Charity is currently serving as the Vice President of Innovation and Development at JMG. She has worked in the nonprofit sector for more than fifteen years and has extensive experience in public-private partnerships that meet critical community needs. She is an executive focused on diversifying revenue, building relationships, and identifying and assessing capacity to help connect communities
Gibson Fay-LeBlanc
Gibson Fay-LeBlanc’s first collection of poems, Death of a Ventriloquist, was chosen by Lisa Russ Spaar for the Vassar Miller Prize and published in 2012. The book received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and was featured by Poets & Writers as one of a dozen debut collections to watch. Gibson’s poems have appeared in magazines including Guernica, The New Republic, and Tin
Donna McNeil
Donna McNeil is the Co-Director of Artists in Context and the former Executive Director of the Maine Arts Commission. She has served as a juror for the National Endowment for the Arts, Baker Artist Awards, St. Botolph Awards, MacArthur Foundation, and Piscataquis Artist Advancement grant, and she has worked extensively with the Creative Capital Foundation.
Ashley O’Brion
Ashley O’Brion is a graphic designer and art director for Inc.com. After working at Boston, Oprah, and Maine magazines, she became a freelancer in 2011, collaborating with clients from her farmhouse studio in Raymond, Maine. Ashley designs identities, branding systems, print materials, websites, and—her greatest love—publications, for which she has received multiple awards from The Society of Publication Designers.
Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo, Executive Director
Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo is an artist and an educator. She has dedicated her professional and adult life to promoting the importance of art and education. Beth has had the opportunity to work with a variety of community organizations facilitating insightful and productive connections through the arts. Over a decade ago, Beth founded Oak Street
Kelly Hrenko, Ph.D., Director of Professional Development & Program Dissemination
Professor of Art Education at University of Southern Maine, Dr. Hrenko’s current scholarship is within the field of integrated arts and multimodal creative literacies. She uses her position as a teacher educator in the visual arts as a place where several intersections occur; between art and culture, community and school; and interdisciplinary education. She comes
Mary Starr, Finance and Operations Manager
Mary has a BA from Wellesley College and Masters of Education from the University of New Hampshire. She has worked in policy and program development, volunteer management and human resources, and as an Operations and Finance Manager. Mary has been involved in education for much of her career and has served on the Board of
Meghan Scribner, Arts Integration Specialist
Meghan is an interdisciplinary artist and educator who enjoys working with a wide range of ages and abilities. She has always been curious about resilience and adaptability in education and how the arts can make learning accessible to everyone. Meghan holds masters degrees in Counseling/Art Therapy and Fine Arts. She is an avid learner and is
Perryn Anable Ferris, Director of Communications, Design and Development
Perryn has been an artist and freelance web and graphic designer for over two decades and has a background in software design and development. Since moving to Portland in 2002, she has co-founded an online magazine, MainelyKids.com, and has worked with many of Maine’s leading nonprofits and government organizations while working for Shoestring Agency in
Anne Ackerman, Lead Teaching Artist and Program Coordinator
Anne is an artist and educator, who hopes to instill curiosity, appreciation, and conservation of the natural world through the arts. Anne holds a Masters in Education and a BFA in Art Education from the University of Southern Maine. Anne has presented arts-integrated workshops at national conferences for both classroom and visual art educators, and received the Art Education Discipline Award