TAC Board of Directors 2024

 

The members of our Board of Directors are an integral part of our work. Each of them brings unique expertise from the arts, nonprofits, the private sector, education, community organizing, digital technologies, and more. As a staff and board, we have spent time asking hard questions, welcoming reflection, participating in shared learning, and taking significant organization-wide action.

Following an assessment of Board strengths and needs, we welcomed a cohort of four talented new Board Directors this winter. We remain committed to actively engaging community members in our decision-making through Board and advisory service.

Continuing Directors

Jamie Coelho, Chair | Jamie is editor-in-chief at Rhode Island Monthly magazine where she has written about food and drink, health and wellness, art, fashion, business and other lifestyle topics in the Ocean State for the past decade. Jamie has been involved with various Rhode Island organizations in varying roles, including committees for Providence Preservation Society and Child and Family in Newport, as well serving as a Bravo representative to involve young professionals in supporting the Rhode Island Philharmonic.

Silvermoon LaRose, Vice Chair | Assistant Director, Tomaquag Museum is a member of the Narragansett Tribe and has worked in tribal communities for 20 years in health, human services, and education. As an artist and educator, she fosters Indigenous empowerment through education, community building, and the sharing of cultural knowledge and traditional arts. She was member of the Rhode Island Foundation’s inaugural cohort of the Equity Leadership Initiative and serves as the secretary for the Charlestown Conservation Commission.

David Lieng, Treasurer | Audit Manager, CPA, Weinberg & Co. Certified Public Accountants + Business Advisors is a member of the Emerging Leaders Network Program, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Rhode Island Society of Certified Public Accountants; and a Committee Member of the Rhode Island Young Accountants Network.

Shawn Viveiros, Graphic Artist, and Entrepreneur, has 20 years experience working with major corporations including Best Buy, Siemens, and Kraft Sports Productions. His art practice includes writing and illustrating a children’s book (published, 2018), launching a virtual art gallery, and consulting on industrial and commercial technologies. Combining his passion for art and technology, Shawn is delving into the emerging world of blockchains, NFT communities, and metaverse technology pushing the boundaries of expression through technological breakthroughs in emerging media.

 

New members of the TAC Board of Directors

We’ve recently welcomed to our Board: Chris Donovan, Libby Slader, Megan Cresci-Johnson, and Paul Amaral. Below, we asked them to tell our community about their work and what public art means to them.

Chris Donovan, Secretary | Director of Communications & Events, Leadership Rhode Island, and Lead Community Organizer, PechaKucha, has partnered with TAC over the last several years for our summer PechaKucha event in the TAC yard. As a public art fan and LRI leader, Chris is a donor, supporter, and champion for TAC’s work.

1. Can you tell us about your current work?

“I build, cultivate, and foster communities. Much of this work is focused around creativity as a way to bring people together. But at the end of the day, it’s all about believing that we’re stronger as a whole rather than divided groups. At Leadership Rhode Island, we have a mission of convening people from different backgrounds and perspectives in service of making Rhode Island a little bit better tomorrow than it is today. When you understand that everyone’s got something to bring, we all bring it together, and seek to understand each other a little better, then we can make some change.”

My passion project that I’ve been doing for seven years now is running the PechaKucha nights in Providence; that is really about creating space for people to share our three key words: community, creativity and celebration. It’s your personal stories, stories in your community, the creativity that exists inside of you. For the audience, what we hear a lot is they discover something they didn’t know they wanted to discover.

I am also on the board of the Providence Drum Troupe. With the roving nature of the drum troupe, the different people involved, and the different spaces they activate, they were a beacon of life coming out of COVID reminding people what community and art looks like in action.”

2. Why did you choose to serve on the Board of The Avenue Concept?

“”When I first moved here 10 years ago, there was a street artist who was going around and painting the word “lonely” on the sides of buildings. It wasn’t a tag in the traditional sense, it felt like a person who just had a paint roller and was just trying to shout something out there. My first year in Providence was dark; I didn’t have community. So you can imagine that as I was walking around and seeing all these buildings across Providence screaming these giant words of “lonely,” it resonated in a deep way. That was my catalyst into really looking at the world around me for art and inspiration. Around that time, TAC was ramping up the work they were able to get done in the city with larger scale murals, sculptures, and a developing relationship with the community. This art around the city was a backdrop as I emerged from the darkness, discovered community and made Providence my home.

I watched TAC go through a parallel journey of growth, and felt the art help Providence develop a new layer to its personality. Once I became involved with PechaKucha I was able to talk more to Yarrow and the team during our annual July event in the Avenue’s back yard. The more conversations we had over the years, the more I came to understand TAC more deeply, the kind of “why” of it all. I became more and more invested, supporting financially where I could, amplifying TAC at every opportunity I could, and now, as I’ve grown into someone embedded in the PVD community, using my talents in ways that are going to support the things that make PVD feel like home. So having the privilege of joining the TAC board is a no brainer.”

3. What is your answer to TAC’s public art community activation prompt, “Public art is ______ “?

Public art is inspiration.

 

Libby Slader, Owner and Principal of Libby Slader Design is a longtime leader in RI’s arts community. She brings extensive board experience as the former Chair for Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA) and a Co-Founder of DESIGNxRI and has a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities within our arts ecosystem.

1. Can you tell us about your current work ?

“I am an interior designer, and I specialize in hospitality projects and corporate office workspaces. We are quite busy right now, and I’ve got a great team here in downtown Providence. We have a lot of restaurant spaces opening this year and we’re working on a hotel as well. We are trying to improve our client’s businesses one project at a time.”

2. Why did you choose to serve on the Board of The Avenue Concept?

“I had been on the State Arts Council for ten years, and it was really important and meaningful work. I was the chair of the Council for eight years. From the perspective that I had at the State Arts Council, I think that what TAC has been doing is such important work and so impactful, and the growth that’s happened with TAC over 12 years is so impressive. I’m a lifelong Rhode Islander, and I left for a long time. I was working in Culver City, California. In the city, if you applied for a building permit, 1% of your building permit fee went towards public art. I thought it was so brilliant, and because of this the city has amazing public art, because they prioritize it. Here in Providence, decades ago, it was kind of a bleak, desolate place and not exciting. It was exciting for me, of course, but it wasn’t attracting people to come downtown at night. People were working here, they were leaving, they were coming to school, and the college students didn’t even come across the river. I beleive that art and culture is what brings people downtown and is what enlivens a community. I feel that the work that’s been done by TAC in the last 12 years has been so impactful and so meaningful. For people who haven’t seen the artwork before, they go around the corner and see something that jumps into their environment and stays with them. I’m excited to be a part of that and see what the next years bring.”

3. What is your answer to TAC’s public art community activation prompt, “Public art is ______ “?

Public art is essential to the soul of a community.

 

Megan Cresci-Johnson, Advisor, Educator. The Met High School began partnering with TAC in 2015, most recently serving as Educator consultant to help build and execute our youth Utility Box project helping to build community and process preparing Jan Carlos and Kendel and other staff members to learn from Yarrow and take over production for future project.

1. Can you tell us about your current work?

“Teaching at The Met is pretty different from traditional educators – yes, we have a big focus on academics, but also have internships, project based learning, social emotional development we work on with each student. We have a group of 15 students for all 4 years of high school so we become a sort of family. One of my favorite parts of the job is connecting with the community for internships and student projects.

“I’m also very involved in my community and Parent Teacher Organization – it takes a village to raise children and I’m excited to connect with and support the families in my community. I have a big blended family, so quite a bit of time is spent with them.”

“I’ve always been a multitasker who enjoys working on projects, whether it be physically building/making something or planning/ implementing something new.”

2. Why did you choose to serve on the Board of The Avenue Concept?

“I’ve worked with the avenue for quite a while now – mostly in the capacity as an educator, connecting youth with the avenue’s work. I’m excited to discuss/work on a board level and also contribute to/be involved in other aspects of the Avenue’s work.”

3. What is your answer to TAC’s public art community activation prompt, “Public art is ______ “?

Public art is access.

 

Paul Amaral, President and Founder of Amaral Custom Fabrications, has long consulted with TAC, most recently preparing the Lionel Smit Morphous sculpture for installation in Kennedy Plaza.

1. Can you tell us about your current work?

“Amaral Custom Fabrications is a family owned and operated company with a rich, 20-year history. We are versatile fabricators who are able to apply our technical know-how to many industries, including large-scale art fabrication, marine and architectural trades, and sculpture restorations, among many, many others.”

“I have a project on the burners right now that we’re trying to complete soon. It’s a pretty big one, and it’s exciting. The artist is from Rhode Island, and the installation will be in Tampa, Florida. It’s an outdoor sculpture, 30 ft tall, so that’s getting a lot of my attention at the moment.”

2. Why did you choose to serve on the Board of The Avenue Concept?

“What I hope to bring is really practical knowledge. I’ve been building art for almost 40 years. I’ve got to be careful and remind myself that I’m NOT an artist…but an artisan, ”

“I’ve been doing this for a very long time. And I’m looking for a transition; someone to help me transition so that I can move my company to someone else that’s going to take care of it and grow it. I feel as though in the future my value will be in consulting, and TAC might be the first so I’m kind of excited about that. I really want to wrap my head around that, and I think I can bring something to the table once I understand the business plan a little bit better.”

3. What is your answer to TAC’s public art community activation prompt, “Public art is ______ “?

“Public art is a necessity to our culture, to our well being.”

 

Recognizing Outgoing Directors

We also would like to express our deep appreciation for the work and stewardship of our outgoing Directors. Their leadership and contributions have been invaluable in bringing TAC to where we are today. Their input has contributed to our new strategic plan, and we look forward to staying connected with them as we implement this new framework.

Charley Denby
Ed Lawrence
Francisco Lovera, Past Chair
Jill Woodcome, Past Vice Chair
Jeff Techentin, Past Secretary

We offer tribute to in memory of Rob Monnes whose contributions as Board Treasurer over five years were critical to TAC’s financial health and success.