Rutland Area Art Association d.ba. Chaffee Art Center welcomes six new board members. All six were elected to the board by the Chaffee Membership at the Annual Meeting on February, 27th, 2014. They will join our six returning board members, William T. Carris - President, Barbara Giancola-Vice President, Rick Twigg, Michael Winslow, Erin Shimp, and Peter Lundberg.
New Board Member Biographies
Tom Brown
Pittsford, VT
Tom Brown, owner of Tom’s Treasures in Pittsford, VT, is a decorator/designer with over 35 years’ experience. He attended Santa Barbara City College and then went on to receive his degree from New York School of Design. He began his theatre career at Otter Valley Union High School where he graduated as “Class Thespian.” this is his eighth season with the Actors Repertory Theatre Company and serves as a board member. Tom’s props and designs have been seen in theatre productions throughout the state including ART’s The Belle of Amherst, Savannah Disputation and Presenting Alan Ball. Also, With the Brandon Players, he was W. S. VanDyke, the producer and host, in The Thin Man. Most recently he was set designer and provided the props for Ed Asner’s touring production of FDR. He also works in film, television and video through the Vermont Film Commission. Film credits include: Disappearances, Moonlight and Mistletoe and Northern Borders, He has had acting roles in Window Treatment, The Color Wheel, The Date Thief and television’s Liongate Production of Family Trade on the Game Show Network,(GSN) a reality TV show that aired in March of 2013. Tom is a retired Captain and 28 year veteran of the Vermont Army National Guard.
Laura Conti - Secretary
Wallingford, VT
Laura Conti is an integrated marketing professional with over 20 years of experience. The majority of Ms. Conti's career was based in New York City including Vice President positions with the Nasdaq Stock Market and Lehman Brothers. During her career, she also developed strategic marketing programs which steered notable global brands such as Coach, Snapple, Grand Marnier and Olympus Cameras. Gaining a reputation for successfully 'fixing broken or stalled brands', Ms. Conti has occupied seats at several CMO Roundtables including those hosted by The Atlantic Monthly and Ad Age. Upon moving to Vermont, Ms. Conti owned and operated a small business for seven years. In addition, she has worked on a freelance basis for local Vermont brands assisting them with customer service & sales programs, marketing programs and strategic business plans. Throughout her career she has been actively involved in charitable work, including local non-profits such as RAVNAH, Wonderfeet and HSUS. A graduate of The Pennsylvania State University, she holds a Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Journalism.
William Jalbert
Rutland, VT
William Jalbert is a native Vermonter, photographer and computer technician. He has worked in Information Technology since 1988, and currently is a Network Technician for the Springfield School district. He owned a computer and audio/video consulting business in Burlington Vermont for ten years. He taught Computer Science at Wilkesboro Community College in North Carolina, and photography for Vermont Institute of Natural Science and Vermont Audubon Society. He has photographed events and concerts for the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and the Paramount Theater. William has documented concerts for a number of artist including Dave Brubeck and Waylon Jennings. Locally he has documented events such as Solarfest, Vermont Ragge festival and has been a contributing photographer to the Mountain Times. His nature, wild life and land scape work has shown in the Blue Sky gallery in Ludlow, Cabin Fever in Killington, the Chaffee Art Center and numerous local restaurant and venues. William is involved in his community, and in 2001 founded an organization which helps children of divorce and separation maintain relationships with their fathers and extended family.
Regina M. Kohlhepp
Rutland, VT
Regina loves the Arts and is an active Board Member for Vermont Symphony Orchestra. She is ANCC Board Certified in Gerontology (RN-BC), has her MS in Counseling from University of Vermont, received her BS in Nursing, Castleton State College, Vermont and her initial Nursing Diploma from St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Boston. Regina splits her time between Nantucket, MA and Rutland, VT. In both locations she currently is owner of -Fall Prevention Consulting, where she educates caregivers and professional providers in individual and group balance and mobility training; and Solutions by design aninterior and exterior commercial and residential design for home and landscape. She served as aConsultant to the Board of Registration in Nursing (BORN), Boston; she reviewed medical records and witness statements, and wrote opinions regarding standards of care provided by nurses under review or investigation by the Boards of Registration within the Department of Public Health. She served as Staff Development/Grant Coordinator for Our Island Home, Nantucket and in her capacity was responsible for education/training, including HIPAA, for culturally diverse professional and unlicensed staff. She wrote and administered a successful grant - Extended Care Career Ladder Initiative (ECCLI) funded by Commonwealth Corporation of Boston. She worked for the Rutland Public Schools, VT from 1974 to 1996 as a Health Services Program Teacher, Adult Education Instructor, TechnicalEducation Grant Coordinator, and Guidance Coordinator and is a certified K-12 classroom teacher and clinical supervisor for Health Careers and Adult Education. She developed and coordinated training programs for nursing assistants for State of Vermont and directed grant-funded public relations, marketing, and new program development including all print, TV/radio, and logo design for transition to Stafford Technical Center. She received Vermont “Teacher of the Year” and “Excellence in Technical Education Programming” Awards. She also taught at: Cape Cod Community College, Hyannis, Massachusetts, Community College of Vermont – Rutland Campus, and was an Adjunct nursing faculty, Castleton State College, VT. She holds professional membership and certification with: American Nurses Credentialing Center, Sigma Theta Tau – Nursing Honor Society – Lifetime Member, National Gerontological Nursing Association, American Psychiatric Nursing Association and is current in BLS (CPR) and Crisis Prevention Intervention (CPI).
Lisa McNealus
Saxtons River, VT
Lisa Eckhardt McNealus graduated with a degree in Art History from the University of Vermont. She is currently the Chair of the Visual Arts Department at Vermont Academy in Saxtons River VT where she teaches Studio Art, from the Freshman Program through AP Art. Prior to Vermont Academy she worked as the Development Director at Burr and Burton Academy in Manchester VT and was instrumental in acquiring the school's first million dollar gift. While at BBA she became an art teacher and soon found the Chaffee. Since then she has brought in work for the student shows as well as visited for her own pleasure. Other working experiences include a stint in New York City with a commercical photographer and in a public relations firm. As a summer artist, she has a line of hand-cut collage designs and has paintings and pastels in private collections.
David Pride - Treasurer
Grafton, VT
David Pride, Principal of Pride Development LLC, has over 27 years of real estate planning and development experience and extensive experience working with not-for-profit developers. He knows how to put together the resources necessary for the creation of affordable housing and other community development initiatives. Prior to establishing his consulting firm in 2008, David was the Director of Development Operations for the largest urban nonprofit developer in the country, The Community Builders, Inc. (TCB). There he assisted in the underwriting, management and oversight of a pipeline of 80-90 low-income housing tax credit projects in development, including multi-phased projects representing several thousand units. Formerly a Senior Project Manager in TCB’s Providence office for seven years, where he was responsible for carrying out all aspects of development was directly involved in the development of 12 projects, totaling over 400 units of mixed-income family, senior and special needs housing, including both rehabilitation (historic and non-historic) and new construction. As a Senior Program Officer for LISC, he provided real estate development assistance to the Community Development Corporations and nonprofits within Rhode Island related to the planning and implementation of community revitalization projects, and also underwrote LISC investments associated with those projects. Prior to his experience with TCB and LISC, Mr. Pride was the Assistant City Planner and Interim Director of Economic Development for the City of New Bedford, MA. David holds a Master’s Degree in Regional Planning and a Bachelor’s Degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. As a real estate development consultant since 2008, David has continued to develop affordable housing and assist with other community development initiatives in Rhode Island, Vermont, Massachusetts, and presently, also in New Hampshire. He is currently working on over 8 real estate development projects, ranging in size from 3-50+ units, totaling over 225 units of new and rehabilitated housing and community facility space.
