Founder & Executive Artistic Director
Regna Danu Frank-Jones
Hello. I’m Regna. I try not to take myself too seriously these days, since life can be tricky, and messy, and hard, and we need to laugh a lot to stay sane. It’s also beautiful, and juicy, and full of wonder, so I’m focusing on that too as I navigate my inner and outer worlds to make sense of it all. On September 7th, 2021, my hero and dad, Steve, left this world to join my mamma, Janet, for an adventure in another realm. She had been waiting for him for precisely two years and two weeks—we joke that heaven needed a new floor or something, so it was time for him to go and help her out. Their collective spirit-power, activated in love and kindness burns bright, and though I miss them both like crazy, I feel their radiance and laughter all around me, especially in this incredible home they built together, left now for me and their family and friends to steward and share. I can think of no better way to share their legacy and values than to open up the property to travelers, artists, and those seeking respite. Just as they always did.
My passion is building community through art, self-expression, and collaboration. For the past 30+ years, it has been my great privilege to work in support of the arts through a fulfilling and winding pursuit of creative and impactful work both in private and nonprofit sectors. Currently, I work as a freelance producer and advisor for nonprofit organizations in film and theater alongside my studio work as a painter. I am the proud mom of two incredible sons, and when not onsite at Riachuelo, I’m in Denmark where I live part-time with my Danish sweetheart and his lovely children.
Founding Advisory Artist & Creative Programer
Stephanie Spindler, Ph.D.
Stephanie Spindler is an international artist who relocated back to Colorado after living sixteen years abroad in the United Kingdom. She recently completed her practice-based Ph.D. at Chelsea College of Art. Currently, she teaches at UNC in the School of Art and Design and lives in Fort Collins. Her residency at Riachuelo will embark on a new investigation and body of work themed around Making Things in the Dark. This research embodies uncertainty and intimacy, exploring desire, fear, and hope. You can learn more about her and see her work at www.spindlerart.com.
Founding Advisory Artist
Ashley Benton
Ashley is a mixed media artist living in Savanah, GA. She has been exhibiting her work for more than twenty years across the county and beyond. After graduating from the Savannah College of Art and Design she followed her love of big mountains, clear rivers and blue skies to Colorado . There she continued to make art, raise a son, teach art, open a yoga studio, ride horses and travel to juried art shows. In 2014, Ashley moved home to Georgia and began focusing on gallery representation and small shops and boutiques. Currently she is represented by the Wally Workman Gallery, Austin, TX and the Ivy Brown Gallery, NYC.
Ashley’s work is based on the emotional experience of living a life.She attempts to unveil the marvelous in the everyday, create a sense of wonder, engage her mind and open a dialogue with the viewer. The work is never an exact representation much like a writer of fiction. The work hovers in the in-between —Less than Reality More than a Dream…
Founding Advisory Artist
Henri Frank Jones
Henri Jones is a Colorado-born musician and visual artist who co-founded Sol House studios in 2020. He currently resides in Detroit, MI, where he is working on a variety of artistic projects while studying advertising and design at the College for Creative Studies. Henri designs and curates the brand's visual content and is committed to creating high-quality and eye-catching media and products while also helping steer our vision to become an organization that actively benefits our communities and planet.
Founding Advisory Member & Property Manager
John Eckert Overgaard
We could simply not do what we do without the care (and humor) of John. His dedication to the principles and efforts of creating a wonderful space for artists and guests is a gift. He is truly the host-with-the-most!
Founding Advisory Member & Finance Director
Michael Gaedt Paulsen
Born and raised in Denmark, one would think it was not in the cards that Michael should be involved in something as exotic as an artist residence in Colorado. But life would be different, and he has learned that the next adventure is sometimes just around the next corner.
Michael has a law degree from the University of Copenhagen and works daily as head of legal and compliance in a small, Danish insurance company. When office life allows it, he enjoys getting out into nature to walk, bike or just be.
Michael has a great interest in music and art as well as societal issues and enjoys spirited and thoughtful conversations on large and small topics.