Katy Bilodeau, a native of the Bay Area, is the official saving grace of Lighting Up the Sky. Without her fearless rescue, we might be floundering in a simple 1987 lemonade stand-style structure. Instead, Katy took the esteemed Elizabeth Marley's ideas and soared them into completion. Katy contributes to Lighting Up the Sky with swift ninja kicks in the pants to keep projects on target, focused and linear. She takes the big ideas, straps on her running shoes and jets past finish line after finish line in a Design and Architectural Ironman Race. Her aesthetic vision is infused in all aspects of our garden classroom project. We breathlessly await her early morning project updates so we may begin our own days with her words guiding us to new heights of chance taking and plan following.

Katy comes to us as a graduate of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with an architecture and construction background. The majority of her work experience lies in construction estimating, project management and integrated project delivery. Her best memories include baking holiday treats with her mother and sister and watching her nephews root for the Raiders. Katy cherishes the day she realized her dad was her best friend. She knows her family is what makes her whole. Believing that collaboration can change the way we live, Katy wholeheartedly maintains that by working together we can accomplish so much more.

She can be contacted: Katy.Bilodeau@lightingupthesky.org

Michelle Larime has serious passion in sustainable design and her mad drafting skills have brought the LUTS Garden of Eatin' project to life. Having worked in various professional fields, her portfolio includes work in architecture, graphic design, large scale events and floral design. It's no surprise that she moves freely in AutoCAD, Revit, Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator), Form Z, Microsoft Office, etc. She doesn't mess around, in fact when you scream architecture, we scream MOOoooooshi! We are petitioning Wikipedia to include her name and photo under the Sustainable Architectural AND Floral Design pages. She's as stimulating as a rubix cube and a slip'n'slide put together, all the while maintaining the most professional of demeanors at the drawing table. While her biggest adventure was studying abroad in Copenhagen, she has never passed up a chance to learn. Whether it is swinging hammers with volunteers of Katrina relief teams or in the line of the girls bathroom, Mooshi finds relevance in everything and never misses the fun. All of LUTS is in awe of her take-charge tactics and clear communication style.

Mooshi grew up in San Diego and has a Bachelors of Architecture. Currently living in Las Vegas, she keeps busy with casino events and floral design, loves to cook and eat vegan and is constantly finding stray animals who need her love. If she were a verb she'd be shaken, not stirred, because her movements tremble with passion and excitement.

She can be contacted: Michelle.Larime@lightingupthesky.org

Jenni Ward is in love with creating art. She adores playing with clay, cooking and traveling - basically anything that involves a creative adventure. She is most at peace when she's in the studio working or playing with her dogs at the beach. Her passion shows in her work, which includes teaching art to kids and adults throughout Santa Cruz County. Her degree in fine arts, with a focus in ceramics from Hartford Art School, has enriched her life for the better. Next on her agenda is grad school, because a little more education never hurt anybody!

Jenni possess skills in pitching a tent, creating a meal out of nothing and b in cr8iv. In 2005, she opened Earth Art Studio, a workshop offering clay and mixed media sculpture classes – learn more at www.jenniward.com. She exhibits her sculptures locally and nationally and participates in the Santa Cruz County Open Studios.

She can be contacted: Jenni.Ward@lightingupthesky.org

Wynene Wilson captures the world in small flash bursts from her trusty camera that she totes along with her everywhere.  She is training to be a Life Coach and spends her time tutoring children all over the Bay Area. Her heart lives in Iceland and New York , which coincidentally, are her two favorite places to visit.

She can be contacted: Wynene.Wilson@lightingupthesky.org

Tiphany Zellers has the kind of eye that can capture an entire scene in a single blink. Like a gang fight gone artistic, her brain jumps in and starts focusing on one aspect, one detail, one small piece of the grand puzzle. Before you know it, that one detail is the scene stealer, the star of the show, the Ziegfeld in the Follies. Tiphany contributes to Lighting Up the Sky in the same vein. She takes the big projects and begins breaking them down into manageable pieces. Her artistic vision permeates everything she touches. And we love when her vision touches us. Everything turns out prettier from the inside out.

Tiphany comes to us from the Bay Area/Nashville and the majority of her work experience lies in Toy Cameras, Nikons and Polaroids, oh my! Her favorite things to do on a free Saturday afternoon are to dance with her puppy, enjoy a fresh-squeezed bellini and shoot everything in sight (in no particular order). In fact, if you look really close, you can sometimes spot her original art work by the juxtaposition of subject matter transposed with avant garde lighting and cropping. She makes all of us at LUTS look really, really good. And for that, we are grateful.

She can be contacted: Tiphany.Zellers@lightingupthesky.org