Carolyn Hazel Drake

Carolyn Hazel Drake is an artist and arts educator based in Portland, OR, and Phoenix, AZ. Her work is rooted in the craft practices of textiles and ceramics, and her creative identity was shaped from an early age working behind the counter at her mother’s quilt store. She studied English Literature & Architecture at Portland State University’s Honors College and spent a term as a curatorial research & writing intern for the Smithsonian American Art Museum. She has an M.Ed. in Art Education and spent a decade as a high school art teacher before moving into K-12 arts administration in Oregon school districts. She served on the Portland Art Museum’s Teacher Advisory Council for 7 years, and has been awarded several residencies and grants, including the GLEAN residency and the Sitka Center for Art & Ecology residency, as well the 2024 Center for Craft Teaching Artist Cohort Grant. Her work has been shown across the Pacific Northwest, and she is currently a member of artist-run gallery Carnation Contemporary. In 2022, Drake joined the faculty at Arizona State University as an assistant teaching professor for art education in the School of Art.