Board Biographies
Tom Aageson
Tom is Executive Director of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation (MNMF) and a co-founder of the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market, for which he received a Mayor’s Arts Award. He led the development of New Mexico Creates, an award-winning economic development initiative that markets the work of New Mexico artists and artisans in the MNMF’s shops and on their Internet shops. Tom was recognized as one of New Mexico Business Weekly’s “Ten Power People in the Arts” in New Mexico for 2005 and “Top 100 Power People in New Mexico” in 2006 and 2007. In 2007, the United Way, Santa Fe selected him as “Humanitarian of the Year.” Tom advises the UNESCO Division of Cultural Expressions and Creative Industries, created the Santa Fe Cultural Leaders group, and led the economic development planning for Santa Fe’s arts and cultural industries in 2003-2004. He chaired the formation of Creative Santa Fe from 2004-2006, a non-profit organization that brings together diverse constituencies to strengthen Santa Fe’s creative economy. He was Director of Aid to Artisans where he helped to develop artisan enterprises internationally. Tom also created the successful Maritime Art Gallery at Mystic Seaport Museum and has been involved with marketing and merchandising for museum shops. Tom earned his M.B.A. from Columbia University, a B.F.T. from Thunderbird Graduate School of International Management, and an A.B. from Marquette University.
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 Allred serves on the New Mexico State Arts Commission and the Board of Trustees of the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center. 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, Futures for Children, the Santa Fe Community Foundation, Santa Fe Symphony, the National Dance Institute of New Mexico, among others. She is a founding chair of the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market and serves as a trustee of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation. She and Forrest Fenn created a publishing company, One Horse Land and Cattle Company Publishing, to publish Fenn’s memories, archives, and archaeological work. She is also currently working on an archeological project in the Galisteo Basin. 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 at Redlands.
JoAnn Lynn Balzer
JoAnn has served in leadership positions for several cultural and community service organizations in Santa Fe and throughout the Western region, including Code of the West Foundation, Center for Cowboy Ethics and Leadership, Creative Santa Fe, Museum of Spanish Colonial Arts, Institute of American Indian Arts Foundation, Indian Market, as well as Western States Arts Federation. In 2003, Governor Bill Richardson appointed JoAnn as President of the New Mexico Film Museum Board. She currently sits on the Boards of the Lensic, Santa Fe’s Performing Arts Center, the Museum of New Mexico Foundation, the Autry National Center in Los Angeles and is an advisory trustee of New Mexico Women in the Arts. Previous positions include a twenty-five-year career in technology marketing with IBM and positions teaching college-level mathematics at Pepperdine University and Pennsylvania State University, McKeesport Campus. In 1999, with recertification in 2005, JoAnn was awarded by CFRE International the professional designation of Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE), joining an elite group of 4,600 professionals worldwide who hold this designation. JoAnn is a magna cum laude graduate of Westminster College, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics. She holds a Masters of Science in Mathematics from Carnegie Mellon University.
Donna Bruni (Still Forthcoming)
Carnell Chosa
Carnell Chosa is from Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico. He received his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and his Masters degree from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education. After four years as a Planner for the New Mexico Office of Indian Affairs, Carnell assisted a friend to start a business that created educational programs for Indian Elders across the country. He co-founded and co-directs The Leadership Institute and the Summer Policy Academy, projects housed at the Santa Fe Indian School. He was recently at the Chamiza Foundation as a Fellow under the First Nations LEAD program. He was a founding board member of the Walatowa Charter High School in Jemez Pueblo and currently serves on the Advisory Member on the Native American Advised Fund at the Santa Fe Community Foundation and on the Global Center for Cultural Entrepreneurship.
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.
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 25 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’s community involvement, in addition to being married to New Mexico’s Secretary of Cultural Affairs, has primarily centered on her children and their schools. For years, she was the Arts Coordinator for Acequia Madre Elementary, bringing in various artists from the area to work with the school and its arts focused curriculum. Those artists included Frederico Vigil, Camilla Trujillo, Colette Hosmer, Ron Pokrasso, Jennifer Dewey, Sam Leyba, Michael Naranjo and others. Later, Peggy was instrumental in securing the funds which enabled Monte del Sol Charter School to build its permanent home.
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.
Hank Lee
For 19 years, Richard “Hank” Lee has owned and operated San Angel Gallery in San Antonio, Texas, one of the nation’s most provocative and successful 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 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 that are held each July. In recent years, he has focused on creating sustainable relationships across borders by establishing long-term, non-exclusive partnerships with artists so that artists feel comfortable taking risks. 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.
Carol Robertson Lopez
Carol is currently serving as a Member of the Economic Development Commission appointed by Governor Bill Richardson and 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. 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. She most recently was employed as Director of Development for the Tishman Group, providing development services for affordable housing projects in Santa Fe. Prior to that she 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.
Nancy 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 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 servers 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 Moving People Dance Theater’s Advisory Board, 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 from Georgetown University.
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.
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 began his term as President of the St. John’s College in January, 2005. Prior to coming to St. John’s, Mr. Peters was the Executive Vice President of the Council on Foreign Relations, the premier membership organization and think tank devoted to international affairs and U.S. foreign policy. He joined the Council in 1995 as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer and during his tenure 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. During this time he served as 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 in Panama and Saudi Arabia. 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.
Nancy Reynolds
Nancy graduated with a B.A. from Goucher College. In her early career, she was a news reporter and panelist for television and radio stations in Baltimore, Maryland. She moved to Boise, Idaho and hosted and produced “Periscope” and became the first woman co-anchor of KPIX-TV in San Francisco. She was employed by CBS television network as a floor correspondent for the Republican and Democrat conventions in 1964. Later she became assistant press secretary to then Governor of California, Ronald Reagan. She worked as a public relations executive and Washington lobbyist at the time of President Reagan’s election. Nancy was a recipient of America’s Outstanding Women in Business and Labor Award from the Women’s Equity Action League. She was also recently the subject of a profile in The Washingtonian magazine as she celebrated her 80th birthday in the nation’s capital. She later traveled to Kenya for a stay at Lewa Downs Ranch, a wildlife conservancy, where she has enjoyed spending time over the past 35 years.
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, a non-profit organization that aims to support and preserve the cultural diversity of traditional and indigenous peoples around the world. 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.
J. Edd Stepp Jr.
Edd served as the Market’s first Chair of the Board of Directors of the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market from 2006-2008. He is past Vice-President and member of the Executive Committee of the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, on whose Board he served for six years. He has also served as an officer and on the Executive Committee of the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles SPCA, and was a Fellow of the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History. Edd is a graduate of the University of Texas and of the University of Houston Bates School of Law, and is a member of the Texas and California bars. Following a clerkship on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in 1970 Edd joined the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Los Angeles where he specialized in antitrust law. He served as the managing partner of the firm’s Los Angeles office for several years. Edd retired from the firm recently, and he and his wife Carole divide their time between their homes in Los Angeles and Santa Fe.
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 just completed her second term on the City of San Angelo Public Arts Commission. Suzanne has served on the Board of Trustees of the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, San Angelo Cultural Affairs Council, and as Trustee Chairman for the Texas Association of Museums Trustees, and Texans for the Arts, as well as 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 serves 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 Senior Creative Director for, Vaughn Wedeen Creative, Inc., based in Albuquerque. 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 worked two years as a senior designer for the company that invented the first home computer, five years in advertising agencies and freelancing, and then joined forces with his current partner, Rick Vaughn. With a passion for doing award-winning creative work and a belief that they could build a national design firm in the middle of nowhere, Vaughn and Wedeen formed Vaughn Wedeen Creative, Inc. Steve’s extraordinary problem-solving skills and his ability to create synergy in the firm’s marketing, advertising and design effort are the hallmark of the firm’s holistic approach to its strategic communications designs.
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, a Lead Trustee for the New Mexico Museum of Art, Advancement Committee Member for the National Dance Institute of New Mexico, and a Member of the Spanish Colonial Art Advisory Board. 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 there.
Don Wright
Don currently serves on the 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.
