EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Marielena’s artistic practice centers on the role of art in social change, particularly through political, public, and community art. Her work has been recognized with the prestigious International Sculpture Center’s 2023 Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award and the 2024 Ulster County Executive’s Arts Award. Previously, she received the Midtown Kingston Arts District’s Red Goat Award in 2021 and served as the inaugural Artist-in-Residence at the Woodstock Artists Association & Museum in 2022.

TEACHING ARTIST

Kelly McGrath utilizes wax, paper, plaster, wood, clay and found materials in her process driven work. She explores themes that are influenced by biologic process like growth and decay, mutation and evolution.

Kelly earned her BFA in Sculpture from SUNY New Paltz in 2007 and her Master's in Art Education from Hunter College in 2019. She taught at R&F Handmade Paints, Women's Studio Workshop, Castle Hill Center for the Arts, Peter's Valley and Snow Farm, and is currently the Instructional Support Technician for the Sculpture Department at SUNY New Paltz.

TEACHING ARTIST

Elba is a music educator with over 17 years of experience, specializing in the learning process of string instruments, piano, and voice. Originally from Mexico City and currently working for Radio Kingston, her teaching approach is inspired by Montessori principles.

“I firmly believe that everyone has the ability to learn to play an instrument, and my goal is to teach a love for music while breaking away from traditional teaching barriers. My passion is connecting with students of all ages and guiding them on their musical journey in a creative and meaningful way.”

TEACHING ARTIST

Viktorsha Uliyanova is a multidisciplinary artist and educator whose work explores impermanence, the notions of home, and cultural identity narrated through the prism of memory. Viktorsha’s experience of growing up in the Soviet Union forms the visual dialogue around broader themes of cultural rootlessness, loss, and the search for belonging. She combines storytelling and archival research to memorialize narratives often silenced by war, imperialism, and socio-repressive tactics. She teaches Photography at SUNY New Paltz.

TEACHING ARTIST

Scott is a veteran improviser, and recent transplant to the Hudson Valley. He has studied, and performed Improvisational Comedy in New York City, and has been a member of numerous “House Teams” at several well-known New York City Comedy Theaters including The PIT (The People’s Improv Theater), and The Armory. He has also performed, taught and coached Improv at comedy theaters in the Hudson Valley (and has also performed and taught Improv in Russia). When he is not improvising, he is also a magician.

TEACHING ARTIST

Maedeh Ojaghloo is an Iranian artist and social activist. Born and raised in Iran, she earned a Bachelor's in Avionics and a Master's in Animation before moving to the United States in 2022 to complete her MFA in Photography and Related Media at SUNY New Paltz. In Iran, she was a motion designer, and in the U.S., she worked as a gallery attendant and taught animation and art. Maedeh's multidisciplinary work integrates her past with her present, highlighting the struggles in Iran, particularly the suppression of women, and engaging audiences to amplify silenced voices.

TEACHING ARTIST

Anna's artistic journey is a narrative of empathy and introspection, exploring the human condition through figurative realist paintings and textile assemblage sculptures. Her own experience with disability informs much of her work, offering a unique perspective on embodiment and identity. Anna earned her Master of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing from SUNY New Paltz. Her artwork has been exhibited across the country, and internationally.

ARTIST IN RESIDENCE

Martha Guillorn is a visual artist from New York City focused on mixed media sculptures and drawings that deal with the curiosity of touch, texture, and the way we feel about our feelings. Guillorn participated in the Fantasy Fountain Fund Fellowship in bronze casting at Modern Art Foundry in Queens, NY, and received several other merit-based awards and scholarships. Guillorn received an MFA in Studio Art from The City College of New York with a solo exhibition and has attended residencies at Vermont Studio Center, Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild, and Anderson Ranch.

BOARD DIRECTOR

Aurora De Armendi Sobrino was born and raised in Cuba. She earned a BFA from the Cooper Union and an MFA from the University of Iowa. Her work explores the poetics of place and displacement, and the individual and collective memories therein, through a balance of scholarly and material research. Recent projects have taken the form of prints, artist books, and ceramics. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally.

BOARD DIRECTOR

Susan Dingee is the Director of Development at Agri-Business Child Development. She brings years of experience and skills to the forefront in helping our organization grow and succeed.

BOARD SECRETARY

Eliza Evans experiments with sculpture, print, video, and textiles to identify disconnections and absurdities in social, economic, and ecological systems. The initial parameters of each work are carefully researched and then evolve through interaction with people, time, and weather.

Our actions are indelibly inscribed in each other and the landscape. Eliza makes these inscribed relationships more legible.

BOARD VICE PRESIDENT

Matthew Friday is an educator, writer, and transdisciplinary artist whose research focuses on developing apparatuses and systems that examine and provoke new political ecologies.

Working both collectively and individually, Matthew’s research-based projects have taken up issues of urban ecology, watershed remediation, and the history and future of organized labor.

BOARD TREASURER

Christine Stage is a recently retired attorney. She was an Assistant County Attorney for 33 years, handling child abuse and neglect cases in Family Court.

After she retired from public service in 2018, she went into private practice representing the indigent in Family and Criminal courts and maintained a general practice until her retirement in 2022. She is also active in local politics.

BOARD PRESIDENT

Born in Lima, Peru, Richard holds a B.A. in History from Vassar College and an MBA from Oxford’s Said Business School.

Following his undergraduate studies, Richard enjoyed a brief career as a professional soccer player in Hong Kong, after which he began to pursue his interest in grassroots development work and education abroad.