Our Board
OFFICERS
Annesa Hartman
Gavy Kessler
Alan Fowler
Charmaine Wesley-Hartman
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Annesa Hartman (co-chair)
Annesa returns to the Main Street Arts Board after a few years’ hiatus. MSA’s community is near and dear to her heart. For the last 15+ years, she has been actively involved with MSA on stage (performer, director, and choreographer); and off (print/web designer, yoga and felting teacher, events, marketing and capital campaign committees). Annesa’s day job is working as an instructional designer, creating courses for online learning for clients around the world. She also teaches computer graphics, and is the author of five books on computer graphic design and development. She holds a Masters in Teaching with Technology from Marlboro Graduate School, in Marlboro, Vermont and a B.A. in Modern Dance from the University of Oregon. Gavy Kessler (co-chair) Gavy holds his PhD in Drama from UC Irvine and Master’s degree from New York University. He has worked as a performance artist, playwright, director, and educator in New York City and Los Angeles. Gavy taught theater at Temple University and Marlboro College. He has been cast in numerous MSA productions. Favorite musical theater roles include Pontius Pilate in Jesus Christ Superstar, Dr. Frankenstein in Young Frankenstein, Tommy in Tommy, Archibald in The Secret Garden, and Pirelli in Sweeney Todd. Gavy is the director of theater at The Putney School and lives in Dummerston, Vermont. He is excited and honored to be a board member of Main Street Arts. Alan Fowler (treasurer) Born and raised in the Salinas Valley of California, Alan spent his early years playing trumpet, working in the local radio station learning photography and acting in school plays. After taking a random walk through four years at the University of Oregon, he spent the next seven years doing electronics in the Army in Iran, Italy and Washington, D.C. Alan’s experiences of years working in the electronics industry and traveling on small boats in the Caribbean, England and Northern Europe have given him a knack and appreciation for working in problem solving groups and living in small communities. Alan and his wife Pat have lived in Bellows Falls for over 20 years and own the Village Square Booksellers there. His knowledge of small business accounting and experience of serving on local boards should serve Main Street Arts well. Charmaine Wesley-Hartman (secretary) Charmaine is a retired psychologist from California. Coming to Vermont has always been her dream, and 18 years ago my husband, Terry, and I were able to move here. She chose to become involved with Main Street Arts because of the commitment to producing wonderful productions for all ages. She brings a willingness to help where she is needed, to be supportive of MSA’s needs and to share her appreciation to all the people who contribute their time and resources to our wonderful artistic community. |
AT LARGE
Morganna Ekkens
Liz Guzynski
Maryann McArdle
Michael Myers
Beth Vissers
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Morganna Ekkens
Morganna has been performing on stage for over twenty years. A native of the Monadnock region, she discovered her love of theater at Moco Arts in Keene, New Hamphire and that passion led her to NYC, where she attended The American Musical and Dramatic Academy. Morganna joined the Main Street Arts community several years ago as a cast member in Little Shop of Horrors and has now appeared in numerous MSA productions. Her favorite roles include Yitzhak in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Velma Kelly in Chicago and Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods. Presently, she works at the staffing agency Barton Associates as a staffing specialist group manager. Morganna lives in Bellows Falls with her wonderful husband, Brandon and their fur-babies Lucy and Thomas. It is her honor and privilege to support this organization further as a board member. Liz Guzynski Liz is a new-ish Vermont resident who decamped from North Carolina to Bellows Falls with her husband and assorted family members a few years ago. She found Main Street Arts through their production of Sweeney Todd and was immediately transfixed by the talent, drive and outsized vision pulsing through the show. She started working backstage on Into the Woods and Jesus Christ Superstar, moved into costuming for Equus, and ventured onto the boards in Scenes From American Life. She also teaches colored pencil (and soon, other art classes) at MSA. In her other life, Liz is a self-taught artist who discovered the visual arts after narrowly escaping an academic fate. She has won numerous awards in local and regional art shows. In 2012, she won the highest award given by the Colored Pencil Society of America at their International Exhibition. She is trained in Botanical Illustration and works in a wide variety of other media (watercolor, acrylic, encaustic, mixed media). She loves being a part of MSA as it bridges the artist’s solitary journey and the desire to participate in a deeply creative community. Maryann McArdle A charter member of Main Street Arts, Maryann has been involved with the organization since its inception, previously serving as a member of the board in the 1990s. She performed regularly in MSA’s annual Christmas Revels, portrayed The Other Woman in MSA’s production of Trial By Jury, and was co-musical director with Mary Hepburn for MSA’s first production of Kiss Me Kate. Maryann works as a college counselor at Vermont Academy and lives with her husband Mark Ragonese in Bellows Falls. She is coordinator of the Bellows Falls Community Garden and has a weekly standing gig playing piano with Java Jazz at The Flat Iron Coffee House in Bellows Falls. Michael Myers Michael studied Computer Science and Sociology in Virginia. In his early twenties he moved to Tucson, Arizona where he worked as a computer software specialist and volunteered as a grief counselor for terminally ill clients and their families. In 1995 he moved to northern Vermont to pursue a sabbatical at a Buddhist meditation and study center. Michael worked in the center’s finance office for 7 years eventually becoming the comptroller and head of finance. During that time he also trained and served as a member of the town’s Volunteer Fire Department. In 2003, he moved to Bellows Falls and bought his current home. He worked as a substitute teacher. Later he took care of two developmentally challenged adults in his home while also doing Medicaid billing for school districts in California. Michael has a love for visual arts (plays, paintings, sculptures, etc.) but being artistically challenged he consoles himself as an avid collector limited only by wall space, time, and personal finances. He brings passion and a love of arts and community to Main Street Arts. Beth Vissers For the past few years, Beth and her husband John spent time getting to know the community of Saxtons River. Determining there is no finer place on earth, they found their dream home and moved here full-time from South Florida last year. Beth brings skills to the board from her experience practicing law and teaching in Florida. She also holds a Pro Bono Emeritus law license in Vermont. She and her husband live with two yappy dogs, and they enjoy watching woodchucks, chipmunks, a stoat, and what they suspect may be a thousand squirrels around their home. Beth’s hobbies are entertaining, travel and art appreciation. |
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