CHAIR: Maria Rosario Jackson, Ph.D.
Senior Research Associate
Metropolitan Housing and Communities Center Urban Institute
2100 M Street NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20012
mjackson@ui.urban.org
tel: 202.261.5689

Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson is a senior research associate in the Metropolitan Housing and Communities Center at the Urban Institute and director of UI’s Culture, Creativity and Communities Program. Her research focuses on urban policy, neighborhood revitalization and comprehensive community planning, the politics of race, ethnicity and gender in urban settings, and the role of arts and culture in communities. Dr. Jackson’s work has appeared in academic and professional journals as well as edited volumes in the fields of urban planning, sociology, community development and the arts. She has been a speaker at numerous national and international conferences focusing on quality of life, changing demographics, communities and cities of the future, and arts and society. Dr. Jackson is also a consultant and instructor. She has provided technical assistance in planning and program implementation to numerous organizations and has also consulted with a range of cultural organizations about their role in promoting civic engagement and community development. Dr. Jackson has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in social policy, planning for multiple public, community economic development and research methods.

PRESIDENT & CEO: MK Wegmann
National Performance Network
PO Box 56698
New Orleans, LA 70156-6698
mkw@npnweb.org
tel: 504.595.8008 fax: 504.595.8006

MK Wegmann has mover than 35 years experience in organizational development, artists’ services, presenting and producing for non-profit visual and performing arts organizations. As an independent consultant, she has worked with organizations and individual artists in long-range planning, organizational development and systems management. Clients have included Alabama Dance Council, JumpStart Performance Co., Southern Danceworks, Dallas Black Dance Theatre and YA/YA (Young Aspirations/Young Artists, Inc.). From 1978-1991 she was associate director for the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans, a $1.2 million, multi-disciplinary artists’ organization, and from 1993-1999 served as managing director of the theatre company Junebug Productions. She has served on and chaired panels for the NEA, the Louisiana Division of the Arts, the Kentucky Arts Commission and the Cultural Arts Council of Houston. Wegmann serves on board of directors for Junebug Productions. Current committee work includes the Dance Working Group and the National Performing Arts Convention.

VICE CHAIR: Vicki Meek
Manager
South Dallas Cultural Center
3400 South Fitzhugh Avenue
Dallas, TX 75210
msart55@yahoo.com
tel: 214.939.2787 fax: 214.670.8118

Vicki Meek, a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a nationally-recognized artist who has exhibited widely. Meek is in the permanent collections of the African American Museum in Dallas, The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, and Norwalk Community College in Norwalk, Connecticut. She was awarded three public arts commissions with the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Art Program and was co-artist on the largest public art project in Dallas, the Dallas Convention Center Public Art Project. In addition, Meek is an independent curator, writes cultural criticism for Literafeelya, an online art publication and ARTLIES: A Texas Art Journal. With over 30 years of arts administrative experience that includes working as a senior program administrator for a state arts agency, a local arts agency and running a non-profit visual arts center, Vicki Meek is currently the Manager of the South Dallas Cultural Center in Dallas, Texas, a full-service African-centered center that is a program of the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs.

AT-LARGE: Tamara Alvarado
Director of Multicultural Leadership
1st Act Silicon Valley
38 West Santa Clara Street
San Jose, CA 95113
talvarado@1stact.org
tel: 408.200.2020

Tamara is the Director of Multicultural Leadership for 1stAct Silicon Valley; a cross-sector collaborative whose mission is to inspire leadership, participation and investment at the intersection of art and technology. From 2003 to 2008 she served as executive director of MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana in San Jose, California. Starting in 1999 she served as program director for the newly opened Washington United Youth Center, a partnership between Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County and the City of San Jose. She sits on the boards of directors of the National Performance Network and ACE Charter Elementary School in San Jose. Tamara sits on various regional and national funding panels including: the Arts Council Silicon Valley and Creative Capital. She is also a member and co-founder of San Jose based Movimiento Cosmico: Aztec Dance. Originally from Escondido, CA, Tamara holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish literature from Stanford University.

SECRETARY: Nicole Garneau
Adjunct Faculty, History, Humanities and Social Studies
Columbia College Chicago
600 S. Michigan
Chicago, IL 60605
ngarneau@colum.edu
tel: 773.879.1492

Nicole Garneau is a Chicago-based visual and performance artist. In 1993-94 Nicole worked as an actor in the Theatre of Moscow South-West, performing in Russian. Since returning to the U.S,. she has continued to work in dance and theater while building an inter-disciplinary performance practice. Since 1994, Garneau has worked closely with Insight Arts, an organization dedicated to increasing access to cultural work that promotes social justice and defends human rights. In 2005, Garneau created HEAT:05, a durational art project in which she performed every day of the year in order to mark 10 years since the 1995 Chicago heat wave disaster. Chicago’s Links Hall is presenting her current projects: UPRISING—monthly outdoor performances exploring revolution, and EVIDENCE—color postcards documenting the performances for subscribers. She is interested in creating performance and visual art work that is directly political, critically conscious, and community building. In Columbia College Chicago’s Center for Community Arts Partnerships, Garneau coordinates the Arts in Youth and Community Development concentration of the Master’s in Arts Management. Garneau holds a B.A. in Theater from the University of Illinois at Chicago and an M.A. in Interdisciplinary Art from Columbia College Chicago. Her work is documented at www.nicolegarneau.com.

AT-LARGE:  Gregory Jackson
Independent Arts Consultant
2048 NE 180th Street
North Miami Beach, FL 33162
gjackson@mdc.edu
tel: 305.333.1301

Gregory Jackson served as program coordinator at Cambridge (MA) Multicultural Arts Center and director of Project SEARCH at the Boston Conservatory where he developed and implemented an arts curriculum for public high schools in three states, and directed a summer arts camp. Jackson taught vocal technique at Phillips Academy, Andover MA, and performed as soloist throughout the United States and Europe.

In 1994, Jackson relocated to Miami, FL to teach secondary music for Miami-Dade County Public Schools and jazz music at Miami-Dade College, Wolfson Campus. He served as president of the Miami-based Diaspora Arts Coalition, an arts advocacy group for African-influenced art forms that addresses issues concerning the African Diaspora. He has been with the Cultural Affairs Department at Miami Dade College since 1996.

A lyric tenor, Jackson maintains an active performance schedule as soloist and chorus member, most notably with Jubilate, a vocal ensemble dedicated to preserving Negro Spirituals and performing other works by African-American composers. He was also a featured soloist in tours and international music festivals in Spain and Armenia. Jackson received a master’s degree in music (vocal performance) from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell and a B.S. degree (Summa Cum Laude) in music from Adelphi University, Garden City, NY.

Yolanda Cesta Cursach
Associate Director of Performance Programs
Museum of Contemporary Art
220 East Chicago Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611
ycursach@mcachicago.org
tel: 312.397.3843 fax: 312.397.4095

Yolanda Cesta Cursach is Associate Director of Performance Programs at the Museum of Contemporary Art, where she contributes dance, music, theater, and multimedia programming. She directs partnerships with government and cultural agencies for co-presentations, and directs Artists Up Close, a series of more than fifty artist-centered talks, roundtables, workshops, and multiple-week residencies each year. She is former Midwest Regional Desk and Performing Americas curator for National Performance Network (NPN). She is a founder of the League of Chicago Theaters Access Committee; and serves on the board of directors for Chicago’s Links Hall, the Mayor’s Office Festivals Committee; and the Instituto Cervantes Chicago Programming Committee. She is also a member of the University of Chicago Service League, Hyde Park Cultural Task Force, Judge of Election for Cook County, and the Mayor’s Office Council on Human Relations Task Force. She is a Paul Harris Fellow for Rotary International. She is a native of Rome, Italy and was reared in Madrid, Spain. She has a BA from Syracuse University and was a member of Syracuse Ballet. She attended The University of Chicago for a Doctorate in Political Science, and remains active in public service in Chicago’s South Side community.

Shannon Daut
Deputy Director
Western States Arts Federation
1743 Wazee Street, Suite 300
Denver, CO 80202
shannon.daut@westaf.org
tel: 503.242.1419 fax: 503.243.1167

 

Vallejo Gantner
Artistic Director
Performance Space 122
150 First Avenue
New York, NY 10009
vallejo@ps122.org
tel: 212.477.5829 fax: 212.353.1315

Vallejo Gantner has been Artistic Director of Performance Space 122 since 2005. P.S. 122 is New York’s leading multi-disciplinary presenter of innovative performing arts. He was also the co-producer of Spiegelworld, a commercial producer / presenter of contemporary circus, cabaret, music and entertainment across the U.S. Gantner served as Director of the Dublin Fringe Festival from 2002-2004, and was Artistic Associate of the Melbourne Festival 2000-2001. Originally from Melbourne, Gantner has worked in a range of capacities throughout the arts in the US, Asia and Australia – as a director, writer, performer, agent, producer and programmer. He is also a partner in a brewery (Mountain Goat Beer) and in several Melbourne bars. In the U.S. Gantner is a board director of the MacDowell Colony, Synapse Productions and sits on the advisory board of the Orchard Project.

Rosie Gordon-Wallace
Executive Director
Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator
3938 North Miami Avenue
Miami, FL 33127-2918
rogwall3@yahoo.com
tel: 305.573.4046 fax: 305.572.7675

 

Arnie Malina
Chief Programming Officer/Artistic Director
Flynn Center for the Performing Arts
153 Main Street
Burlington, VT 05401
amalina@flynncenter.org
tel: 802.652.4503 fax: 802.863.8788

Arnie Malina, is the chief programming officer/ artistic director at the Flynn Center in Burlington, VT. He founded and developed nationally significant programs at Helena Presents in Montana. Profiled as “Montana’s Unsung Hero” in Newsweek Magazine (1988), he later received the Montana Governor’s Award in the Arts (1997). Malina is the recipient of the 1994 Fan Taylor Award from Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP) and served on the APAP board of directors from 1997-2003. Malina is co-producer of the Blue Note recording, “Sacred Common Ground,” by pianist/composer Don Pullen and the African Brazilian Connection and the Chief Cliff Singers. Under his leadership, the Flynn received the first MET/Life Access Award for innovation in Access, 2004. He currently serves on the board of the National Performance Network.

James Kass
Founder & Executive Director
Youth Speaks / Living Work Project / Brave New Voices
1663 Mission Street, Suite 604
San Francisco, CA  94103
jkass@youthspeaks.org
tel: 415.255.9035 ext 11 fax: 415.255.9065

 

Meena Natarajan
Executive/Literary Director
Pangea World Theater
711 West Lake Street, Suite 102
Minneapolis, MN 55408
meena@pangeaworldtheater.org
tel: 612.822.0015 fax: 612.821.1070

Meena Natarajan is one of the founders and the Executive and Literary Director of Pangea World Theater, a progressive, international ensemble space for arts and dialogue. She has led the theater’s growth since its founding in 1995. She is on the Advisory Board of the Community Arts Network and serves on the Board of the Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists (CAATA) and is past President of Women Playwrights International. As a playwright, her scripts have been professionally produced both in India and the U.S. Her written work ranges from adaptations of poetry and mythology to original plays exploring the impact of war and inequity, spirituality, personal and collective memory. Her commitment to stopping violence against women, especially immigrant and refugee battered women has led her to create work that has had an impact on systems change and is performed for systems change professionals, policy makers, advocates as well as immigrant communities. She has been awarded grants and fellowships from Theatre Communications Group, Playwrights Center and the Minnesota State Arts Board.

Ed Noonan
Executive Director
Myrna Loy Center / Helena Presents
15 N. Ewing
Helena, MT  59601
noonaned@aol.com
tel: 406.443.0287  fax: 406.443.6620

Thomas Reese
Executive Director
Stone Center for Latin American Studies
Tulane University
100 Joseph Mary Jones Hall
New Orleans, LA 70118
treese@tulane.edu
tel: 504.865.5164 fax: 504.865.6719

Thomas Reese is executive director of the Roger Thayer Stone Center for Latin American Studies, Tulane University. His scholarship and publications include studies of 18th-century Spanish art and politics, culture contact in 16th century Mexico, devotional space in Colonial Andean society, and contemporary architectural practice in Europe and the Americas. His most recent research focuses on images and identity in turn of the century Argentina, Mexico, and Panama. He has received many fellowships and awards for his scholarship.

Reese was appointed deputy director of the Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities in Los Angeles, 1986, and served as acting director of the Getty Research Institute for three years. In addition, he was a member of the College Art Association board of directors, 2000-04 and Vice-President for External Affairs, 2002-04. In addition to serving on the board of NPN, Reese also currently serves on the boards of the Audubon Nature Institute, the Arts Council of New Orleans, Contemporary Arts Center, and the New Orleans Museum of Art.

Mildred Ruiz
Independent Arts and Managing Director
Universes
2038 Cicero Avenue #1
Bronx, New York 10472
ucitytheater@aol.com
cell: 646.406.7540

Founding member of UNIVERSES (Bronx based, National/International Poetic Musical Theater Ensemble Company).  Co-Founder of THE POINT CDC (Bronx, NY).  Playwright/Actor/Vocalist- Universes’ AMERIVILLE (Humana Festival 2009 Premiere – Director Chay Yew); The Denver Project (Curious Theater-Director Dee Covington); One Shot in Lotus Position (The War Anthology-Curious Theater-Director Bonnie Metzger); BLUE SUITE (Gala Hispanic Theater and The Goodman Theater – Director-Chay Yew); EYEWITNESS BLUES (New York Theatre Workshop -  Director Talvin Wilks); RHYTHMICITY (Humana Festival); SLANGUAGE (NY Theater Workshop-Director Jo Bonney); THE RIDE (playwright/actor); Alfred Jarry’s UBU:Enchained (Director Steven Sapp-Teatre Polski, Poland). Awards/Affiliations: 2008 Jazz at Lincoln Center Rhythm Road Tour to Africa and Europe: Morocco /Tunisia / Turkey / Romania / Amsterdam / England); 2008 Theater Communications Group (TCG) Peter Zeisler Outstanding Achievement in American Theater Award; 2006 Career Advancement Fellowship from the Ford foundation through Pregones Theater; 2002-2004 and 1999-2001 TCG National Theater Artist Residency Program Award; Arts International Tour to Chile; BRIO Awards (Bronx Recognizes its own-Singing); Current Board Member (National Performance Network – NPN); Former Board Member (Network of Ensemble Theaters-NET); New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect; BARD College, BA ’92. Publications: UNIVERSES-THE BIG BANG (Winter 2010 release- TCG Books); SLANGUAGE in The Fire This Time (TCG).

Maurice Turner
Independent Artist,
Turner World Around Productions
23710 Hwy 18
Raymond, MS 39154
mturner@turnerworldaround.org
cell: 662.312.5830 tel: 601.885.8926

Maurice Turner is co-founder of Turner World Around Productions, Inc. and one-half of the group M.U.G.A.B.E.E. (Men Under Guidance Acting Before Early Extinction), an artistic ensemble composing and performing a blend of jazz, hip-hop, spoken word poetry, and soul music. M.U.G.A.B.E.E. tours nationally, from Blue Lake, California, to Putney, Vermont.

Turner has shared the stage with many great musicians, and has played on over a dozen CDs of various genres. Most recently he composed music for and performed in the critically-acclaimed spoken-word theater collective, Universes’ Eye Witness Blues. He also served as musical director for Uprooted: The Katrina Project, a piece focusing on the displaced citizens of New Orleans and the various struggles faced during the catastrophe.

Turner is an arts educator in the Jackson Public School System where he has worked with the “My Mississippi Eye” program at Lanier High School in Jackson. He is currently board chair for the Highlander Center. Turner has been a member of Alternate ROOTS since 2001, and is an artist on the Mississippi Arts Commission roster.