The Staff

The staff at Pratt Fine Arts Center is dedicated to making art accessible to everyone. Our studio managers are working artists who can often be found working and teaching in the studios when they aren’t in the office.

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Steve Galatro, Executive Director

Steve Galatro has extensive experience in nonprofit arts administration and higher education, elevated by an MFA in Arts Leadership from Seattle University. Previous management experience comes from various positions at Empty Space Theatre and the Seattle University Fine Arts Department where he remains an active member of the adjunct faculty. Steve currently serves on the Seattle Arts Commission and the Historic Central Area Arts & Cultural District. 

Anne Briggs Bohnett, Wood Studio Manager

Anne Briggs Bohnett is a woodworker, urban farmer, and musician. She has done projects in various media forms her whole life but has become far more focused on woodwork- specifically handtool woodwork over the last three years. She writes regularly for Furniture and Cabinetmaking Magazine, the Lee Valley Newsletter, and various other woodworking publications. She spends the majority of her spare time adventuring in the outdoors and playing music with her husband Adam and tinkering around on their four-acre farm in Woodinville.

Katie Twiss, Customer Service Manager

Katie holds a B.F.A. in Printmaking and Creative Writing from the Kansas City Art Institute and has meandered in and out of arts-related jobs since graduating. She enjoys making a variety of things, including but not limited to: pies, tiny felted animals, prints, endearingly ugly quilts, and tea. She loves all manner of creatures, so if you want to stop by the Front Desk and show her cute pictures of your dog, that’d be just fine.

Julie Custer, Grant and Sponsorship Manager

Julie Custer is dedicated to supporting arts education and lifelong learning opportunities. A Pratt team member since 2007, she enjoys being part of a creative community and connecting artists with resources. She received an MFA in Fiber from Cranbrook Academy of Art and a BFA in Textile Design from the University of Kansas. Her work was included in the catalog and exhibition HOT HOUSE: Expanding the Field of Fiber at Cranbrook and has been shown at the Kirkland Arts Center, the Burnaby Art Gallery in Vancouver, BC and SOIL Gallery in Seattle. You can also find her in the Pratt studios tinkering with new materials.

Scott Darlington, Glass Studio Manager

Scott has been working with hot glass for 30 years. After completing his BFA at the Appalachian Center for Crafts he moved to Seattle and worked as an assistant for many different artists. Scott also worked as the Hot Shop Coordinator at Pilchuck Glass School for 7 summers. After nearly 10 years in Seattle, he spent 4 years in Japan as Associate Professor at the Toyama City Institute of Glass Art. In the spring of 2007 he received his MFA in glass from The Ohio State University. Scott was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Bowling Green State University from 2007-2011. He has also done two residencies at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma. Scott has taught workshops around the globe, including Canada, Japan, Pilchuck, and Penland. He and his family returned to Seattle in summer 2011 where Scott is a practicing glass artist and the Glass Studio Manager at Pratt Fine Arts Center.

Ryan Davis, Director of Business & Operations

Ryan Davis has worked as a higher education administrator for nearly 10 years and holds a BS in Business Administration. As a local musician, Ryan has performed at venues large and small all over the Puget Sound with a number of different groups.

Lisa Geertsen, Metal and Stone Studio Manager

Lisa has been a blacksmithing instructor at Pratt since 2007. She is a full time artist blacksmith/fabricator and owner of Firelight Forge in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle, WA. She has been working with metal since 1999 and her commission work ranges from architectural fabrication to site-specific sculptures.

Brian Haddix, Sculpture Technician

As a musician and artist, Brian has been on a lifelong quest to learn how to make anything he can dream up a reality. After earning a BFA in Kinetic Sculpture and Luminous Tube Construction from New York State School of Ceramics at Alfred University, he continued my education of materials and practice through work in various trades and vocational schools. With a focus in electricity, mechanics and the manipulation of metals, this journey has lead to wonderful discoveries. Through his art he combines light, movement and sound in order to give the work a life of its own.

Laura Hammarlund, Development Director

Laura Hammarlund holds an MFA in Arts Leadership from Seattle University and a BA in Drama from the University of Washington. Her professional background includes development and marketing for arts organizations in Seattle and as a producer for film and video in Seattle and Washington, DC. Laura spends her free time corralling two teenagers and feels lucky to have grown up in Seattle’s vibrant arts community.

Julia Harrison, Jewelry/Metals Studio Manager

Julia has been a Pratt instructor since 2009 and became the Jewelry/Metals Studio Manager in 2016. Although trained in metals, her specialties are wooden jewelry and small-scale carving. She is delighted to share her enthusiasm for wood and carving with her students in both the Jewelry/Metals Studio and the Woodshop. Her work has appeared in galleries and museums across the country and in England, and she's received generous support and scholarships from Pratt, PONCHO, the Penland School of Crafts, Pilchuck, 4Culture, and Artist Trust. 

Olivia Hoffmeyer, Events and Artist Engagement Manager

Olivia was raised by the arts community in Seattle. She has a BA in cultural studies from McGill University. Since moving back from Canada in 2012, she has worked for various arts and culture organizations in Seattle with a focus on event production and arts education. Olivia has accomplished 1/3 of the life goals that she set at age 7 (Travel to India, write a book, and play Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes).

Myra Kaha, Youth and Teen Studio Manager

Myra Kaha has worked in non-profit arts education in Seattle since receiving a MFA in ceramics from West Virginia University in 2006. Myra is passionate about youth arts education and continues to work in clay, and she is currenty represented by Vetri Gallery in Seattle. 

Kamla Kakaria, Painting/Drawing/Printmaking Studio Manager

Kamla Kakaria received an MFA in Printmaking from University of Washington. She works with multiples that are related to each other but not identical to create large pieces. The act of making a piece over and over again feels legitimate. She is able to create a relationship with the form as it becomes a new word in her vocabulary that she is compelled to overuse. Being an immigrant from India her recent bodies of work are related to memories of the beauty and fragility of India. 

Chuck Lopez, Glass Studio Technician

Originally from Colorado, Chuck Lopez started working with glass in 1989. With a background in computer science, mathematics, and philosophy, he received a BA in Philosophy from the University of Colorado in 1995, and an MFA from Alfred University in 1999. Chuck has been involved with Pratt since 1999, as a staff member, instructor, teaching assistant, student, and Artist in Residence.  He has received grants and residencies from Pilchuck Glass School, Artists Trust, and The Creative Glass Center of America at Wheaton Arts, and he was a co-chair for the 2011 Glass Art Society conference in Seattle. Chuck's work is shown nationally and was selected for inclusion in New Glass Review, 2002 and 2007.

Heather Olson, Marketing Manager

Heather Olson is a writer and filmmaker who enjoys working on narrative and documentary projects. She recently wrote and directed the short film Date Stories, and was an associate producer for the documentary Gold Balls, which follows a group of 80-95 year-old tennis players in dogged pursuit of the US National Championship medal. Gold Balls premiered at SIFF in 2016. She is currently a producer for the feature film The Hard Song. Heather has a BA in Psychology from Whitman College, and a background in marketing, communications, and event planning. 

Karina San Juan, Marketing and Communications Director

Karina has over 15 years of experience in online marketing and corporate communications, and she has worked in the US and Latin America's public and private sectors. Karina holds a BA in Communications from ITESM University, and a specialization on International Communications from ITAM University. She loves to travel with her husband and son.