Richmond Art Center is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors. The Board, which is elected by our members, is responsible for the organization’s financial health and achievement of its mission.
Nettie Hoge is an East Bay resident who is deeply grateful to the staff and faculty at Richmond Art Center for her cultivation of self-expression and personal growth in and as a result of Richmond Art Center’s painting and drawing classes. Nettie brings a wealth of nonprofit experience to Richmond Art Center’s board. She has served on three nonprofit boards, including a stint as the chair of the Heyday Press board. She is a retired lawyer who has worked in many governmental and nonprofit organizations including as an executive director and a senior staff member. She served as Chief Deputy Commissioner at the California Department of Insurance during the term of Dave Jones. She provided legal assistance to victims of domestic violence as a Legal Services lawyer. While working for Consumers Union, she served on the advisory board for Health Access and litigated to establish funds for community health efforts as nonprofits like Blue Cross converted to for profit institutions. She was Executive Director for six years at TURN, a nonprofit, legal organization advocating at the Public Utilities Commission for utility consumer rights, and fare rates.
John Boychuk is a professional artist and art professor who works with a wide variety of materials and processes, both traditional and digital. Over the course of 20+ years of art making, John has shown and taught internationally as well as in the Bay Area. John grew up in the Detroit metropolitan area and now lives with his family in Richmond. John has taught at Berkeley City College, SAE Expression College in Emeryville, and the University of Silicon Valley in San Jose. His greatest accomplishments as an educator are in supporting multicultural, gender-diverse, and economically challenged students to achieve their academic and personal goals. He is excited to work with Richmond Art Center to increase the creative opportunities for the communities of Richmond.
“As a Chinese immigrant and art studio business owner, I have strong connections with the Chinese community in the East Bay and can contribute to the Richmond Art Center in a variety of ways. I can use my connections to engage the Chinese community and raise funds for the Center. I have valuable media contacts that I will use to promote RAC’s events and news. I will advocate for diversity and inclusion in Board and organizational initiatives. I will promote and help to organize exhibitions, talks, and events that will prominently feature Asian artists. I also have a strong accounting background that will help the board interpret financial reports and forecasts. In addition, my experience teaching classes and workshops in art will inform the organization’s mission.”
Lina Velasco is the Community Development Director for the City of Richmond. She has worked for the City of Richmond since 2005. During her tenure at the City, Lina has led various community-driven planning efforts, including mobility plans, specific plans, streetscape plans, and the comprehensive Zoning Update. Her work includes obtaining grants for planning activities, as well as built-environment improvements, such as parks rehabilitations and streetscape projects. Lina believes that the arts are an important component of celebrating culture, diversity, and an integral part of community revitalization efforts. She has a B.A. in History and Chicana/o Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles and Masters in Regional Planning Candidate from Cornell University. Lina lives in Pinole with her husband and two children (ages 7 and 11).
Paul Collins is an East Bay Area native and former Richmond resident. He lives with his partner and children (aged 10 and 13) in Lafayette, CA. Paul has a B.A. in business management from San Diego State University and works with Homeowners’ Associations in and around Richmond, as CEO of Collins Management (recently of Richmond, now in Hercules) and founder and CFO of Unlimited Property Services, Inc. in Richmond. He also founded and is CEO of Collins Management Foundation, a nonprofit that benefits communities served by Collins Management and especially workers in the HOA services sector. He believes in community and, as a businessman, he feels one of the most important things he does is invest in communities. He believes that Richmond Art Center enhances community life in Richmond and contiguous communities with art and art-making opportunities and he is honored to support that work as a board member.
With her Master’s in printmaking from Illinois State University and background in teaching art at schools in underserved communities, as well as starting and running two successful design-based businesses, Jane Diokas’ qualifications provide real world solutions that bridge the gap between idealism and financial necessity. She believes that art can be first and foremost a joyful pursuit that naturally expresses a higher truth. She hopes to help carry on the mission of the founder of Richmond Art Center – who believed there was an artist in everyone and that art was as vital as breathing – while aligning it with both contemporary values and needs.
Matias Eusterbrock
Matias was raised between Richmond, Berkeley, and Oakland, and is deeply committed to supporting local art cultures. Matias currently works for the City of Richmond helping administer a large climate equity grant, and previously worked in San Jose and San Francisco on community planning and racial equity initiatives. Matias is also an active member of Bay Area stagehand unions Local 16 and Local 134, and organizes a monthly dance party in Oakland with over 500 regular attendees. Matias is excited to support Richmond Art Center in expanding its audience and deepening connections to the local community.
For twenty years, Amy Feitelberg has been on-set art directing and producing photography and creative content. She has collaborated with photographers and crews all over the world making distinctive award-winning work for both commercial and editorial worlds. Most recently she has been a Photo Creative Lead at Airbnb partnering on seasonal launch campaigns. Before that she ran Photo Creative at Square for 6 years overseeing the evolution from documentary storytelling to global campaigns. She also founded and curated an award winning, in-house brand magazine called The Reader. Previous to entering the tech world she was the Photo Director at Los Angeles and Outside magazines. She has won numerous awards from American Photography, Society of Publication Designers and Communication Arts. She has curated several shows in Los Angeles and she has been a mentor at Art Center in Pasadena and a guest lecturer there as well.
Tia Foss began working for non-profits in 1994 when she moved to San Francisco and joined the staff of the newly established Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Since then, she’s held development positions at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Planned Parenthood: Shasta-Diablo, and the Lawrence Hall of Science. Currently, she serves as Director of Philanthropy for the UC Berkeley School of Information. Tia credits frequent childhood visits to the Art Institute of Chicago for her life-long appreciation of the arts. She received her degree in Art History from the University of Minnesota and enjoys taking classes at the Richmond Art Center.
Lanita Mims brings Richmond Art Center decades of experience managing, coordinating and directing human services organizations. Lanita is also a very experienced event planner, and she owns her own event planning business. Lanita served on numerous Boards, including the Contra Costa Commission of the Arts, the Contra Costa Women’s Commission as well as the Contra Costa Housing Authority. Lanita has been an active volunteer for the food bank as well as many other organizations. She brings facilitation skills and teaching experience to Richmond Art Center. Lanita is looking forward to lending her varied skill set to help Richmond Art Center thrive.
Cristina Saavedra brings a wealth of experience to the Board, most notably her background as a business operations leader including her current position at Apple and years of experience with Square Trade. In these roles she has developed deep expertise in relationship management and in growth strategy. She is experienced and interested in harvesting data to facilitate customer experience. She knows business intelligence and system design, and has managed and led diverse teams. Christina committed to contributing her skills and experience to help RAC grow its donation pipeline and expand its operational footprint within the greater Bay Area.
Organized by the Visual Artists of Richmond and now in its third year, Richmond Open Studios invites the public to explore the city’s vibrant creative community during a weekend of open studios, September 6-7.
As part of the celebration, Richmond Art Center presents Made in Richmond, a preview exhibition of work by participating artists.
Plus, on Saturday, September 6, join us in the courtyard to meet artists and shop for original art.
Sharing art and creating with the community since 1936.
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