Shannon Carlson has poured herself into the dual dedicationsof art and storytelling—bringing it all together for the Sitka Center throughher work in strategic communications, with a reverence for place-based art andcommunity engagement. Shannon began her career as a journalist, for local andnational media outlets, followed by deep experience in leading communications,media relations, and content creation. She holds a master’s degree fromUniversity of Missouri—Columbia and studied innovation and leadership atStanford University.

Shannon has been a working artist for more than 25 years, currently an encaustic painter who shows her work in galleries in Portland and on the Oregon Coast.