RACC Staff

Eloise Damrosch, Executive Director, 503.823.5400, edamrosch@racc.org. Oversees the management of this tri-county arts and culture council. Executes the policies and directives of the board and the work of a 22-member staff. Also, oversees the RACC Public Art Program, responsible for the management of the City of Portland and Multnomah County's Percent for Art Program and public art contracts with public and private agencies. Eloise has been involved with the arts since childhood and almost non-stop since then in Chile, Central Oregon, for the past 19+ years in Portland, and in various communities around the US. She and her husband Gary love to travel by foot, bike and especially airplanes that take them to sunny places with water and to exotic cities.

Jeff Hawthorne, Director of Community Affairs 503.823.5258, jhawthorne@racc.org. Jeff joined the RACC staff in 2002 to lead several initiatives to raise money and awareness for the local arts community, including supervision of RACC's public relations efforts, research activities, and fundraising programs. Although Jeff's background is heavy on the theatre side (he started acting and set design in high school, moved into theatre management in college, taught arts education programs in Ashland, and worked in the development office at Portland Center Stage for 8 years), he enjoys being nothing more than an audience member these days. Jeff, a left-handed Cancer, lives in north Portland and is co-founder of the Red Dress Party.

Cynthia Knapp, Director of Operations, 503.823.5403, cknapp@racc.org. Cindy directs the financial affairs of RACC with an annual budget of $4 million and works closely with the Executive Team on development and implementation of programs, fiscal strategies, personnel and administration policies. She also directs the Grants and Education programs, and oversees facilities. Cindy manages internal staff administration, including supervision of administrative staff, accounting and human resource functions and board support. She joined RACC in 2000, and has held various financial supervisory and management positions at non-profit organizations over the past 22 years, including Chief Financial Officer at worksystems, inc. and Business Manager at Community Youth Services of Washington County, Inc.

Mary Bauer, Communications Associate, 503.823.5426, mbauer@racc.org. Mary assists the Director of Community Affairs in public and media relations, in addition to producing the Art Notes newsletter, other RACC publications, and maintaining the website. Before Mary came to RACC in 1996, she had spent over 25 years in the film industry in London, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, working in production and especially in editing on feature films and documentaries. Returning to her home town, Portland, in the nineties, she wanted to raise her daughter, Anna (pictured on the left) in the creative, nurturing environment of the Northwest. However, Anna would prefer to live in Los Angeles, closer to Disneyland and Magic Mountain!

Chris Bisgard, Information Technology Specialist, 503.823.5111, cbisgard@racc.org. Chris maintains the computer network and assists the staff with day-to-day desktop support, while also developing long-term goals in database development and ongoing website design and functionality. He has a background in arts administration, having previously served in various capacities at Portland Center Stage and the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. When not at work, Chris enjoys spending time with his wife and two-year-old daughter, exploring the Portland metro area and the Northwest.

Kristin Calhoun, Public Art Manager. 503.823.5401, kcalhoun@racc.org. in situ PORTLAND, RACC’s outdoor temporary public art program is one of Public Art Kristin's proudest accomplishments, temporary work being a strong passion for her ever since she was working on her art history degree and encountered the work of Krzysztof Wodiczko. A bit of a policy wonk, she is forever seeking a more streamlined, less bureaucratic public art process. In addition to in situ, she manages the Portable Works Collection, Portland Mall project public art with Tri-Met and various Percent for Art projects.

Ingrid Carlson, Grants Specialist. 503.823.5417, icarlson@racc.org. Ingrid has worked in various roles at RACC since 2000. As the Grants Specialist, she works with the Grants Program Officer to administer assigned grant programs, including Arts Education Fast Track Grants, Professional Development Grants, and various Project Grant disciplines. In her artistic life, Ingrid performed on the stage with many small Portland theatre companies, including defunkt theatre, Theatre Vertigo, and Integrity Productions. A native Oregonian, she has tread the boards of the Portland metro region within all five quadrants of the city, in each of Clackamas, Washington, and East Multnomah Counties, and even while floating on the Willamette River.

Marci Cochran, Office Coordinator, 503.823.5111, info@racc.org. Marci has been the office coordinator at RACC for 3 years, where she maintains and manages the front office operations. She assists the executive team as needed, plus other departments with overflow, including communication, maintaining equipment and supplies, appearance of working environment, coordinating clerical assistance projects and interns, and distributing information to staff. She oversees database maintenance and provides general information about programs, arts opportunities, and resources. Marci also assists the grants department, and is continually expanding her responsibilities. Marci is an actress. She has a MA in Communication from Regent University, and enjoys working in a creative environment. She has a wonderful cat named Wheezie.

Helen Daltoso, Grants Program Officer. 503.823.5402, hdaltoso@racc.org. Oversees various General Support Grant applications, Professional Development Grants, various Project Grant areas, particularly Project Grants for Neighborhood Arts and Arts-in-Schools and The Cultural Leadership Program. Helen has work in the Arts in Portland since 1995. Helen has been in her current position of Grant Program Officer with RACC for three years. Before joining the RACC in July of 1997 as the Neighborhood Arts Program Coordinator, she served as the Program Manager for the Network of Oregon Artists, a service and support organization for individual artists. Prior to her work in the arts Helen worked for three years in Lesotho as a community extension agent for the U.S. Peace Corps.

Barbara Dibs, Arts Partners Project Assistant, 503.823.5454, bdibs@racc.org. Barbara coordinates meetings, communications, databases, and whatever else comes her way to support Arts Partners. Being open to the unexpected also inspires her occasional forays into improv theatre. A native New Yorker, Barbara arrived in Portland in 1991 after a 12-year stopover in Los Angeles. She has worked in the film and magazine industries; been an administrative consultant; coordinated Wordstock’s enthusiastic volunteers; and written and published a how-to craft book. Fascinated by language, Barbara soaks up the area’s performing arts offerings, reads and writes, noodles over the end-of-the-week NY Times crossword puzzles, and tries to remember more French than she’s forgotten.

Carla Holmberg, Bookkeeper. 503.823.5451, cholmberg@racc.org. A fourth generation North Portlander, Carla lives there with her teenage children, Mandy and Patrick. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics Education and a Master’s Degree in Secondary Education from the University of Portland.

Christopher Huizar, Public Art Image Coordinator, 503.823.5891, chuizar@racc.org. Christopher is currently organizing RACC's digital image archive. This process will streamline the accessibility of the images on both the in house database and the RACC website. Christopher obtained his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a focus in sculpture from the Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA). In addition to working at RACC, Christopher teaches Time Arts and Cyber Arts at the PNCA, and is a web designer. His design work can be viewed at www.onegreatthing.com.

Kathryn Jackson, Work for Art Manager, 503.823.5424, kjackson@racc.org.  Kathryn enjoys coordinating the Work for Art program for RACC. She spends her working hours: meeting with business and government leaders in Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties to plan for and run yearly employee giving campaigns; talking to hundreds of employees about our vital arts & culture organizations; garnering private donations for those organizations; taking artists into businesses for interactive performances and workshops; overseeing the Arts Card program and e-newletter. Her recent Masters degree in Communication helps her with all that talking. Kathryn has been a musician and dancer since she was 8 years old and has a particular passion for Argentine Tango and East Indian classical music.

Lindsey Johnson, Work for Art Program Assistant, 503.823.5423, ljohnson@racc.org. Lindsey provides comprehensive administrative and graphic design assistance to the Work for Art Manager and the wide-reaching activities of the program. Lindsey is a native Oregonian. She graduated with a Bachelors Degree of Fine Art in Painting. She recently moved back to the northwest from New York City and is enjoying traveling and hiking on her home turf. She is currently painting and has had exhibitions throughout the northwest. Her website is www.lindseyjohnsonart.com.

Peggy Kendellen, Public Art Manager. 503.823.4196, pkendellen@racc.org. Peggy has worked in the public art field for nearly 15 years. Among her responsibilities are managing site specific and temporary public art projects, launching and sustaining a Public Art Murals Program, acquisitions of works on paper for the Visual Chronicle of Portland, and creating and managing a public art residency program. She has conducted numerous professional development workshops for artists and has spoken locally, regionally and nationally on public art issues. Peggy earned her BFA and MA in art from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and is a recipient of an NEA Midwest Artists Fellowship. Her artwork is included in the collections of Neiman Marcus, Northwest Mutual Life Insurance and Moritex USA in Tokyo. Her range of artworld related experiences – portfolio preparation, creating/exhibiting/selling art, teaching, participating in jury processes, public art management -- have provided her with a rich perspective of multiple aspects of the creative life.

Johanna Kim, Executive Assistant. 503.823.5408, jkim@racc.org. Johanna provides administrative support to the Executive Team, as well as the Board of Directors. Being among artists and people who love art makes Johanna very happy, which is why she is delighted to be working at RACC. When not coordinating RACC meetings and events, and ensuring the smooth flow of activities in the office of the Executive Director, Johanna spends her free time as an artist/illustrator and is currently developing her children’s art portfolio. Visit her Web site at www.joh-illustrations.com.

Keith Lachowicz, Public Art Collections Registrar. 503.823.5404, klachowicz@racc.org. Keith tracks and records all the vital statistics for the 2,000 works in the City of Portland and Multnomah County Public Art Collections. Along with overseeing the collection databases and files, Keith schedules and facilitates regular public art maintenance and works with the Public Art Collections Preparator on the rotation of the Portable Works Collection throughout City and County buildings. Choosing to ignore Tom McCall's suggestion to do otherwise, Keith and his wife Denise have made Portland their home since 2002. After serving as Assistant Director of the Mills College Art Museum in Oakland, California, and the Exhibition Designer and Chief Preparator of the Hallie Ford Museum of Art in Salem, Keith is now pleased to live only a bike ride away from RACC's front door. When not working or bicycling, Keith can be found building wooden boats, and occasionally working on his own art.

Jennifer Matsumura, Finance & HR Specialist, 503.823.4627, jmatsumura@racc.org. Jennifer assists the Director of Operations in all aspects of RACC's financial accounting and employee benefits administration. She has worn several different hats at RACC including Executive Assistant (1997-98), Arts-in-Libraries Coordinator (1998-2000), and Technical Assistance Program Coordinator (2000-2003). A Portland native, Jennifer received her B.A. in Urban Studies from Stanford University in 1991. Before joining the RACC staff, she worked in San Francisco as a caterer, modern dance company member, professional massage therapist, administrator of a dance/arts organization, and development staff member raising private funds for public schools.

Cheryl Norton, Public Art Assistant, 503.823.5865, cnorton@racc.org. Cheryl assists Kristin Calhoun, Peggy Kendellen and Keith Lachowicz in the Public Art Department. She brings a background in both non-profit and for-profit business experience, and is also currently enrolled at the Pacific Northwest College of Art as a BFA student and sculpture major. Cheryl is delighted to contribute her previous business experience in conjunction with art, and previous degrees in Communications and Organizational Behavior, and graduate studies in Anthropology to the RACC organization.

William Rihel, Public Art Collections Preparator, 503.823.5425, wrihel@racc.org. William assists with all technical aspects of art handling with regard to storage, installation, handling and packing of objects under the direction of the Public Art Collections Registrar. He is the RACC point person for the regular rotation of artwork throughout City of Portland and Multnomah County offices and buildings. When not hanging art around town, William spends his time making his own work, taking photographs and painting images that revolve around the ever changing landscape of Portland. Visit his website at http://home.earthlink.net/~wrihel.

Patrick Rock, Public Art Maintenance Technician, 503.823.5111, prock@racc.org. Patrick's maintenance duties will take him inside and outside of City and Multnomah County buildings as well as Portland parks making sure that the public art collection is in tip-top condition for the public to enjoy. Patrick is a native born Oregonian and comes to us from San Francisco where he was employed as Sculpture Staff at the San Francisco Art Institute. Patrick possess an MFA in New Genres from the San Francisco Art Institute and exhibits his art internationally. When not out and about in Portland working on public art for RACC, you can find him with his three bad dogs and one mean eyed cat in his Portland studio and garden. Or licking envelopes for ROCKSBOX, a suburban contemporary artist-run exhibition space. You can view his work at: www.patrickrockfineart.com or ROCKSBOX at: www.rocksboxfineart.com.

Marna Stalcup, Arts Partner Project Manager, 503.823.4698, mstalcup@racc.org. Marna coordinates all aspects of Arts Partners, a new arts education initiative to connect the region’s arts and culture resources to local schools and classroom teachers. She is responsible for engaging the community in the planning process, overseeing program design and taking the project to full implementation. Marna joined the RACC staff in the fall of 2007, bringing to her position a 25-year career in arts education. At Portland's Jefferson High School she served as events manager and performing arts magnet program coordinator. She was also part of the founding faculty of the Vancouver School of Arts and Academics, a grade 6-12 public school where the arts connect with academic subjects in an interdisciplinary setting. Most recently, Marna was managing director of Caldera, a local non-profit arts organization that supports Portland and Central Oregon students with year-round services in their schools. She enjoys prowling Portland by foot, digging in her garden and cooking up a storm.

Erin Stephenson, Public Art Maintenance Technician, 503.823.5111, estephenson@racc.org. Erin began her work with RACC as a public art registar intern. Now as a maintenance technician she assists with the preservation of Portland’s indoor and outdoor public art. Erin holds a BFA in applied visual arts with special interests in painting and printmaking and hopes to earn a masters degree in art conservation. When she is not working for RACC she spends time interning with two local art conservators. Erin is a native Oregonian but loves to travel whenever she gets the chance. She also enjoys working on her own artwork that often incorporates dance, one of her favorite activities.

Tonisha A. Toler, Grants Assistant, 503.823.5866, ttoler@racc.org. Tonisha assists the RACC Grants Program with various panel duties, grant application processing and general grants department administration. Tonisha recently relocated from Olympia, Washington originally hailing from the NY/NJ area; after 9 years on the West Coast, she has finally decided to make the Pacific Northwest her home! Tonisha holds a Bachelors Degree in Art obtained from the Evergreen State College where she studied art that attended to social injustice. Previous to her decision to make Portland her home, she enjoyed a brief, warm, dry and sunny stint in San Diego! Why leave you ask? “I really missed the people in the Pacific Northwest!” Tonisha's passion is loving art and wanting to be a part of the process that promotes, supports and encourages the burgeoning of art.