Emma Rae Armstrong is a native San Franciscan artist and Costume Designer. Her drive for exploration and attention to detail contributes to her enthusiasm for making the impossible - possible. 

Over the past two years she has taught for SCRAP’s, Sustainable Fashion Design program. She’s worked with children of all ages, making their design’s come to life while they learn sewing foundations and how to use up-cycled materials to create clothes. She continues to find the most creativity working with recycled unconventional materials, coming up with new ways to bring art into San Francisco’s community. 

Emma is a CalArts Alum, she graduated in 2022 with a BFA in Experience Design, Production Design with a focus in Costume Design. After graduating she has continued to focus on designing for local Bay Area performers and LGBTQIA+ artists while educating others on sustainable fashion practices. 

Petra Schumann has taught art to elementary and middle school students for over a dozen years.  Currently, she is the art instructor at a public elementary school in Pacifica.  Through her carefully designed lessons, Petra’s students experience the joys of creating with a variety of media, from watercolor to ceramics to repurposed materials.  Petra enjoys introducing students to artists from around the world while inspiring them to do their best work.

Petra has been a maker since childhood and currently works primarily in fiber arts.  Born in Germany and raised in New Hampshire, Petra earned her BA from Harvard and an MA from UCLA.

Josie Licavoli, a multimedia artist and educator from the Bay Area, explores diverse cultural identities, drawing from her mixed-race heritage. Inspired by San Francisco, the California coast, and various art forms such as music and literature, her work delves into human experiences, merging personal introspection with collective knowledge. Josie's art bridges private and public realms, inviting viewers to engage with the rich tapestry of Filipino and American culture, fostering connection and dialogue.

Her teaching philosophy is centered in community, experimentation and student led projects. 

Josie received her BA in 2022 in Studio Art (painting) and Art Education from Cal Poly Humboldt. She is also the current Filipinx Teaching Fellow at Root Division. 

Sebastian Petersen is an illustration graduate of the California College of the Arts, and a practicing fine artist. He has spent several years working in government programs and private sector groups teaching art to a wide range of students and community members. He lives on the coast with his partner, and his puppy, working on illustrations, and beach combing for art projects. 

Maya Djiji is a multimedia artist from Los Angeles who has resided in the Bay Area for 6 years and graduated from CCA in 2020. Her practice involves using a very saturated color palette and any material she can get her hands on. She has worked in a multitude of art making studios and worked closely with many Bay Area artists. She has a taught a wide range of classes to groups of all ages and is very passionate about sharing her love and knowledge of art making. 

Joanne Wang is an artist and educator based in Oakland, CA. Utilizing abstract embroidery, mixed media, and secondhand textiles, her art practice is centered around processes that investigate the invisible themes of labor, time, waste, and gender that are embedded within the fabric of our consumer society. Through textile art, soft sculpture, and upcycled clothing, Joanne’s work is an abstract exploration of the connections between forgotten and discarded materials, consumerism, and our beautiful planet Earth.

Joanne has a BA in both Art and Biology from UC Santa Cruz. She currently works as an arts educator and freelance installation artist, creating sustainable custom art and decor for businesses and events. 

Tria Connell learned to sew at 13, and never looked back! With a degree in Fashion Design, she moved to San Francisco and started designing, patterning, and constructing costumes for drag performers, as well as other non-performing clients. She worked in the technical design department for Esprit, and Old Navy where she strengthened her knowledge of patternmaking and fit. She started at the Academy of Art in 2014, teaching the introductory Fashion Sewing Techniques class, and the Art Experience sewing class for high school age students. 

Outside of teaching she is passionate about animal rescue, especially rabbits! She volunteers for SaveABunny. She lives with 2 rescue bunnies of her own, and a rescue parrot.

June Nelson (they/she) is a nonbinary transfemme creator, educator, and organizer based in Oakland, CA. They received a BA in Cognitive Science and Education from UC Berkeley in 2020 and worked as a public school teacher before dedicating themself to creating. A self-taught jeweler, June crafts transdisciplinary bodily adornments through chainmail, metal casting, wire working, and a variety of other mediums, toying with expectations of appearance and material. Their work is deeply inspired by queer bodies and expression, ancestral/traditional craftwork, and our (dis)connection with land and nature. 

Honoring the importance of community in the arts, June stewards communal makerspaces for QT/BIPOC artists, organizes community-based fashion shows and art markets, and teaches various workshops intended to cultivate community and facilitate access to jewelry-making materials and knowledge

Ariana Martinez-Cruz is a fiber, textile, embroidery artist. Her textile and visual art work has been featured at Brava Theater, the Annual SF Carnaval parade,Galería de la Raza, Mission Cultural Center and the Latino Cultural Center in Dallas, TX as well as many artisan markets throughout San Francisco. Sewing and creating since the age of six exploring and pursuing knowledge in all forms of fashion, design, garment construction, textile creation and embroideryart. Current creator of Sew Frisco a wearable thread art brand inspired by memories and life growing up in San Francisco through hand embroidered iron on patches and pins. She shares her love of sewing through various community workshops from hand sewing to creating costumes.

Lucy is a San Francisco Textile Artist and Educator devoted to building a safe environment where everyone can enjoy and explore their culture through all forms of art while empowering them with the skills and knowledge to bring their visions to life. She has explored many art mediums, from metal arts, illustration, painting, fashion, and fiber arts, to nail art. Over the past decade, she has focused on all aspects of fashion design and construction. She has shared her skills and knowledge with people of all ages and experiences in San Francisco. @lucydiamondsinthesky

Solange is a passionate upcycler and sewist, inspired by her Peruvian heritage and her mother’s skilled hands. She learned early on how to give new life to fabrics, transforming old clothes into something beautiful and functional. Her background in public health (MPH) has deepened her commitment to sustainability, as she recognizes the impact of textile waste on our planet.

What started as a personal project to design the perfect bag has now blossomed into Soluna Threads—a collection of tote bags, pouches, and home essentials crafted from upcycled materials. Beyond creating, she is inspired to teach youth how to reuse, upcycle, and sew, empowering them with skills to promote sustainability and creativity.