Instructors
Don Pendergrast
Don and Tracie Pendergrast are co-owners of the Alaska Canoe School. Don has been recreating in Alaska for 45 years. They have been enjoying Alaskan adventures together for over 25 years. Both on personal, work, and guided trips, they have organized many remote and road-based adventures; from weekend trips to multi-week expeditions. Their goal is to help others gain the knowledge, skills, and confidence to get out and experience Alaska.
Tracie Pendergrast
Don and Tracie Pendergrast are co-owners of the Alaska Canoe School. They have been enjoying Alaskan adventures together for over 25 years. Both on personal, work, and guided trips, they have organized many remote and road-based adventures; from weekend trips to multi-week expeditions. Their goal is to help others gain the knowledge, skills, and confidence to get out and experience Alaska. Tracie has also been combining two of her favorite things, food and wilderness canoe canoeing, for over 20 years. Whether it be on a journey for two over a long weekend journey, or a longer fly-in expedition for 10, she is dedicated to never eating another pre-packaged, freeze-dried meal again.
Tony Perelli
I’m excited about art and handcraft, teaching and learning, and about nature and wild places. To me, all of these things are connected and influence each other in my life. Most recently I’ve been working on wooden plates, bowls and spoons, objects for daily use. I love working with wood as a way to interact with nature and also a way to create objects for everyday use at the same time.…
Read MoreI’m excited about art and handcraft, teaching and learning, and about nature and wild places. To me, all of these things are connected and influence each other in my life.
Most recently I’ve been working on wooden plates, bowls and spoons, objects for daily use. I love working with wood as a way to interact with nature and also a way to create objects for everyday use at the same time.
I’m interested in including more handmade, natural objects in our lives as well as the process of teaching and learning together.
I have studied and carved with Bill Coppertwaite & Jarrod Dahl and have a teaching degree & teaching certificate from the state of Alaska. I have taught carving skills in Eagle River, Anchorage, Fairbanks, McCarthy, Homer, Seldovia, Tatitlek & Nuuciq culture camps.
I also do work with clay, making functional ceramics that complement the wood work I do.
My path to art and craft has included living and working in various residencies with potters, woodturners, carvers, and homesteaders.
I’ve been an educator at all levels, teaching woodcarving, packrafting, wilderness travel, and special needs physical education. Originally from Wisconsin, I currently live in a small home on the edge of the Chugach mountains with a yurt that serves as my workshop.
When not making things I like to explore and adventure by foot, ski, & packraft all over Alaska.
See more info and work at tonyperelli.org
Liann Peryea
Liann Peryea, Production Chef, Stone’s Throw
Liann has 15 years experience in the food service industry and has been an avid home cook all her life. After graduating Stone’s Throw in December 2015, she went on to work with the Chartwell Team at UAF. She also has been involved in several high profile local food event such as Arctic Science Summit Week 2016, Arctic Interchange 2017, and Sotomayor 2016. She now leads the Fairbanks Summer Food Program through Stone Soup and is the Production Chef for the Stone’s Throw Program.
Leila Pyle
Leila Pyle is a local artist and outdoor educator. She teaches environmental education at Calypso Farm in the summers, and she is passionate about connecting people to nature and the place where they live. In her free time loves to experiment with a variety of different art mediums. These include drawing, painting, bookmaking, printmaking, and fiber arts like knitting and felting.
Nita Rae
I’m a musher and I love living in Fairbanks, Alaska. I’ve always enjoyed hand crafts of every type and anything done outdoors. Raised on a farm in NC, I learned early in life to make do with what was on hand – gardening and processing foods and taking care of farm animals.
Jim Richardson
Jim is a retired general contractor. Most of the work he did was residential.
Denise Rust
Denise moved to Fairbanks on the first of July, 2023. She started Tempestry tapestry weaving at OneTree Alaska a couple months later and discovered a new passion. Embroidery, sewing, quilting, and knitting have all taken a backseat to weaving. She is a retired teacher who loves to help others. She looks forward to sharing her love of fiber and weaving with others.
Jess Rykken
Jess Rykken has been exploring and documenting insect diversity in Alaska for more than ten years. Currently she manages the insect collections at the Museum of the North. She has also worked as an entomologist for the Alaska Center for Conservation Science at UAA and for Denali National Park. Over the last ten years she has led field surveys for insect pollinators across the state, from the Stikine River to the Brooks Range. Jess also enjoys sharing her fascination and enthusiasm for insects with a diversity of audiences, including school kids, teachers, conservationists, musicians, artists, tourists, and bus drivers.
Chelsea S.
Chelsea S. grew up in Southern Appalachia and began teaching nature-based education as a teenager while working for a North Carolina State Park . Through 20 years of educating in outdoor classrooms, she has gained a deep love for the wonders of nature that enter our daily lives in countless ways. She enjoys sharing her discoveries about the connections between the natural world and our personal experiences in everyday life. Upon moving to Alaska, Chelsea began cultivating a growing interest in fiber arts, from sheep to loom and beyond. As a volunteer and Farm and Forest Educator at Calypso Farm, she has taken every opportunity to share her growing knowledge and skills. Chelsea believes that everything- from family growth and heritage to cooking and crafting or even spirituality, contains an element of nature to be acknowledged and cherished. As the owner of Cultivate Family Support Services LLC, she strives to help families understand and embrace this simple but empowering truth as a doula, health coach, childbirth and nature-play educator.
Mary Sackinger
Alaska has shaped Mary’s interests and skills in sewing, as indoor projects are perfect for long, cold, dark nights. Her family has always crafted together, so community-based group projects especially appeal to her. Recycled sweater mittens are a favorite—they’re sustainable and keep your hands exceptionally warm!
Megan Schulze
Megan Schulze is the business owner and full time farmer behind Frontieress Farm. With sustainablity at heart, she strives to feed both body and soul with the growth of local produce while exploring and delving deep into the beautiful world of specialty cut flowers. She dedicates a portion of her field to being harvested and dried into material used for artistic, handmade crafts that endure well past the short Alaskan growing season. Visit http://www.frontieressfarm.com for more information.
Christie Shell
Christie is an avid knitter, fiber enthusiast and one of the farmers at Calypso Farm and Ecology Center. She has been teaching knitting and other fiber arts at Calypso for several years.
Katie Skotnicki
If there is a craft to be made, Katie has probably tried it! However, embroidery is a strong constant in her life, with over 10 years of experience. Relatively new to Fairbanks, Katie takes the wilderness around her as inspiration into her decorative embroideries. With the mindset of “using what already exists,” most of her embroidery art is low to no waste and made from recycled materials.
Mark Smurda
Mark Smurda served in the Air Force for 21 years as a Firefighter. In 2015, he and his family moved to Fairbanks and they’ve been outdoors ever since! Mark loves everything about being outdoors and serves as the Scoutmaster for a local Scout Troop. His wife and their three kids play a huge role in their family’s continued learning and playing outside. Additionally, Mark teaches classes for homeschoolers, focusing on life skills for Alaskan living. And he further adds to his “retired” schedule by working with families, youth, seniors, and special needs adults in his job with FNSB Parks and Recreation.
Frank Soos
In Memoriam
Frank Soos was the 2015 Alaska State Laureate Writer and instructed creative writing at the University of Alaska Fairbanks for nearly two decades. Frank was author of several books, including several Bamboo Fly Rod Suite (essays) and a book of essays from the University of Washington Press.
Brian Sprague
Brian Sprague is a lifelong woodworker and hand tool enthusiast. Brought up in rural Michigan, his occupations have ranged from white collar engineer to aircraft mechanic to fuels crew sawyer, and counting. He is particularly fond of tree work and began running a saw at the age of 12 (It was a Stihl.).
Danielle St Laurent
Danielle has lived in North Pole, Alaska for 38 years. She retired in 2019 after working 30 years in the medical field. As a blissfully happy retiree, she spends her time traveling, doing yoga, baking, brewing kombucha and taking classes at the Folk School and OLLI. As a passionate kombucha brewer, she’s excited to share her knowledge and teach others how to have fun, save money and brew their own healthy, delicious and flavorful kombucha!
Marianne Stolz
Marianne was born and raised in Germany where she completed a wood carving apprenticeship. Her passion for mountains and ice climbing brought her to Alaska in 1985. She now works as a professional wood carver, ice carver and artist.
Christin Swearingen
Christin Swearingen is a volunteer mycologist for the Fungal Diversity Survey. She has degrees in Biology and Environmental Studies from Oberlin College, and earned a master’s degree from UAF from 2013-2016. There she learned mushroom identification from the esteemed mycologist Dr. Gary Laursen. She works at the Northern Alaska Environmental Center and Interior Alaska Land Trust to protect habitat for all types of wildlife, including fungi.