Board + Staff

Helping Maine's contemporary arts thrive

The CMCA team and Board of Trustees work collaboratively to bring Maine’s contemporary arts and artists to the forefront of the scene, worldwide.  Both the team and board consist of highly experienced and dedicated members that strive to engage, enrich, and educate the public, the CMCA audience, and the larger cultural community about Maine’s thriving contemporary art scene and the importance of art in all of our lives.

Staff

MIA BOGYO
Education Programs Manager
mbogyo@cmcanow.org

DANA CLARK
Communications Manager
dclark@cmcanow.org

TARA GARDNER
Retail + Operations Manager
tgardner@cmcanow.org

ALEXIS IAMMARINO
Community Arts Educator
aiammarino@cmcanow.org

WREN MANLY
Development Manager
wmanly@cmcanow.org

TARA MORIN
Education Programs Assistant
tmorin@cmcanow.org

TIMOTHY PETERSON
Executive Director + Chief Curator
tpeterson@cmcanow.org

RACHEL ROMANSKI
Curatorial Associate + Exhibitions Manager
rromanski@cmcanow.org

JEAN LINN THOMPSON
Associate Director
jthompson@cmcanow.org

MICHAELA STONE
Development + Membership Associate
mstone@cmcanow.org

MELISSA BAREZ
Lead Visitor Engagement Associate

ISABEL GIMLEWICZ
Lead Visitor Engagement Associate

VALERIE WELLS
Visitor Engagement Associate

DARA ZUCKERNICK
Visitor Engagement Associate

Board

Chair – Martha Jones | South Thomaston, Maine + Boston, Massachusetts

Martha “Marty” Jones has 40 years’ experience as a leader in the cultural and philanthropic industry. As a seasoned consultant in arts, nonprofit, and philanthropic management, Jones specializes in strategic planning and fundraising counsel, organizational assessment, executive coaching, and board governance. Prior to beginning her consulting career, Jones served for 25 years at the Celebrity Series of Boston, New England’s premier performing arts presenter, the last 15 as president and executive director. She has produced more than 500 world-class artistic performances and educational presentations, as well as special fundraising events, including a Boston Garden gala presentation of Luciano Pavarotti and the farewell Symphony Hall performances of legendary pianist Vladimir Horowitz and violinist Issac Stern. Jones also serves as trustee of the Susanne Marcus Collins Foundation and the Harrison H. & Julia Jones Foundation, board chair of Youth Design (Boston, MA), and member of the advisory board of the Brain Science Foundation (Medfield, MA). She holds a master’s degree in theater from Florida State University.

Vice Chair & Interim Treasurer – Jon Chodosh | Rangeley, Maine + New York, New York

Jon Chodosh is the managing principal of Chodosh Realty Services, Inc., a commercial real estate consulting firm formed in 1987, in New York City.  The firm is involved in transactional and consulting work, as well as in real estate development and construction management, specializing in adaptive re-use of warehouse and loft properties.  Over the last thirty years, Jon’s client list has included Dia Art Foundation, Irving Penn Foundation, Qatsi Productions, Communication Workers of America, Pentagram, Imagination Co (USA), Duravit (USA), Ian Schrager Company, Waterworks, and others. Jon is a 1974 graduate of Hampshire College.  He lives in New York City and Rangeley, Maine with his wife Claire Seidl.  They have three grown children.

Secretary – Sandra Ruch | Northport, Maine

Sandra Ruch is the film program manager for International Cinema US, where she organizes documentary film programs for US embassies and colleges and universities around the world. She is also president of CinElixir Consulting, which provides consulting services to documentary filmmakers. Previously, Ruch was executive director of the International Documentary Association, and a film programmer and consultant for the U.S. Department of State in its Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, bringing US documentary films and filmmakers to embassies, schools, and arts organizations in 17 countries. Ruch has had extensive marketing experience in senior management positions in the entertainment industry, heading up campaigns for the film Evita, PBS’s Masterpiece Theatre, the Los Angeles Music Center, and Fox TV’s Movie of the Week, among many others. Ruch serves on juries and expert panels at international film festivals and conferences, and she serves on several boards, among them the Maine Alliance for Arts Education (MAAE), the Camden Conference, and Waterfall Arts.

Chair Emeritus – Karen Brace | Camden, Maine + Needham, Massachusetts

Karen Brace is a former principal and co-owner of SimpleSay, a technology company that automated transactions for multiple industries using voice recognition and voice biometrics. As president of the company, she focused on operations, marketing, and business development. Brace’s marketing and communications expertise was developed early at a Boston-based advertising and public relations agency. Accepted into the Historical Society of Early American Decoration, a national painting guild, Brace enjoys working with both gold leaf and oil paints and has studied for many years with a master craftsman. Brace graduated from Wellesley College, earned her master’s degree in English from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Boston College, and holds a certificate in graphic design from the Boston University Center for Digital Imaging Arts.

Carol Eisenberg | Belfast, Maine

Carol Eisenberg began her career as an advertising copywriter and graphic designer within the publishing industry. She later graduated from St. John’s University School of Law and was admitted to practice in the State of New York, where she worked at two real estate law firms and the New York Stock Exchange. After being admitted to practice in the State of New Jersey, Eisenberg joined the matrimonial law firm of Rose, Poley & DeFuccio. She moved back to New York, where she became an associate and subsequently a partner in the firm of Taylor, Atkins & Ostrow. In 1991 Eisenberg established her own matrimonial law firm in Garden City, New York, and continued to practice until 2009, when she retired and moved to Belfast, Maine, with her husband, William Benjamin. She now focuses her time on her photography and her work with nonprofit arts organizations.

Joe Faber | Rockport, Maine + Chappaqua, NY

Joe is the Managing Principal of Faber Daeufer & Itrato, a boutique law firm focused on providing corporate and transactional counsel to companies, research institutions, and investors in the life sciences. Joe often serves as outside general counsel for venture-backed drug discovery and development companies. In addition, he functions as lead outside transactional counsel for emerging companies seeking strategic business partnering or private financing, as well as for mature companies seeking to acquire technologies and platforms. Joe is or has been involved in a wide range of philanthropic and community organizations including The Center for Discovery, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Partners in Health, CAVU Foundation, Venturing Out, The Possible Project, Slow Money, Maine and New York chapters. Joe grew up in Rockland, Maine (RDHS ’84), and graduated from Harvard College and Boston University School of Law. He and his wife Sumy live in Chappaqua, NY, but spend time regularly at their house in Rockport, Maine.

Mary Joe Hughes | Warren, Maine + Milton, Massachusetts

Mary Joe (Josie) Hughes is the retired Adjunct Professor of the Humanities at Boston College, where she also served as Assistant Director of the Honors Program. She earned her undergraduate degree from Radcliffe College and her Ph.D. from Harvard University. In 1990, she was the first winner of the annual Phi Beta Kappa Award for Outstanding Teaching at Boston College. A Maine summer resident since 1971, she assisted Guy Hughes in running The Coppershed Gallery in Warren from 2004 to 2008, leading to more intense involvement in contemporary art in Maine. In 2013 she published The Move Beyond Form with Palgrave Macmillan, about contemporary art, film, and literature. In the same year, she retired from Boston College, and with her husband, Rick Franklin, established an artist’s residency program for Maine artists in Farnese, Italy. In addition to her interests in literature and philosophy, art, education, and film, Josie is an avid gardener.

Paul Keenan | Cushing, Maine + New York, NY

Paul Keenan is Senior Vice President for University Development at Columbia University, where he provides strategic leadership for Columbia’s 5-year, $5B campaign, and serves as chief operating officer for university development.  Previously Paul served as Vice President for Development at the Hawaii Community Foundation, and prior to that as Senior Associate Dean at Harvard University, where he was responsible for leading the $2.5B Campaign for Arts & Sciences. Paul has been a corporate strategy consultant at Monitor Deloitte, and an independent consultant to universities and non-profits. He earned his AB, magna cum laude, in History and East Asian Studies from Harvard College in 1985, and his MBA from the Yale School of Management in 1996.

Sue Michlovitz | Camden, Maine

Sue Michlovitz has reimagined her life by becoming a visual artist, whose mediums include photography and book arts. She is completing a Master of Fine Arts degree in Media Arts at Maine Media College. Sue spent a 48-year career in physical therapy, specializing in hand and upper extremity care, including teaching doctoral students, and participating in clinical care and research as a Professor, Temple University and Hahnemann University (now Drexel). Clinical interests are in working with visual artists and musicians, focused on  musculoskeletal health and movement. She is an Adjunct Associate Professor, Columbia University, Physical Therapy. She participated in ten medical and community outreach missions with Guatemala Healing Hands Foundation. Sue served on boards for American Society of Hand Therapists (and as 2013 President), American Association for Surgery of the Hand, Hand Surgery Endowment, and Kitchen Theatre Company, Ithaca, NY. Her passions include education, art, and time in the outdoors. She lives in Camden with her husband Paul Velleman and their ever-so happy beagle.

Susan Norton | Southport Island, Maine

Sue is Executive Vice President/Chief Administrative Officer at First National Bank, a community bank headquartered in Damariscotta, Maine. In her role at the Bank, Sue is responsible for the bank’s Human Resources, Marketing, Compliance and Risk Management functions. Professionally, Sue has spent over 30 years in the financial services industry  in Maine, and has been involved with the Maine Bankers Association serving on their Human Resources, Marketing, and Legislative Committees.  Sue was the first woman to chair the MBA Legislative Committee.   Sue is or has been involved in a wide range of community organizations including the Boothbay Region Student Aid Fund, the Health Care Purchasers Alliance, the Boothbay Region YMCA and New Hope Midcoast. She also mentors young women at Medomak Valley High School through the Olympia Snowe Leadership Institute.  Born in Rockland, Sue grew up in Augusta, Maine and graduated with a degree in history from Smith College. Sue has been visiting CMCA since she was a young girl – visiting the barn in Rockport every summer with her father. Sue and her husband Pete live on Southport Island and have two young adult children.

Susan Petersmeyer | Camden, Maine

Susan Petersmeyer graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and has a graduate degree in architecture from the University of Virginia. In addition, she completed a three-year certificate program at the New York Studio School of Drawing and Painting. Petersmeyer practiced in an architectural firm in Washington, DC, and she has also owned a contemporary gift store in a Boston suburb, researched and edited a book on Art Deco architecture in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and worked on several historic preservation projects. Prior to moving to Maine in 2011, Petersmeyer lived in New York City for 15 years, where she served on the boards of Libraries for the Future and Find Your Voice (formerly Starfish Theaterworks). Petersmeyer chaired the board of Find Your Voice for three years, and she is the chair of a small family foundation.

Sandra Ruch | Northport, Maine

Sandra Ruch is the film program manager for International Cinema US, where she organizes documentary film programs for US embassies and colleges and universities around the world. She is also president of CinElixir Consulting, which provides consulting services to documentary filmmakers. Previously, Ruch was executive director of the International Documentary Association, and a film programmer and consultant for the U.S. Department of State in its Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, bringing US documentary films and filmmakers to embassies, schools, and arts organizations in 17 countries. Ruch has had extensive marketing experience in senior management positions in the entertainment industry, heading up campaigns for the film Evita, PBS’s Masterpiece Theatre, the Los Angeles Music Center, and Fox TV’s Movie of the Week, among many others. Ruch serves on juries and expert panels at international film festivals and conferences, and she serves on several boards, among them the Maine Alliance for Arts Education (MAAE), the Camden Conference, and Waterfall Arts.

Pamela Schreiber | Philadelphia, PA + Islesboro, ME

Pam received her BS from Cornell University and an MS from the Columbia University School of Social Work. She began her career as a Psychiatric Social Worker in New York City, working in Mental Health Services before developing her own private psychotherapy practice in Philadelphia.  Later in her career, she became a Vice President for Investor Relations for a publicly traded company in Philadelphia, winning an award from a National Retail Investors’ Society.  Pam co-founded The Philadelphia Weekend Film Festival, celebrating the work of Hollywood film directors by inviting them to the City where local audiences could meet and appreciate them in person. Pam currently serves on several boards, including as Emeritus Chair and ongoing advisory board member for the Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice and Research at the University of Pennsylvania & the Rosenbach Museum and Library.  She also serves as an Ambassador for the Barnes Foundation; a member of the Collections Committee at the Atheneum; and a member of the Pepper Council for the Free Library of Philadelphia. She spends her summers in Islesboro, Maine where she serves as an advisory board member of the Islesboro Island Trust.

William Stites | Thomaston, ME

Bill Stites earned a BFA from Emerson College and has been a commercial photographer for over 40 years. His work has appeared in, House and Garden, House Beautiful, Esquire, Better Homes and Gardens, Family Circle, Traditional Home, and many others. He is also the photographer of The Sporting Life, Living with Dogs, The Anglers Life, and The Gardeners Life, published by Clarkson Potter/ Random House books. Other book publishing credits include Doubleday, Little Brown, and Penguin. When he wasn’t working behind the camera he bought, renovated, and rebranded Seascape Ocean Resort, the highly acclaimed small resort in the Florida Keys (1994-2005). He now lives full time in Thomaston, Maine.

David S. Swetland | Edgecomb, Maine

David Swetland holds an MFA in Sculpture from the University of Pennsylvania, and served on the Board of the International Sculpture Center in Washington, D.C., from 1984 to 1987. He has worked as a project manager for Duany Plater-Zyberk Architects in Miami, Florida, specializing in suburban, urban and wide area design issues. With his wife, Paula, he formed a landscape architecture practice in the Miami-Dade area for the design of residential gardens, which they operated until their retirement and move to Maine in 2016. Since early adulthood, he has served as a trustee of the Sears-Swetland Family Foundation of Cleveland, Ohio.

Carolyn Watson | Belfast, Maine

Carolyn Watson is an internationally recognized designer and restoration specialist as well as a dedicated philanthropist. Over the course of her career, she has led projects as diverse as the restoration of historic churches, design of a Chalet in France, to the interior and exterior lighting for both Art Center Europe and Art Center’s Pasadena campus, where she also taught. She recently completed a major gate commission for the Huntington Library and Gardens in Pasadena, California. Carolyn apprenticed with renowned American designer, Paul Tuttle and developed a unique mastery of materials for her interior, landscape, furniture and lighting designs. Carolyn founded Watson Design Associates in 1981(now Watson Design Group/WDG) specializing in world-class design, restoration, planning and project management.

Among her many accomplishments and awards, Carolyn received, along with her husband, the 2017 Gold Crown Award from the Pasadena Arts Council for their work in the arts in California. In 2015 Professional Child Development Associates (PCDA) of Pasadena named her Humanitarian of the Year for her specific contributions to the arts and youth with autism. Following this recognition, the Carolyn Watson Arts Scholarship fund was started at PCDA, providing permanent funds to help families to pay for high quality summer and after-school arts programs.

Carolyn’s Board service is extensive: Northern Westchester Center for the Arts (NY); Save the Children (Cold Spring Harbor, NY); Pasadena Symphony and Pops
Member of Art Center 100, a fundraising Board to raise money for Scholarships at Art Center College of Design (Pasadena); South Pasadena Educational Foundation; Fellows of the Huntington Library and Gardens.

Pamela Wise | Northport, ME

Pamela is a Senior Vice President and Resident Director at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management in Washington, DC. Professionally, Pamela manages assets and liabilities across the country for a variety of individual clients and select institutions. Her practice focuses on planning, transparency, and social responsibility. In her personal life, Pamela is married to James and has four children. She resides in the Adams Morgan Neighborhood of Washington, DC and in Northport, ME. She is also currently restoring the historic home “Oakenham” in Middlesex County, VA near where her sons go to boarding school. Pamela‘s outside pursuits include gardening, running and sailing. She is also the founder and designer of a micro fashion line called Syndibat which focuses on bohemian street wear and are available at markets, trunk shows and online.

Marilyn Moss Rockefeller | Camden, Maine

Marilyn Rockefeller has been a board member at numerous Maine nonprofit organizations, in addition to serving as board chair at Maine Coast Artists (as CMCA was known in the 1980s and 90s). These organizations include the Nature Conservancy of Maine, as co-chair; the Maine Community Foundation; and chair at the Equity Fund, based in Portland. During the 1980s and 90s, Ms. Rockefeller built Moss, Inc. into a world-renowned designer and manufacturer of exhibition spaces for trade shows, utilizing tension fabric technology originally developed by Bill Moss for camping tents. Before its sale in 2001, the company grew to employ 160 workers at its facility in Belfast.

Martin E. Lloyd | Camden, Maine

Martin Lloyd is a resident of Camden and has lived and worked his entire life in Maine. He has served as a professional accountant in the field of taxation for more than 25 years, after graduating from the University of Maine magna cum laude with a B.S. in accounting. He currently maintains a successful tax and financial services practice in Camden that has been in business for some 20 years in Knox County, and recently he added financial planning and wealth management to his practice. Since 2002, Lloyd has held the special designation of Enrolled Agent (E.A.) with the Internal Revenue Service and Untied States Treasury, and he holds Maine Securities Licenses, Series 6, 63, and 65. Lloyd has extensive experience working with a variety of for-profit and nonprofit businesses and organizations, the latter including the local Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis, Big Brother–Big Sister, and, most recently, CMCA. His involvement with charitable organizations has often been in a fiduciary capacity, as treasurer.

Davis Thomas | Camden, Maine

Dave Thomas has been part of the CMCA scene both as a volunteer and trustee for the better part of 25 years. He joined the board in the late 1980’s, rotating off from time to time before rejoining in 2010 and serving until 2016. Davis’ board activities included auctioneer for gala art auctions, chair of the Development Committee and co-chair of the Capital Campaign from 2012-2016. After a career in magazine journalism at LIFE, the Saturday Evening Post, Holiday, and several other national magazines, Thomas moved to Maine in 1977 to become the editor and associate publisher of Down East, the Magazine of Maine, retiring in 1993. Since then, he and his wife Karin, a former board president of Maine Coast Artists (the precursor of CMCA), have traveled widely, particularly in Asia, where they have made numerous high-altitude treks in the Himalayas.

Helen Baumeister | Spruce Head, ME
John Bird | Rockland, ME
John Bisbee | Brunswick, ME
Gideon Bok | Camden, ME
Bruce Brown | Portland, ME
Christopher Crosman | Thomaston, ME
Drew Hodges | Portland + Cushing, ME
Jack McKenney | Chicago, Il
Jeff Tucker | Camden, ME + Tampa, FL
Anne Vartabedian | Boothbay, ME
Christine Vincent | Vinalhaven, ME + Boston, MA
Katharine Watson | Brunswick, ME
Sandy Weisman | South Thomaston, ME
Pamela Wise | Washington, DC

Header image: Adam John Manley