Drawing on his experience and wisdom gained from this unique journey, Freebo has branched into teaching the many skills he's acquired over the years. He has been invited to teach at workshops and seminars in songwriting, music theory & arrangement, bass, guitar, performance, and his own hybrid workshop, The Courage To Be An Artist. Freebo has also taught at camps for both young people and adults around the country, including Julia Cameron's (The Artist's Way) Creativity Camp in Taos, N.M., Summer Songs, songwriting camp for adults, Bach To Rock Camp for Young People, Lamb's Retreat for Songwriters, and The Real School Of Rock, in both Aspen, Co. and Malibu, Ca.

Freebo is very excited to be heading the Music Program at The Art Ranch and looks forward to the unfolding of an amazing journey.

Amy has also guided community and cultural organizations through the conception and creation of public events. In 1995, Amy founded IN THE STREET, the San Francisco Street Theatre Festival. A three-day free event, celebrating accessible theatre by bringing high quality performances into the streets of the Tenderloin. IN THE STREET is now in its sixth successful year, changing the face of this "dangerous" neighborhood by bringing the community together in dialogue and shared celebration.

Since 1988 Amy has also been; teaching visual art and creative movement to children ages 2 to 18, performing as a dancer and clown, and creating masks and puppets on commission for venues such as the Santa Fe Children's Museum and the Earth's Birthday Project. Her vision is to bring art back into our daily lives as a means of empowerment, celebration and reclamation of public space.

Bernie was born on the Taos Pueblo in New Mexico and still resides there part time in the original pueblo of her Great Grandparents. Along with her first language, Tewa, she was taught the traditional ways of pottery from early childhood. “I learned everything there is to know about pottery within these walls,” said Bernie, referring to the adobe walls of her home. After high school, having a deep love for the arts and a strong connection to her Native American roots, she attended and graduated from the Institute of American Indian Art. Upon graduation, she went to Connecticut College Summer School of Dance and was catapulted to Julliard the following year. There she studied theatre and danced in a special program with Jose Lamone. After Julliard, Bernie performed in many off Broadway plays.

Longing for her Native American traditions and its culture, she decided to take what she learned back home to Taos. There she formed The Native American Theatre Ensemble and produced several plays including A Mid Summers Night Dream, which was funded by a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts. All the while, Bernie was embracing her native roots and incorporating them into her art. She now teaches pottery at the University of New Mexico and is very active in maintaining her traditional roots.

“We go by the earth and the stars. That is what dictates our lives and our ceremonies on The Pueblo. There are times when I have to leave my work at the university. Sometimes it’s difficult to straddle both worlds, but it is important”.

“I come from a family of potters and sculptors, so it is quite natural for me to work with clay.”

In addition to traditional Native American arts and crafts, Carpio has an extensive background in theater and film. He worked consistently throughout the 1970’s and 80’s, traveling with a number of theater troupes, acting in films, and including his experience in dance and Native American culture. From 1972 to 1975, he was part of the Native American Theater Ensemble, which was based at the La MaMa Experimental Theatre in New York City and toured across the United States and Europe. Carpio has also been a part of several repertory theater companies including the Peter Brook Repertory Company that did an in-residence workshop at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Southern Ute Theatre Troupe that performed “Wee Sief” (The Red Feather), a play dealing with the social and culture issue of assimilating cultures, and Twana Dance Group. He acted in the films Human Highway (1978), directed by Neil Young, and Dead or Alive (1988), and choreographed the native dance scenes in Backtrack (1988), directed by Dennis Hopper.

Carpio brings his decades of experience to The Art Ranch, to create a multimedia workshop that incorporates his talents and skills as a teacher and performer of Native American and theater arts.

Red Bird brings his intimate knowledge of Anasazi culture to The Art Ranch, as well as a deep understanding of surrounding tribes and their teachings. Over the years, he has been invited by other tribal councils such as the Sioux, Cheyenne, and the Hualapai to learn their traditions, ceremonies and spiritual ways. He has also been invited to teach other tribes from his diverse experiential knowledge. In addition to directing the Native American component, Red Bird is also a consultant to The Art Ranch, ensuring that the program follows all Native American laws and codes of conduct. His breadth of experience with cultural exchange is the backbone of what he offers to The Art Ranch.

Kin created HawkQuest believing environmental awareness is a key to the survival of the world as we know it, and education - of our nation's youth in particular - is paramount to this process. He has developed many educational programs such as HawkQuest's unique Classroom-in-the-Wild. Kin has received national recognition for his work combining educational and ecological concerns, having appeared on both local and national television programs. Kin also serves as a consultant to organizations that promote the welfare of birds of prey.

Her work has been exhibited at the Taos Home Grown Gallery, and at festivals throughout New Mexico. She has taught workshops around the country and brings her experience as a teacher and an artist to The Art Ranch.

Laurie has owned and run three successful design companies, L. Pettigrew, Throws of Passion, and most recently her own clothing label Laurie Pettigrew, which she has set aside in order to dedicate herself fulltime to The Art Ranch. Whether as a model, actress, home furnishing designer, clothing designer, teacher and child and family mentor, Laurie’s life has always been informed by a creative pulse. While running her companies she developed herself as an actor, studying with the late George Shdanoff from 1990 to 1992.  She continued studying her craft with Julie Ariola and performed plays from 1992 to 2002, and sites her years of training with Ariola as perhaps the most significant creative and personal explorations of her life.

Laurie has always had a special gift of working with children.  She has mentored children for the past 18 years, encouraging those she mentors to embrace themselves and their individuality. Laurie uses creativity as a method of out reach and connection. She is acutely aware of how art empowers, creates self esteem, self reliance and motivation.

In 1992, she joined Gary Ross’s program, “Reach One Each One”, where she met Irene Rangel, whom she mentored for 12 years. In the process, Laurie took an active role in guiding and working closely with the whole family. She continues her deep friendship and connection with the Rangel’s to this day.

Through the culmination of her experiences over the last 20 years, and the profound effect of the arts on her self-awareness, the dream of The Art Ranch was born. So in 2002, Laurie began formulating the programs and carefully selecting its artist/teachers. Her dream of The Art Ranch was expanded on a trip to Australia in 2003, where she lived with an Aboriginal tribe and experienced first-hand the depth of their relationship with the earth and the value of their teachings. She knew then that The Art Ranch would have an indigenous component.

In 2006 Laurie met Red Bird, a Native American from the Cochiti Pueblo in New Mexico. Through their unique relationship built on trust, common vision, and numerous visits to New Mexico, Red Bird and Laurie gathered together in Jemez, New Mexico a group of Native American teachers and Elders to form the Native American component for The Art Ranch's pilot program (Summer 2007) - The White Buffalo Camp.

After the pilot, two spiritual Elders came into Laurie's life, Rainbow Eagle and Blue Thunder, who will be bringing Ancient Native American teachings to the Art Ranch and help to provide insight, wisdom and guidance to support its vision. With the excellent blend of professional artist/teachers, Native American teachers, and environmental educators, The Art Ranch's domestic program is ready for its Montana and California 2008 launch.

While formulating The Art Ranch's domestic camp programs, Laurie created The Art Ranch International "Planet Art," a mentoring network and relief organization that brings art therapy to families of Hurricane Katrina, as well as art programs serving orphans and street kids in Vietnam and Mexico.

The Art Ranch is the expression of Laurie’s creative journey that began over 20 years ago, and it is with great vision and an open heart that she moves forward in running The Art Ranch and bringing its programs to children, adults and families.

In 2003, Amy moved back to Los Angeles to pursue another passion – the law. She graduated in the top ten percent of her class from Southwestern University School of Law, in spring 2005. As a member of the Board of Directors, she brings her experience and love of the arts with her knowledge of the law in making informed contributions to The Art Ranch.

Debrah is an accomplished actress whose career of over twenty years spans thirty TV series, including NYPD Blue (1994), Earth 2 (1994-1995), and Stephen King’s made-for-TV movie, Storm of the Century (1999). She has starred in seven prime time series, and numerous made for television movies and mini series.

In 2002 she went back to school to pursue her Bachelors of Science degree in molecular biology at Mount St. Mary’s College in Los Angeles. Debrah recently took time off from her studies to film the Sci-Fi Channel’s Eureka (2006), in which she plays Beverly Barlowe. She is married to film director Gregory Hoblit, and has two children, Molly and Sophie.

While balancing her acting career, her studies, and her family life, Debrah manages to participate in, and consult The Art Ranch as a member of the Board of Directors. In the summer of 2005, she traveled to Vietnam with her family to participate in The Art Ranch International’s “Express Yourself Project”. Through her insight and ability to confront things head-on, she contributed significantly to the success and flow of the program.

Alan brings 25 years of camp experience to The Art Ranch. He owned and directed Camp Funtime in Encino, California for seventeen years overseeing a population of an average of 350 children and staff of 65 each summer. He supervised all aspects of the camp program that included a broad range of theatre arts, sports, swimming instruction and other activities. He created and ran an offsite program for teens that include sailing, scuba diving, rock climbing horseback riding and an advanced theatre program. He also served as Vice President and Board member of Southern California branch of the American Camp Association and served as Public Relations Director of the Western Association of Independent Camps.

During his camp years and continuing to date Alan has been a speaker and seminar leader for the camp world. He is the recipient of service awards for the industry.

Prior to entering the world of camping Alan's work career covered a myriad of positions in the fields of broadcasting, advertising, public relations, sales promotion and marketing on both coasts. He is the former President of the Marketing Communication Association and was runner-up Man of the Year in Southern California for his work in Sales Promotion with the Fashion Square Shopping Centers. His years in these fields included working with for or developing projects for companies including Pepsi Cola, Goodyear, Ideal Toys, Renault automobiles, ABC Films, and Sports Network.

Mr Levine has also been performing in community theatre for ten years, has produced and written plays, and is an accomplished Pastel artist. His passion for working with young people includes years as a Sports Coach, Scout leader and as host parent and President of the American Field Service Los Angeles Area team. He and his wife Roz in addition to raising two daughters have exchange student "daughters" throughout the world.

Jason has served on non-profit boards for Sirius Theater Company, International Cultural Enterprises, Project ECHO, the UCNH Chamber of Commerce, The California Junior Chamber of Commerce, the California Jaycee Foundation, and the Art Ranch Crestone. He is also a founding director for the Universal City/North Hollywood Jaycees and the Brenda Mehling Cancer Fund.

Jason currently works as a client services specialist for Overture, a division of Yahoo in Pasadena. In September 2004, he was one of 25 employees worldwide honored as a Yahoo Super Star. He lives in Valencia with his wife April.

Academic Degrees:

B. S. Physics, Magna Cum Laude, SUNY College at Fredonia, 1989.
M. S. Physics, Clarkson University, 1991.
Ph. D. Physics, Clarkson University, 1993.

 Research Experience:

Postdoc, Los Alamos National Laboratory, 1993-1996.
Staff Member, Los Alamos National Laboratory, 1996-present.

 Professional Organizations:

Optical Society of America
American Mathematical Association
New Mexico Solar Energy Association
American Solar Energy Association

My training as a physicist has naturally given me an intimate familiarity with energy related units and concepts, which turns out to be very valuable even outside of a strictly professional scientific setting, in particular, for doing nonprofit environmental work. This is not something I really appreciated while a physics student, but is something I'd recommend any prospective physics student to consider as another good reason to obtain a solid physics education. After becoming interested in climate change about five years ago, I began examining the potential for renewable energy from a scientific and technological perspective, and quickly convinced myself that this energy source offers vast potential for near term reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Since then I have been actively involved in promoting renewable energy in New Mexico, becoming increasingly engaged with an educational group called the New Mexico Solar Energy Association (NMSEA - www.nmsea.org), the oldest solar energy group in the country. I now have been serving as president of NMSEA since 1999. Feeling that energy problems were policy related as well as economic and educational, I also became involved with a policy group called the Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy (CCAE - www.ccae.org), which I now co-chair.

My activities with these groups include preparing technical information in the form of papers, presentations, and curricula (very much like a university professor would), administrative work, giving press releases, attending meetings between various energy related entities, conducting public outreach at many events, giving demonstrations at public schools, organizing conferences, etc. I have found this work exciting, and rewarding especially in this era of great technological, political, and environmental change. I look forward to creating a cohesive and fun solar program for The Art Ranch along with any other support I can lend toward this wonderful project.