Board Biographies
Polly Ahrendts
Polly has served as Chair of the Volunteer Committee for the Market in 2006, and oversaw the entire Artist Training Program in 2007. In addition, from 1984 until 2003, Polly was employed with AIM Management Group in Houston, Texas, where she worked in various capacities of the investment research and portfolio management process. She has research and portfolio management expertise in money market funds, high yield bond funds and general fixed income instruments. Polly also worked for three years in London UK, where she developed, sold, and held investment responsibility over USD and Sterling denominated money market funds. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a member of the Houston Society of Financial Analysts. In addition to her other experience, Polly has served on the Alley Theater Advisory Board and the Center for AIDS.
Charmay Allred
Charmay serves on the New Mexico State Arts Commission, boards of the Lensic Performing Arts Center and the Institute of American Indian Arts Foundation. She is an active volunteer with numerous community organizations including Cornerstones Community Partnerships, Spanish Colonial Arts Society, the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art, the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, Santa Fe Symphony, the National Dance Institute of New Mexico, and the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance among others. She is a founding chair of the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market and serves as an advisory trustee of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation. She and Forrest Fenn created One Horse Land and Cattle Company Publishing to publish Fenn’s memories, archives, and archaeological work. Formerly, she was an English and journalism teacher as well as a medical editor and a commercial interior designer. She was recently honored for her years of voluntarism in the arts. Charmay conducted her undergraduate studies at La Sierra University and post graduate work at the University of Redlands.
JoAnn Lynn Balzer
JoAnn Lynn Balzer, Santa Fe community leader and arts advocate, has more than twenty years of non-profit management, museum and fund-raising experience. In 2008, she was nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2009 as a Trustee at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe.
She helped found the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum, the Institute of American Indian Arts Foundation, the Museum of Spanish Colonial Arts, the Code of the West Foundation, and the Center for Cowboy Ethics and Leadership in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She co-founded the Collectors’ Club at the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles and Friends of Indian Art at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe.
In 2003, she was appointed by Governor Bill Richardson to serve as President of the New Mexico Film Museum and in 2009 as a Commissioner of New Mexico Arts, the state arts agency. Ms. Balzer also serves on the boards of the Lensic Performing Arts Center, the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market and is an advisory trustee of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation. Balzer formerly served on the boards of the Southwest Museum and Autry National Center in Los Angeles, Creative Santa Fe, and New Mexico Women in the Arts, and was Executive Director of the Institute of American Indian Arts, Code of the West, and Center for Cowboy Ethics and Leadership Foundations.
In addition to her educational experience teaching mathematics at Pepperdine University and Pennsylvania State University, she has twenty-five years of technology and business experience with IBM. Balzer is a magna cum laude graduate of Westminster College, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in mathematics with a minor in education, and holds a Master’s of Science in mathematics from Carnegie Mellon University.
Leigh Ann Roscher Brown
Leigh Ann and her husband, David, have lived in Santa Fe, NM since 1987. She has served on the boards of the Santa Fe Pro Musica, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, St. Vincent Hospital Foundation, Buckaroo Ball Committee (Ball Chair, 1997), and the Board of Trustees for Santa Fe Preparatory School for six years (Board Chair, 2007-2010; capital campaign chair, 2003-2006). Formerly an executive with AT&T and Southwestern Bell, she is presently owner of Brown Thomason & Associates, LLC, a medical billing company. Leigh Ann holds a B.A. in psychology from the University of Missouri, Columbia. She and her husband have two children. Ellie attends Colorado College and Andrew attends University of Puget Sound.
Donna Bruni
Donna Bruni and her husband, Robert, divide their time between San Antonio, Houston and Santa Fe. She has served on numerous boards in all three cities. She is an accomplished photographer/artist and has had several gallery shows in recent years. Bruni was on the founding board of the International Folk Art Market. She and her husband have an extensive folk art collection in their Santa Fe home.
Carnell Chosa
Carnell Chosa is from Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico. After four years as a Planner for the New Mexico Office of Indian Affairs, Carnell assisted a friend start a business that created educational curriculum and programs for Native American Elders across the country. He co-founded and co-directs The Leadership Institute and the Summer Policy Academy at the Santa Fe Indian School, projects serving the 22 NM tribal communities. Carnell was a First Nations LEAD Fellow at the Chamiza Foundation. He was a founding board member of the Walatowa Charter High School in Jemez Pueblo and currently serves on the Advisory Board on the Native American Advised Fund at the Santa Fe Community Foundation, Chamiza Foundation, and on at the Global Center for Cultural Entrepreneurship. Carnell received his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and his Masters degree from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education. Carnell enjoys gardening and is getting back into silversmith work and painting.
Kathryn King Coleman
Kathryn is President of the Jesse T. & Jodie E. King Foundation, a family foundation. The Colemans’ philanthropic involvement includes the Harris County Hospital District, Houston Community College, CanCare, and KIPP schools. Kathryn is an active volunteer and fundraiser in Houston, and her community involvement includes service on the boards of Bering Omega Community Services, Salvation Army Women’s Auxiliary (Chaplain), Friends of Fondren Library – Rice University, Laity Renewal Foundation, and Wesley Community Center. She is the owner of Kathryn Coleman Interiors and has an extensive background in administration with Weil, Gotshal & Manges (Miami, Houston), and Vinson & Elkins (Houston, Dallas). Coleman graduated cum laude from The University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Science degree, and she holds a Master of Arts degree from Texas A&M University. Kathryn and her husband, Hank, spend summers in Santa Fe and as much time as possible during the rest of the year. They are members of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church (Houston), where Kathryn sings in the Chancel Choir and Hank teaches an adult Sunday School class. They are associate members of the Church of the Holy Faith (Santa Fe). Mr. Coleman is a retired partner with Vinson & Elkins, LLP, Houston. The Colemans have four grown children.
Sheila Ellis
Sheila Ellis holds a B.A. in religious studies from California State University, Fullerton. She taught high-school history and English for over a decade in East Los Angeles, eventually becoming chair of the history department at Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet High School. There she introduced a curriculum on the teaching of Holocaust history that has now become standard. For the past several years, Ellis has served as volunteer chair of the Best of the Best booth at the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market. She is a past chair and serving member of MOIFA’s Folk Art Committee, as well as sitting on the collections committee for the National Hispanic Cultural Center. A full-time resident of Santa Fe since 1999, Ellis is the owner of Samarkand, an ethnographic store specializing in jewelry and textiles from Central Asia, North Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.
Judith Espinar
Judy is the Creative Director of the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market. One of the Market Founders, she was recently named to the Santa Fe New Mexican’s “10 Who Made a Difference List” for her work with the project. She has a B.A. in Clothing and Textiles and in Art History, as well as two years of graduate work in Philosophy of Design. Judith served in the Peace Corps in Peru in the 1960s. She was previously the fashion director of Gimbels East NYC, Fashion Director of Mensware for all Gimbels stores, Director of Fashion Information for Butterick Fashion, Editor in Chief of Vogue Patterns International, Director of Evan Picone Design Studio, and Design Director of Murjani International. Judy formerly served on the board of Aid to Artisans, was Project Advisor-Ceramics for USAID sponsored research on Marketing Viability of Hungarian Craft Industries, and one of three Project Directors for the first two years of UNESCO-sponsored Lead-Free Low Fire Pottery Project in Mexico. Previously the Owner of The Clay Angel in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Judy continues to support her life-long interest and study of the world’s traditional ceramics.
Peggy Gaustad
Peggy received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California and continued her education in San Miguel de Allende, earning a Master of Fine Arts in ceramics from the University of Guanajuato. While living in Mexico, Peggy was exposed to the beauty, simplicity and playfulness of Mexican folk art, features she has incorporated into her own work. Peggy has been a working potter in Santa Fe for over 30 years and has shown both locally and nationally, including La Mesa of Santa Fe, Santa Fe Pottery, Simply Santa Fe, Mariposa Gallery in Albuquerque, Santa Fe Style in Washington, D.C. and Dean and DeLuca in New York, N.Y. Peggy rejoins the Board of the Folk Art Market, having served two earlier terms. It is an organization that she is honored to be a part of, serving a Market that speaks to the best in all of us.
Alexis K. Girard
Alexis is the President and CEO of Greer Enterprises, Inc., which is a closely held family corporation dealing primarily in real estate. Alexis and her husband received three historic preservation awards for the restoration of the Lensic Performing Arts Center. She serves as Chair of the Santa Fe Community Foundation, on the Board of Directors of First National Bank of Santa Fe, and is an Advisory Board Member of the Lensic Performing Arts Corporation. She has also served on the Santa Fe Preparatory School Board and was president of The Children’s School – a parent’s pre-school cooperative. She is the Co-Chair of the New Mexico Historic Women’s Marker Initiative, has served as Treasurer for the New Mexico Women’s Forum. A graduate of Mills College with a Bachelor of Arts, Alexis has assisted in the assemblage of two shows for the Girard Foundation at the Governor’s Gallery at the Roundhouse for the State of New Mexico, and “Fantasy and Enchantment,” a show preceding the gifting of the Girard Collection to the Museum of International Folk Art.
Jill Halverson
Jill Halverson most recently held a position as Field Representative to the Office of US Senator Jeff Bingaman. Covering the southern Pueblos, Sandoval County, and Cibola County; her portfolio included economic development in the Albuquerque (technology) area, Sandia Labs, Air Force Research Lab, banking and micro-lending. In California, Jill was Vice President and Manager of Community Affairs at the First Interstate Bank in Los Angeles where she managed the bank’s foundation, charitable contributions, event management and community outreach. She was Chief of Staff for Los Angeles City Councilwoman Joy Picus. Halverson founded The Downtown Women’s Center, a non-profit social service agency for women on Skid Row in Los Angeles, which provides permanent housing for 48 women and served as a model in Fresno, Washington DC, Santa Ana, and Houston. Jill also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in India where she taught in a small college for Harijans and worked with farmers raising chickens for egg production. Halverson has served as board member for The Ravi Shankar Music Circle, Futures for Children, and Encino House. She has also been involved with the following organizations: The National Council of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, Friends of India, Albuquerque International Association, The Trusteeship/New Mexico Women’s Forum, and The International Women’s Forum. She has a B.A. degree in English/French Literature, and received an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities at Loyola Marymount University.
Carol Robertson Lopez
Carol is currently serving as the Executive Director of the New Mexico Children’s Foundation. Carol was formerly Mayor Pro Tempore and City Councilor of Santa Fe from 1998-2006. She was President of the New Mexico Municipal League and Chair of the International Council for the National League of Cities (NLC) and worked with Sister Cities International (SCI) to strengthen a strong alliance between SCI and NLC. Carol is on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of Sister Cities International. She was also appointed to Board Emeritus for New Mexico First, a public policy forum committed to solving New Mexico’s problems and served as both Chair and Vice Chair for the New Mexico Student Loan Guarantee Board. Carol served a long career in various administrative positions in state government including: the New Mexico Department of Transportation, the Office of the Attorney General in Santa Fe, the State Personnel Office, and the State Planning Division. She received the 2004 Governor’s Award for Outstanding New Mexico Women and is a Member of the New Mexico Women’s Forum and International Women’s Forum. She holds a M.A. in Educational Management and Development from New Mexico State University (NMSU) and a B.S. in Secondary Education from Edinboro University. She has a Ph.D. in process in Higher Educational Management and Development from NMSU.
Linda Marcus
Linda, a native born Texan, earned Bachelor, Master, and Ph.D. degrees from Southern Methodist University. Her academic research has centered on the cultural and archaeological record of lowland Maya in Yucatan and Central America. Linda is past board and committee member of the Dallas Symphony Association, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos. She is currently a member of the American Film Institute in Dallas and is serving on the Georgia O’Keefe Museum board, the Council for the Arts at MIT, and the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe.
Mary Mill
Mary grew up in Las Cruces, New Mexico and went to the Bishop’s School in La Joya California. She then went to Finch College in New York City and majored in Art History. She married and had two sons. For many years, she was involved in Planned Parenthood and served as President for the Southwest region. In New York and Connecticut she served on the state board for Planned Parenthood, which involved 32 clinics under one board of directors. She was part of a family corporation and sold her shares about 10 years ago. This enabled Mary to set up a foundation and open a gallery under the auspices of the foundation to support emerging artists who have not found representation in other venues. The foundation provides grants to visual artists, writers, and musicians to help launch their careers. She is now exploring helping screenwriters and independent film producers launch their careers. Mary has been actively involved with supporting artists at the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market over the past three years.
Marisol A. Navas Sacasa
Marisol has served as the Regional Coordinator for Latin America since 2006 for the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, she earned a B.A. in Economics from The College of New Rochelle and an M.B.A. in Marketing and International Business from New York University. She lived in Panamá and Guatemala for several years, where her husband, an international banker, was Bank Boston’s representative for the region and director of bank affiliated finance companies. Eventually relocated to Boston, she worked as a buyer at Filene’s. During these years she chaired the annual spring fundraiser for her son’s private school, with the primary goal of enhancing quality in education and to provide financial assistance. She is a past board member of the Tourette Syndrome Association of New Mexico. She currently contributes her time as a Spanish translator for the Cancer Institute Foundation in Santa Fe.
Joni Parman
Joni has a unique blend of multi-functional experiences from the corporate, small business, government, and non-profit environments. Until she recently retired, she consulted with small businesses and non-profits and including The Uptime Institute and Uptime Technologies (companies dedicated to eliminating downtime in mission-critical data centers), Anne Taintor, Inc., and the Minnesota-based Family Housing Fund. In prior small business experiences, she was Chief Operating Officer of The Uptime Institute, Executive Vice President of Operations for LizardTech (a software company in Seattle), the COO in the turn-around of a project management training and consulting company with international clients, and President of a successful Santa Fe gallery. During the 1980’s, she worked for Kraft, Incorporated, directing strategic plans and projects in several business groups including Corporate Planning, R&D Europe, U.S. Operations, and one of two multi-billion dollar marketing divisions. She served as State Chief of Staff for U.S. Senator Bingaman, restructuring staff roles and initiatives to align with the Senator’s key programs, and supporting him through a successful reelection campaign. Joni grew up in New Mexico, earned her B.A. from Antioch College and her M.B.A in finance from University of Illinois.
Jon Patten
Jon has been an entrepreneur since he was a boy when, in third grade, he bought toys wholesale and sold them to classmates. By middle school he was 1st chair in math at Detroit Country Day School. Jon attended Alma College for a year and a half and failed English 101 three times. It was at Saint John’s College in Annapolis that he began to learn the value of different opinions and the benefits that come from open honest discussion. Jon’s restaurant career began in 1978 with the purchase of New York Pizza with partner William Scott. They started with one employee and no restaurant management degrees or experience. As President from 1978 until 2007 the company grew from one store with one part-time employee to 13 stores with over 1,000 employees. During his tenure, Dion’s sales have increased each and every year. Jon continues today as chairman of the board and CFO. Dion’s mission is “World Pizza domination by the year 3,000.” Jon lives in Corrales, is married, and has four sons. He was also a founding board member of ACCION New Mexico, a nonprofit which lends to small startup companies. Jon is a ten-year Vistage member and has participated in multiple personal development and Facilitator Training Programs.
Michael Peters
Michael has served as President of St. John’s College since January 2005. Prior to coming to St. John’s, Mr. Peters was the Executive Vice President of the Council on Foreign Relations. He joined the Council in 1995 as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. During his tenure he was responsible for managing the Council’s daily operations, overseeing the development of its National Program and for a time managing its research arm as Director of Studies. Mr. Peters had a distinguished career of over 27 years in the U.S. Army. He was a platoon leader in Vietnam, an assistant professor of economics at West Point, a Soviet military specialist, an executive assistant in the office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a battalion commander in the Army Special Operations Command. He concluded his military career as the Chief of Staff at the United States Military Academy. Mr. Peters earned a Bachelor of Science from the United States Military Academy and a Master of Arts in Economics from the University of Washington.
Richard C. (“Rick”) Porter
Richard Porter enjoyed a long and successful career with the law firm of McCall, Parkhurst & Horton L.L.P. in Dallas, Texas. He is the firm’s Senior Partner and has previously served as Managing Partner. For many years he has represented major public institutions in Texas in connection with financing and security law issues and has been responsible for drafting many of the laws governing public finance in the State of Texas. He has previously served on various governing boards and is currently involved in several ministries at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Dallas and volunteers at the United Service Organization (USO) facility at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in support of the members of the armed forces. Rick is a graduate of Texas Christian University (B.B.A. 1967) and The University of Texas School of Law (J.D. 1972). Prior to attending law school, he served in the U.S. Navy, receiving an honorable discharge with the rank of Lieutenant (jg). Rick and his wife Sandra live in Dallas, but spend as much time as possible at their home in Santa Fe, which is overflowing with many purchases from the Folk Art Market and other folk art venues. The Porters have four children and five grandchildren.
Keith Recker
Keith Recker is President and Co-founder of HAND/EYE Fund (2010 - present), which publishes HAND/EYE Magazine. He was the Executive Director of Aid to Artisans (2000-02) where he supervised operations of the $4.5 million international non-profit agency, which grew to $8 million. He also served on the Aid to Artisans Board of Directors for several years. His background is in the design industry, where he has been the Director of Product Development at Granet and Associates, VP of Home Furnishings at Bloomingdale’s Direct, VP of General Merchandise Manager at Gump’s by Mail, Merchandising Consultant at Doncaster/Tanner Companies, and the Director and Divisional Merchandise Manager of Folio Home at Saks Fifth Avenue, amongst other endeavors. Recker’s Graduate Study was in American Literature at the University of Michigan, and he holds a BS cum laude from Carnegie-Mellon University. He is noted for raising money for Haitian artists by having “A Million Hearts for Haiti” booth at the 2010 Folk Art Market and helps administer grants from the HAND/EYE Fund’s Artisan Grant program. Keith is a collector of contemporary art, has traveled extensively internationally, and is conversant in Italian and French.
Sylvia Seret
Sylvia and her husband Ira have lived in Santa Fe since 1979. From March 1974 to July 1978 Sylvia lived in Afghanistan building cottage industries with local craftspeople to design clothing, quilts, and together with Ira, beaded tapestries, one-of-a-kind art rugs. She and Ira built a weaving factory in Balkh, near Mazar-i-Sharif, which employed up to sixty male weavers and assistants until the early 1980’s when the war forced its closure. After moving to Santa Fe, Sylvia continued to utilize her design talents at Seret and Sons which opened in 1981, a business that works closely with handicrafts people and cottage industries in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and countries in Central Asia. In the mid 1980’s she began painting and firing ceramic tiles. In 1996 Sylvia began designing elaborate mosaic bathrooms and kitchens at the Inn of the Five Graces on East de Vargas Street, a boutique hotel that she and Ira created.
In 2001 the Serets and a few friends started Jindhag Foundation (http://www.jindhag.org), a non-profit organization that aims to support and preserve the cultural diversity of traditional and indigenous peoples around the world. The first project of the Jindhag Foundation focused on providing daily support for Tibetan monks living in exile. More recently, the Foundation undertook the task of rebuilding Istalif—a small village in Afghanistan that had been devastated by years of war. In 2007, the Foundation provided the funds to bring pottery from the revitalized village of Istalif to the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market in Santa Fe. This was the first time that Istalif pottery was sold internationally and was a great success.
Sylvia has a B.A. and an M.A. from Florida State University, 1968/69; and Columbia University Graduate School -ABD (all but dissertation) in German Literature: Fall 1969-1973 (including a fellowship to study in Vienna for six months). Throughout these years Sylvia worked as a T.A. and as an executive assistant for coordination of research in Africa in the African Studies Association. World travel experiences include Ghana, Mali, Mexico, most of Europe, South Asia and Central Asia.
Suzanne Sugg
Suzanne has been active in a variety of art organizations in Texas and New Mexico for more than 30 years. She is on the Board of Directors at the Taos Art Museum, a charter member of the Texas Women for the Arts, and has served on the City of San Angelo Public Arts Commission. Suzanne has served as Trustee Chairman of the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, San Angelo Cultural Affairs Council, and for the Texas Association of Museums Trustees, and Texans for the Arts, as well as, working with numerous civic organizations. She attended Christies Decorative Arts Summer School in New York City and participated in many national conferences of the Museum Trustee Association, International Majolica Society, and New York Silver Society. Suzanne designs day and evening handbags and jewelry using antique and ethnic components. She and her husband, Joel, are collectors of Gorham Martele silver, antique and ethnic textiles, Tlaquepaque pottery, majolica pottery, American illustrators, and other New Mexico and California artists.
Owen Van Essen
Owen is the President of the investment-banking firm, Dirks, Van Essen & Murray, specializing in merger and acquisition, divestitures and strategic advisory services to U.S. newspaper publishing companies. He was the General Manager/Business Manager, as well as 25 percent owner, of the Worthington (MN) Daily Globe prior to the sale of the paper in 1986. Originally a Minnesota native, Owen received a B.A. in Business Administration from Dordt College and has done advanced work in business and journalism at the University of Minnesota. He serves as Trustee of Thornburg Mutual Funds. Owen also served on the Board at Santa Fe Preparatory School. He has served on the St. Michael’s High School Foundation Board, was President of the Worthington Area United Way, and President of the Worthington YMCA Board of Directors.
Steve Wedeen
Steve is a principal in, and Chief Creative Officer for, Vaughn Wedeen Kuhn, a design, branding, advertising and marketing consultancy based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Born and raised in New York City, Steve came from a printing family and has had ink on his fingers since he could walk. He has an undergraduate degree in fine arts from Adelphi University. Steve and his firm’s work have appeared in virtually every design publication in the nation and has appeared in numerous coffee table and reference books on design and advertising. Past and present clients include Ambercare, Arizona Cardinals, AT&T Broadband, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Citi, City of Albuquerque, City of Las Cruces, Comcast, Cox Communications, IHS, Metrolink, Motorola, National Hispanic Cultural Center, New Mexico Department of Transportation, New Mexico Rail Runner Express, New Mexico Economic Development Department and Qwest, among others.
His passion for doing superior creative work is more than equaled by his enthusiasm and commitment to his community. He demonstrates this support through a long-standing policy of donations and pro-bono work to organizations such as the March of Dimes, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, New Mexico AIDS Services, National Hispanic Cultural Center Foundation, Amy Biehl High School, New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, United Way of Central New Mexico, United Way of Santa Fe, Youth Development Inc. and many others. He has served on numerous boards and advisory committees including the National Hispanic Cultural Center Foundation, Santa Fe International Folk Art Market, New Mexico Early Childhood Development Partnership, Museum of Intolerance, Vintage Albuquerque, Albuquerque Downtown Action Team and many others. He continues to be an active leader in many statewide and community initiatives, especially focused on Education, Economic Development, Innovation and Creativity and Cultural Diversity. Steve was recently honored with the NMAF Silver Medal Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Eileen Wells
Eileen is an active community volunteer who has been heavily involved on numerous boards and campaigns. Currently, she is an Honorary Trustee for the Museum of New Mexico Foundation, member of the Spanish Colonial Art Advisory Board, Board member of National Dance Institute of New Mexico and the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market. She has also served as Chair of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation, Chairman of Development, and Chair for the Museum of New Mexico’s Comprehensive Campaign and History Museum Capital Campaign. Prior, she served as St. Vincent Hospital Foundation Board President, as a Capital Campaign Committee member for the Santa Fe Animal Shelter, and as Co-chair of the Capital Campaign Committee for the Museum of Spanish Colonial Arts. She was also on the Board of Santa Fe Stages, Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian Board, Santa Fe Chamber Museum Festival, Institute of American Indian Arts, the Lensic Performing Arts, and the Santa Fe Concert Association. She has been the recipient of several awards including a 2007 Mayor’s Recognition Award for Excellence in the Arts, a 2008 Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, a 2009 Museum of New Mexico Foundation Award for Outstanding Philanthropy. She moved to Santa Fe from Lake Forest, Illinois in 1989 where she was heavily involved in community activities in Chicago.
Don Wright
Don currently serves on the advisory board of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation. He is a Life Trustee of the University of Minnesota Foundation where he formerly served as Board Chair. He has served as a volunteer with the Boy Scouts of America as Chairman of the Los Angeles Area Council, President of the Western Region and on the National Executive Board. Other volunteer activities have included Boards of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and the Claremont Graduate School and University Center. Don’s professional career included positions at the Minneapolis Star and Tribune Company including Operations Director and Executive Editor of the Minneapolis Star, and at the Times Mirror Company, including president of Newsday, president of the Los Angeles Times and Executive Vice President of the parent Times Mirror Company. He attended Macalester College in St. Paul and graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering and an M.B.A. He and his wife, Sharon, reside in Tesuque, New Mexico.
Biographies of Non-voting Advisory Directors
Cynthia Delgado
A native of Santa Fe, New Mexico, Cynthia is President of Pinnacle Consulting, a marketing consulting company. Pinnacle Consulting provides marketing strategies, community outreach, presentation development and marketing research for nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Cynthia worked with AT&T and PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP for over 20 years in the areas of business development, marketing, and management. She received her B.A. from New Mexico State University and an M.B.A. from the College of Santa Fe and is currently pursuing a Masters of Counseling at Southwestern College. She is a Board member of Presbyterian Health Service and and Board Chair of the National Dance Institute of New Mexico. Cynthia enjoys skiing, cooking, traveling and gardening.
Hank Lee
For 23 years, Richard “Hank” Lee has owned and operated San Angel Gallery in San Antonio, Texas, one of the nation’s most provocative and successful contemporary folk art galleries. Traveling throughout the Americas and Europe, Hank has studied and documented the work of established and emerging folk artists, outsiders, and visionaries alike. Artists and works featured at San Angel have been placed in collections or featured at contemporary art fairs, including the Venice Biennale, the Rome Prize, the Vatican, the San Antonio Museum of Art, and the Museum of International Folk Art. Formerly the Executive Director of the McKinney Avenue Contemporary visual and performance arts space in Dallas, Texas, Hank has studied extensively how artists benefit from interactions with for-profit and nonprofit organizations and developed innovative approaches to assert artist value in the global marketplace. As community activist in the early 1990s, Hank helped establish two key San Antonio arts programs that exist to this day, the monthly “First Friday” art walk and the Contemporary Art Month (C.A.M.) celebrations. In recent years, Hank has focused on establishing long-term, non-exclusive partnerships with artists across borders. San Angel’s “New Works for New Worlds” program supports and engages artists as they expand their capacity, imagine, and create new bodies of work that reflect their lives and work at the intersections of tradition/place/spirit and modernity. Working together on “New Works for New Worlds,” Hank and the artists at San Angel assert the value of contemporary folk art to living cultures. Raised in the U.S., Mexico, Great Britain, and Europe, Hank has been instrumental in helping the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market establish relationships with a broad spectrum of artists from Mexico and Hungary.
Nance Lopez
Nance was born in Kansas City. Since childhood, she has been curious about cultural diversity. In high school, she was an exchange student to Syria, and later on spent a year studying art in Granada, Spain. Following her B.S. degree in Anthropology from Stanford University, she worked in India with the Peace Corps. In 1969, Nance settled in Santa Fe where she opened Good Hands, which continues today in partnership with her husband and best friend, Ramond José López and their four children, Leon, Lill, Bo and Miller. Today, Nance is working in a new medium incorporating her love for antiques and jewelry called “Embellished Crosses”—an idea that has been percolating for many years. Each cross is handmade and is accompanied by an inspirational message from Nance that came to her during the creative process. Current interests include plein aire and portrait oil painting, avid high desert drought tolerant gardening, regular NIA (dance) and yoga practice, and hiking in the mountains with her faithful and energetic dog, Yogurt.
Sarah Alley Manges
Sarah served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of New Mexico from 1987 until 1996. During this time, she represented the Office of Cultural Affairs. In 2005 and 2006, she became the General Counsel for the Department of Cultural Affairs. In both positions, she represented among other institutions, the Museum of International Folk Art, the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, the National Hispanic Cultural Center, the Palace of the Governors New Mexico History Museum, the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, the New Mexico Arts Division, and the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division. In addition to her legal work, Sarah has served on numerous boards, including the Spanish Institute of the Arts, Northern New Mexico Legal and Community and Indian Legal Services, and the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO). Sarah currently serves on the Boards of the New Mexico Community Foundation, Outside In (which brings free, live music, dance and visual arts to confined people who do not otherwise have access to the arts), the New Mexico Lawyers for the Arts, as well as the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market. Sarah earned her B.A. from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, her J.D. from Syracuse University School of Law, and her Masters Degree in Latin American Studies, with an emphasis on economic development from Georgetown University.
Edd Stepp
Edd currently serves on the Boards of the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market (Chairman, 2006-2008; executive committee, 2006-present), the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian (Vice-president, 2005-2007 and 2010), and the Museum of New Mexico Foundation. He previously served as Vice-president and member of the executive committee of the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles and was President of the Los Angeles SPCA. Edd is a graduate of the University of Texas and the University of Houston Bates School of Law, and is currently an inactive member of the Texas and California Bars. Following a clerkship on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Edd joined the law firm of Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher in Los Angeles in 1970, where he specialized in antitrust law. He retired from the firm in 2001. Edd and his wife enjoy international travel and divide their time between their homes in Santa Fe and Los Angeles.
