2023-2024 Panelists

Grant Panelists for FY24

Gabriela Alvarado
Gabriela Alvarado (she/her/hers) is a trailblazing flutist, career coach, and community builder. With a background in music arts administration and an unyielding determination to empower artists, Gaby is making classical music accessible and relatable to everyone. She has played a pivotal role in connecting artists with communities, just as she nurtures her beloved plants and enjoys the company of her four-legged companion. Her work extends beyond the music world, fostering a sense of inclusivity for all artists, no matter their discipline. She envisions a world where classical music knows no boundaries and creativity flourishes.

Jose Barriga
Jose is a trained social psychologist who works in communications and a serial entrepreneur. He holds a BA & MA in Psychology from URP (Lima-Peru) and has done intense grad coursework in communications (UCLA). He assists the biotech industry, non-profits, and healthcare providers in accessing what is known as the Latino / Hispanic / Latinx demographic with outreach strategy, communication, and marketing campaigns with Vice Versa Communications. Jose is also a serial entrepreneur; he is the Founder / Director (2001-2015) of the Boston Latino International Film Festival (BLIFF), one of the largest and oldest Latino / Hispanic cultural events in New England, Founder / Director (2015 – 2020) of the Cambridge Food Lab, Founder of Vice Versa Communications (2007 – present) and Founder / Director of the Greater Boston Spanish Group, a Cambridge based language school that provides language courses to adults in the evenings. Before coming to Cambridge, in the 90s, he was a Network TV Producer in the Los Angeles area. Currently, Jose is enrolled in an MBA program at the Questrom School of Business at Boston University.

Lyza Bayard
Lyza Bayard has been involved in the Arts for over 35 years. She attended art school in NYC where she got her BFA in Studio Art, then later attended Carnegie Mellon where she obtained a Masters of Fine Arts. Lyza has taught classes on art, lectured, and had several gallery exhibitions in American and Europe including a museum exhibition during her career as a fine artist. She worked for a gallery director coordinating exhibitions and compiling an exhibition catalog. She also worked for a private art dealer in NYC managing fine art appraising, purchasing, shipping, and art transfer. Lyza frequents museums in NYC and Boston. She has several friends who are working artists, critics, and educators both internationally and domestically. She has attended several Venice Biennales and has a detailed knowledge of art history and contemporary art. Lyza loves public art and its powerful and beautiful impact on society and in October 2023 visited 20 Chelsea galleries and walked the high line in one day!

Terry Borderline
Terry Borderline is a producer; as well as a Hip Hop recording, performing and teaching Artist from Brockton, MA who serves the community through music production education, private mentorship programs, program coordination and artist development. Annually through Bridgeside he collaborates to curate an event called "Nature in The City". Through programs such as Loop Lab and The Transformative Culture Project Terry was trained to understand the political intricacies of the challenges disenfranchised young adults face in entering the arts in the city's of Cambridge and Boston professionally. These experiences inform him of what is possible to accomplish in terms of equity, resources, access and funding for black people in the arts, and more specifically the city of Cambridge.

Sam Breen
Sam Breen is a third-generation Cambridge resident who lives and works in Cambridge. When he is not busy working as a Privacy and Cybersecurity Attorney for Philips North American in the new Cambridge Crossing neighborhood, Sam can be found with his wife and their four-year-old twins walking their dog at Fresh Pond. Sam studied Painting and Printmaking at the University of Massachusetts Boston and, throughout his time as a Cambridge resident, he has worked on three public murals in the City of Cambridge.

Steve Brown
Steve Brown is a senior staffer at the First Church Shelter in Cambridge, Steve also manages at The Harvard Film Archive where he sometimes programs films. Since 2012 Steve has also independently produced readings , screenings and recitals throughout the city. A habit he can't seem to shake, Steve is the cofounder and producer of the Hastings Room Poetry series, which continues to thrive at venues in/around Harvard Square, Steve sits on the Executive Board of The Cambridge NAACP,and volunteers with Food For Free-one of his fave local non-profits, He is also known to photograph the flowers and Fauna in his daily travels and was honored to have one of his snaps selected for the Cambridge Parking Permit Contest.

David Cotrone
David Cotrone is a resident and renter rooted in Cambridge, MA. He serves as Director of Public Relations and Communications at PRX, a Pulitzer Prize-winning nonprofit public media organization with an office in Boston.

Michelle Cronin
Michelle Cronin is a local teacher and wellness practitioner who has been working in the Cambridge community for over 5 years. Having recently completed coursework in grant writing, she is enthusiastic about applying these skills while serving as a panelist. Michelle believes that art can be used to promote dialogue and facilitate healing and connection. She is particularly drawn to work by: artists from underrepresented groups, artists from working-class backgrounds, and anyone who has had to start over in life. When she is not working, she enjoys watching films, reading, and attending plays.

Lisa DeSiro
I'm a professional musician and a writer. I've lived in Cambridge since 2008. In addition to working as an accompanist (at MIT, Longy School of Music, Boston Conservatory, Boston Ballet School) I also do freelance editing, and am the author of three published poetry collections.

Yaminette Diaz-Linhart
Yaminette Diaz-Linhart is a scholar, practitioner and creative focused on supporting the well-being of individuals and communities. She found her insatiable appetite as a creative fulfilled through poetry and writing. Even as a teen, she kept handwritten journals filled with poetry, hopes for the future and a litany of worries. Her current writing practice focuses on understanding the world we live in as a catalyst for healing.

Candice Driver
Candice Driver (she/her/ella) holds a B.A. in Art History from Pennsylvania State University and a M.A. from Boston University. Her current position as the Associate Director at the Cambridge Art Association (CAA) has allowed her to immerse herself into the community and meet artists from the New England area. As an arts administrator and art historian, she believes it is very important to work within the community and bring art to the forefront of social and cultural development. Candice hopes that by being a grant panelist, she can meet other arts administrators in the area and further get involved within the community.

Serena Eastman
Serena grew up in Cambridge, MA. She has actively participated in our arts community since high school, when she performed and taught with Masacote Entertainment, a premiere Latin dance and music ensemble. She graduated from Wellesley College with a BA in Neuroscience and Studio Art and she played Jazz Violin in the Wellesley College Jazz Band. When not working in neuroscience research or teaching ESL, Serena hops on her bike for a solo bike tour. She’s covered 6,500 miles in 20 countries and 33 states with lots more to come. In 2022 she trained in the Gateless Writing Methodology and leads writing workshops designed to spark your creative genius. She is excited to further promote the arts in Cambridge.

HAAWWS
HAAWWS, both artist and businessman from Roxbury, Massachusetts. Multifaceted, the artist has made an indelible mark on New England's music scene all while running an organization, dedicated to empowering communities through innovative outreach programs and engaging initiatives. In addition to public engagements the foundation provides invaluable technical assistance to local artists and non-profit organizations, offering guidance on everything from music publishing to grant-writing. He believes “DAP is the future of arts & culture.” He currently lives in Dorchester.

Adam Benjamin Hanna
Adam Benjamin Hanna (b. 1988) is an international trombone soloist, orchestral musician, and a proud citizen of the Chickasaw Nation tribe. He was appointed Principal Trombonist of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic by Alexander Mickelthwate in the fall of 2021. In July of 2022, he recorded a CD of Trombone Duets by Vladislav Blazhevich for the European Gramophone label with Christian Lindberg and Kelton Koch of the Vienna Philharmonic, which can be heard on iTunes, Spotify, and over 200 streaming applications. Currently, he is an active New England area freelancer regularly performing as a guest with groups such as the Boston Symphony, and Boston Pops as well as being Assistant Professor of Trombone at the University of Rhode Island, and Adjunct Instructor of Trombone at the Wanda L. Bass School of Music in Oklahoma City. As a soloist, Mr. Hanna has been the recipient of several international and national awards, including First Prize in the International Trombone Association’s Larry Wiehe Trombone Competition and the Lätzsch Trombone Competition, where he later appeared as a guest recitalist in 2014. He has appeared as a soloist in David Maslanka’s Trombone Concerto with the University of Texas at Arlington Wind Symphony, Johan de Meij’s T-Bone Concerto with the Amsterdam Symphonic Winds as part of the 2016 International Trombone Week, and premiered Thomas Traschel’s Festival Anthem for Trombones and Orchestra with the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra. As an orchestral musician, he has appeared as a guest trombonist with many major European and American orchestras and ensembles, including the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, The Hague Philharmonic, Charleston Symphony Orchestra, New Trombone Collective, New World Symphony, and the Dortmund Philharmonic. Additionally, he was selected as a finalist for the Minnesota Orchestra’s Rosemary and David Good Fellowship in both 2018 and 2019, which aims to spotlight musicians from traditionally underrepresented cultures. He has performed under such conductors as John Williams, Charles Dutoit, Andris Nelsons, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Thomas Adès.

Rose Hegele
Soprano Rose Hegele (she/her) explores the extremes of human vocal and artistic expression in 20th and 21st century music. Active across genres including avant-garde, contemporary opera, and chamber music, Rose creates healing spaces for audiences to embrace their complexity and humanity. Recent highlights include performing as “Helen” in Amber Vistein’s opera Dark Exhalation in October 2023, “Gloria (Double)” in Tod Machover’s opera VALIS at MIT in September 2023, premiering William Thomas McKinley's "The Recycler '' with the Lugano Percussion Ensemble on their 2023 US tour, and performing Arnold Schoenberg's "Pierrot Lunaire" with Lowell Chamber Orchestra in October 2022. Dedicated to education through artistry, Rose has presented masterclasses at Brown University, Roger Williams University, Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, University of Texas in Austin, Berklee College of Music, Clark University, Wildflower Composers Festival, and Boston Singers Resource. A collaborative tour de force, Ms. Hegele is committed to working with others in diverse musical environments. She has performed in Cambridge with Peridot Duo, Nightingale Vocal Ensemble, and Into the Light Ensemble at venues including Harvard University’s Radcliffe Institute, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, and Lilypad Inman.

Claire Hoffman
Claire is a Senior Public Health Planner at the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC). In her role, she works with the 101 cities and towns in the Greater Boston region to research, implement, and evaluate local public health initiatives. Claire has lived in Cambridge for 7 years. In her free time, she enjoys going to concerts, independent movie theatres, arts festivals, and museums in the City. She is inspired by art that imagines and advocates for a more just and equitable future.

Noel Jackson
Noel Jackson is Associate Professor of Literature at MIT, teaching mostly poetry, and a resident of the Wellington-Harrington neighborhood.

James Kaufman
I have a life-long engagement with art-making in many genres and settings. My career spans creative and management work in the performing, visual arts, documentary film, arts administration, and arts education in community, K-12, university and professional settings. I was a Central Square Theater board member for 10 years, serving on the finance committee. As Managing Director of the Suffolk University Theatres and Theatre Department and lecturer in arts management for 20+ years, I collaborated with diverse artists, students, community and professional arts organizations, and audiences on projects involving performing arts, poetry and spoken word, visual and public art, film, and civic engagement.

Tracy Kukkonen
I have had a lifelong interest in the arts, and in vocal music and theater in particular, with experience in choral performance and musical theater throughout my childhood and teens in New York City. In recent years I returned to performing choral music with Cambridge Community Chorus, for which I also served as administrator for many years. My previous career was in childhood education as director of admissions at Cambridge Montessori School. I am a graduate of Wellesley College and have been a resident of Cambridge for more than 25 years.

Sarah Leon
Sarah Leon a visual artist with a background in arts administration and theater at the ART. She has 20+ years experience in painting, drawing and illustration. Her figurative work is inspired by nature, preforming arts and literature. Her paintings has been represented by the Monique Rancourt Gallery for the past 7 years. Sarah also has extensive experience in curating and installing exhibits, coordinating arts events and designing arts programs to engage the community.

Ricardo Maldonado
I am a visual artist based in Cambridge where I have lived for over thirty years. I have been painting all my life, but more often and consistently during the last ten years.
I enjoy painting and experimenting with color. My preferred subjects are related to nature and the outdoors, where the light and the colors change often with the seasons and the time of the day. Those changes, subtle or abrupt, are always a challenge to the artist. To me, painting is a search and a discipline. Painting has taught me to see things in a different way, observing every detail more carefully and more consciously, distinguishing colors and shapes, and ultimately appreciating more deeply what I see.
Over the years I have participated in collective and solo exhibits, juried and non-juried. My pieces have been displayed in many public and private venues, art galleries, hospitals, libraries, hotels and private homes in New England and Spain. My paintings have hung in the walls of Mass. General Hospital, Harvard University and the Massachusetts State House among other important institutions, some of which have acquired some pieces.

Peter Nohrnberg
A cultural critic, poet, scholar of literary modernism, and amateur photographer, Peter Nohrnberg grew up in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he was educated in the public schools. He subsequently attended Harvard and Oxford. He received his Ph.D. in English literature from Yale in 2003, and has taught literature at both Williams College and Harvard.
His poetry has appeared in Southwest Review, Notre Dame Review, The Wisconsin Review, and Oxford Poetry, among other journals. His poem “Pantoum After a School Shooting” was awarded second place in the 2020 Morton Marr Poetry Prize. His poem “A Look Backward” appears in the most recent issue of Notre Dame Review.
Nohrnberg has been making photographic images since he was an adolescent. He has been an active member of the Boston Photographic Center for the last decade and has presented his work on landscape photography and still life photography at member sessions. A number of his photographic portfolios, ranging from “Pre-selfie selfies” to “The Museum’s Frame” have been widely viewed on the visura.co platform. His photograph “Three Swimmers” is currently on display in the PRC’s “Your Work Here” exhibition at the VanDernoot Gallery in the Porter Exchange Building.
Nohrnberg served as Poetry Ambassador to the City of Cambridge in 2017, where he advocated engagement with both the writing and reading of poetry among all members of the community. He hopes to continue to promote the arts in the city that he has called home for the last twenty years.

Michael Ouelette
Michael Ouellette retired after teaching theater - acting, directing and dramatic literature – at MIT for twenty-one years. At MIT he directed twenty-four productions and acted in several others. He has taught at the University of Illinois, Skidmore College and the Williamstown Theater Festival, where he also acted. He has directed Our Town in India, The Marriage of Figaro for the Boston Opera Cooperative, and How to Eat Like a Child at the Blanchard Memorial Elementary School. He is the author of the librettos for three operas and a cantata by Charles Shadle and for Louisa’s War by Peter Child.

Debby Sommer
Debby Sommer has lived in Cambridge since the 90s, enjoying a variety of local theater, concert, and other performances available. She has ushered for Central Square Theater, Actors' Shakespeare Project, the BCA, and a few Boston Circus Guild shows.

Pranav Swaroop
Pranav Swaroop is an acclaimed Indian classical violinist who has played over a thousand concerts to date across the globe - in Europe, Southeast Asia, and Africa as a solo artist, and with his Carnatic progressive fusion band - 'Project MishraM' having had the privilege to accompany and work with several stalwarts in the field. He has done three international concert tours with his band covering thirteen cities in Europe and the UK and playing at music festivals notably, ArcTangent 2023 and UK Tech Fest- 2019 and 2022.

Barbara Thomas
A native New Yorker, Barbara Thomas has lived in Cambridge, MA for over two decades. She is a first-generation Guyanese-American with roots from Africa, India and England. An avid writer since childhood, her stories fall into the categories of horror, erotica, speculative fiction, afrofuturism, and the Caribbean diaspora. Barbara holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from MIT, runs Artifact Soapworks, and teaches soapmaking. Barbara and her husband are creators of the award-winning Cambridge Chronicled series, a graphic memoir collection about racism and oppression experienced as a multiracial couple in "liberal Cambridge." Her work has been presented at MICE (The Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo) and at the 2021 Boston Comics in Color Festival. When not writing, Barbara is a member of the FBI Citizens Academy, a Cambridge Women’s Commissioner, a member of the Cambridge Open Studios Advisory Committee, a member of the Cambridge-Somerville Black Business Network Steering Committee, a member of the North Cambridge Artist Association, an active member of the ImprovBoston community, a scuba diver, a voice-over artist, and a model.

Adejoke Aderonke Tugbiyele
Adejoke Aderonke Tugbiyele’s practice explores queer Yoruba aesthetics thus challenging homophobia and standing in solidarity with the notion that "Queer Love is Not UnAfrican!" Tugbiyele’s work reveals how Yoruba philosophy and indigenous aesthetics contributes to Western thought, as successfully found within applications of Buddhist and Hindu thought. She explores ideas of flight, transformation and transcendence. Through the concept of ‘Visible/Invisible’ her work engages multiple dualities including transparent/opaque, industrial/natural, masculinity/femininity and, spirituality/sexuality. She also weaves art and architecture while drawing inspiration from nature, presenting potential links between classical Yoruba and Ancient Nubian aesthetics. Tugbiyele has lectured and sat on panels at distinguished institutions in the United States and internationally, her work has been mentioned and reviewed in numerous distinguished publications and resides in important public and private collections around the world.

Lisa Wexler
Lisa Wexler grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She was born into a family of artists. Lisa attended both private & public schools. She is a graduate of Massachusetts College of Art with a B.F.A in Illustration & Design & a graduate of Lesley University with a Masters in Expressive Therapy & of SImmons School of Social Work with a Masters in Social Work.
Lisa has brought her love of the arts to communities in & around Cambridge & Boston for many years. After deciding to change her work focus from the commercial art field to Human Services in her early 30's, Lisa's passion has been to use the arts in various professional jobs for expression, learning & healing.
Lisa has enjoyed designing & creating quilts in fabric, making expressive clay sculptures, mixed media collages & paintings, designing & sewing some blouses & tops & fabric puppets & has created some large fabric wall hangings for a local business in the past two decades. Lisa has written songs for many years & her main form of creative expression at the current time is both writing songs & poems.

Imani Wong
My name is Imani Wong and I am a born and raised Cantabrigian. I went to Peabody Elementary, Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School, and now work at the Cambridge Public Library. I am a queer, Blasian visual artist. My medium is ink portraiture, but I am trained in printmaking, sculpture, and graphic design.