Meet the 2026 Art Fair Jurors
Ruth Armitage
Painting
Ruth Armitage, based in West Linn, Oregon, is a multidisciplinary artist celebrated for her bold use of color and gestural brushwork in abstract compositions and plein-air landscapes. Her work explores the emotional landscapes that shape human experience. Ruth is a signature member of organizations like the National Watercolor Society, SDWS, WW, WFWS, RMNW, NWWS and CWA. She has been featured on OPB’s Oregon Art Beat and in national art publications. The Watercolor Society of Oregon has honored her with its Outstanding Service Award. Ruth has also received top awards such as the AWS Bronze Medal of Honor and the NWS Los Ruth Sprung Award. With extensive experience as a juror, including for the 2023 National Watercolor Society Open Exhibition, she also enjoys teaching workshops, inspiring students domestically and abroad.
rutharmitage.com
Suzy Williamson
Jewelry
Suzy Williamson has been hand fabricating jewelry for over 30 years. It started with an early job as a dental technician where she was trained to make teeth out of gold. Later, while living in Alaska in the mid-90s, she attended a silversmithing workshop at the local community college. Her earlier metals training kicked in and sparked serious exploration into jewelry making. Originally from Central Oregon, she returned to her roots in 2000 and continued her metals education to refine basic skills and explored alternative techniques. She continues to learn through workshops and mentorship with some of our region’s best metalsmiths.
In 2011, she devoted herself full-time to creating contemporary jewelry working out of her home studio in Bend, Oregon. In 2024, she moved her studio to Valdez, Alaska, and continues to exhibit her work at juried fine art fairs in Alaska and throughout the west.
Cristi Mason-Rivera
Sculpture, Metalworks
Over the course of her career, Cristi Mason-Rivera has developed a distinctive voice in contemporary metal sculpture, creating work that bridges fine art and functional outdoor design. Based in McMinnville, Oregon, she is the owner and curator of Mason-Rivera Sculpture Garden & Gallery, a two-acre outdoor art space featuring her work alongside that of other artists, as well as a curated indoor gallery of diverse media.
Working primarily in welded steel, Cristi creates abstract forms that explore movement, balance, and organic flow. Her work has been exhibited in juried shows and outdoor art festivals, including receiving Best in Show at the Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts, and she has exhibited at the Salem Art Festival for over a decade. She also works in concrete, creating custom functional pieces such as planters, fire pots, and fountains.
In addition to her work as a visual artist, Cristi is the creator of an adult hip-hop dance program in downtown Salem, reflecting her broader commitment to creative expression across disciplines. As both an artist and curator, she brings a thoughtful perspective to jurying, grounded in her belief in the arts’ power to uplift and enrich culture.
masonriverasculpture.com
Eileen Sorg
Drawing
Amy Fields
Ceramics
Amy Fields is a full-time ceramic artist working out of a community studio in SE Portland. She was introduced to clay when she was just eight years old and eventually went on to receive her BFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University with a concentration in ceramics.
Lured by the landscape and the beauty of the Pacific Northwest she eventually moved to Portland where she has maintained a ceramic studio at Stark Street Studios for over 25 years. Amy’s work explores texture, translucency and form through the medium of porcelain and the process of atmospheric firing. Simple, functional forms decorated with creatures and textures of the natural world.
Amy exhibits her work at juried fine art festivals, galleries and a showroom at her studio. She currently serves on the board of Art In The Pearl. amyfieldsceramics.com