About |
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Board of Trustees
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Melissa Bertke
President Melissa Bertke is Senior Counsel at Progressive Insurance where she manages complex commercial litigation and class action defense. Formerly a litigation partner at BakerHostetler, Melissa has significant experience in the defense and prosecution of general business litigation. She is also a graduate of FDCC Ladder Down -- a year-long leadership, development and mentoring program for women lawyers. 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 in Colorado. 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 as President of the Board. |
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Laurie Dean
Past 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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Jason Fisher
Vice President Jason has a deep appreciation for aesthetic and visual design articulation in all aspects of his life and career.
As a graduate of Kent State University, Jason earned his BFA in Visual Communication Design, where he also taught as an adjunct professor, and has spent the past 15+ years leading global brands through marketing, creative, and consumer experiences. Jason is currently the Sr. Director of Marketing, for a Global Water Innovations Company, where he strives to ignite teams around the spirit of possibility and creative solutions that deliver category-defining results. As a husband and father of two, Jason enjoys his family time in Chagrin Falls, OH. You can often find him on the soccer field sidelines, inspiring youth through the soccer community, adding character to his 1925 craftsman home, and investing in his creative soul - always the entrepreneur. |
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Bruce Downie
Treasurer 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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Stephen Burks
Stephen Burks has spent more than 30 years bridging enterprise and creativity. He is the Principal and Creative Director of GoodCity Concepts, a digital storytelling/media production company with local, national and global clients including Unger Enterprises, CT3 Education, the University of Southern California at San Francisco, Deakin University Australia, the Cleveland Clinic and more. Stephen received his degree in Music Theory and Composition with a minor in Marketing from the Dana School of Music in Youngstown, Ohio and held positions with The Nashville Symphony, The Louisville Orchestra, the Hendersonville Arts Council and The Glema Mahr Center for the Performing Arts. Stephen was the founder of the East Asia Arts Partnership and coordinated cross cultural visual art shows and concerts by American artists at the Two Cities Gallery in Shanghai, China, as well as venues in Beijing and Suzhou, China and Bangkok, Thailand. He’s been married to Laura Nealy, a musician he met while working at the Nashville Symphony. Together they’ve travelled the world, camped across America and raised three children during their 33 years of marriage! Now they’re looking forward to meeting and making new friends from the Valley Art Center family. |
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Karen Cunningham
Karen is a Managing Director at Deloitte Consulting where she focuses on enabling her clients to manage industry disruptions and realize their transformational goals by driving adoption of new ways of organizing, operating and behaving. She specializes in strategic change management, organization alignment, workforce of the future and persona-driven engagement. She also leads Deloitte’s Human Capital US and global markets for ESG and Sustainability, Climate & Equity, advising her clients on the organization and workforce imperatives to drive meaningful change, impact and value. Karen earned her Masters of Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the Illinois Institute of Technology and a Bachelors of Psychology from The Ohio State University. She serves on several boards, including chairing the Development Committee on the Valley Art Center board.
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Andrea Dawson
Secretary Andrea Dawson is a staff pathologist at the Cleveland Clinic, where she has spent the past twenty one years providing expert diagnoses for patients with breast cancer. She grew up in Wyoming, which she attributes her love of the outdoors to and went to medical school at the University of Utah. She been on the board of Urban Squash Cleveland, a program for inner city Cleveland children and is an active volunteer in the local squash community.
Her exploration of the art world began in the last several years when she enrolled in classes at the Valley Art Center. At the same time, she had the opportunity to participate in a photography mentorship with a Martha’s Vineyard based photographer. These experiences have inspired her to find the connections between her photography and painting of the natural world and to continue her “art education”. She is very grateful to the teachers and mentors at the Valley Art Center who have been instrumental in encouraging her to show her art in local juried and student art shows. One of these days she will quit her day job and just focus on her art..…in the meantime, she is excited to be a contributing member of the Valley Art Center Board and will work to create opportunities and exposure to the arts for our community. |
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Tricia Kaman
Tricia Kaman has been painting traditional figurative works for over 50 years. She started drawing portraits at Cedar Point Amusement Park working from life, creating pastel sketches and silhouette souvenirs for park guests. In 1971, Tricia became the Founder and President of Kaman’s Art Shoppes, America’s largest art, photo, and specialty merchandise concessionaire for theme parks and zoos.
She has recently retired and is devoting full time to her fine art. 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. Her art has been exhibited in hundreds of juried regional, national, and international shows. A lifetime Ohio resident, Tricia teaches workshops for the Valley Art Center at the Tricia Kaman Studio/Gallery in Cleveland’s Little Italy. It is here, where she paints directly from live models and also displays her original oil and pastel paintings. Tricia is excited to bring her exceptional experience as a professional artist and business owner to Valley Art Center. |
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Yelena Katz
Yelena Katz is an attorney in the Labor & Employment practice group at Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff LLC, an AmLaw 200 business law firm with offices in Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Hackensack, New York, San Francisco, Shanghai and Wilmington. Yelena works with employers on a variety of federal and state labor and employment matters. She has represented employers before administrative agencies and in courts nationwide, and also counsels businesses of all sizes on best practices for employment-related matters. Yelena serves on the steering committee for Benesch’s Women’s Initiative group and on the firm’s Associate Development Committee. Prior to graduating from Case Western Reserve University School of Law with her Juris Doctorate, Yelena received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management (Marketing) also from Case Western Reserve University. Yelena lives in Orange Village with her husband, two sons (both budding artists in daycare!), and Standard Poodle Charlie. The family has been attending Art by the Falls for many years and Yelena is excited to serve on the Valley Art Center Board. Yelena chairs the Board’s Governance Committee.
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Kipum Lee
Kip Lee is a designer and healthcare executive at UH Ventures, the innovation and commercialization arm of University Hospitals. He manages an innovation portfolio that supports University Hospitals’ strategic initiatives and partnerships through product innovation and human-centered design. His love for design stems from the liberal and humanistic arts—including the visual arts. In his younger days, he received the Instructor’s Scholarship at the Ridgewood Art Institute in New Jersey under the tutelage of Charles Colonnese and John Osbourne, and was also part of the NJ Governor’s School of the Arts at the recommendation of beloved art teacher, Alan “Sponz” Sponzilli (Glen Rock, NJ). Serving at VAC is in many ways a homecoming.
Kip graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Science in biomedical science from the University of Pennsylvania, master’s degree in interaction design from Carnegie Mellon University, and a PhD in management from Case Western Reserve University. He serves on the editorial board of the design and innovation journal, Design Issues, published by MIT Press. |
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Matt Silla
Matt Silla is a senior manager in the business valuation and litigation consulting group at Apple Growth Partners (AGP). Matt has been responsible for the development of hundreds of business valuation engagements for a variety of businesses and ownership interests covering various industries. AGP provides valuation and litigation consulting services to approximately 150 clients annually in addition to accounting and tax services.
Matt has over fifteen years of professional experience and has focused exclusively on valuation services since 2004. Matt’s areas of concentration include the valuation of businesses, intangible assets and stock options. He has performed valuations for many purposes including estate and gift tax, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), mergers and acquisitions, succession planning and financial reporting matters, among others. |
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Pam Wilson
Pam Wilson is the Global Product Sustainability Manager for Industrial Coatings at AkzoNobel. After spending over a decade managing research and development labs in North America, she is now using her technical knowledge to further sustainability within her industry. Pam has a PhD in Macromolecular Science and Engineering from Case Western Reserve University, and a BS in Chemistry from Rochester Institute of Technology. She is an avid collector of local art, including masterpieces from her two creative children!
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Advisory Board
Robert Halliday, Chairman
Barbara Christian
Dana Davis
Hon. Jeff Dean
Lucinda Einhouse
Kathryn Garvey
Russell Hardy
Darlene Jackson
Joan Rusek
David Toole
Mary Urbas
Nick Willis
Barbara Christian
Dana Davis
Hon. Jeff Dean
Lucinda Einhouse
Kathryn Garvey
Russell Hardy
Darlene Jackson
Joan Rusek
David Toole
Mary Urbas
Nick Willis
