Board of Directors

Clelia Scala, Chair

Clelia Scala is a visual artist whose work includes mask and puppet design, installations, collage, and illustration. She recently returned to Kingston from Niagara where she served on the Board of Directors for the Niagara Artists Centre as Board Chair for four years. Clelia’s work has been in galleries in Canada and the United States and in theatres across North America and Europe. She teaches theatre design at the DAN School of Drama and Music at Queen’s University. 

To reach the Chair of the KAC Board of Directors, contact board@artskingston.ca.

 

Dave Rideout, Vice Chair

Dave Rideout is a communications professional with 15 years of experience. His career spans non-profit, private, and post-secondary sectors, and includes roles in Canada and abroad. He is an avid photographer, experienced musician, and passionate community volunteer—serving on several boards supporting local arts, libraries, and environmental conservation. He is from Halifax, Nova Scotia, and has lived in Kingston since 2017.

 

Nevena Martinović, Secretary

Nevena Martinović (she/her) is a theatre history and performance scholar, as well as an amateur playwright. Her research primarily focuses on intersections of acting and aging in eighteenth-century British theatre, though she has also published articles on contemporary theatre. Since graduating with her PhD in English Language and Literature, Nevena has been working as the Education Manager at various provincial and national not-for-profit organizations. She also teaches courses on literature, theatre studies, communication, and diversity and inclusion at several Canadian universities and colleges.

 

Amanda Baker, Treasurer

Amanda Baker (she/her) is a producer, theatre artist, and technologist specializing in immersive and interactive theatre. She holds a BAH in Computing and the Creative Arts and a Certificate in Business from Queen’s University, and a Master’s in Drama, Theatre & Performance Studies from the University of Toronto. She is currently the Festival Administrator for The Kick & Push Festival and Bookkeeper for Generator. Her recent work includes production managing Single Thread’s “Virtual Ambrose,” UX Designer for “The Social Within the City”, and Quality Assurance for the Cohort coding framework. As a disabled artist, accessibility is a strong aspect of her practice, and with CCA support she is currently working on an autobiographical show exploring the humour and realities of living with chronic illness.

 

Alyce Souoldre, Director

Alyce Soulodre is a self-taught visual artist, and a PhD Candidate in the department of English at Queen’s University. Her thesis explores the depictions of bugs and entomologists in Victorian horror and mystery fiction. She holds both a MA in English and a BA in English and Women’s Studies from Brock University. Her favourite mediums are watercolour, pen and ink, and coloured pencil, and her fascination with creatures and plants of all kinds is reflected in her work. She lives and works on unceded Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabek territory.

 

Barbara Bell, Director

Barbara is a certified professional coach with a focus on working with arts practitioners, helping them over stumbling blocks to allow them to move toward their desired creative goals. She has shared her creativity in the Kingston community in many ways: as an actor, theatrical and film producer, television host, editor, writer, and former AD of Kingston WritersFest. Barbara is past-chair of the City of Kingston’s Arts Advisory Committee, participated in the inaugural Mayor’s Arts Awards Working Group, and chaired the inaugural Nominations Committee, and has served on a Kingston Arts Council’s Arts Advocacy Committee and Kingston Writers’ Refugee Committee.

 

Cheryl Ferguson, Director

 

Dave Wreggit, Director

Dave Wreggitt is the CEO of Film Stream Video and co-owner of Realty Media Services. Since 2009, Dave has been dedicated to promoting Kingston's live music scene by creating events that focus on local talent and assisting musicians in attempting to increase their incomes through their music. He has raised funds and awareness through advertising, vendor tables and ticket sales. Dave spearheaded Kingston's first music conference (Kingston Ontario Music Conference) with high profile guest speakers from Los Angeles and Toronto and was the Artist Acquisition Coordinator for the Bath Ontario Canada Day Festival for 3 years. He has been instrumental in creating opportunities for musicians, such as the 401 Concert Series, as Entertainment Director at the Holiday Inn, through the Kingston Jam Festival and has produced numerous music videos and local social media commercials. Dave hosts a radio show on Amherst Island Radio www.radiofreestella.com, that promotes local musicians, at 4pm on Mondays and is the vice-president of Amherst Island Radio www.cjai.ca.

 

Jake Torrie, Director

Originally from Ottawa, Jake Torrie studied at the University of Toronto before moving to Kingston for graduate studies in the arts. Jake has volunteered with the PhD community initiative at Queen’s University on a study of the economic impacts of the arts in Kingston. Personally, Jake enjoys distance running, culinary arts, literary fiction, cinema, and music. Jake has played as a drummer in a few rock bands and completed a master’s thesis at Queen's University about the political economy of Canadian symphony orchestras.

 

Sarah Kastner, Director

Sarah Kastner is an award-winning research and policy communications professional with a doctorate in literary studies from Queen’s University and over five years of progressive experiences developing and leading social impact projects with not-for-profits and community-based organizations. She has published articles on archives, literature, art and public culture, and was the recipient of the Bora Laskin National Fellowship in Human Rights Research as a Postdoctoral Fellow at York University in 2018. Passionate about working with community to foster cultures of care and repair, Sarah currently works as an advocacy and research consultant at a strategic communications and public relations agency in Ottawa.

 

Selina Chiarelli, Director

Selina Chiarelli is a singer-songwriter, multi instrumentalist, radio host, and storyteller who has performed both in Canada and abroad. She has worked in music as a backup singer for world music artists such as Youssou N’Dour, Papa Wemba, and Maria Caridad Valdez, as a professional classical vocalist for the Brussels Chamber Choir, and St. Michael’s Schola Gregorian Choir in Brussels, and as an independent songwriter and singer of jazz, rock and blues throughout Canada, Australia, France, and Italy. She is also the founder and director of Firebird Sessions, a female-forward arts initiative aimed at helping female-identifying artists to explore and take ownership over their capacity for creative expression. She has been the host of CFRC’s Counterpoint for the last 5 years.

Advisory Board

Barb Danielewski, Advisory Board Member

Barb Danielewski is a social artist and facilitator who is committed to supporting community through mentorships, peer to peer learning, and group coaching. She has designed and led over 170 experiences for community partners such as the Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning, the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, H’art School, Boys and Girls Club, Peacequest, Providence Care, KFL&A Public Health, OPIRG, Kingston Immigration Partnership, and the City of Kingston. From 2013-2019 she received an OAC Artist in Residence grant to implement collaborative inquiry projects with intermediate students at the Limestone District School Board. Her studies since 2014 with Partners for Youth Empowerment have led her to receive a certificate in the Art of Facilitation, a mentorship grant from the Ontario Arts Council in Community Arts, and training in co-facilitation from her mentor Nadia Chaney. Her screenprinted activist neckties, clothing, and patches have been shown in artisan stores and gallery shops from Vancouver to Halifax. In her secret life as a mechanic and tradesperson, she has repaired bikes, designed sustainability and conservation workshops, including for Kingston Utilities, and worked as a farmhand.

 

Habibah Haque, Advisory Board Member 

Habibah Haque is an avid arts professional with a background in grants administration, doing outreach for underrepresented artists, and community engagement. Human rights and inclusion have been the center of her work and she’s previously held equitable roles at the Ontario Arts Council and the Art Gallery of York University. Habibah has a creative practice as a photographer and filmmaker; her first short film, Rust and Release (2016), tells a story of female independence and violence against women. Habibah holds a Master of Arts in Human Rights from the University of Sussex. While completing her degree, she was working in London, UK doing research and programming on minority rights.

 

Erin Ball, Advisory Board Member

Erin Ball is a Mad and Disabled circus artist. She runs Kingston Circus Arts and is the co-founder of LEGacy Circus (a performance company co-created with Mad artist, Vanessa Furlong). Erin took a year off in March 2014 due to life changing events that resulted in having both lower legs amputated. She has since returned to her passion of training, coaching and performing with a focus of including as many people in her audiences, as collaborators and performers in shows, as well as students in her classes. She has traveled world-wide to perform and teach. She strives for representation, access and inclusion in the arts. Erin loves collaborating, adapting and creating new/different ways of executing skills.  In 2017, Erin developed a course and manual for movement-based coaches (specifically circus but it applies to movement in general) called Flying Footless. The course centres around dismantling ableism, Disability theory, an inclusive method of teaching and how to welcome the Disability community into movement-based classes. She has won accessibility awards and in 2018, she was the recipient of the Creator’s Award at the Mayor’s Art Awards.

 

Sarah Eves, Advisory Board Member

Sarah Eves is a local community builder, program developer, and event planner. She grew up on Wolfe Island (Kawehnóhkwes tsi kawè:note) and currently splits her time between the island and Kingston (Katarokwi). Sarah has a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Queen's University and an advanced diploma in Business Administration, Human Resources from St. Lawrence College. She has over 10 years of experience organizing arts and cultural  events in the region and has a special interest in social, environmental and political advocacy.  She is involved in queer, trans, feminist and environmental organizing as well as sexual violence prevention and mental health awareness. Some highlights include: poetry slams, variety shows (burlesque, dance, theatre, etc.), concerts, drag performances, film screenings, karaoke, speaker panels, workshops, fairs and conferences. Sarah is the former co-chair of Queen's Pride and has volunteered with several local LGBTQ2S+ groups over the years, including Reelout Queer Film Festival, Kingston Pride, Queer Karaoke on Wolfe Island, and LGBTQ+ Softball League. Some of Sarah's previous employment and volunteering include: Sexual Assault Centre Kingston, Grad Club, Sleepless Goat, Ontario Public Interest Research Group Kingston, Wolfe Island Commons, Mental Health Awareness Committee (Queen's) and Wolfe Island Community Garden. She is interested in building connections and communities, creating platforms for engagement, and working on the ground with other marginalized folks (with similar and different experiences) fighting for a better world.

 

Will Britton, Advisory Board Member

Since arriving in Kingston to attend the Concurrent Education program at Queen's University as a Drama Major twenty-five years ago, Will has been actively involved in both the professional and amateur theatre community.  He has filled the role of producer, director, designer, stage manager and/or performer in well over 100 productions.  He was General Manager of Theatre Kingston when they became the resident company of the Baby Grand, and later served on the Board of Directors. He has also completed a board term with Domino Theatre, and was recently the Chartering Secretary of Kingston Waterfront Rotary Club, of which he remains a member.  While still engaged with Kingston's vibrant theatre scene and maintaining his own production company (Op Knox Entertainment), Will began his career in Financial Services with Sun Life in 2007, earned his Certified Financial Planner designation in 2012, and now provides financial planning to his clients through his own independent firm, Tidal Financial Management Inc., established in 2017.

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