Sheryl D. Gillilan, Executive Director

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Phone: 801-328-0703, option 3

Sheryl joined the Art Access staff in 2004 as the part-time Finance Manager, and since that time has made numerous contributions that have helped the organization grow and gain greater visibility. Among her many accomplishments are establishing the Front Door gift shop and the literary salon program, producing and receiving national recognition for her work with the publication Desert Wanderings, and streamlining the gallery application and review process. In 2009, Sheryl became Assistant Director. After conducting an exhaustive search throughout the summer of 2011, the Board of Directors for Art Access/VSA Utah appointed Sheryl to the position of Executive Director.

Sheryl received a B.A. in Psychology from Lewis and Clark College, and a Masters in Social Services (MSS) and a Master's in Law and Social Policy (MLSP) from Bryn Mawr College. Before working at Art Access, Sheryl was a stay-at-home mother for 10 years. From 1986-1993 she was a Policy, Budget and Planning Analyst for Salt Lake City Mayor Palmer DePaulis's and Mayor DeeDee Corradini's administrations. She founded the Salt Lake City Recycling Committee and served as a volunteer for an anti-poverty campaign in conjunction with the League of Women Voters. Sheryl also worked as the Treasurer for the Community Cooperative Nursery School from 1996 - 2011.

Sheryl is an award-winning quilt artist who also taught art classes on a volunteer basis to elementary school students for seven years.

Amanda Kaye Finlayson, Programs Director

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Phone: 801-328-0703, option 5

Amanda graduated from Westminster College in 2000 with a B.A. in English and a minor in Theatre. While pursuing her degree she served the campus community in several leadership capacities, including Secretary of the Associated Students of Westminster College and President of the Westminster Theatre Society. During her last two years of college, Amanda worked for AmeriCorps National Service Organization, promoting literacy and providing social services to underserved families. In 2001, hoping to further cultivate her experiences in the non profit community and expand her devotion to the arts, Amanda joined the staff of Utah Opera and worked with the company until after its merger with the Utah Symphony.

Beginning in January of 2003, Amanda began working at Art Access/VSA Utah and has since become Programs Director for the organization. She continues to find pleasure in serving her community and nurturing appreciation for the arts and arts education. Additionally, Amanda served on the board of the Utah Cultural Alliance, committing two years each as Treasurer, Vice Chair, and Chair. She is also one of two affiliate representatives for the Western Region on the VSA Affiliate Council.

Jackelin Slack, Public Relations & Marketing Director

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Phone: 801-328-0703, option 6

Jackelin graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in advertising. After working for two South Florida ad agencies and for The Sun-Sentinel Newspaper, she followed the calling of the Utah mountains and headed west. In Salt Lake she continued to work in the marketing and public relations field, this time for the Newspaper Agency Corporation and subsequently, at First Security Bank. All the while, Jackelin pursued her passion for photography by taking a photography class at every opportunity.

With the birth of her first child, Jackelin took a break from working full time to become a full time mom, but the need to pursue photography professionally was constantly tugging at her heart. Fueled by the moral and creative support of a professional photographer friend, she began assisting him on shoots and learning the art of stock and lifestyle photography.

Now with an established photography business of her own, Jackelin Slack Photography, Jackelin divides her time as PR and Marketing Director for Art Access and freelance photographer. As for her role at Art Access, Jackelin couldn't be happier that she gets to have the best of both worlds, career-wise. It thrills her more than anything that she gets to combine her love of art with her background in PR and marketing to promote an organization that offers so much to the local community.

Erin Call, Finance Manager

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Phone: 801-328-0703, option 8

Erin previously worked as the controller at the Salt Lake Art Center and is amply qualified to manage the fiscal aspects of our organization. Erin attended both Brigham Young University and the University of Utah and majored in fine arts with an emphasis in painting.

In addition, she has over 20 years accounting experience in a variety of industries and is excited to join the staff of another growing not-for-profit.

Erin has lived along the Wasatch Front her entire life, currently residing in downtown Salt Lake City with her husband and young daughter. She loves the arts in general and has a particular fondness for the visual arts.

Susan Anderson, Newsletter Editor

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Susan began her involvement with Art Access in the fall of 2001 -- right before the 2002 Olympics. She helped organize volunteers to staff the gallery during the Cultural Olympiad, and she began editing the newsletter. She has worked closely with the Art Access staff since then to enhance the content of this publication and move it towards being a "greener" document. Art Access hopes to tap into her expertise as we develop a book group and lecture series in the coming years.

Susan received her training in languages and literature at Marquette University (Milwaukee, WI) and at the University of Utah, where she also has taught courses on these subjects. She also has written and recorded non-fiction essays for KUER, managed local theater venues during the Sundance Film Festival, and worked as a freelance writer, editor, and tutor. She is currently working on a dissertation project about AIDS poetry and teaches poetry weekly at her children's elementary school.

While Susan often gets nostalgic for the Midwest, she loves living in Salt Lake City with her husband and two children. She enjoys cooking, gardening, reading, playing Scrabble, and exploring Utah's natural beauty.

Marina Alexandrescu, Kindred Spirits Program Coodinator

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Phone: 801-328-0703, Option 7

Marina Alexandrescu, a mixed-media artist, is the Kindred Spirits Program Coordinator. Marina was educated at the Pratt Institute in Art and Design Education in Brooklyn, NY; she also received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Utah, and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has been a visual arts instructor at Studio in a School, New York City; Gallery 37 Center for the Arts, Chicago; Visual Arts Institute and Institute of Art and Imagination and Kindred Spirits, Salt Lake City. Her work has appeared in several Chicago venues, and she has participated in a two-person exhibit at Pioneer Memorial Theatre in Salt Lake City. She also has exhibited and performed in Art Access Gallery group and holiday shows, and her mixed-media exhibition with an Icarus theme will open here in June 2012.

Originally from Romania, Marina enjoys working on creative projects with children of all ages. She also loves reading, gardening, and hiking with her two sons and their two dogs.

Jean LaSarre Gardner, Teen and Adult Workshop Coordinator

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Phone: 801-328-0703, option 7

Jean grew up in northern Illinois and graduated from Eastern Illinois University in 1979 with degrees in Special Education and Elementary Education. She then joined VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) and made her first travels to the southwest as she spent seven years living and working on the Navajo Nation in Montezuma Creek, Utah. She later earned an MA in Expressive Arts Education where she developed a working philosophy of integrating arts and education. Jean was a special educator for 14 years working with students in Montezuma Creek; Santa Rosa, California; Phoenix, Arizona; and on the island of Guam.

In 1993 Jean and her husband settled in Salt Lake City where Jean began her work with Art Access as an assistant to then director, Ruth Lubbers. During this time Jean and her husband established a school of movement with classes in T'ai Chi and Wing Chun Kung-fu, along with a Tibetan Buddhist Temple.

After the birth of her daughter, Jean began coordinating the Art Access Teen Art Workshops—and later the Adult Art Workshops—both of which allow her to utilize her experiences as a special education teacher and her love of the arts. Jean is also the dance specialist at Wasatch Elementary and volunteers at Primary Children's Medical Center as a tutor.