Snow Thorner, Director
She/her
Snow Thorner is the Founder and Executive Director of Open Sky Art Gallery: Dignity and Justice through Art. A professional life coach, passionate art lover and poet, Snow is also Area Ambassador for Compassion Prison Project . In the early 2000’s, she solo backpacked through seven African countries while representing One People, One Planet, One Future. In collaboration with California Arts Council, Thorner led two separate reentry programs for returning citizens with the Siskiyou county Department of Probation.
Contact Snow:
Advisory Council Members
John W. Rudolph
He/him
John is a sheet metal contractor with 3 licenses.He built his own 3,000 square foot home in his “spare time.” As a volunteer CASA advocate for children in the foster care system, he’s worked with many children with incarcerated parents. The father of 3 and grandfather of 7, Rudolph mentors and advises many of Open Sky Gallery’s returning artists, helping to ease their re-entry into society. A Lifetime Master Archer, published Poet, expert Trap and Skeet shooter, Dog trainer, Certified Rescue Diver and Wildlife expert.
Advisory Council Members
Sharon Allen
She/her
Sharon Allen has years of experience working with special education students as well as incarcerated individuals. Allen says her 25 years as a special education teacher taught her patience, empathy, and believing and respecting those less fortunate than herself. Her last year teaching was at a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
facility. She taught general education to inmates working on their GED.
Advisory Council Members
Renate Funke, PhD
She/her
Trained as a translator and interpreter in Germany, Funke obtained an M.A. in Comparative Literature after her arrival in the US. She supervised programs at two Soledad prison facilities for a total of five years. Funke also administered a re-entry curriculum for soon-to-be-released men at the Soledad Correctional Training Facility (CTF), as well as undergraduate degree pathways in Sociology and Psychology at both CTF and Salinas Valley State Prison. Funke also worked with Salinas Women’s Jail to offer college-level classes.
Advisory Council Members
Who We Are
Advisory Council Members
Board of Directors
Who We Are
At Open Sky Art Gallery, our mission is to serve the healing of the world by expanding public awareness of social justice through the arts. This work is overseen by our Advisory Council and Board, who generously volunteer their time and talents.
Advisory Council Members
Volunteers
Jan Dorrell
She/her
More information on this amazing volunteer coming soon!
Phynix Solomon
She/her
More information on this amazing volunteer coming soon!
Eric Prescott
He/him
More information on this amazing volunteer coming soon!
Becky Strassner
She/her
More information on this amazing volunteer coming soon!
Terry
He/him
More information on this amazing volunteer coming soon!
Rune Nielsen
pronouns: any
Rune is a painter, comic artist, writer, and illustrator who seeks to show 'a glimpse of divine eternity' in her work. Her graphic novel Luris: Memories of Dreams depicts her firsthand experiences with CPTSD. She enjoys graphic design and updates Open Sky Gallery's website and newsletters.
Monica Zinda
She/her
More information on this amazing volunteer coming soon!
More information on this amazing volunteer coming soon!
Geneva Craig, PhD, RN
She/her
Dr. Craig works as a Nurse Clinician at Asante Health System’s Employee Health Clinic. She is known as a Civil Rights Activist from her participation in the 1960’s era of The Civil Rights Movement in Selma, Alabama. Soroptimist recognized her as Woman of Distinction 1994. She is also a recipient of the AARP Andrus Award, their highest honor. In 2022, The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) created a special event to honor Dr. Craig’s life.
Angelina Cook
She/her
Cook advances public interest representation and job opportunities for marginalized individuals for Northern California's underserved rural communities. Cook serves on the Board of Directors for McCloud Watershed Council and the McCloud Chamber of Commerce. Since her teens, Angelina has dreamt of creating a gallery for artists who are or once were incarcerated. When she found Open Sky Art Gallery, she knew she had found home.
Michael Louis Mollo
He/him
Michael is a dimensional Roman-Celtic-Cherokee artist who has shown his nature-based paintings and 3-D dioramas twice at Open Sky. He has also published two books of poetry. As a singer-songwriter, Michael headlined two well-received guitar concerts at our gallery. After many incarcerations for mental illness, Michael says the steps he took to produce this body of creative work have restored him.
James Langford
He/him
James Langford taught for 33 years at Weed Elementary school in Siskiyou county, California.
He was hired as the first African-American teacher in the district in 1974 after graduating from
California State University, San Francisco. He documented the African American Community
of Weed with his master's thesis titled, "The Black Minority of Weed: Its History, Institutions
and Politics." Langford has also collaborated on a film documentary of the African American Community of Weed.