People

Emese Ilyes
Project Coordinator
eilyes@portcitydevelopment.org
An explorer of everyday wonders, Emese Ilyes is documenting the potential in every moment and artist as the Direct Care Coordinator at Project Grow. Originally from Transylvania, Emese moved to Portland, Oregon from Michigan to attend Reed College after several years of exploring. She graduated from Reed after completing her thesis titled 'The heat beneath the melting pot: the implicit and explicit stereotyping of immigrants'. Along with her dedication to Project Grow, she is currently commited to several all consuming personal projects, as captured on her website, photogenicwords.com.

James Ragsdale
Animal Husbandry Specialist
jragsdale@portcitydevelopment.org
James Ragsdale is a goat farmer who comes from a long line of Montana farmers. He owned and operated a goat and sheep fiber farm in the Olympic Peninsula of Washington until his recent relocation to Portland. He has spent most of his life living in the mountains of the great Western United States while working on various goat and sheep farms.

Tim Donovan
Growing Specialist
tdonovan@portcitydevelopment.org
Tim Donovan is a farmer, nurseryman, and maker who received his BA from Bard College. He has worked on various community gardening projects in Salem, Oregon as well as working on the famous Helsing Junction Farm, and producing a documentary about the farm titled "Growing Awareness." Now he lives in Portland, where he currently works at Pistils Nursery, Project Grow, and facilitates the arts and media label Lasercave.
www.lasercave.biz

Sandy Sampson
Art Specialist
ssampson@portcitydevelopment.org
Sandy Sampson is an Interdisciplinary artist working in painting, video, installation, participatory, guerilla art and motherhood. She received her MFA in Art and Social Practice from Portland State University. Recent public collaborations include projects for the PICA Time Based Art Festival Portland Oregon, Proflux Satellite 2008 North America, Galleria Perdida at Houston's Project Row Houses, Portland Art Museum, and BetonSalon Paris.
Also, founding member of www.parallel-university.org

Charlie Foster
Care Specialist
cfoster@portcitydevelopment.org
Charlie was born and raised in Baltimore, Md. He has previously worked at a retirement home, in a drug and alcohol counseling clinic, and a before and after-school art education program for kids. He received his BSW from Juniata College, a small liberal arts college in the central Pennsylvanian mountains. His travels around the world - a semester in England traveling around Europe and a month in southern India - were the most influential aspects of his education. In addition to travel, he enjoys photography, art, making underwear and other crafts using recycled material, hiking, biking, and seeing the beauty in every inch.
Dasha Shleyeva
Art Assistant
dshleyeva@portcitydevelopment.org
Dasha was born and raised in Moscow, Russia until she was nine, when she moved with her mom to the United States. She is currently working on her BA in Painting at Portland State University. She has volunteered with and worked on various design projects, murals and art show fundraisers with non-profit organizations in California, Oregon and Mexico. She has also previously worked with inner city youth after school programs and distribution centers for the homeless in Long Beach, CA. Dasha loves telling (and hearing) stories, picking around on her guitar, cooking for her friends, cartwheels, and mainly dancing randomly whenever possible.
www.dashadraws.com

Jen Erickson
Weaving Coordinator
jerickson@portcitydevelopment.org
Jen Erickson is originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota. She earned her BA in Human Development with a minor in Sustainable Community Development from Prescott College in 2007. While in school, she spent time in Zimbabwe developing the non-profit Friends of the Honde Valley, where she assisted in creating a chicken-raising project for a small community called Gatsi. She has also worked as a massage therapist, a Spanish teacher, and a representative for funeral homes. Jen moved to Portland in 2007 and began developing the weaving studio at Port City in the fall of 2009. In her free time Jen loves cooking, biking, camping, gardening, and traveling.

Natasha Wheat
Founding Artist
natashawheat@gmail.com
Natasha Wheat is an interdisciplinary, socially engaged artist. Wheat proposed Project Grow to Port City in January of 2009. She received her BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago; she has curated and exhibited at Skulpturenpark (Berlin), Rogaland Kunstsenter (Stavanger, Norway), Disjecta (Portland), Mess Hall (Chicago), Gallery 2 (Chicago), Green Papaya Art Projects (Manila) and at The Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago) where her work can be found in the permanent collection.
Appliedlistening.com
Americanseed.org
Natashawheat.com

Volunteers

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