Leticia Ramirez , Vibe Lead Teaching Artist is a multidisciplinary visual artist from Mexico who built upon her deep experience with interior architecture and furniture design by earning an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and starting her jewelry brand Osseum. She is passionate about everything art-related, including teaching it! Her artwork, which she uses to start conversations about social issues, often uses characters and surreal images that fill art installations, staged photographs, and paintings. To see Leticia's work, please visit: www.leticiagravitania.com or www.osseumjewelry.com.

Lainey Perry is a cross media artist whose practice is anchored in slow-moving textiles like hand sewing, weaving, quilting, and natural dyes. Other mediums such as photo, ceramics, drawing, painting & more get their spotlights too and typically cross-pollinate. Common themes for her include healing and reverence of nature, often in conversation with each other. Her bachelor degree in fine arts from Oregon College of Art and Craft landed her in a multidisciplinary world of her own design where she began to understand the importance of hands-on work and learning style flexibility as central to growing self esteem and independence. In art making, Lainey celebrates “failures” as a means of creating fertile ground for discovery, skill building and resilience. She views work with students as an extension of her art practice and delights in the surprises they offer her in their own creations. Connecting with kids of all different backgrounds through creativity is an endless source of inspiration and joy. Lainey teaches our after school program at A Renaissance School as well as our camps.

Leo Crum is a trans and queer multidisciplinary artist, working primarily with mediums under the umbrellas of printmaking and fiber arts in his personal art practice. He has worked with youth to facilitate Art Education in many facets since early 2021. In facilitating, his goal is empowerent of the students through exploration and technical skill building. His favorite mediums to teach are block printing and weaving. Leo is currently teaching SUN classes, PRIDE camps, and many other camps and workshops.

Kiana Lamberton is a multidisciplinary artist, working with a variety of mediums, from fibers and clay to organic materials, like plant matter. In 2016, she moved to Portland to attend Oregon College of Art and Craft. It was during that time that she grew a profound appreciation for the handmade. She found a sense of independence that came with the ability to create; from drawing on paper, to forming and firing the dishes she uses in her kitchen. As a teacher, Kiana aims to help students feel confident in their expression, by assuring them in exploring their own concepts and introducing them to different mediums. She encourages young artists to take a process-based approach to making, where the art becomes more about the experience than the outcome- it is all about having fun! Kiana teaches our Wednesday after school Art Club at Paisley Studios, in addition to many of our workshops and camps.

My name is Munta Eric Mpwo, originally from Democratic Republic of the Congo. My family and I moved to the United States in 1989 at the age of nine. I had no understanding of art or about how art is made at that time. My first introduction to art was cartoons on the television. Cartoons such as The Adventures of TinTin and Looney Toons really caught my attention. This heavily influenced my artistic vision and aesthetic. Cartoons have also altered the way I view the World due to the fact that I never saw a character that looked like me. Break dancing and hip-hop also had a huge impact in my life because I felt like a lost angry kid without a physical outlet. Hip-Hop and Breakdancing were my first introduction to Black Culture in America. My focus now is to represent myself and others of the BIPOC community with my murals, illustrations, and dance. Seeing how we are rarely seen on the screen or on paper inspired me to make the unnoticed and unseen seen. My work stands as a beacon of representation for other young kids and adults to find heroes that are not just deemed as visually appealing but physical representations of BIPOC heroes and their stories. Using acrylics, latex and aerosol I will continue to bring the imagery I would have wanted to see as a child.

Munta teaches cartooning and character development for Vibe. He was an integral part of our mural project in 2022, which can be seen at the Portland Moose Lodge #291 in SE Portland. Some of his work can be seen HERE.

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Kevin Yatsu, Digital Art and Design, is an artist, director and producer working across interactive artworks using Unreal Engine, audio design, and film. During his MFA at the University of Oregon, Kevin co-founded a production house and creative collective called AUGURY HOUSE where he spearheads projects ranging from large scale exhibitions to interactive livestreams and feature films. With a teaching practice rooted in experimentation and play, Kevin enjoys growing alongside his students as new ideas and stories are explored.

Sophie Kendall is an American artist working in drawing, painting, and clay/found object sculptures and vessels. Sophie’s work explores concepts of intimacy, feminism, queerness, humor, and community. Some of her recent works use three dimensional clay features to bring to life her idiosyncratic but relatable paintings on ceramic vessels, portraying her own personal values and sense of humor, as well as larger social issues. Sophie was formally trained in various art forms through a family heritage of artists, and a Waldorf Education, followed by a BFA from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. In her teaching practice she encourages kids to explore many mediums, letting their hands guide their imaginations, and believes that anyone can express themselves through art.

Camille Lema (They/She). Camille is an indigenous folk artist working with kids for over 10 years. They love to paint, draw and experiment with new materials. Their work is very colorful and often shows appreciation for nature's beauties. Some of Camille's favorite things to teach are fabric dyeing and binding techniques, how to create artwork out of scraps and recycled materials, watercolor painting and sculpting with polymer clay.

elijah jamal asani is a nigerian-american anti-disciplinary artist // youth educator from chicago.

as a surrealist, elijah has worked with & for youth throughout the united states by facilitating classes in instrument making, music production, & the infinite approaches of sound creation / exploration within music. elijah is our teacher in residence at the Vibe Studio in Cathedral Village Apartments in the St Johns neighborhood.

Xeandra: “My Grandmother gave me my earliest sewing lessons after she found me using tape to hold together clothing for my dolls. I teach sewing because I want to pass on the DIY vision to young creators. I try to tap into the students’ imagination, helping them turn their ideas into 3-dimensional creations. Every project builds on the ever expanding question: “What else can I make”? Xeandra teaches our Saturday Sewing Classes at the lodge and will be teaching the sewing camp this summer.

Christian Alvarado is an interdisciplinary artist educator from New Jersey currently attending the University of Oregon Studio Art MFA. Inspired by cartoons, surrealism, and speculative fiction and focusing on motifs of motion and contact, Christian's practice revolves around the creation of whimsical characters and how they use invention in order to navigate their turbulent worlds. Christian believes that art and art-making is about the relationships one inhabits within themselves and the world around them, and how those relationships change over time. Art never ends, not in space nor time.

Vibe Teaching Artists