Calandra Childers

Acting Director

Seattle Office of Arts & Culture

Calandra Childers is the Acting Director of the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, where she oversees the Office’s cultural investments in artists, cultural organizations and the Seattle community through public art commissions, grantmaking, and partnerships with a focus on community development and the equitable allocation of resources. Most recently she oversaw the launch of ARTS at King Street Station, a new 8,000-square-foot free cultural hub, programmed by and for the community.
Calandra has two decades of public engagement, communications, and policy experience working with non-profit and government agencies including the cities of Seattle and Renton, Seattle Art Museum, and the Renton Chamber of Commerce. A graduate of Whitman College, she volunteers with the King-Snohomish County
YWCA and the Rainier Valley Food Bank and enjoys outdoor adventures with her husband and dogs.

Marie Acosta

Executive and Artistic Director

Latino Center of Art and Culture

Marie Acosta has worked as an actor, writer, director, producer and project manager in the arts in a variety of capacities for over 30 years. 

Since 2008 Ms. Acosta has led Sacramento’s Latino Center of Art and Culture as the Artistic/Executive Director. She conceptualized, curated and managed new programs including a two-day, outdoor celebration of Día de los Muertos, and a week-long theater production, La Pastorela de Sacramento which she also co-authored.

Ms. Acosta has authored art catalog content, program notes and educational materials for the arts. In 2017, her short story “Raya Sol del Mundo” was included in The Race, Tales of Flight in the anthology by New Mexico artist, Patrick Allen Nagatani. 

Ms. Acosta is a registered member of the Southern California Tongva (San Gabrieleño) tribe of Indians recognized by the State of California and is fluent in written and spoken Spanish/English. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from California State University, Northridge.

Clayton W. Lord

Vice President of Strategic Impact

Americans for the Arts

Clayton Lord is Americans for the Arts’ Vice President of Strategic Impact. In that role, he and the Strategic Impact team collaborate closely with research, communications, and program staff to connect the dots between the various components of work done at Americans for the Arts and encourage the creation of solid, complex initiatives that progress the core mission and goals of the organization and drive systemic change. Prior to shifting into this role, Lord was the Vice President of Local Arts Advancement for the organization for seven years. Lord is a prolific writer, thinker, and speaker about the public value of the arts and has edited and contributed to three books: Counting New Beans: Intrinsic Impact and the Value of the Arts; Arts & America: Arts, Culture and the Future of America’s Communities; and To Change the Face & Heart of America: Selected Writings on the Arts and Communities, 1949-1992. He led Americans for the Arts’ New Community Visions Initiative, a multi-year effort to better understand and support the changing role of the arts and LAAs in American communities, and now oversees initiatives focused on the social impact of the arts, the equitable treatment of creative workers, and the proliferation of pro-arts policy. This has included the Arts + Social Impact Explorer (AmericansForTheArts.org/SocialImpact). He is the chief architect of the Americans for the Arts Annual Convention. He holds a B.A. in English and Psychology from Georgetown University, and lives with his husband and daughter in Maryland.

Randy Cohen

Vice President of Research

Americans for the Arts

Randy Cohen is Vice President of Research at Americans for the Arts—the national advocacy organization for the arts—where he has been empowering arts advocates since 1991. Randy stands out as a noted expert in the field of arts funding, research, and using the arts to address community development issues. He publishes Americans Speak Out About the Arts, the nation’s largest public opinion study about the arts, and produces the two premier economic studies of the arts—Arts & Economic Prosperity, the national economic impact study of nonprofit arts organizations and their audiences; and Creative Industries, a mapping study of the nation’s 675,000 arts businesses and their employees. His 10 Reasons to Support the Arts blog received the Gold Award from the Association of Media & Publishing—their top honor for best blog post of the year. Randy led the development of The National Arts Index, the annual measure of the health and vitality of arts in the U.S. and the National Arts Policy Roundtable, an annual convening of leaders who focus on the advancement of American culture—launched in partnership with Robert Redford and the Sundance Institute. In the late 1990’s, Randy collaborated with the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities to create Coming Up Taller, the White House report on arts programs for youth-at-risk; and the U.S. Department of Justice to produce the YouthARTS Project, the first national study to statistically document the impact of arts programs on at-risk youth. A sought-after speaker, Randy has given speeches in all 50 states, and regularly appears in the news media—including the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and on C-SPAN, CNN, CNBC, and NPR.
 
Randy has been a policy specialist for the National Endowment for the Arts, founded the San Diego Theatre for Young Audiences, and worked in medical research for Stanford University and Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation. His board work includes the League of Historic American Theaters. Randy is a past Chairman of the Takoma Park Arts & Humanities Commission, during which time the Commission completed a cultural plan, established the city’s Poet Laureate and public art programs, and led the development of a million-dollar conversion of the city council chambers into a performing arts space.

Twitter: @artsinfoguy

abdiel j. lopez

Program Officer

Center for Cultural Innovation

abdiel j. lópez (they/them) is the program officer at the Center for Cultural Innovation (CCI), a California-based knowledge and financial services incubator for individual artists. As program officer, they manage the AmbitioUS portfolio, which invests in alternative economic paradigms of and federated infrastructure by those most dispossessed—primarily BIPOC communities—who are seeking financial self-determination in order to preserve and support their cultural identity and artistic expressions on their own terms. They also help facilitate the CAL-Now Network and administer the CALI Accelerator Grant program. abdiel joined CCI in 2019 as the program assistant and later became the program associate.

Previously, abdiel was a gallery manager at Galería Estéreo in Mexico City. abdiel jump-started a career in the arts and culture sector after co-curating En Voyage: Hybridity and Vodou in Haitian Art at the Grinnell College Museum of Art and subsequently joining 18th Street Arts Center as the 2018 Getty Marrow Undergraduate Curatorial Programs Intern. Outside of CCI, abdiel works as a research assistant for a book project on the political activism of the adolescent and young adult children of immigrants. abdiel earned a B.A. in sociology and studied art history at Grinnell College. Born and raised in Los Angeles, abdiel currently lives in Koreatown with their Pomeranian dog Horchata.

Website: https://www.cciarts.org/

Amina Cooper

Program Director, Public Art - CLT Airport

Arts and Science Council, Charlotte

Amina's work in public art is centered around policy development and public art planning with a special emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion. In her current role as Public Art Director - CLT Airport, Amina is responsible for coordinating and managing public art project management at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) on behalf of the Arts & Science Council (ASC).  Amina works with multiple stakeholders to coordinate design, construction, and installation of public art at CLT, ranked among the top 10 busiest airports in the world. She previously served as a curator and public arts manager for Montgomery County, Maryland, managing public art policy development and collection management efforts for the County.  She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Howard University and a Master of Science degree in Arts Administration from Boston University. In her free time, she moderates @blackmonuments on Instagram, a space that highlights public art and design projects by Black creators.

Monique Mogilka

Community Liaison

Houston Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs

My name is Monique Mogilka, and I'm from Edmond, Oklahoma. I have a BA in sociology and a BA/MA in art history. I am particularly interested in the intersections between sociology and art, and my thesis focused on Minimalism and the emergence of artist foundations. I have experience in public service as well as writing about and supporting visual art. I have interned at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art in Norman, OK and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. In 2019, I was a statistical research specialist at the OK State Bureau of Investigation, where I analyzed crime report data. In my position at the Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs in Houston, I use my experience with public service, curating, and data analysis to serve the needs of our creative community and civic art collection.

Theresa Escobedo

Civic Art Program Manager

Houston Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs

Theresa Escobedo is an arts administrator, curator, and multi-disciplinary artist working in Houston, Texas. She manages Civic Art Program for the City of Houston through the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs and is a current Artist in Residence at the Zocalo Artist Residency. 

In her previous work, she has curated exhibitions and coordinated and executed public programs and projects designed to create community experiences and to give artists the opportunity to impact neighborhoods through creative place-making and social inquiry. Theresa studied at the University of Houston and received a Bachelor of Architecture and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Design with focus on urban planning and generative design processes. 

Instagram: @houstonmoca

Twitter: @houston_moca

Website: https://www.facebook.com/Houst... ;http://www.houstontx.gov/cultu...

Patricia Walsh

Public Art & Civic Design Senior Program Manager

Americans for the Arts

As the Public Art & Civic Design Senior Program Manager,Patricia Walsh overseas five program areas under the Equity + Local ArtsEngagement department including Arts and Community Development; Arts in CivicDesign; Creative Placemaking; Cultural Districts, Trails and Tourism; andPublic Art. Through her work she engages with and works to educate local artsagency leaders on how to utilize the arts to equitably address community needsand goals. Her work aims to support professional development, resource buildingand networking opportunities for arts administrators to utilize the arts tocreate accessible public spaces, enable inclusive and equitable communitydevelopment, and ensure the arts are an active component in equitable economicgrowth and sustainability.

Patricia is a member of the Arts and Planning Interest GroupSteering Committee for American Planning Association, co-chair for theWashington District Council on Placemaking for Urban Land Institute, and anartist selection committee member for two projects with the City of Rockville,Maryland.

She holds a Master of Science in Arts Administration from BostonUniversity, a Bachelor of Arts in painting from State University of New York atPlattsburgh, and an Associates in Applied Science in Commercial Art fromDutchess Community College.

Lara Holman Garritano

Local Arts Agency Specialist

National Endowment for the Arts

Lara Holman Garritano currently serves as the Local Arts Agencies Specialist for the National Endowment for the Arts, managing funding opportunities available to the more than 4,500 Local Arts Agencies across the country. With over 20 years of experience in the field, Lara has worked on arts and culture policy and programming in a variety of communities and capacities. Past positions serving local arts agencies have included management of creative district work, funding programs, and communications in both Colorado Springs, Colorado and Seattle, Washington.

Michael Orlove

Director of State, Regional & Local Partnerships, and International Activities,

National Endowment for the Arts

Michael Orlove currently serves as the director of Director of State, Regional & Local Partnerships. In that capacity, Orlove provides direction concerning the National Endowment for the Arts funding and other assistance to the 56 state and jurisdictional arts agencies, the six regional arts agencies, and local arts agencies across the country. Additionally, Orlove manages the agency's international activities. He was the Agency’s director of Artist Communities and Presenting & Multidisciplinary Works from 2012 to 2019.

Born and raised in Chicago, Orlove spent 19 years as senior program director for the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. His tenure with the department led to nearly two decades of innovation, creativity, and passion for public service with the City of Chicago. Orlove helped transform the Chicago Cultural Center into a prime downtown performing arts venue, as well as launched Chicago SummerDance and World Music Festival: Chicago, two staples in the summer festival season. Orlove also served as the director of music programming in Millennium Park since its grand opening in 2004 and helped establish many of the program series in that venue. 

Michael has been an invited guest speaker and panelist at numerous national and international conferences and convenings.  Honors include being named one of the 'Chicagoans of the Year' in music by the Chicago Tribune in both 1999 and 2009, as well as one of Chicago's 'Global Visionaries' by Chicago Public Radio WBEZ and the Chicago Matters: Beyond Burnham series. As a testament to his international expertise, Orlove was named one of the 'Seven Samurai’ at the prestigious WOMEX (World Music Expo) 2009 Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark and, in 2018, was given the inaugural GlobalFEST ‘Impact Award’ for outstanding commitment to the world music field.  He was recently selected for the DeVos Global Arts Management Fellowship (2018-2020).

He has a BA in history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MA in performing arts management from Columbia College Chicago.