Vashon Artist Residency Staff
Photo courtesy of Steven Miller
Cathy Sarkowsky
Founder
Cathy Sarkowsky (she/her) is a painter and printmaker whose passion is playing with color. Born in Seattle, she has spent most of her life living in the magnificent Pacific Northwest.
Sarkowsky has been showing and selling her work in galleries and exhibitions since the early 1990s, taking classes and workshops, attending residencies and being part of a proliferation of artists, collectors and appreciators. She continues to make art and to experiment, working intuitively within a nonrepresentational framework.
Vashon Artist Residency is the fulfillment of a dream. Sarkowsky’s vision and desire to share this special place led her to establish this small artist residency on Vashon Island in 2021. Along with Executive Director Heather Dwyer, she is thrilled to provide artists the space to create and develop new work, the time to explore new practices and relationships and the opportunity to rest and recharge.
Photo courtesy of Sunita Martini
Heather Dwyer
Executive Director
Heather Dwyer (she/her) is committed to supporting artists from all backgrounds and disciplines. Having witnessed remarkable growth among artists who have participated in residency programs, she is thrilled to oversee the daily operations and explore future programming for the facility.
With extensive experience as an arts administrator, curator, and activist, Dwyer serves as an Art Advisor to the Seattle Convention Center and a consultant to the Alden Mason Foundation. Her previous work includes roles in public, private, and nonprofit institutions such as 4Culture, Artist Trust, Jack Straw Cultural Center, Washington Lawyers for the Arts, Bank of America Art Programs, and the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, among others.
Dwyer earned her BFA from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington, and her MFA from CalArts in Valencia, California. She and her family also own a design/build company and reside on Vashon Island.