Gary Amara is an actor, a photographer, and a mathematics teacher, living in Maine since 1998. Gary graduated from Boston College where he studied filmmaking and psychology. After moving to Maine in 1998, he moved from filmmaking to still photography, specializing in portraiture. Gary joined Portland Playback Theater in 2014 after studying improvisational acting with

Annegret Baier is a hand drummer and percussionist who plays and sings traditional West African rhythms and songs, performed on original African-made percussion instruments such as the Djembe, Kpanlogo, and Balafon. Annegret is a classically trained musician from the University of Music in Stuttgart, Germany, who moved to America in 1994 and lives in Portland, Maine.

Mia Bogyo is a recent graduate of the University of Southern Maine. She received a BFA in K–12 art education with a studio concentration in ceramics. As an educator, she believes in adapting information to individual student needs with respect and competency. She has worked with Side x Side since the summer of 2015, teaching

Karen Brooks is a visual artist living in Maine. She studied at Massachusetts College of Art and the California Institute of the Arts. Karen regularly exhibits her work and teaches artists of all ages. She enjoys animation and paper sculpture. Her inspiration comes from nature, the creative spirit, upcycled found materials, the poetry of everyday

Molly Brown is a self-taught artist and (over-taught) geographer. She earned an MA and Phd in human geography from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a BA in geography from Middlebury College. She received a Watson Fellowship and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to understand the meaning and importance of handmade map forms in a digital era.

Laurie Downey is a visual artist/designer and educator. With a degree in graphic design from Massachusetts College of Art and a background in printing, Laurie has designed a wide variety of print and digital publications. After years of working solely in 2D, she made the big jump into the third dimension and her studio practice

Tonee Harbert is a photographer living in Portland, Maine. His frequent subjects have been Maine people and the Maine landscape. His work traverses the documentary, editorial, commercial, and fine art photography realms.

Jamie Hogan teaches illustration at Maine College of Art and is the award-winning illustrator of Rickshaw Girl, A Warmer World, and Here Come the Humpbacks! She grew up hiking and skiing in the White Mountains of New Hampshire before earning an illustration degree at Rhode Island School of Design.

Mihku Paul is a writer, visual artist, and storyteller. A Malaseet Indian, Mihku is a member of Kingsclear First Nation, N.B., Canada She was born and raised along the Penobscot river in Maine. Mihku received a traditional education from her grandfather, a Maliseet trapper and river guide who served in WWII and traveled in a

Jude Valentine is a painter and printmaker. She completed her BFA at the Maine College of Art and received an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Art. She has received numerous awards for her work, including a Jerome Foundation Fellowship, grants through the New York Council on the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts,