he/him
Executive Director | Instructor
Nicholas Maier has proudly lived and worked in Portland, Oregon all his life. As a team with his wife, he has traveled around the world to be a change maker in the movement to end Human Trafficking. He supports on-the-ground, creative and practical solutions to empowering women and educating men for the purpose of creating vibrant communities and resilient individuals. He has helped support women's livelihood groups which provide employment and menstrual supplies to young women. With the Epik Project and local law enforcement, he works directly with "johns" to interrupt demand for purchasing other human beings in the sex trade.
In his other life, Nick was Creative Lead at Matchless Builds—a custom fabrication and sculpture studio in the beautiful NW Industrial District—until he founded Skillcraft Institute. With his interest in traditional folkcraft, Nick is humbly learning how to carve wood in the traditional style of the indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast and Scandinavia.
Nicholas Maier
he/him
Instructor | Spoon Lord
Leslie has been carving spoons, working with greenwood and traditional hand tools for over ten years. He is a founding member of the Portland Spoon Club.
"The ability to create useful items from natural materials and simple tools is one of the things that make us human, this is sadly no longer a common skill. I am obsessed with the northern forests and the traditional crafts of the people who have called and still call these places home. I draw a lot of influence from Scandinavian craft but also forests and craft traditions from around the world. Something as simple as a spoon can enrich even the most mundane meal, having a connection to the maker and materials really breathe life into an everyday item."
Leslie Walters
she/her
she/her
Kathy MacphersonInstructor | Folkcraft Wizard
Kathy MacPherson teaches Nordic and traditional handcraft classes to adults and kids, most recently at Nordic Northwest cultural center, where she served as Youth Program Coordinator, and at Village Home Education Resource Center
She loves helping people build resilience, connection, and confidence through handcraft, community-based skill sharing, lifelong learning, and the folk school tradition of passing ancestral knowledge from one curious maker to the next.
Her classes invite students to explore, experiment, and enjoy the thrill of discovering a new skill. Kathy holds a BFA in Fine Arts and an MFA in Writing from Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, where she managed an art gallery and taught family classes at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Theodore LindseyInstructor | Soft (Hearted) Artist
Theo is a Textile Artist, a 3D model designer, and small scale manufacturer located in Milwaukie, OR, just outside of Portland. He posts most of his designs for free on Printables and a few he makes and sells locally in the Portland region.
Open for commissions through his website