Staff &
Faculty
Welcome From the staff and faculty
Come meet the staff and faculty at the CBC Arts Center. We are composed of award winning directors, performers and artists who are well renowned in our region and state. Our faculty is highly educated in their fields of study and are talented clinicians who travel the nation working with artists, galleries and performing groups.
Art Center Staff

Bill McKay
Dean for the School of Arts, Humanities & Communication
Bill McKay, Dean of Arts, Humanities and Communication at Columbia Basin College in Pasco, Washington, received his degrees in Piano Performance from the University of Washington and the University of Texas at Austin. Read More
Prior to his administrative appointment in 1998, he was a member of the music faculty at Columbia Basin College. Mr. McKay remains active as a working artist. He has been a guest artist with the Mid-Columbia Symphony on several occasions dating back to having won the Young Artist Competition resulting in two “first movement” concerto performances with the orchestra. Since moving back to the Tri-Cities after his time in Texas, he has performed the Beethoven Concerto #5, the Carnival of the Animals by Saint Saens with Libby Watrous, the Gershwin Concerto in F, as well as the Rhapsody in Blue and Mozart’s Piano Concerto K. 453 with the Mid-Columbia Symphony. Additionally, he has also performed the Rhapsody in Blue with the Inland Northwest Musicians and twice with the Columbia Basin Concert Band. As a jazz pianist, he plays in the Columbia Basin Jazz Orchestra (CBJO) which has backed up jazz artists under the umbrella of the Jazz Unlimited Festival at CBC. In 2018, he and Dr. Jody Graves from Eastern Washington University made their two-piano team debut with a performance of the Carnival of the Animals at CBC with the INWM and Lee Freese conducting.
As an arts administrator, in 2005, he was appointed by Governor Locke as a commissioner for the Washington State Arts Commission and in 2007 was re-appointed by Governor Gregoire and continues to remain active in Washington State arts advocacy. At Columbia Basin College, along with the faculty and staff, he oversees the Jazz Unlimited Festival, The Summer Showcase Series, The Community Lecture Series and The Esvelt Gallery. Bill continues to be active on various community arts boards.

Maria Allan
Program Support Supervisor
I am an administrative professional with over 30 years of experience in the higher education system. I use my skills and abilities to assist the faculty, students and staff in the School of Arts, Humanities & Communication to achieve their educational and professional goals. Read More

Ame Robinson
Secretary Senior
As Secretary Senior for the School of Arts, Humanities & Communications, I provide support to our faculty by ensuring they have what they need to successfully conduct classes and help our students to succeed. Read More
Visual Arts Faculty

Tracy Walker
Professor
Professor Tracy Walker began her career with Columbia Basin College in 2001 where she currently teaches painting, drawing, illustration, and the art history sequence and as well as Art Appreciation and 2D-Design in the past. Along with teaching, Tracy is a practicing artist whose paintings explores both social and cultural themes that touch on current events, historic perspectives, and personal experiences.Read More

Rachel Smith
Associate Professor
Rachel Smith is a multidisciplinary artist, educator and curator whose artwork investigate the complexities of the individual and the collective as it relates to memory, processes, and materials. Her artwork uses ephemeral materials within mixed media, collage, performance and installation works.
She has curated exhibitions including: Construct at the Foundry Vineyards in Read More
Smith received her Master of Fine Arts from the University of Idaho and Bachelor of Art in Commercial Art from Walla Walla University. She currently maintains a studio practice in Walla Walla, WA. and is an Associate Professor of Art at Columbia Basin College in Pasco, WA and teaches Art Appreciation, 2D Design, Graphic Design and Professional Practices.

Eric Demattos
Adjunct Professor
I was born in California and moved to Washington in 2010 in pursuit of my Masters in Fine Art at the University of Idaho. At Columbia Basin College I have had the privilege to pursue my passion of being both an artist and an educator. Ever since I can remember I have loved to create. It seemed like magic when you took something that you could only see in your head and make it real. Read More

Kayleigh Lang
Adjunct Instructor
Kayleigh Lang (b. 1990) is an artist currently located in Walla Walla, Washington. They grew up in Cheyenne, WY, and graduated with a BFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Wyoming. In 2010, they spent a year studying Japanese art and language at Kobe College in Nishinomiya, Japan. In 2016, they graduated with an MFA in Interdisciplinary Art from Washington State University. Read More

Rebecca Merkley-Omeje
Adjunct Instructor

Greg Tate
Adjunct Instructor
I am a ceramic artist, painter, and educator who taught in the art department at Skagit Valley College for 34 years, along with being the gallery director and department chair. I retired from that position ten years ago. Read More

Marguerite Gilbertson
Adjunct Instructor
Marguerite Gilbertson is a Fine Art Instructor and interdisciplinary sculpture/performance artist. The artwork she creates is an extension of her own experiences, family, and societal perceptions of agriculture. Marguerite has been awarded numerous grants and fellowships, most recently she co-created a sculpture for the Community Togetherness Project at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts.
Music Faculty

Collin Wilson
Assistant Professor – Jazz Band
Collin Wilson, DMA, is the director of the Columbia Basin College Jazz Ensemble and Conductor of the CBC Concert Band. As an Associate Professor of Music at Columbia Basin College he also directs the jazz combos, teaches saxophone, jazz history and music theory. Read More

Bruce Walker Jr.
Associate Professor – Orchestra
Bruce Walker is an Associate Professor of Music at Columbia Basin College in Pasco, WA, Music Directorfor the Yakima Youth Symphony in Yakima, WA, Principal Guest Conductor for the Oregon EastSymphony in Pendleton, OR and is President-elect of the Washington Chapter of the American String Teachers Association. Read More

Mike Scott
Assistant Professor – Choir
Mike Scott is an avid performer and adjudicator, Mike Scott has been singing and performing for over 30 years and has earned a reputation as a leading music educator in the Pacific Northwest. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree in Choral Music Education from Central Washington University, where he sang in the prestigious CWU Chamber Choir under Dr. Gary Weidenaar and nationally acclaimed CWU Vocal Jazz 1 under Vijay Singh. Read More

Sheila Gephart
Adjunct Instructor – Piano
Sheila Gephart holds a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from Whitworth College and a master’s degree in music from Washington State University. She taught K-8 general music at Christ the King and St. Joseph’s Catholic Schools for 15 years. She currently teaches Class Piano at Columbia Basin College. Read More
Theatre Faculty

Ronn Campbell
Senior Associate Professor
I design scenery, lighting and sound for many companies and universities across the county including Snowy Range Summer Theatre, Washington East Opera, Prinicipia College, Las Memorias Performance Project and Idaho Repertory Theatre. Read More

Kindra Steenerson
Assistant Professor
Kindra Steenerson is originally from Southern California, but currently resides in Charlotte, NC. She earned her MFA in Performance/Directing from Utah State University. She has been a theatre professor for the past two decades where the bulk of her teaching has been centered around all levels of Acting, Voice & Movement, and Directing. Read More
As a professional, she has trained with both Catherine Fitzmaurice and Anne Bogart/SITI Company in NY. Kindra’s recent performance credits include The Sea Witch in Fever Production’s The Little Mermaid Immersive Experience, Miss Abigail in Miss Abigail’s Guide to Dating, Mating, and Marriage and Janet in 2 Across at Emerald Coast Theatre, a writer/storyteller in TMI Project’s Stories for Choice, and The Angel in Angels in America at Carolina Actors Studio Theatre. Other favorite roles include Hecuba in The Trojan Women, Lady Caroline in Enchanted April, Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, and The Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods.
As a director, Kindra has worked in the academic and professional realms on over seventy shows, and considers Spring Awakening, Hairspray, The Laramie Project, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, The Cake, How We Got On, and On the Verge as some of her favorites. She is passionate about working with students as collaborators and considers ensemble-building to be one of her most important responsibilities as a director.

Bryan McGlothin
Adjunct Instructor
Bryan McGlothin has been working on stage and screen for over twenty years and joined Screen ActorsGuild in 1999. He began teaching Acting For The Camera, at Columbia Basin College, in 2010. He studied with Broadway actor Chris Wilson and her son, Brandon Smith, in Houston, Texas. Read More