Meet the Board - Catamount Arts

Catamount Arts is governed by an all-volunteer Board of Directors comprised of arts enthusiasts from all cross- sections of the local community (teachers, doctors, photographers, administrators, musicians, parents, realtors, seniors, bankers, painters, lawyers, psychologists, students, engineers, etc). This passionate group of individuals works countless hours to fulfill Catamount’s mission to inspire appreciation of and participation in the arts, promote the arts throughout the region, and cultivate the arts as an integral part of community life. Our Vision is to be a vibrant and sustainable Arts institution, serving as an essential force in the Arts for individuals, organizations and communities throughout the region.

TO VIEW A BOARD MEMBER PROFILE, CLICK ON A NAME BELOW

Stephen Genereaux, President

Dr. Stephen Genereaux is a family medicine doctor in Wells River, Vermont and is affiliated with Cottage Hospital. He received his medical degree from Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and has been in practice for more than 20 years.

Heather Alger, Vice-President

Heather grew up in Pembroke, MA. She spent many years traveling domestically and internationally. At an early age she knew she was committed to “making a difference.” Heather has spent the last twenty-five plus years working in the nonprofit sector. She met her husband, Nicolas, to whom she has been married to for twenty-one years, while working at a foster care placement agency in Northampton, MA. Twenty years ago, after obtaining her Masters from Tufts University in Public Policy, they moved to Ryegate, VT. They fell into the music scene in town immediately and have been singing in the same traditional folk band, Fifth Business, since that time. While in Ryegate, they raised their daughter, Gabrielle, who is now eighteen. Heather also sings with the North Country Chorus and is a co-president of the NCC Board of Directors. Heather’s commitment to community is at the heart of her volunteer roles as Vice President of the Catamount Arts Board of Directors and a member of the Economic and Beatification Committees for the Town of St. Johnsbury. Currently, Heather works at Northeast Kingdom Community Action as the Director of Economic Equity. She heads up a team of five staff that administer programs that help individuals and families improve their economic stability. Heather loves the outdoors and enjoys hiking the Whites, backcountry skiing, nordic skating, and mountain biking.

Seana Testa, Secretary

Aminta Conant, Treasurer

Minty has been in business for thirty years with experience running manufacturing facilities in Vermont, New Hampshire and North Carolina. After years of business consulting to companies across the United States and Europe, she became one of the owners of Caledonia Spirits, the maker of Barr Hill Gin, and served as their CFO. Previously, she served as the Director of Lean Six Sigma programs for Lydall, Inc., an international manufacturing company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Minty is a CPA and has an MBA degree, and brings to the Board not only her experience and knowledge of accounting, finance, and good business practices, but also her experience in working in a public company. For thirty years she has actively managed rental property in both Vermont and New Hampshire. Passionate about economic development, she sits on several boards that are dedicated to increasing employment in the Northeast Kingdom. She lives in Barnet, Vermont and has three incredible daughters and five grandchildren.

Janet Warner Ashley

Janet Warner-Ashley is a transplanted Flatlander from Portsmouth, Rhode Island where she began her mania for dance, theatre and mime as a performer, director, choreographer and teacher, much to her mother’s chagrin, in spite of earning her BFA in Theatre from U.R.I. Janet has been in the Northeast Kingdom since 1981 when she left her work as a professional actor in a children’s company to marry Brad Ashley, her husband of 45 years, with two stints away in Maine and Wisconsin in the middle. Janet raised both of her boys, Eamon and Charlie, mostly in St. Johnsbury where she was Drama Director at St. Johnsbury Academy for a few years starting in 1981 before opening a dance studio in town. With Tari Scott and Leah Benedict, she started Northeast Kingdom Dance Theatre, (Kids Dancing for Kids), a children’s company dedicated to performing three ballets a year and donating the proceeds to children’s charities. The first stint in Maine found Janet earning her MA in Theatre from the University of Maine where she taught Acting and Dance while directing, choreographing and performing as a mime with the New York Ragtime Orchestra. The move to Wisconsin found Janet teaching dance, acting, directing and choreographing at University Lake School and at Dance Tracks Studio. The circle was complete when Janet returned to St. Johnsbury in 2008 to a full time position at the Academy teaching Acting, Public Speaking and Ballet while directing and choreographing during the school year and creating the Summer Shakespeare program that ran for 8 years in the outdoor amphitheatre. Upon retirement from the Academy, Janet created Quahog Dance Theatre which is in its fourth season as a program for senior citizens currently taking place at Catamount Arts in the Cabaret Room.

Timothy Egan

A specialist in broadcast and web based video content services, marketing, and media affairs, Tim Egan is part time faculty at both Lyndon and Johnson State College in Vermont. He’s also CMO and Executive Producer for Moody Street TV in Waltham, MA, as well a principal at Sugar Hill Associates in Sugar Hill, New Hampshire where he also lives with his wife and daughter.

Rick Whitt

Seana Testa

Rachael Elliott

Bobby Farlice-Rubio

Bobby Farlice-Rubio is a science and culture educator with more than two decades of teaching experience working in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. Mr. Farlice-Rubio may be seen in his monthly “Star Struck” segments on Channel 3 WCAX-TV’s 6:30pm news show, on which he presents the latest happenings in the field of Astronomy. During his 18- year tenure at St. Johnsbury’s Fairbanks Museum, Bobby was the teacher for the Guinness World Record: “Largest Astronomy Lesson.” Raised in Hialeah, Florida from Cuban and African-American roots, Bobby is also an avid musician who plays in a local band called Tritium Well, as well as his solo musical endeavor, Bobby & The Isotopes. He currently resides in Barnet, Vermont with his partner and their three children, three horses, and three dogs.

Stephen Genereaux

Tom Howell

Tom has a B.F.A. in Sculpture from the University of Connecticut and an M.F.A (Sculpture) from Massachusetts College of Art. During his career he has worked in the fields of art, education, and entrepreneurship. At MassArt, Tom was part of the arts collective “The Revolving Museum” in Boston’s Fort Point District. Then, as the Resident Artist in Adams House at Harvard University, Tom oversaw the “ArtSpace” gallery, serving a wide cross-section of the university and local arts communities by directing installations, exhibits, and events. Tom taught sculpture and painting, and helped to coordinate the College’s Freshman Arts program. Finally, he conceived and managed multiple social entrepreneurship projects that connected the university’s sustainability and recycling resources with primary schools in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Namibia. He and his family are new to St. Johnsbury, and eager to be involved in the life of the community here. Tom’s son Ethan (18) and daughter Maggie (15) are both students at St. Johnsbury Academy.

Josh Kantrowitz

Prior to joining NVRH St. Johnsbury Pediatrics in 2009, Dr. Josh Kantrowitz was a Clinical Instructor at Dartmouth College and Chief Resident in Pediatrics at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Department of Pediatrics. A graduate of Harvard College and Boston University Medical School, Dr. Kantrowitz lives with his wife photographer Cornelia Hasenfuss and their two children in Peacham, Vermont.

Rebecca McGregor

Rebecca McGregor has a Secondary License in Dance, a BS in Exercise Science, and a Masters in Education. In 2003, she developed the dance program at Lyndon Institute and founded the annual Vermont State Dance Festival. She also helps the VT Agency of Education develop and rewrite VT dance standards and licensing requirements, assessment tools in dance education, and advocate for arts education.

Rebecca is a member of SHAPE and the NDEO. She was a mentor through the NDEO’s pilot mentoring program in 2017 and has been a member of the NDEO Mentoring Committee since 2019. She has given presentations for Northeastern University’s NExT Professional Learning Conversations, been chosen as an adjudicator for the NDEO’s National Honor Society for Dance Arts Award 2021, and an adjudicator for the NDEO’s Annual Conference workshop proposals 2022.

Rebecca has received awards like Johnson State College Rising Star/Young Alumni Award, Youth Impact Award, VAHPERD’s Dance Educator of the Year Award, and David Dwyer Lyndon Institute Teacher of the Year Award. In 2020, Rebecca was awarded a Presidential Award from the National Dance Education Organization for her service to the Mentorship Committee and work creating and pursuing a vision for dance education in our country. In 2021, she was accepted into the Vermont Leadership Institute for the 2021-2022 year. And, in 2022, she received the NDEO Outstanding Leadership in K-12 Dance Education Award.

Her Core Values:

Honor and Integrity

Her Mission Statement:

I create opportunities to honor self and others and build integrity through courageous moments.

Celia Jackmauh

Celia attended Brown University, and completed her education at the Art Institute of Boston, majoring in Graphic Design. She joined Lotus Development Corporation as an Art Director and worked there for 11 years on marketing plans, packaging, point of purchase displays, collateral materials, trade shows, and advertising. Then she ran her own design business for many years. She has been involved with the nonprofit Aruna Designs for over 20 years, importing and selling handicrafts made by underprivileged widows in South India.

In 2008, She moved to Vermont with her husband and two sons, who both graduated from St. Johnsbury Academy. She loves drawing and painting, and shaking her booty. She lives with her husband, Gregory, cat Max, and about 40 milk cows at the Houde Farm in Barnet.

Paula Scavullo Kitchel

An ardent supporter of the arts, Paula Scavullo Kitchel holds an M. Ed in Education from the University of Vermont and worked as a special educator and school administrator prior to her retirement. She lives in Barnet, Vermont.

Shawntel Sechrist

Shawntel is from a small town in North Carolina. Her interests in science, problem solving and animals led her to NC State University. There she earned undergraduate degrees as well as a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine. Shawntel first visited Vermont with college friends while still a teenager. She had never before seen so much snow, nor had met people as genuinely kind and authentically themselves. Through the years she continued to visit these new friends, and in 2009 decided to move to Cabot. She worked at St Johnsbury Animal Hospital, which provided the opportunity to get to know many of the people in the area. Recently she opened her own veterinary hospital in Lyndonville, the NEK Community Animal Hospital. In 2014 Shawntel had a son. Her family now lives in Kirby. She is grateful to be able to raise her child in a small community filled with the same kindness that initially drew her to Vermont. Shawntel enjoys exploring the woods with her family. She day dreams of travel and hopes to find time to learn to play some of the stringed instruments in her home.

Cindy Mosedale

Cindy Mosedale is an NEK public school educator who loves learning, outdoor adventures, gardening, cooking, community, the arts, and travel. An active member of the Catamount Arts family for over twenty years, Cindy now shares her passions and skills as a board member.