Executive Director of Ct State Office for the Arts

Becky's belief in people making a difference in the globe came early in her life. While a educatee at Virginia Republic Academy, she established and headed the start national affiliate of the women's sorority Phi Sigma Sigma. She graduated with a BFA in Communication, Arts and Blueprint.

Becky worked in ii nonprofits in Virginia before moving to Connecticut in 1994. She worked at Primary Street Ballet and Main Street Customs Theatre, both in Woodbury. She developed a summertime theater programme for children and teens that continued to run afterward she moved on to become Community Life Director at the Pomperaug Woods retirement community. Becky has served on the Arts and Civilization Collaborative Board of Directors and is at present a corporator on the Marriage Savings Depository financial institution Board.

Becky founded Arts Escape in 2012 with the vision that learning through the arts brings adults together and gives them purpose and friendship. Although Becky is retiring as Executive Director after 10 years, she plans to stay involved by serving on Arts Escape'south Lath of Directors and now has fourth dimension to accept art classes.


Debbie Gatto recently retired from her position every bit the Director of Parks and Recreation for the Boondocks of Oxford where she served for 16 years. While in that position, she focused on serving The Town with high quality and affordable programs and activities for residents of all ages while also maintaining and updating the boondocks's recreational facilities. Starting equally a part fourth dimension director with one seasonal maintenance supervisor, she eventually built the department to as many as 45 employees in the summertime.

In 2008, Debbie received the "Young Professional" of the year honor from the Connecticut Recreation and Parks Association. In 2010, the CRPA named the Oxford Parks and Recreation Department as the "Rec'r of the Yr". She was very active with the country system and served on a number of committees eventually being elected to its Executive Board of Directors.

Before working for the Boondocks of Oxford, Debbie and her husband, Joe lived in London, United kingdom where she was the Able-bodied Managing director for The American School in London. Prior to her motility to London, Debbie lived in Ohio and spent 8 years working as a licensed insurance agent and equally an Account Manager for Municipal Lines and High-Risk Commercial accounts.


Betsy is a businesswoman and art enthusiast. Betsy and her husband owned seven Lawn Md Franchises that serviced 3500 households in southwestern Connecticut for 33 years. Betsy served as Operations Managing director and was responsible for all finances and marketing. She was on the Backyard Doctor Incorporated National Marketing Panel and was a mentor to new franchisees in the Lawn Doctor system.

Betsy, a native of Ridgefield, CT, holds a BA in Business Administration from the Academy of Delaware, a certificate in Women's Studies from Hartford Seminary, and several financial security licenses. She has worked as a registered client acquaintance for Merrill Lynch, and was a personal assistant to an author/lecturer, traveling with her throughout the US. Betsy coached youth soccer for years in Southbury and played both indoor and outdoor soccer in her adult years.

Recently retired, Betsy is now shifting her focus to playing tennis, creating art (specializing in paper cutting), becoming expert on pianoforte and traveling with her husband in their RV.  Betsy began taking classes at Arts Escape in 2018 and has thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to learn, improve her skills and take part in the community established there.

Betsy and her husband accept lived in Southbury for 27 years. They have ii children and four grandchildren, all of whom live locally.


Sandra Daignault

Secretary

Sandra spent 37 years in Information Engineering working for Fortune 100 companies, such as, Kodak, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Clairol and General Electric. She has a MS in statistics with accreditations beyond the field of computer science. In 2011 she retired from Kodak corporation as the Director of Information technology for their Graphics Communication Division and then continued as a consultant in the NY metro area.

Afterwards moving to Litchfield County in 2014, she made a decision to refocus her energy to the arts – a dream since college. Her first experience at Arts Escape was in 2018 when she enrolled in art and writing classes. She quickly became a regular taking upward to three classes per week.  Each twelvemonth since then she has been a member of the Threads program and taken part in the juried shows, reading events and contributed to the Threads book published each February. She has published two poetry/sketch books, Poesy Expression I and Poetry Expression II. She is currently writing a novel and her artwork can be viewed on her website.


Marker Franklin

Board Member

Marking Franklin is a resident of Southbury and a semi-retired attorney. He has lived in Southbury about 10 years and came to know and love Arts Escape over the past three years through its fine art and photography courses. He has been an amateur lensman for virtually of his life and was introduced to the magical earth of painting and sketching through Arts Escape and other arts organizations.

Marking spent most of his professional person career as an chaser, specializing in insurance regulatory police force and commercial litigation in corporate, individual practice and government settings. Mark became an attorney in a mid-career movement; prior to law school, he worked for nine years as a newspaper reporter in Hartford. Marking's legal career is now confined to pro bono representation of refugee clients who are referred by the Connecticut Establish for Refugees and Immigration ("CIRI") in Bridgeport.

Mark'due south customs activities include his work with CIRI representing refugee clients, and volunteering with the Audubon Lodge at the Bent of the River in nature instruction and citizen scientist work.


Lynne Gingras

Gallery Managing director

Lynne is retired from the medical field after forty-ii years and was a previous member of the American Radiological Society, and Registered Radiological Technologist.

In 2005 Lynne and her hubby retired to Due north Carolina and this is where Lynne's interest in the arts materialized. Her son Dana and married man Dana, a building contractor, congenital "Andre Christine Gallery and Sculpture Garden in Mooresville, Northward Carolina for Lynne. Lynne was the owner, and sole operating manager for the gallery.  Its success grew and the gallery ultimately represented over 100 artists with an extensive customer following. Patrons enjoyed four-five theme-based shows and openings each year.  Artists taught a multifariousness of classes in dissimilar mediums including sculpture.

Andre Christine Gallery hosted the yearly Lake Norman High Schoolhouse almanac Pupil Art show.  Students were immune a hands-on feel in all aspects of an art bear witness exhibit including ad, hanging the testify, and organizing and hosting the opening reception for guests which included selling their work.

Lynne was a member of the Mooresville, North Carolina Chamber of Commerce, Davidson, North Carolina Chamber of Commerce, and an agile member of the Business Resource Group.

Lynne is the grandmother of half-dozen and recently moved back to Southbury, Connecticut.  She immediately embraced the Arts Escape classes and programs. Lynne spends her gratuitous time enjoying the arts, travel, writing, gardening, and walking.


Bobbi is a co-founder of WD Communications, an international grooming visitor that focuses on developing and presenting seminars, webinars, and coaching sessions to develop employees, managers, and executives.

During her career Bobbi specialized in providing communication skills training for the pharmaceutical industry, developing  seminars that trained physicians to communicate more effectively with patients, and helping women communicate more successfully in the corporate environment. Every bit an executive charabanc, Bobbi helped high-level managers prepare for major presentations and strengthen their leadership images.

Earlier founding WD Communications, Bobbi developed her honey for the written word as a newspaper reporter and her passion for using innovative education strategies as a college writing professor.

When she moved to Connecticut from New Bailiwick of jersey she took advantage of her new lifestyle to investigate the arts.  She was delighted to find Arts Escape where she has had the opportunity to feel the system as a volunteer, a educatee, and an teacher.

Bobbi has a BA from Wilkes University and an MA from Rutgers University.


Barbara Phillips

Vice Chair


Barbara Phillips is currently a Senior Vice President of Learning Dynamics, a management consulting firm in Wallingford, Ct. Previous to that, she was the Director of Human Resources for People's Bank.
Early in her career, she was a special instruction instructor in New York City.

Barbara graduated from Skidmore College with a BA in Didactics and from Columbia University with an MS in Special Pedagogy. She did post graduate work in Human Resource at Fairfield University.

She and her family unit lived in Newtown for 35 years and so moved to Southbury 11 years ago. She has been involved in many organizations and commissions including just non limited to Newtown Legislative Quango, Newtown Library Board (President), Danbury Child Advocacy Middle (President), League of Women Voters, Governor's Rehabilitation Advisory Commission, Society for Creative Arts, and B'Nai Israel Board of Directors.

Barbara is married to her married man, Arthur, a retired Endodontist. They have iii children and six grandchildren. Her hobbies include reading, painting, golf game, singing, classical music, traveling and political activism.


Anne Marie Quinson

Board Member


Anne-Marie Quinson-Franklin has been living in Southbury since 2011 and started attention classes at Arts Escape in 2018. She has ever been interested in photography and sketching and has a passion for street photography and "pen and ink" sketching. She also plays classical guitar and loves to cook. Enrolling at Arts Escape was a style for her to discover new techniques (acrylic painting) and new challenges (color and abstract).

On the professional side, Anne-Marie is an M.D. and worked for several years as a treating medico in an Infectious Diseases department specialized in HIV in Marseille (French republic). She left clinical practice and joined the pharmaceutical industry 20 years agone and now works in Clinical Development for a major international company based in Connecticut. Anne-Marie is fluent in French and Spanish.


Wendy Mitchell

Executive Director


Wendy Mitchell is an award-winning writer, musician, and educator who has been an active promoter of the arts in the greater Danbury area for the past 2 decades. She graduated from Post University in July of 2021 with a BS in Child Studies. She received her head instructor certification in early childhood education in 2009 from the state of Connecticut. For the last 5 years, she taught writing workshops, scriptwriting, musical theater, cultural music and movement, and other arts-based classes through her art school, the Arts & Nature Schoolhouse of Ridgefield. In 2017, the school received the Reader's Choice Award for "All-time Arts & Music School" from Ridgefield's Townvibe Magazine. She has worked as a nationally published journalist for seven years at Patch.com, Hearst Media, and CT Buzz News. She taught musical theater for the concluding seven years at the Greater Danbury Irish Cultural Center in Danbury, a 501(c)3 where she and her hubby are members and officers. Wendy was named the 2022 Lady Hibernian of the Year from the Danbury Ladies Ancient Lodge of Hibernians, an Irish gaelic-Catholic charitable arrangement, for her volunteer work and fundraising efforts.

Wendy was the founding executive director of the 501(c)3 nonprofit Sandy Hook Arts Eye for Kids (The SHACK) and helped hundreds heal later the tragedy of 12/fourteen through free art, music, theater, and pet therapy classes and workshops. Forth with a dedicated team of volunteers, she provided a safe haven for children and families to heal through the ability of the arts during those hard times. In January of 2014, Wendy received the "Top ten About Fascinating People of 2013" accolade from Hearst Media for volunteer piece of work she did at The SHACK. Wendy lives in Brookfield with her hubby of 27 years, Chris, a drummer, one of their three immature adult children, Ruby, a Social Work major at WCSU, and their 8-year-old rescue dog, Sadie, a blackness lab mix. Their centre son Cullen is as well a drummer and oldest son Dillon is a SAG/AFTRA actor in NYC.

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Source: https://www.artsescape.org/about-us/board-of-directors/

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