Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Announces New Board Officers

Additional Terms for Seven Current Members

 
Baltimore, MD – June 18, 2018 – Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation (MAAF) elected the following officers for its fiscal year 2019 at a board meeting in Baltimore on May 11, 2018: Hal Real (DE), Chair; Barbara Bershon (MD), Vice Chair; Margaret G. Vanderhye (VA), Secretary; and J. Mack Wathen (DE), Treasurer.

Hal Real is the Founder and President of Real Entertainment Group, creator and operator of the nationally-acclaimed World Cafe Live music, restaurant, and event venues located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania since 2004 and Wilmington, Delaware (2011-2017). In 2008 he helped a team of artists and educators launch LiveConnections, a nonprofit organization that inspires learning and builds community through collaborative music-making. Currently he is President of LiveConnections and Chair of the Honorary Board of People’s Light (Malvern, PA). Hal also serves on the board of the Freire (Charter Schools) Foundation, Philadelphia’s Fringe Arts, and the Philadelphia Mayor’s Cultural Advisory Board. In the past, he served as board Chair of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Chair of the Main Line Chamber of Commerce, and on the boards of the Light Up the Queen Foundation, the Wilmington Leaders Alliance, the President’s Advisory Council of the Delaware College of Art and Design and the Chairman’s Council of the Philadelphia Zoo.

Barbara Bershon was appointed to the Maryland State Arts Council in 2008 and served as Chair from 2012 to 2014. Bershon is the Emeritus Executive Director of the Chesapeake Orchestra in Southern Maryland. She is also a past president of the St. Mary’s County Arts Council. For many years Bershon was Director of Arts Outreach at St. Mary’s College of Maryland where she was the Managing Director of the River Concert Series at the College. Bershon earned her Ph.D. in Human Development from the University of Maryland and has been an Adjunct Professor in Psychology at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and American University in Washington, DC. Her publications include: Tales of teenage survival: Former teens recount their adolescence and lived to tell about it, Lincoln, Nebraska: iUniverse (2007) and “Cooperative problem solving: A link to inner speech,” In N. Miller & R. Lazarowitz (Eds.) Interaction in cooperative groups: The theoretical anatomy of group learning, New York: Cambridge University Press (1992).

Margaret G. Vanderhye is the Executive Director of the Virginia Commission on the Arts. She is a former member of the House of Delegates of the Virginia General Assembly representing the 34th District. She was appointed by Governor Douglas Wilder to the Virginia Commission on Population Growth and Development and to a four-year term (1992-1996) on the Chesapeake Bay Local Assistance Board. President Bill Clinton appointed her to the National Capital Planning Commission where she chaired the Commission’s Joint Memorials Task Force. Governor Mark Warner appointed her to the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority in 2002, and she was reappointed to the Authority by Governor Tim Kaine. She is former Vice Chair of the Board of McLean Project for the Arts (MPA), and twice served as Co-Chair of the MPA ArtFest. She is a Sustaining Director of the Prevent Cancer Foundation and a member of the Advisory Board for Our Military Kids.

J. Mack Wathen recently retired as Vice President, Support Services at Pepco Holdings, Inc. (Potomac Electric Power Company, Delmarva Power, and Atlantic City Electric Company), where he served in executive leadership roles for 18 years. He is currently the Chairman of the Delaware State Arts Council. Mr. Wathen has served in a volunteer capacity with other organizations in the arts community and beyond including the Arts Consortium of Delaware, the Delaware College of Art and Design, the Center for the Creative Arts (past Board Member), and the Food Bank of Delaware (current Board Member).

In addition to the election of officers, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation elected seven current members for additional terms: Barbara Bershon (MD), Susan Butler (DC), Susie Farr (MD), E. Scott Johnson (MD), Kay Kendall (DC), Hal Real (DE), and J. Mack Wathen.

Susan Butler is former Chair of the Board of The Studio Theatre and currently serves on the Board as Chair of the Development Committee. She is on the Board of the Phillips Collection where she serves on the Art Committee and Education Committee. For 15 years, she was Director of the Best Products Foundation, a corporate foundation. She is a former board member of the Sexual Minority Youth Action League. She was co-chair of the giving Circle at the Washington Area Women’s Foundation and a past President of the Washington Project of the Arts. She formerly served on the Board of Overseers of the Corcoran Museum and the Board of Trustees of Washington and Lee University.

Susie Farr was the Executive Director of the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland, College Park from 1999 until 2013 where she was responsible for the stewardship of the Center as a place for learning, exploration, and growth through the performing arts. Farr was the Executive Director of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters from 1986 until 1999. Prior to her tenure at Arts Presenters, she served for six years as Director of Cal Performances at the University of California, Berkeley. She also held arts management positions at Stanford University. Farr has served on numerous review panels for private foundations, state arts agencies, and the National Endowment for the Arts as well as serving as a member of the Maryland State Arts Council.

E. Scott Johnson is co-chair of the Copyright, Media and Entertainment Group at Baker Donelson, a national law firm. His practice includes copyright, trademark, licensing, entertainment, and media law matters. Since 2003, Scott has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America in the fields of Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law; he was named Best Lawyers’ Baltimore “2013 Music Lawyer of the Year”; and Baltimore “2015 Copyright Lawyer of the Year.” He is a past Chair of the Maryland State Arts Council and recipient of the 2011 Arts Advocate of the Year Award from Maryland Citizens for the Arts. Johnson has served on the boards of CityLit Project (past Chair), Maryland Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (past President), and Creative Alliance. He currently serves on the board of Young Audiences of Maryland (past President), Maryland Film Industry Coalition (immediate past Chair), and Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts (Secretary). He is a member of the Copyright Society of the U.S.A. and The Recording Academy.

Kay Kendall is the Chair of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. She has more than four decades of experience in arts, education, and community outreach activities. She was a 25-year board member of the Washington Ballet, including eight years as its chair, and is currently on the boards of CityDance and THEARC. As the founder of Kendall+Associates in 2008, she is a consultant on fundraising and non-profit board governance, helping community groups build leadership and organizational structure. Since coming to Washington in 1977, Kendall has also been involved with the Maret School, the Kingsbury Center, Ashoka International, and Children’s Hospital.

Executive Director Theresa Colvin commented that “We are fortunate to have such strong and insightful leadership as we enter a new strategic planning period and prepare to celebrate our 40th Anniversary. There is much more work to be done, and I am confident that our Board will create the necessary infrastructure and environment to ensure our growth moving forward.”

About Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation
Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation develops partnerships and programs that reinforce artists’ capacity to create and present work and advance access to and participation in the arts. The Foundation was created in 1979 and is a private non-profit organization that is closely allied with the region’s state arts councils and the National Endowment for the Arts. It combines funding from state and federal resources with private support from corporations, foundations, and individuals to address needs in the arts from a regional, national, and international perspective. To learn more about MAAF, its programs and services, visit our website at www.midatlanticarts.org