BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Dennis Soron, President - St. Catharines
Dennis Soron was born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, and - after long travels - moved to St. Catharines in 2005 to take up a job as a faculty member in the Sociology department at Brock University. A featherless biped with opposable thumbs, Dennis joined the board of NAC in the fall of 2010.

Greg Redden, Vice President - St. Catharines
Born, raised and educated in Halifax, Greg received his Master of Architecture degree from Dalhousie University. Greg has spent the last ten years enjoying his work and life in Niagara and is now a Partner at Macdonald Zuberec Ensslen Architects Inc, St. Catharines. He received his license to practice architecture from the Ontario Association of Architects in 2003 and achieved recognition as a Leader in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited Professional from the Canada Green Building Council in 2005. As a member, and former Chair of the Niagara Society of Architects, he and other Society members have been working with the Bi-National Tourism Alliance in developing an expanded Doors Open Niagara event.

Adrian Thiessen, Treasurer - St. Catharines
Adrian has been a member of the St. Catharines community since 2005. He moved to the Niagara Region from Quispamsis, New Brunswick to Attend the Film Studies Program at Brock University. As current president of local new media company Fourgrounds Media Inc. he has been an artist, advocate, entrepreneur, and pioneer in the video and interactive media sector.

 Maud Rostaing, Secretary - St. Catharines
Maud lives and works in downtown St. Catharines since 2003. She moved to the Niagara Region from Paris, France. She has a Bachelor in American literature and civilization, and a teaching specialty for Special Needs students. She now teaches in a downtown french school. Maud is also a photographer inspired by the many cities she has lived in or visited through-out the world. She enjoys local theater, did some DJ work at a local radio station, has participated in various installations within the city, shown her work, and promoted others. She enjoys being an active volunteer to different events.

Dan Brown - St. Catharines
Dan Brown is a graduate of the Brock Visual Arts program. Dan is an avid cyclist and photographer who happens to be employed by the Niagara District School Board as a special education teacher. He is a life long resident of Niagara and currently lives in St. Catharines.

Jon Jouppien - St. Catharines
Jon is a self-employed Heritage Resource Consultant living and working in the Niagara Region. He is a member of the Resource Management Committee.



Berndt Meyer - Niagara-on-the-Lake
Berndt is an active fundraiser for NAC and assists in gallery installations and renovations. He is interested in connecting the NAC to new private and public revenue sources.

Clelia Scala - St. Catharines
Bio coming soon.

Eric Schmaltz - St. Catharines
Eric Schmaltz is a graduate student, experimental poet, reviewer, and curator. He is currently completing an M.A. degree at Brock University in the English language Text/Community/Discourse program with a focus on Canadian Modern, Experimental, and Avant-Garde literatures. His recent critical work is forthcoming from Open Letter and Rampike, while his creative work has been featured in a number print and digital periodicals including Poetry is Dead, ditch, poetry, and The Incongruous Quarterly. In March 2011, Eric worked as the assistant-coordinator for the NAC’s The Bird is the Word exhibition. Eric lives in St. Catharines, Ontario where he curates the Grey Borders Reading Series.

Scott Warren - St. Catharines
Scott Warren returned to the Niagara area in 2003 after spending six years living in Toronto. As a songwriter and musician Scott has played stages from New York City to Nashville. He currently makes music under the name Bronx Cheerleader. Scott is also the owner of Prints Buster Design, a St. Catharines-based company specializing in graphic design and screen printing.

STAFF

Stephen Remus, Minister of Energy, Minds, and Resources
Bio coming soon

Natasha Pedros, Minister of Communications and Inland Revenue
Natasha has been working at NAC for 7 years as a graphic designer. She has created countless promotional and interpretive materials for many arts organizations in Niagara including NAC, Suitcase in Point, In the Soil: Niagara's Homegrown Arts Festival, and Carousel Players. Notably, she designed and produced the Alice Crawley catalogue (a joint project of NAC, the Grimsby Public Art Gallery and the Rodman Hall Arts Centre), the Walter Redinger catalogue for MOCCA and the St. Thomas-Elgin Public Arts Centre and a catalogue for FLORA: Fragile Habitats, Declining Ecosystems by Julie Aubin and Darlene Benner (NAC and the Grimsby Public Art Gallery).

Natasha is a founding member of Suitcase in Point Theatre Company and was recently an Ontario Arts Council juror in the Theatre Arts section.

Kate Leathers, Minister of Science, Industry, and Technology
Bio coming soon

Ryan Rivando, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities
Ryan Rivando is a multidisciplinary artist, video instructor, arts administrator and graduate of the Visual Arts program at Brock University with a Concentration in Curatorial Studies. As an artist Ryan works with video, installation, drawing and mixed media and often visits and repurposes past events, trends or heirlooms. As Minister of Infrastructure and Communities he is responsible for programming and events outside of NAC’s main space and works on most technical requirements and installations. Along with NAC member Tracy Van Oosten, Ryan has been teaching video making skills to underprivileged youth across the Niagara region. This was accomplished with support from the Laidlaw Foundation. In addition, Ryan is an active member of the Niagara Crystal Beach Comets Hockey Club. The Comets are St. Catharines inclusion to the nationally affiliated league, Good Times Hockey League of the Arts.

Kasia Smuga, Principle Officer of Pedagogy
Bio coming soon