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:

Snow@OpenSkyArtGallery.com

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.

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.

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.