BOARD AND STAFF

Patricia Morris Carey, Ph.D.

Ada Ciniglio

Emily Ford

Erica Sutton Friedman

Marcella Gift

Yashvardhan Jain

Russ Jones

Lynne S. Katzmann

Caroline Kim

David Monn

Nduka Nwankwo

Omar Perez

Iris Lior Posternack

Louise Hartwell White

Alice Wong

The Honorable Laurie Cumbo,
Ex-Officio

———

Richard H. Levy,
Founding Executive Director
1978-1985

Steven Tennen,
Executive Director
1986-2020

Rachel Watts,
Executive Director
2020-present

STAFF

Email to contact ArtsConnection staff.
Please be as specific as possible with your request so we can forward your inquiry to the appropriate staff/department.

Wendy Cohen, Teen Programs Exhibitions Manager, is a queer artist, educator, and arts administrator who is passionate about helping students and artists of all ages build confidence in their creative voices. Before ArtsConnection, she coordinated exhibitions at Brown University and the CUE Art Foundation, managed affordable art studios for Chashama, and taught visual art classes at the Church Street School. In the studio, Wendy blends weaving and crochet techniques with found objects to create sculptural textile pieces. Her work is on view at the Brooklyn Museum through January 26, 2025 as part of the Brooklyn Artists Exhibition. Wendy earned a B.A. in Visual Arts from Brown University.

Maxine Montilus, Program Manager for In-School Programs, is a dance artist and educator. She has presented work at various institutions, including The Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance and La Mama Experimental Theatre Club. In 2014, she choreographed BallyBeg Production’s third play and Equity-approved showcase, “The Taste of It”, and was a 2015 nominee for Outstanding Choreography/Movement in The New York Innovative Theater Awards for her work in the production. In 2017, Maxine served as an Afro-Cuban/Haitian Folklore consultant for Camille Brown in her work for the Broadway musical “Once On This Island.”  Maxine was also the choreographer for Opera Orlando’s presentations of George Bizet’s “Carmen” (April 2021), “The Secret River” (December 2021), and “The Magic Flute” (October 2022). All three productions made their premieres at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.  In 2023, Maxine was selected as one of Haiti Cultural Exchange’s Lakou Nou Artists-in-Residence as well. As an educator, she has taught for various organizations and higher ed institutions, including Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute, Camille A. Brown & Dancers, CUNY Hunter College and Marymount Manhattan College.

Casey Angelo, In-School Program Manager, is a visual artist, educator, and cultural worker with over a decade of experience developing and managing arts programs in schools and community organizations. She is interested in collective reimagining and the transformative potential of young people. Casey is committed to building sustainable networks that provide the space and resources necessary to generate new ways of seeing and being in the world.

She holds a B.A. in Art History from The University of Massachusetts Amherst and an M.A. in Childhood Education from Hunter College.

Shenell Bruce, Social Media & Teen Programs Coordinator, has a background in visual art, and additionally studied fashion design, marketing, and store design. She holds a BA in Business Administration.

Queena Chen, Teen Programs & Communications Manager, graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology, studying graphic design. She originally began her journey as a Teen Programs participant, exhibiting her artwork in multiple Student Art Program exhibitions and in Teens Curate Teens, before serving as an AC intern. When she’s not designing and doodling, she is cloud watching in a park. Favorite colors: black, white, and grey—in that order. 

Jalise Hackle, Finance Associate, found her calling after her first accounting course in High School and her career sky rocketed ever since! Enjoys traveling and holds a BA in Public Accounting.

Tavia Huggins, Director for Finance, has overseen ArtsConnection’s finance and human resources since 2002.  A number cruncher at heart, Tavia enjoys using those skills to help ArtsConnection make sound financial decisions for the future. She has a Bachelor of Arts from Smith College and two lovely daughters.

Keith Kaminski, Deputy Director for Strategic Operations, is a queer, NYC-based multimedia artist and nonprofit professional with over twenty years of experience with arts education in NYC public schools. After three years as a NYC DOE art teacher, Keith has led arts education work at various nonprofit organizations for the past seventeen years and also serves on the board of the NYC Arts in Education Roundtable. Keith holds an MPA with a concentration in nonprofit administration from CUNY Baruch College and a BFA in art education from Syracuse University.

Tej Khanna, IT Systems Manager, is an active tech enthusiast and comedian. He is passionate about staying up to date with new technology. He loves to organize events in the comedy community and perform improv, standup and sketch comedy. He got his BS in Computer Science from the New York University Tandon School of Engineering.

Nicholas Leichter, In-School Program Manager, In-School, is a former choreographer, dancer, and artistic director. He arranges, plays piano, keyboards, percussion, and sings with The Celestials and serves on the Board of Directors at Language of Dance.

Erin Loughran, Senior Manager, Professional Learning & Evaluation, has a background in visual arts and museum education. She started working at ArtsConnection as a program manager over 15 years ago. She has worked with teachers, artists and multilingual learner students in the DELLTA program and collaborated on the development of the DELLTA website launching in 2022. She currently works on the GIVE program, among others. In her time off, she’s introducing her young daughters to the arts.

Riham Majeed, Development Manager, is a Palestinian-American fundraising professional and emerging curator based in New York City. She holds a B.A. in Art History and Psychology from Fairfield University. Riham completed a curatorial fellowship at arts incubator NXTHVN, where she and two co-curators coordinated the exhibition Countermythologies.  In her free time, Riham enjoys shooting and printing photographs, soaking up the sun in public parks and organizing with an all-woman-of-color-led grassroots political organization.

Edisson Marmolejo, Senior Finance Director, is an accounting instructor and a non-profit accountant with more that 36 years of field experience in the tri-state area including major arts organizations as well as charter schools. Edisson hopes that his experience will be an integral part of Arts Connection financial structure. He holds a MS in Accounting from NJCU in Jersey City , NJ, and a BBA in Accountancy from Baruch College. Edisson has two children working in the educational and government fields.

Kyla McKoll, Director of Professional Learning, is a multi-disciplinary arts educator who has worked in the field since 2005. She is passionate about creating liberated learning environments, examining access, inclusion, and equity in educational practices. Kyla holds a B.A. in Theater & Performance Studies from Muhlenberg College, and an M.A. in Educational Theater from New York University.

Edward Miller, Director of Teen Programs, grew up in Minneapolis where he began his career in Theater at the Children’s Theater Company, Fuller Young People’s Theater and Youth Movement Dance Co. He is a graduate of the Acting Program at S.U.N.Y. Purchase and the improv program at The Upright Citizens’ Brigade, is a founding member of Habitual Theater, and continues to act, direct and design.

Erin Orr, Artist Mentor and Curriculum Specialist, is a puppeteer, storyteller, and teaching artist who focuses on how the interdisciplinary nature of puppet theater offers multiple entry points to literacy in early childhood.  A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, she has collaborated on creating and teaching a sequential early childhood puppetry curriculum at PS 130 in Brooklyn for 20 over years.

Alexander Roman, Program Manager, In-School, has worked in the youth development field for over 14 years and it has become his life’s work to continue to build connections between arts education and progressive youth development.

Andrew Shillingford, Finance & Development Assistant, was first introduced to ArtsConnection through CUNY Cultural Corps program. At first, he worked with Amanda Guest as an intern in the student art program with other interns. He later went on to do another CUNY program called Recovery Corps where he came back for the summer as a Finance and Development intern and was later brought on as a part-time employee to continue assisting Finance and Development. He’s currently a college student enrolled at Lehman College in the Bronx with a major in Philosophy and Mathematics with a minor in Japanese.

Briana Thomas, Teen Programs Manager, was born and raised in “The Boogie Down Bronx”. Her experience as an NYC public school student taught her the value of access to arts programming and motivated her to be a bridge to the arts for other students. Before ArtsConnection, she worked with students at the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA), The Boys’ Club of New York, and Arts East New York. Briana has a B.A. in Art History and Spanish from Williams College.

Gwendolyn Thomas, Director of In-School Programs, is an educator and arts administrator with a musical background in classical flute performance. She received a BA and an MA in flute performance from Mannes College of Music and Eastman School of Music respectively. Her entry into music education began as a teaching artist through various arts organizations. After receiving an initial certification in music education in 2015, her position as middle school band director at Hunterspoint Community Middle School (HPCMS) served as an opportunity to promote musical literacy and the inclusivity of communities of various socioeconomic backgrounds in concert band. Gwen served as a Program manager at ArtsConnection from 2012-2015. She recently expanded her skill set to include work as a behavior technician implementing therapeutic interventions for individuals on the autism spectrum.

Dionne Thornton, Director of Development & Communications, is a southern-born, NYC matured, internationally-seasoned Black American who chases freedom, happiness, and her weird curiosities. She believes that art and culture are fundamentally important to the continued development of humanity. She is a former Advisory Board member of the Gordon Parks Foundation and has worked for Carnegie Hall, the International Center of Photography, and the Brooklyn Museum.

Rachel Watts, Executive Director, is an Afri-Cari-Merican April fool with a love of dance and visual art.  As a multidisciplinary arts educator, her focus has been on equitable teaching and program design practices. She has held several leadership positions, including, Director of Education at Ballet Hispanico and Director of The MYC Youth Center in San Rafael California, where she led the creation of a facility focused on developing teen leadership skills through the arts and technology. Rachel earned a BA from Williams College and an MA in Latin American and Caribbean Studies, with a concentration in Museum Studies, from New York University. Most recently, she was named a 2024 Crain’s New York Notable Black Leader.