Board of Directors
Center for Creative Repair is guided by a Board of Directors that helps care for the organization, the shared makerspace, and the programs offered there. The board reviews new ideas, supports clear space-use policies, and helps ensure that classes, materials, events, and activities are introduced in a safe, organized, and sustainable way.
New programs, equipment, instructor-led classes, and special events are reviewed before launch so the space can grow responsibly while staying focused on hands-on arts, education, repair, and creative making.
Grey Tyson
Grey Tyson is a community builder, systems thinker, and practical designer focused on creating accessible spaces for making, learning, repair, and creative collaboration. Their work brings together hands-on problem solving, project development, community organizing, and practical design to support shared spaces, creative infrastructure, and locally rooted resources.
At Center for Creative Repair, Grey helps guide the development of a safe, organized, and welcoming makerspace where artists, craftspeople, educators, families, and community members can build skills, share knowledge, and collaborate.
Grey’s work is driven by a belief that useful community spaces should be practical, beautiful, and easy for people to participate in, maintain, and carry forward together.
Asifa Welch-Pasin
Asifa has been a board member with Orcas Recycling Services and The Exchange since 2019 and has organized the Trashion Fashion Shows on Orcas Island since 2012. For more than a decade, she has created and hosted hands-on creative workshops, including sewing classes using reclaimed materials and projects such as pet clothing, beeswax wraps, costumes, reusable shopping bags, and upcycled jewelry made from discarded and unusual materials.
Since 2020, Asifa has offered sewing and creative reuse classes focused on practical skills, sustainability, and accessibility. She has also mentored young artists and aspiring fashion designers, helping participants build confidence through making, design, and creative problem-solving.
As a performer, singer, and dancer, Asifa has appeared in productions at Orcas Center for the past 11 years. During that time, she has designed, created, and assembled hundreds of costumes for local productions, blending storytelling, imagination, and creative reuse.
In addition to her creative work, Asifa serves as the Volunteer Program Manager at the local Food Bank, works as a journalist and office manager for the Islands Sounder, and has volunteered with the Coalition for Orcas Youth since 2019.
At Center for Creative Repair, Asifa brings deep experience in sewing, creative reuse, teaching, volunteer coordination, and community arts. She is passionate about creating welcoming spaces where people can learn practical skills, share ideas, and participate in hands-on creative projects.
Cameron Smart
Cameron Smart is a maker, writer, creative technologist, and hands-on problem-solver with experience in software, electronics, automation, teaching, and community-oriented design. His work brings together practical building, creative tools, technical education, and collaborative projects.
At Center for Creative Repair, Cameron supports the development of maker programs, technology education, shared workspace systems, and hands-on learning opportunities. He is especially interested in helping people learn through creative problem-solving, accessible tools, and projects that make it easier for community members to build, repair, experiment, and share knowledge.
Brynna Bird
Brynna Bird (“Birdy”) is a multimedia artist, filmmaker, mender, and cat mom. Though she now calls Lopez Island home, she spent half of her life on Orcas Island, where she maintains a beloved community. Her happiest moments are spent working on creative projects alongside others doing the same. At the heart of her practice is a deep love for transformation: she finds joy in making new things out of old ones — paper collage, flotsam/jetsam sculptures — and in breathing new life into broken or worn belongings, especially sweaters and pottery.
At Center for Creative Repair, Birdy contributes organizational support — she loves a good spreadsheet and a tidy craft cupboard — and brings her experience as a small business owner on Lopez to her role as Board Treasurer. She was part of the original dream that became the Center for Creative Repair, helping to envision and name the organization alongside Grey in 2022. Today, she looks forward to co-creating new possibilities with her community, learning new crafts, and hosting workshops on mending clothes. Someday, she's determined to knit herself a sweater.
Volunteer Staff
Zachery Tillman is a visual artist and craftsman. As a fourth generation local to Orcas Island, his work is primarily inspired by the natural captivating beauty of the Salish Sea. Leading to a lifetime of dedication to building sustainable community and fostering environmental awareness here in the San Juan islands.
At Center for Creative Repair, Zachery may serve as a force of encouragement for blossoming artists, who have yet to put the pen to paper so to speak, and loves to help foster the idea of art as accessible to all. Additionally utilizing a deep sense of familiarity with the islands and their people to network and tie connections from one disparate group to another, forming bonds that would otherwise go unformed.
Kyle McNeal
Kyle McNeil is an experienced mechanic, machinist, and hands-on problem-solver with AAS certifications from Bellingham Technical College, industry experience, and six years of service in the U.S. Navy. His interests include restoring old machines, learning from traditional repair techniques, and exploring newer tools such as CAD, 3D printing, and digital fabrication.
At Center for Creative Repair, Kyle brings practical experience in shop organization, tool awareness, operational safety, and hands-on project planning. He has also helped lead renovation efforts for the space, supporting the development of a safe, functional, and well-organized environment for classes, creative work, and community making.