Since retiring, Ken spends about 20 hours a week at the Willamette Art Center making his large vases. He sells his work at the Elsinore Gallery and the Camas Gallery (the Bush Barn) in Salem, and 250 South Main Gallery in Independence, Oregon.     close

Upon retiring and returning to Salem, Jan decided to pursue all the things in art that she did not have time for while working and raising a family. She now enjoys quilting, carving, jewelry making, pine needle basket weaving, painting, and of course pottery. She has been a member of the Friends of the Visual Arts for four years, and has been enjoying pottery since 2003.

She is currently Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Silverton Arts Association as Secretary for the 4th year. Jan is a member of the Capital Woodcarvers, Silverchips Woodcarvers, and the Mid-Valley Quilt Guild. She does not show her work in any gallery, however, she has sold some of her works through private shows and sales.     close

Gail has always loved and dabbled in the arts but is a "late bloomer" in the field of pottery having taken her first pottery class at the Visual Arts Center in 2003. She is now an "amateur" potter, enamored with clay and all of its possibilities. She has a secret passion for sculpting ("maybe next year") however; her current love is wheel throwing & experimenting with glaze and surface decorating techniques. She also loves sketching, painting, and helping children enter into the joys of artistic expression through a wide variety of media.

Gail is a member of Morning Star Community Church and has been actively involved in children's ministry, Bible studies, and many other volunteer opportunities. She has also been a volunteer at the Salem Art Fair, and painted children's faces from dawn to dusk at Salem Riverfest.     close

Ben is fairly new to the studio. Reviving an old passion from high school (Ken Jacobson was his art teacher), he decided to attend a wheel throwing class at the WAC in the fall of 2007 and has not looked back since. He is hooked!

Recently, Ben made the mistake of attending one of our meetings, during which he left to use the restroom and returned to find he was now on the Board of Directors.     close