The Vermont Arts Council elected five new trustees during the Council’s quarterly board meeting in January. Elected to three-year terms beginning in January 2021 were Emily Bernard (South Burlington); Will Kasso Condry (Burlington); Sharon Fantl (Brattleboro); and Holly Groschner (Corinth). Elected for a three-year term beginning June 2021 was Mark Foley (Rutland).
“We are fortunate to be welcoming these five exceptional Vermonters to our board,” said Board Chair Gail Nunziata. “They bring talents as working artists, administrators, and economic influencers, each with distinct life and work experiences. Their perspectives both within and outside of the arts sector will be incredibly valuable to us. I look forward to working with each one of them.”
Biographical information on each of the new trustees is as follows:
Emily Bernard is the author of Black is the Body: Stories from My Mother's Time and Mine, which was named a best book of 2019 by Kirkus Reviews and National Public Radio, and received the 2020 Los Angeles Times Christopher Isherwood Prize for autobiographical prose. Emily’s first book, Remember Me to Harlem: The Letters of Langston Hughes and Carl Van Vechten, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her writing has appeared in: O the Oprah Magazine, Harper’s, The New Republic, The New Yorker, Best American Essays, Best African American Essays, and Best of Creative Nonfiction. Emily has received fellowships from the Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the MacDowell Colony, the Vermont Arts Council, and the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute at Harvard University. Emily is the Julian Lindsay Green and Gold Professor of English at the University of Vermont, and a 2020 Andrew Carnegie Fellow.
Will Kasso Condry is a visual artist, graffiti scholar, and community muralist originally from Trenton, New Jersey. Will studied fine art and illustration at The College of New Jersey as a first-generation college student. He furthered his education in the art of aerosol painting with legendary graffiti artist Daniel “POSE 2” Hopkins. In Trenton, he co-founded Vicious Styles Crew, the city’s premier aerosol art production crew, and founded S.A.G.E. (Styles Advancing Graffiti’s Evolution) Coalition, a non-profit organization focused on inner-city beautification projects. Will describes his life work as “using mural arts as a vehicle for community-building, activism, beautification, and healing.” He has taught courses on the Origins and Politics of Graffiti and Street Art and the Elements of Hip-Hop at Middlebury College, and elementary school classes on the art of illustration, puppet making, and mural painting. With his wife, Jennifer Herrera Condry, he built Juniper Creative Arts, a community mural and healing arts collective.
Sharon Fantl is a cultural practitioner specializing in the performing arts whose work integrates creative strategy, community engagement, interdisciplinary practice, marketing, and communications. As Marketing and Grants Manager at the Redfern Arts Center at Keene State College, Sharon directs communications, marketing, and public relations for the organization and its programs. She currently serves as Board Chair of the Arts Council of Windham County. She has served on the boards of Sandglass Theater, and New England Presenters, Inc., a consortium of arts presenters based throughout New England. Sharon is an advocate for resource-building and sharing in the creative sector and the importance of creatives in the resilience of smaller communities. Sharon lives in Brattleboro with her partner, two kids, and three cats.
Holly Groschner, retired CEO of Vermont PBS, made her career at the intersection of law, communications, and new technology. Holly was a partner at Vermont’s Downs Rachlin & Martin, then built the legal department at Crown Castle International (NYSE:CCI) headquartered in Pittsburgh. Returning to Vermont in 2010, Holly served as General Counsel to the Vermont Telecommunications Authority, an agency that funded broadband and cell service facilities in rural communities. Joining Vermont PBS in 2015, Holly helped the station raise $56M in the FCC spectrum auction, revitalized the leadership team, and relocated the station to a state-of-the-art facility. Focused on growing a digital media service for Vermont, Holly envisioned and authored the merger of Vermont PBS and VPR (to be completed in July 2021). Growing up engaged in art, music and theater, Holly is still “practicing.”
Mark Foley, Jr. (term begins June 2021)
Mark is the fourth-generation owner of Foley Services, the leading linen, uniform and mat rental company in Vermont. He is also the owner of MKF Properties, a real estate management company that owns and manages commercial properties, primarily in Rutland’s Historic Downtown. Mark is active in the Rutland community and has been a vital advocate for and supporter of the arts in downtown Rutland. He serves on several boards, including the Chamber and Economic Development, the Vermont Community Foundation, the Vermont Business Roundtable, the Paramount Theatre, and Rutland Regional Medical Center. He has been active in supporting local public art, including the Rutland Sculpture Trail, murals, galleries and the 77ART residency program, which has attracted more than 40 artists from around the world to the area. Mark lives in Rutland Town with his wife Kelly, and their three children.
For more information on the Vermont Arts Council Board of Trustees, visit https://www.vermontartscouncil.org/about-us/board
The Vermont Arts Council envisions a Vermont where all people have access to the arts and creativity in their lives, education, and communities. Engagement with the arts transforms individuals, connects us more deeply to each other, energizes the economy, and sustains the vibrant cultural landscape that makes Vermont a great place to live. Since 1965, the Council has been the state's primary provider of funding, advocacy, and information for the arts in Vermont. Learn more at vermontartscouncil.org