About |
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Board of Trustees
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Deb Perry
President Deb Perry is currently a Business Systems Analyst with Progressive Insurance. She has always possessed an interest in and love for the visual arts. A graduate of Cuyahoga Community College, with continued adult education from the Cleveland Institute of Art, Deb now enjoys incorporating her painting and drawing talents with unique jewelry designs. As a certified Precious Metal Clay® artisan, Deb enjoys teaching classes and sharing her enjoyment of creating works of art from basic materials. Deb continues to be involved with local and national PMC guilds. She currently serves as president of the North East Ohio Precious Metal Clay guild.
Deb has volunteered her excellent organizational skills and understanding of systems to the Valley Art Center Board of Trustees. Currently, she is the Chair of the Education Committee and contributes her systems experience to the Membership Committee towards its database analysis project. |
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Bruce Downie
Past President Bruce Downie obtained professional experience in a variety of senior financial management positions in both public and privately held companies. Currently, Bruce is a retired partner of The Robert Halliday Co., Ltd., a certified public accounting firm that has served the Chagrin Valley for over 25 years.
His additional industry experience includes public accounting, financial services, and utilities. Bruce is a graduate of Marietta College earning a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting. Bruce is a licensed CPA in Ohio as well as a member of both the Ohio Society of CPA’s and the American Institute of CPA’s. Bruce volunteered many years at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church as the treasurer and also served on the Vestry. His professional expertise has also helped many other non-profit organizations with tax compliance, financial reporting and accounting issues. Bruce is excited to lend his expertise in financial reporting, analysis, budgeting, forecasting and strategic planning to help the Valley Art Center continue its mission to provide high quality programing that presents, promotes and teaches visual arts in the Chagrin Valley as they have for over 40 years. |
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Laurie Dean
Vice President Laurie Dean is celebrating her 40th year as a registered nurse, 37 in the operating room at the Cleveland Clinic doing emergency surgeries. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Cleveland State University and has authored and presented papers related to her field. Laurie has been recognized by her peers with a Cleveland Clinic nursing excellence award. Ms Dean has also been known to volunteer at the Holy Name Church meals on wheels, the Chagrin Documentary Film Festival and Art by the Falls just to name a few. Laurie is an enthusiast art student, and is receiving her "fine arts education " from many mentors at VAC. She has enjoyed her role as artists assistant to Master artist Bud Diehl on VAC's mural project. Laurie enjoys traveling, swimming, kayaking and her short lived curling career! Laurie is the wife of Jeff Dean and mother of two adult tax paying citizens, Allyson and Christopher.
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John Cunningham
Treasurer John Cunningham serves as Managing Director, Chemical Bank in the Cleveland/Akron, Ohio area. A graduate of Case Western Reserve University Weatherhead School of Management, he previously served as Vice President, Commercial Lending Manager at Home Savings and Loan in the Cleveland/Akron, Ohio Area, Senior Vice President at Huntington National Bank, and Senior Vice President at National City Bank. He looks forward to continuing to serve the Valley Art Center as Treasurer.
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Kim Zarney
Secretary Born in Medina, Ohio, Kim Zarney attended Syracuse University and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Painting and Printmaking from the Cleveland Institute of Art.
In addition to his fine art interests, Kim has worked as an illustrator, graphic designer and advertising agency creative director. Highlights of his marketing communications career include a London International Advertising award for Anchor Hocking Glass retail packaging and Package Design Council International and International Brand Packaging awards for Little Giant Pumps line of Pondworks water garden products. As an illustrator, his work has been accepted and shown in two Society of Illustrators Annual Exhibitions in New York and included in the Society’s printed annuals. Now working full-time as a painter as artist/owner of Zarney Originals, Kim continues to refined his unique monochrome format. His abstract landscapes and wildlife paintings are routinely accepted in national juried exhibitions and are included in numerous public and private collections. Kim and his wife Sally are members of the Print Club of Cleveland and live in Beachwood. |
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Brett Berkobein
Brett Berkobein has worked in both the non-profit and for profit sectors since 2005. A graduate of the University of Colorado with degrees in Mass Communication and Political Science, in addition to an MBA from Cleveland State University. Brett and his wife Amber have been residents of the village since 2009. He currently serves as a councilman for the Village of Chagrin Falls. Brett’s appreciation of the arts and those that perform them is something he is passionate about encouraging and growing within the Chagrin Valley.
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Melissa DeGaetano Bertke
Melissa DeGaetano Bertke is a litigation partner at BakerHostetler. She has successfully represented television stations and newspapers in dozens of First Amendment cases and has significant experience in the defense and prosecution of general business litigation. Prior to attending University of Michigan Law School, Melissa received a B.A. in English from Kenyon College and spent a year serving as an AmeriCorps volunteer. A mother to two young boys, Melissa is passionate about the arts and is a longtime fan of the Valley Art Center and Art by the Falls. She is excited to serve on the VAC Board. |
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Robbie Grodin
Robbie Grodin creates awarding winning wearable art for women. Felting & dyeing are her emphasis as Creator & Teacher. She is well recognized for her ethereal Nuno Felt (with wool from her alpacas) lightly felted onto silk and natural dyeing technique, Eco Printing. Robbie’s background is in Marketing & Corporate Sales. She has served on the Board of Directors for Cleveland Museum of Art Textile Art Alliance and is a long-time resident of Chagrin Falls with her husband of 30 years, Rob. |
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KC Henry
KC Henry brings to Valley Art Center a wealth of nonprofit knowledge and experience. Based in Chagrin Falls, KC Henry’s consulting firm Transitions Unlimited offers leadership, strategic vision, fund development and professional development resources for nonprofit organizations. Her clients have included the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland, Koinonia Homes, Inc., Northeast Ohio Adoption Services, The Arthritis Foundation, Integrated Residential Services and dozens of additional organizations locally and nationally based. KC is excited to bring her talents to Valley Art Center.
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Tricia Kaman
Tricia Kaman has been painting traditional figurative works for over 40 years. She started drawing portraits at Cedar Point Amusement Park and perfected “working from life” on pastel sketches and silhouettes of guests; later in 1971, becoming the Founder/President of Kaman’s Art Shoppes, where she has trained well over 1,000 portrait artists.
She attended Cleveland’s Cooper School of Art, Cleveland Institute of Art and The New York Art Students League. Tricia has also studied under Nelson Shanks at Studio Incamminati, Philadelphia. Tricia has exhibited in hundreds of juried regional, national, and international shows including the Grand National Exhibit at the Salmagundi Club in Manhattan. Recently, her work has shown in group invitationals in New York City at the Agora Gallery and the Amsterdam Whitney Gallery. A lifetime Ohio resident, Tricia teaches workshops for the Valley Art Center. She served for eight years as Ohio Ambassador for the Portrait Society of America. The artist paints, conducts workshops, and displays her original oil and pastel paintings at the Tricia Kaman Studio/Gallery in Cleveland’s Little Italy. Tricia is excited to bring her longtime experience as a professional artist to Valley Art Center. |
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Pearce Leary
Pearce Leary is an attorney in private practice. He is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University with degrees in electrical engineering and law. Pearce served on the Chagrin Falls Board of Education for 20 years and in the United States Navy (active and reserve) for 26 years. The Valley Art Center provided great learning experiences for his children as they were growing up and he is honored to be serving on the VAC Board.
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Amanda Petkiewicz
Amanda Petkiewicz is the Visual Editor/General Manager for the Chagrin Valley Times and teaches newspaper and magazine design at Kent State University. She has a B.F.A in Graphic Design from Indiana State University and an M.F.A in Visual Communications from Ohio University and has been in newspaper business for 20 years. A resident of Chagrin Falls since 2008, she recently joined the VAC board to help with marketing. Before joining VAC, she also worked on the marketing of the Chagrin Documentary Film Festival and the new Chagrin Falls Historical Society campaign. Her involvement is driven by her lifelong love of art and ever-growing fondness of the Chagrin Falls community.
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Nancy Rogoff
Nancy Rogoff has been a resident of the Village of Chagrin Falls since 1989. She was appointed to the Valley Art Center Board of Trustees in 2011. An attorney in private practice, she is also employed at the Chagrin Falls High School in The Learning Center.
Nancy has been a member of the Chagrin Falls Planning & Zoning Commission since 1996 where she currently serves at the Chairman of the Board. In addition to her devotion to the visual arts, she is also a member of the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre Board and Chagrin Valley Little Theatre Women’s Committee. Her passion for the arts also extends to her involvement on the Executive Committee of the Chagrin Documentary Film Festival. |
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Martin Treppa
Martin Treppa is a new resident of the neighboring village of Moreland Hills. He comes to us from a previous life of consulting in New York City and currently works as a Project Manager at Key Bank in downtown Cleveland. Martin’s love for community artwork comes from international trips around the world while he served as an Officer in the U.S. Navy. While sailing abroad, he was exposed to village artwork in Asia, Africa and Europe.
Martin is motivated to use his experience in the Financial Markets to further support Valley Art. He will focus on sponsorship generation in the near-term as well as assisting in various programs and events throughout this year and beyond. |
Advisory Board
Robert Halliday, Chairman
Barbara Christian
Dana Davis
Hon. Jeff Dean
Lucinda Einhouse
Kathryn Garvey
Russell Hardy
Darlene Jackson
Joan Rusek
Lois Salmon Toole
David Toole
Mary Urbas
Nick Willis
Barbara Christian
Dana Davis
Hon. Jeff Dean
Lucinda Einhouse
Kathryn Garvey
Russell Hardy
Darlene Jackson
Joan Rusek
Lois Salmon Toole
David Toole
Mary Urbas
Nick Willis
