MEET ARIELLA-SOPHIE STERNBERG!
This month, we're welcoming Ariella-Sophie Sternberg to the team as our first-ever Community Outreach & Engagement Manager. Ariella-Sophie brings art to the community, building connections between individuals and organizations, and empowering people to get involved with the arts. We sat down with her to learn more about her background in arts education and her own work as an artist.
Q: Tell me about your background. You were an arts education teacher right?
A: Yes! I taught middle school art for two years at the Oregon Episcopal School, and before that I taught art to high school students in Portland Public Schools and the Beaverton School District. I’ve taught everything from ceramics to printmaking to basic sewing and fashion design. I’ve loved working with a lot of different materials and mediums, but the most exciting thing about teaching art has been watching my students come up with an amazing idea. It is so thrilling to see someone find a way to express an idea or something about who they are that they didn’t know they had in them.
It’s also brought a lot of laughter. When I was prompting students to design ceramic plates, I remember having one student describe a traditional family meal that his grandparents serve up whenever he goes to visit them in Wisconsin. Maybe unsurprisingly, the Wisconsin tradition was a giant cheese ball. I have no idea how much cheese there was in reality, but as he described it, the cheese ball seemed bigger and bigger, cheesier and cheesier. The plate he designed for the cheese ball ended up amazing – an orange wedge with dents carved in it, so that it looked like Swiss cheese – but I really loved knowing that he made art that connected to his personal story. See Ariella-Sophie’s work with youth HERE.
Q: So you are an artist yourself. Tell me about your art.
A: Yes, I am an artist, though sometimes it feels hard to find as much time for my creative work as I would like. I’m an avid knitter, and I’ve recently been learning to design patterns for stranded colorwork. I also have a strong love for printmaking and book arts. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest going on hikes every weekend, with extensive camping trips in the summer, and I’m an enthusiastic gardener and botanist, so a lot of my work tends to be a reflection of my ecological environment and a response to landscape. I definitely have a soft spot for botanical illustration!
Q: Have you seen first-hand how it can help people?
A: I really see art as an incredible vehicle to create a sense of belonging, and for absolutely everyone to find some vehicle for expressing their identity or relating to others. At one point of time I volunteered in a Camphill Community in Canada (shoutout to Glenora Farm in Duncan, BC), in which adults with developmental disabilities live and work alongside caring community members. That particular community has a functioning farm, but a crucial part of the experience is arts therapy. I met some incredibly skillful weavers and talented woodcarvers who simply would not have been seen or valued in the conventional commercial economy because of their disability. I think that the arts in general can provide a place of refuge for people who are a little bit different, and it’s a place for many to find hidden strengths.
Q: Do you live in Clackamas County?
A: Yes! I originally moved to the Portland area in 2004, but I’ve been proud to call Milwaukie my home since 2021.
Q: What are some of your favorite arts and culture events or places in Clackamas County?
A: Living in Milwaukie, I have to say that I’ve loved seeing the way that the arts are folded into the everyday experience of living in this place. I’ve really enjoyed strolling through neighborhoods in the summer to catch music during Porchfest. I’ve loved the music, but I’ve really loved seeing the way ordinary community members are involved, whether that’s offering up a driveway as a concert venue or putting themselves out there through their music. It seems like a great invitation – you don’t have to be a professional musician or an events planner to give others an experience to enjoy.
Q: What are you most looking forward to doing as the new Outreach Manager at the Clackamas Arts Alliance?
A: I’m looking forward to making connections with so many people in this community! I have already learned about so many arts organizations and artists that I’d never heard of before. As an artist, I really want to help the arts grow and thrive in Clackamas County. I definitely want to shine a spotlight on the amazing creative talent that we have.
Bonus Question: If you could have dinner with any arts or cultural person in the world, who would it be?
Great question, though it’s difficult for me. I have to say that if I could have dinner with any living artist, it would probably be Andy Goldsworthy. I really love his eye, and the way that his work responds directly to a landscape and the communities that have shaped it. If I could have dinner with anyone from any time in history, I’d love to spend an evening in the company of Eastern European women folk artists from before the Industrial revolution doing embroidery and textile crafts. This is partially because this is some of my cultural heritage – my grandfather immigrated from Poland, and I grew up surrounded by a lot of traditional Polish folk art – but also because I know that there are a lot of skills I could learn. There’s such a rich cultural tradition of personal decoration and ornament, and I want to explore this more deeply.
Interested in learning how your organization can start collaborating with the Arts Alliance?
Write to ariella-sophie@clackamasartsalliance.org
