Meet the current Open Ground Studios Instructors


Paul Richmond
Paul Richmond is an internationally recognized visual artist and activist whose career has included exhibitions in galleries and museums throughout the United States as well as publication in numerous art journals and anthologies. His work is collected by individuals around the globe. In his role as the Associate Art Director for Dreamspinner Press and their young adult imprint, Harmony Ink Press, he has created over four hundred novel cover illustrations. He is a co-founder of the You Will Rise Project, an organization that empowers those who have experienced bullying to speak out creatively through art. He lives with his husband Dennis in Monterey, California. He works and teaches at Open Ground Studios in Seaside, California and is represented by Not Sheep Gallery in Columbus, Ohio. See his work at paulrichmondstudio.com.
Denese Sanders
Denese Sanders began her career in printmaking as an undergraduate in 1982 at UW-Madison, furthered her training in Paris, France at Atelier 17 and received her Master of Fine Arts degree in 1998 from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 2003 Sanders relocated to California from Minneapolis, Minnesota where she continues her work as an educator, artist, and the founder of Open Ground Studios.
Over the course of her career, she has worked extensively in arts education and community building in the arts, both in Minnesota and California. Her leadership through OGS has landed her several awards including, “Innovator of the Year” with the Startup Challenge in 2013, in 2015 she won the Community Palette Showcase Event and in 2019, Open Ground Studios was named Champion of the Arts through the Arts Council for Monterey County. Her work has been exhibited throughout California and the Midwest. Website