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

ROBERT WOLTERSTORFF
Executive Director
rwolterstorff@cmcanow.org

JEAN LINN THOMPSON
Associate Director
jthompson@cmcanow.org

MIA BOGYO
Education Programs Manager
mbogyo@cmcanow.org

TARA MORIN
Education Programs Assistant
tmorin@cmcanow.org

TORI MARSH
Virtual Look Inside Educator
tmarsh@cmcanow.org

MICHAELA STONE
Development + Membership Associate
mstone@cmcanow.org

ASHLEY GOSS
Events Associate
events@cmcanow.org

HANNAH BERTA
Exhibitions + Facilities Manager
hberta@cmcanow.org

LIZZIE LOMBARDO
Communications Manager
elombardo@cmcanow.org

LEA FRENI
Retail Manager + Graphic Designer
lfreni@cmcanow.org

DARA ZUCKERNICK
Visitor Engagement Associate

Board

Officers

Interim Chair & 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 – Sue Michlovitz | Camden, Maine

Sue Michlovitz is a visual artist, whose mediums include photography, artist books and mixed media. Among the places she has shown her work include: Blue Raven Gallery (Rockland, ME),Cove Street Arts (Portland, ME), Griffin Museum of Photography Lafayette Center (Boston, MA), Maine Jewish Museum (Portland, ME), Maine Museum of Photographic Arts (Portland, ME), Photoville at the Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, Mass), The Parsonage Gallery (Searsport, ME), and State of the Art Gallery (Ithaca, NY).

She holds a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Media Arts from Maine Media College and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Orthopedic Physical Therapy. In her 48+ year career as a physical therapist she participated in education of doctoral and masters students, mentoring clinicians, clinical care, and research as a Professor at Temple University and Hahnemann University (now Drexel). Michlovitz participated in nine medical missions with Guatemala Healing Hands Foundation.

Dr. Michlovitz has 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. She lives in Camden with her husband Paul Velleman and their two ever-so-happy beagles.

Trustees

Charles Altschul | Camden, Maine

Charles Altschul’s early love of photography fostered interests in design, publishing and letterpress printing. In 1986, when new digital tools were changing the creative landscape, Altschul returned to Yale University to pursue a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Graphic Design. While steeped in traditional ideas and methods, Altschul embraced the new tools and began to push the aesthetic boundaries of what they made possible. Upon graduation, he was asked to join the faculty and among other responsibilities, taught the first course in digital photography within the School of Art.

Altschul moved to Camden in 1991 to become Director of Education at the newly-opened Kodak Center for Creative Imaging. He subsequently helped several art schools integrate digital technologies into their curricula, notably creating the nation’s first Bachelor’s program in Multimedia at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. In 2006, Altschul returned full-time to Maine to become President of Maine Media Workshops + College and lead its renaissance as a nonprofit institution. He is a member of the core faculty in the school’s MFA program, an Executive Member of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences and President Emeritus of the Farnsworth Art Museum.

Helen Baumeister | Spruce Head, Maine

Helen Baumeister studied fine arts at Syracuse University, the School of Visual Arts, and Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah and France. She did not return to art until she retired. In the interim, Helen specialized in financial services; first in technology, then consulting and strategic planning. She worked with wealth managers, investment managers, trust companies, and other financial market players. She retired from Accenture as an Associate Partner in Strategic Services. Once retired, she served as a trustee at Trudeau Institute in Saranac Lake for 17 years as Chair of Development and Governance. Helen served on CMCA’s Events Committee as a volunteer for the last ten years. She also returned to creating art. Helen and her husband John reside full-time on Rackliff Island in a house they built by buying a plan online. They are avid collectors, focusing on contemporary art by Maine’s established and emerging artists. Helen considers herself an occasional painter, mostly exploring mixed media.

Zel Bowman-Laberge | Thomaston, Maine

Zel is an architect who grew up on Cobscook Bay in Maine. She received her Bachelor of Architecture degree from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). After a decade of working for local architects, Zel started her own architecture studio and has been designing residential projects along the coast of Maine. Zel currently lives with her family in Thomaston where she has served her community on the Select Board, Thomaston Green Park Committee, Transfer Station Board, and other municipal building committees.

Brad Choyt | South Thomaston, Maine

Culminating a three-decade career in a wide range of educational settings, Brad currently serves on the Board of Directors for Regional School Unit #13, a district with six schools in Midcoast Maine that includes Rockland, and chairs the Student Engagement Task Force and the Curriculum and Technology Committee. Brad is also active with the Midcoast Community and serves as a Commissioner for the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). Prior to moving to Maine, Brad was a trustee at AVA Gallery and Art Center in Lebanon, NH for six years, where he chaired the Education Committee. Thanks to Brad’s experiences as a teacher and head of school in locations across the globe, he brings extensive knowledge of strategic planning, community engagement, curriculum and pedagogy. Brad earned his BA from Brown University and MFA from the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied with Maine artist, Neil Welliver. He currently creates paintings and wall sculpture from his studio on Spruce Head Island and has exhibited his work nationally since the early 1990s.

Carol Eisenberg | Rockland, Maine

Carol began her career as an advertising copywriter and graphic designer within the publishing industry. In 1969, after being forced by company policy to leave her job at a large East Coast publishing company because she was five months pregnant, Carol joined the Women’s Movement and in 1972 decided to go to law school (instead of art school as originally contemplated). Carol spent the next 36 years practicing law in New York and New Jersey. During that time, she held leadership positions in a variety of prestigious professional organizations. She was awarded an AV rating by Martindale Hubbell. After retiring to Maine with her late husband, Dr. William B. Benjamin, Carol decided to return to her original career as an artist. She obtained her MFA degree in 2016 and is currently living and working as an artist in Rockland, Maine.

Rick Franklin | Warren, ME

Rick Franklin is a founder of Constant Therapeutics and has served as its President and CEO since its inception. He was a director of Raptor Pharmaceuticals, until its sale to Horizon Pharma in 2016. Rick received his MD from Boston University Medical School and his PhD (Mathematics) from Brandeis University. Rick is an enthusiastic golfer and a lover of classical music and films. He is married to Mary Joe Hughes (Josie), a former Trustee and long-term summer resident of Warren, ME.

Pamela Schreiber | Philadelphia, PA + Islesboro, Maine

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.

Catherine Steiner-Adair | Tenants Harbor, Maine

Catherine Steiner-Adair grew up on the edges of the film industry, where she became acutely aware of the power of visual images in film, photography and art, and curious about issues of cultural impact and accountability. An internationally recognized clinical psychologist, researcher, and author, her work as a research associate at Harvard Medical School focused on how messages in the culture either support or undermine kids from living to their creative and intellectual potential. Author of the award-winning book, The Big Disconnect: Protecting Childhood and Family Relationships in the Digital Age (WSJ top 10 best non-fiction book of the year in 2013) she consults educators, health professionals, media creators, and organizations worldwide on how to ensure today’s children have both the technological savvy and the tools of our humanity to thrive in the AI world.

In her youth, Catherine trained as a dancer at both Martha Graham and Alvin Ailey schools and taught dance at Bowdoin College while an undergraduate. She fell in love with drawing and painting later in life, is a classically trained oil painter, and has studied with several Maine landscape painters. Catherine serves on several boards related to children’s mental health and well-being and is an advisor to mid-coast non-profits. She maintains a small clinical and consulting practice; and lives in Tenants Harbor with her husband Fred Adair.

William Stites | Thomaston, Maine

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.

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.

John Bisbee | Brunswick, ME

Gideon Bok | Camden, ME

Karen Brace | Camden, ME
Bruce Brown | Portland, ME
Christopher Crosman | Thomaston, ME

Drew Hodges | Portland + Cushing, ME

David Hopkins | North Haven, ME

Mary Joe (Josie) Hughes | Warren, ME + Milton, MA
Marty Jones | South Thomaston, ME + Sarasota, FL
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

Paul Keenan | Cushing, ME + New York, NY

Header image: Adam John Manley