Maria Elting has worked primarily in public programming and education at arts organizations in Hawaii and throughout the West Coast. She has a BA in Art History and also holds a certificate in Community Herbalism, having worked on sustainable medicinal herb farms in Southern Oregon and Northern California. The Sitka Center is a meaningful representation of her love of place based art, and in her free time she enjoys impromptu road trips, fishing and foraging, slow food, slow stitch, and watching Anthony Bourdain reruns.