Team
Bringing Placer Artists Tour 2024 to you
Kelly Peterson
Program Director
Kelly Peterson first experienced the magic of the Placer Artists Tour over 20 years ago when she and her family moved to Granite Bay. She was so impressed with the art community in the area and the importance of creative energy that she decided to build her own decorative arts and interior design business called Layers of Color in 2003. It also gave her an opportunity to encourage clients to purchase local art and support local artists on various projects over the years. She even hosted three of the artists on the tour at her studio to help support and build more community connections.
Desiring to also give back to the community, she served on the Board of Directors of Blue Line Arts as well as the Me-One Foundation.
She taught Adult Education art classes for many years at Sierra College as well as many classes in her own studio in downtown Roseville.
In her more recent retirement, Kelly is now able to spend more time directly supporting Placer Artists Tour as their new Program Director. I look forward to working with this wonderful team and helping to achieve even more success in the future!
Janet Nicholson
Program Co-Chair
Janet Nicholson has worked in partnership with her husband Rick since 1979 as Nicholson Blown Glass. 43 of those years have been spent on their property in Auburn. Janet has a deep passion for supporting art and culture in her community and beyond. She has participated in the Tour every year with Nicholson Blown Glass as well as served on steering committees. In 2021, she took on the continuation the Placer Artists Tour. She currently serves as Co-Chair for the Placer Artists Tour.
Karen Killebrew
Program Co-Chair
Karen Killebrew is retired and lives in Applegate, CA.
She spent thirty years in the retail travel industry, and owned a travel agency in Oakland, CA for eighteen years.
Karen’s knowledge of sales and marketing led to her second career as a Marketing and Public Relations consultant, developing and implementing marketing and media plans for businesses and non-profit organizations.
She worked with the Arts Council of Placer County from 2006 to 2014 as a contractor and as a member of the staff. Projects included designing and implementing online programs including an Arts Calendar and Arts Directory, Website Content Management, Public Relations and Social Media.
She coordinated the Autumn Arts Studios Tour (now the Placer Artists Tour) in 2013 and 2014. She served on the Board of Trustees for ACPC from 2018 to 2021.
Helen Phillips
Board Member/Tour Founder
Helen Phillips started the Autumn Art Studios Tour (renamed Placer Artists Tour) in 1994 and chaired it for the first three years. She has worked on the steering committee for most of the 30 years and has watched it become a major event, attracting art lovers from all over the state and beyond.
She has been described as a master batik artist, having worked in that medium for over 40 years. Her travels in Europe, Africa, Canada, Mexico, Alaska and Hawaii have produced architectural pieces, native designs, large floral pieces and wild
life.
Mrs. Phillips’ work is in private collections, throughout the United States and Europe, and has won over 50 awards. She has been in shows in both the Crocker Art Museum
and the Oakland Museum.
“I live in a world where my visions become a reality. This is about as exciting as it gets”.
Education: University of the State of New York, Oneonta, NY BS in English and Science
UC Berkeley Graduate Studies
Bill George
Treasurer
Bill grew up in Chicago and had a summer job helping to maintain the grounds of the Art Institute of Chicago and spent many lunch hours roaming the galleries immersed in the works of the French Impressionists. Bill founded Nimbus Films & Books in 2011 and has produced seven films that have aired on PBS. He has always sought out local photographers, graphic designers and artists to contribute to his films.
An accomplished author, Bill has written two books. In 2023, Rowman & Littlefield published Bill’s book, Victory in the Pool about swimmers from Sacramento’s Arden Hills swim club that won twenty Olympic Gold medals.
Prior to founding Nimbus Films & Book he enjoyed a career as a journalist, public relations and marketing executive and filmmaker. He moved to Sacramento in 1982 to work at KCRA-TV
Bill served on the Board of Directors for Lakeside Little League in Granite Bay and is a past president of the Sacramento Historical Society and served on the Board of directors for the Placer County Historical Society. He is currently treasurer of the Valley Broadcast Legends, a group of current and former news broadcasters that raises money for journalism scholarships.
He is an accomplished public speaker and makes several appearances a year talking about California history and Olympic swimming.
Stewart Feldman
Secretary
Stewart works as a consultant in communications, marketing and public relations. A former muralist, he directed community art projects under California Arts Council grant programs.
He has served as a director of the Placer County Resource Conservation District and Coordinator of the Placer County Fire Safe Alliance, where he was involved in grant writing and implementation.
Stewart currently serves on the board of two additional nonprofit organizations: the Meadow Vista Community Center Board and the Cancer Hope and Support Group.
Cathy Mikles
Board Member
Cathy Mikles has a long history with creativity and art. From sewing and clothing design, to theater costuming, quilting, knitting, (both hand and machine), commercial design, teaching fashion design, and ultimately developing her own line of children’s clothing, she has always loved to create. Once she discovered a love for business development, her career evolved into program management and event planning. She was director of a children’s non-profit program in Placer County Schools for 10 years, and has also enjoyed other volunteer opportunities in the community.
Cathy has been attending the Placer Artists Tour for many years and finds it always fun and inspiring. She loves the diverse group of artists and appreciates their passion and creativity. She recently helped to coordinate several Box Shows and is looking to expand her involvement within the growing art community.
Susan Stoll
Board Member
Susan has been involved with the Placer Ar5sts Tour as a Tour artist, a volunteer, and as an art
tour visitor. She is proud to serve as a member of the Placer Artists Tour board and is looking
forward to furthering her contribu5ons to help promote the arts in Placer County.
Her appreciation of the arts and artistic expression are a part of her core being. Her work
primarily features photography and pain5ng. She is attracted to the up-close observa5on of
nature, exploring the intricacies of pattern and color. She has a background working many years
as a Montessori teacher and has taught art to unhoused children at Mustard Seed School in
Sacramento. She believes that creativity and artistic exploration are greatly beneficial to
children and adults alike. She loves it when parents bring their children to visit the Placer Artists
Tour during the tour.
She is a member of Auburn Old Town Gallery, High Hand Gallery and The Artery
Cindy Strickland
Endowment Chair
I’ve had the joy of experiencing the Placer Artists Tour for 29yrs. I was so inspired by visiting artists in their working studios and hearing their stories of creativity that I decided to start ArtWorks, an art consulting business so that I could represent artists and bring their work to residential and commercial clients to enjoy.
Our community has such an abundance of amazing artists and The Placer Artists Tour celebrates and connects artists and art enthusiasts with new discoveries every year.
I am grateful for the opportunity to serve on the Board as the Endowment Chair and help build a lasting fund to keep the Placer Artists Tour viable for decades to come.
Rebecca Martinez
Communications Director
“The Tour is near and dear to my heart. I’m an on-again, off-again participant. But I’ve enjoyed helping out behind the scenes since about 2002. I guess that makes me a certain kind of veteran!
It’s exciting to see what new artists and artwork have arrived on the art scene in Placer County.”
admin@placerartiststour.org
Trisa Swerdlow
Marketing Director
“Before my first year as a participating artist in 2015, I was an enthusiastic attendee of the Placer Artists Tour.
In the past seven years I have worked in a variety of roles to help produce the tour.
I am excited to join the staff as the Tour’s Marketing Director and look forward to doing everything I can to help the tour grow stronger.”
marketing@placerartiststour.org
Gini Crepps
Designer
A native Californian, I have lived in the Sacramento area for over 40 years. I have been a graphic designer since 1975, and am currently the owner of IQ Design, Inc. where I combine my artistic passion with the business of art.
Past president of Rocklin Fine Arts, I have participated in the Placer Arts Studio Tour, the Art Trek Studio tour, and have been an award winner at several regional shows, judged at the California State Fair Student Graphics venue, Western States Horse Expo Art Show, Vacaville Art League, Lincoln Arts, and led several critique groups and what I call “motivational demos.”
I currently am represented at
High Hand Gallery in Loomis,
Auburn Old Town Gallery in Auburn and Lincoln Art League, Lincoln, CA
gcrepps@gmail.com
Cultural equity
Placer Artists Tour, board and staff encourage cultural equity and support artists of all backgrounds to join the Tour. Cultural equity is crucial to the future health of arts in our communities. Everyone, including but not limited to those who have been historically under represented, deserves access to a full creative life and an opportunity to share with the public on the Placer Artist Tour.