You may have seen her face plastered across the street from Powell’s Books last year during the ad campaign for the Timbers. Clad in red flannel and wearing a stoic expression, she was holding an axe. You may have caught a glimpse of her in Gus Van Sant’s 2007 drama Paranoid Park or James Westby’s recently released black comedy Rid of Me­.

Emily Galash, 22, has acted in four feature-length films, a television pilot and two commercials in addition to doing a half dozen modeling gigs. Although her fearless pursuit of her dreams and interests does not necessarily guarantee her success, it illustrates the possibilities that are out there for other young, talented people who might otherwise go their whole lives without ever trying.

Kirk Patrick Kirkpatrick, aka DJ Wicked, has been tearing up the turntables and driving the ladies of the Northwest wild for over twenty years. Born and raised in Portland, Wicked has established himself as “a staple in the Northwest Hip Hop scene,” having shared the stage with too many big names in the music industry to even mention here. Despite this, he’s never met with much commercial recognition. Until now.

Wicked is of the old guard, a self-proclaimed “vinyl purist to the core,” and has always strived to remain true to Hip Hop’s roots, preferring sacred old school classics and raw underground musical gems.

How Portland youths are turning their lives around through art.