Ayumi Horie is a full-time studio potter in Portland, Maine who makes functional pottery with drawings of animals and typography, inspired by American and Japanese folk traditions and comics. She often works collaboratively on projects, including a tile mapping project of Greenwich Village in 2009, which celebrated the quadracentennial of New York City and the centennial of Greenwich House Pottery. In 2011, she was the first recipient of Ceramics Monthly’s Ceramic Artist of the Year award. Ayumi travels nationally and internationally to give lectures and workshops and has organized multiple online fundraisers including Obamaware in 2008 and Handmade For Japan in 2011, which has raised over $100,000 for disaster relief. She is on the board of trustees at the American Craft Council and on the curatorial board at accessCeramics.org. Her work can be seen at ayumihorie.com

Elise Pepple’s work centers on the power of storytelling.  She facilitated StoryCorps’ Alaska Initiative, produced a radio show dedicated to place-based stories for KCAW, and hosts live storytelling events in collaboration with communities and organizations in diverse locations. In 2012 she relocated to Portland, Maine to attend The Salt Institute for Documentary Study. Elise received a Community Arts Development Grant from The Alaska State Council on the Arts to produce The Other AK: an experiment in narrative tourism. Elise is a National Arts Strategies Creative Community Fellow for 2014. She is also pursuing her Master’s in Social Work from Smith College. Her aim is to leverage the power of storytelling and art to foster a sense of belonging and meaning on the macro and micro scale.

Pilar Nadal is a printmaker, educator and fake radio co-host in Portland, Maine. In her individual and collaborative work, she utilizes printmaking and public engagement practices, creating playful and interactive prints and installations that explore communication technologies and the spaces that relationships inhabit. Nadal currently teaches at The Maine College of Art, Southern Maine Community College, and Pickwick Independent Press. Her work can be seen at pilarnadal.org