MEET OUR PANELISTS:

Evonne Davis is co-founder and Artistic Director of Gallery Aferro and formerly Gallery/Education Director at City Without Walls, both in Newark, NJ. Originally from the Woodstock, NY area, she studied at School of Visual Arts and Cornell University.
Evonne has curated independent and affiliated exhibitions since 2001 in innovative as well as traditional settings, including a vacant lot in Coney Island and the back of a 1978 Volvo. Her goal is connect any willing audience with cultural experience. Evonne has facilitated partnerships with Aljira, A Center for Contemporary Art, Newark Arts Council, The Polish Cultural Institute, Brick City Development Corporation, Camera Club of New York, The Newark Museum, The Montclair Museum and many others.
She is currently a member of the City of Newark Committee on Arts, Culture, Tourism and Heritage as well as co-chair of the City of Newark Public Art Committee. Currently, she is also one of 14 senior executives from New Jersey nonprofit organizations selected to participate in the Prudential Foundation Nonprofit Executive Fellows Program at the Institute for Ethical Leadership at Rutgers Business School.

Don Ehman is the Director of Arts Inclusion, Artists’ Services and the Access Coordinator for the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. The Council received the 2004 National Accessibility Leadership Award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Don was the General Manager of The War Memorial Theater in Trenton and Director of the Theatre Program at Arcadia University. He has also worked as a lighting designer for dance, theatre and opera in New York, Philadelphia and New Jersey. He has an MFA in Lighting Design from Wayne State University.

Calliope Nicholas is the Residency Director of Millay Colony for the Arts since 2005. Her work includes oversight of the residency program, including the application and jury process, the colony buildings and grounds, and all details regarding visiting residents. Ms. Nicholas is also Festival Director of FilmColumbia Festival in Chatham & Hudson, NY, since 2002. Ms. Nicholas was a panelist for NYSCA for several years.

Moderator:

Kadie Dempsey, Director of Creative Placemaking Morris Arts, owner of CORE Creative Placemaking LLC, has over 15 years’ experience of building successful and lasting community relationships. Kadie has described herself as “.. someone who connects the dots, people are already doing great things, and the challenge is create an environment where people with different opinions and ideas feel empowered to share their visions.”
Kadie received her Master Practitioner Certification in Creative Placemaking from Rutgers- Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy in 2013. Ms. Dempsey has worked as the Director of Arts in Community/Creative Placemaking at Morris Arts for over ten years and has recently started her own business CORE Creative Placemaking LLC, specializing in community and team engagement.
Ms. Dempsey serves on the advisory committee for New Jersey Consortium for Creative Placemaking, The National Consortium for Creative Placemaking and the Arts Taskforce for Sustainable New Jersey.