NOAH BOARD & STAFF

NOAH has 18 volunteer board members and 2 staff members who put in countless hours to support and advance the organization. Learn more about their interests and expertise below.

Staff

Danielle Acerra - Managing Director

Danielle is the Managing Director for NOAH. She has worked in arts administration and nonprofits since 2002, developing afterschool STEAM programming with immigrant communities, instituting new programs and services to meet arts community needs, administering grant funding, and coordinating disaster response community arts projects. In her previous roles as Community Engagement Manager / Arts Access Coordinator for Monmouth County Arts Council and Coordinator for Atlantic Health System’s Healing Arts Program in NJ, Danielle worked with artists, arts organizations, creative businesses, and more to connect the arts to other sectors and the public. Today she continues this work at NOAH while managing daily operations and in-person and virtual events, coordinating board activities, and overseeing staff. She earned her BFA from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and her licensed artworks have been distributed nationally through Target, Kirkland, and HomeGoods stores. Her paintings draw inspiration from the ocean and her yoga practice. Danielle co-created a public art policy for the city of Asbury Park, NJ, and has painted over 40 murals in public and private spaces.

Heidie Ambrose - Events & Communications Administrator

Heidie Ambrose has five years of administration experience in arts and community nonprofits; facilitating after school arts-based programming, producing large and small scale events, and providing organizational support for operations. She focuses on effective communication through creative digital content and clearly expressed goals. Heidie is also a multimedia artist who thrives working on collaborative projects- murals, comics, book designs and illustrations. She lives in Portland, Oregon and is deeply passionate about learning and unlearning towards antiracism and LGBTQIA+ advocacy.

Board of Directors

Melanie Cohn - President

Melanie Cohn is the Executive Director of the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey where she has led the organization in growing its community programs–including the establishment of an art therapy program with New Jersey Veterans Affairs. Under her leadership, the Art Center has received three NEA grants & two IMLS grants. Previously, she led Staten Island Arts, deepening its programs in art & healing, education and folk art. Before that, she spent seven years at the New Museum of Contemporary Art as an administrator in the Curatorial Department.

Antonia Dapena-Tretter

As Art Curator at Stanford Children’s Health, Antonia Dapena-Tretter believes in the power of art to heal and uses this passion to assemble art installations for the benefit of the hospital’s many patients, families, and staff. She has a master’s degree in Art History from the University of Toronto and over a decade of museum and arts nonprofit experience. Appreciating accessible scholarship, she also enjoys research and has authored numerous articles in peer-reviewed academic journals, including African Arts, Interdisciplinary Humanities, and Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals. In her free time, she is a volunteer board member at the NIAD Art Center, a progressive art studio serving artists with disabilities.

Brooke DiGiovanni Evans, Ed.M.

Brooke DiGiovanni Evans, Ed.M. is the Director of Visual Arts Education at Brigham & Women’s Hospital and a lecturer at Harvard Medical School. She co-created the Center for Visual Arts in Healthcare at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, which implements arts-based programming for clinicians, students, and staff at BWH and affiliated institutions and embarks on research to document and understand the value of such work for the wider medical community. Brooke has worked with clinicians locally and nationally for over twelve years developing and leading arts-based programs in museums and online that focus on building skills to enhance patient care. Prior to working at BWH, Brooke was the Head of Gallery Learning at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Brooke is also a part time faculty member at Northeastern University and on the Board of Directors for the New England Museum Association.

Christina D. Eskridge - Secretary

Christina D. Eskridge is a performing artist, teaching artist, director, playwright and public health professional, holding a Master’s Degree in Public Health from UC Berkeley. For the past decade, Christina has worked to fuse her two passions of health and theater through performance, her teaching artistry and her extensive work in health care consulting for large organizations like Kaiser Permanente. From performances specifically for children on the autism spectrum, to facilitating workshops using drama-based techniques in the corporate environment, Christina believes live theater is a healing tool, ripe with opportunity. Christina is also the Founder and Executive Director of Elevate Theatre Company, an organization born during the 2020 pandemic. Elevate leverages the power of storytelling to create space for audiences and artists to explore their health and well-being, build community, and improve health literacy for all. As part of the NOAH Board, Christina aims to further exposure of arts in health to both large health institutions and arts organizations across the country by strategically positioning the NOAH Core Curriculum and expanding efforts to measure the profound impact of the arts in health field.

Manal Elewah, PhD

Dr. Manal Elewah holds a Ph.D in Healthcare Environmental Engineering from Washington University WIU in 2011, M.Sc. in Environmental Sciences/Biotechnology from the University of Alexandria Research Centre UNARC in 1987, and B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from Alexandria University in 1983. She is the founder and CEO Art2Care Program, an art as therapy initiative for children with cancer and life threatening diseases as well as Art2care for Human Development. In 2020, she was appointed the Egypt representative for the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer GICC launched by the World Health Organization WHO.

Dr. Manal Elewah is passionate about art, humanity, and helping people in need. She has worked for multinational organizations service providers delivering engineering consultancies and environmental advices. A multifaceted and highly skilled individual who is highly driven to consistently achieve success as a leader in all of the organizations she has worked with. An outstanding art therapist, a teacher, coach, mentor, manager, and adviser asides being an environmental consultant. She is a board member of some reputable organizations and an active member of several associations.

David Fakunle

David Fakunle, PhD is a “mercenary for change,” employing any skill and occupying any space to help elevate everyone divested from their truest self. David serves as Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Florida and Associate Faculty at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and his interests include stressors within the built environment, manifestations of racism, and use of arts and culture – specifically storytelling – to strengthen health, achieve equity, and ultimately catalyze liberation. Additionally, David serves as Executive Director of WombWork Productions and CEO of DiscoverME/RecoverME.

David’s interest in NOAH stems from his relationship with the UF Center for Arts in Medicine and the recognition of NOAH as a leading presence for guiding the fusion of arts and culture with public health and medical work. As a professional committed to challenging the existing epistemology of his field, a relationship with NOAH demonstrates acknowledgment that such a challenge is necessary for the health and wellbeing of humanity to be possible. Because of his artistic, cultural scientific, and existential backgrounds, David’s essential contribution to NOAH and its purpose is the living example of how arts and culture can peacefully transform the research, practice, education, advocacy and administration of public health in the United States and internationally.

Tasha Golden, PhD

Tasha Golden, PhD is Director of Research at the International Arts + Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins University, and a national leader and consultant in arts + public health. Holding a PhD in Public Health Sciences, Dr. Golden has published extensively on the impacts of the arts, music, aesthetics, and social norms on health and well-being. She has served as an advisor on several national and international health initiatives, is adjunct faculty for the University of Florida’s Center for Arts in Medicine, and recently led the pilot evaluation of CultureRx in Massachusetts: the first arts-on-prescription model in the U.S.

Golden is also a career artist and entrepreneur. As singer-songwriter for the critically acclaimed band Ellery, she toured full-time in the US and abroad, and her songs appear in feature films and TV dramas (ABC, SHOWTIME, FOX, NETFLIX, etc). She is a published poet (Humanist Press) and founder of Project Uncaged: an arts-based health intervention for incarcerated teen women that amplifies their voices in justice reform.

Golden’s diverse background drives her success as an international speaker and thought leader. She gives talks and facilitates workshops for artists, businesses, researchers, practitioners, and more—helping them enhance and reimagine their work. As a c

Sarah Hoover

As Associate Dean for Innovation, Interdisciplinary Partnerships and Community Initiatives at the Peabody Institute, Sarah Hoover has re-invigorated the institute’s historic engagement with organizations throughout Baltimore to bring music to new audiences and help students hone citizen artistry and career skills. She has shepherded the development of Peabody’s Breakthrough Curriculum and oversees the work of Peabody LAUNCHPad and the Office of Community Partnerships, advancing an integrated vision for career skill development, entrepreneurship and citizen artistry.

Named one of Musical America’s 30 Music Professionals of 2019 for her work linking music and medicine at Johns Hopkins, Hoover leads a variety of interconnected efforts across the university and hospital system to conduct research, develop programs bringing music into clinical settings, and provide multi-disciplinary clinical care for musicians. She has shepherded the development of research studies, performance events, and lobby and bedside music programs at Johns Hopkins Hospital as well as programs in creative aging and sensory-friendly performances through Peabody Prescribe’s arts for wellness initiative, and has served as co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Music and Medicine. Her book, Music as Care: Artistry in the Hospital Environment, was published in 2021. In addition, she has shepherded the founding and expansion of the Peabody Clinic for Performing Artists, the development of injury prevention curriculum and co-curricular programs, and the start-up of a research lab in performance science. With partners at Johns Hopkins Medicine, she is laying the groundwork for a transdisciplinary convergence at the intersection of performing arts and health, focused on helping people thrive and live their best lives through creative endeavor in music and dance.

Prior to her appointment at Peabody, Hoover had a career as a performer, teacher of singing, and music journalist. Her writing has been published by the Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, Grove Dictionary of American Music, and Chamber Music magazine. From 2012 to 2015, she founded and directed the Oyster Bay Music Festival in Oyster Bay, NY, a grassroots experiment in community music that deconstructed the concert stage and broke down the boundaries between audience and performers. Formerly Eastern Regional governor and New York City Chapter president of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, she has given workshops on vocal health and technique for the Voice Foundation, National Association of Teachers of Singing, Royal School of Church Music, and Washington National Opera, among others. She also has received certifications in Body Mapping and Pilates matwork, and is a longtime student of yoga and Alexander Technique.

Hoover is a graduate of Yale University and earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance from Peabody. She received additional training in voice science and holds certificates in Arts in Medicine and Performing Arts Medicine. 

Lisa Howley

Lisa Howley, PhD is an Educational Psychologist who has spent over 25 years in the field of medical education supporting learners and faculty, conducting research, and developing curricula. She joined the AAMC in 2016 to advance the continuum of medical education, support experiential learning, and curricular transformation across its member institutions and their clinical partners. In her role, she conceived and launched a national initiative, FRAHME, to advance the integration of the arts and the humanities into medical education. Prior to joining the AAMC, she spent eight years as the Associate DIO and AVP of Medical Education and Physician Development for Carolinas HealthCare System in North Carolina, one of the largest independent academic medical centers in the U.S. In that role, she led a number of medical education initiatives across the professional development continuum, including arts-based programs, graduate medical education accreditation, as well as physician leadership development for the large integrated healthcare system. She concurrently served as Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, where she led curriculum and faculty development. She also held a faculty appointment in educational research at UNC-Charlotte where she taught social science research methods, led and collaborated on numerous studies of effective education. From 1996 to 2001, she was a member of the medical education faculty at the University of Virginia School of Medicine where she designed and led performance-based assessments and simulation-enhanced curricula. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Central Florida, and both her Master of Education and Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Virginia.

Sloka Iyengar, PhD

Sloka Iyengar, Ph.D. is a neuroscientist and Bharatanatyam dancer, passionate about relieving suffering through the arts and the sciences. She works with collaborators in India and the US in the areas of mental health, substance abuse, aging, palliative care, and neurological disorders. She has demonstrated excellence in projects spanning major pharmaceutical clients, nonprofit organizations, and academia. As an award-winning Bharatanatyam performer and practitioner, she is creating the foundation to use the classical Indian dance form to facilitate creative aging. She also curates a production called “Vichaar” (Sanskrit for “thought” or “perception”) exploring the points of convergence between neuroscience and Bharatanatyam.

Gaelen McCormick - Vice President

Gaelen McCormick is the Program Manager of the Eastman Performing Arts Medicine (EPAM) program, a part of the University of Rochester. Before joining EPAM in 2018, she was a musician with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra from 1995-2017. Since losing her hearing in 2017, Gaelen has forged a new career path as a composer, arranger, and arts administrator. She is grateful that her abilities as a performing artist have shaped the way for her new career path.

Teaching students of all ages has been a significant part of Gaelen’s life. She is the Instructor of Double Bass at the Eastman Community Music School, and teaches career skills at the collegiate level in the Arts Leadership Program at the Eastman School of Music. Her double bass bow pedagogy series, Mastering the Bow, and her first book of compositions, Double Trouble, are published by Carl Fischer. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Society of Bassists, and is the editor of their Bass World magazine’s teaching column.

Gaelen holds degrees in performance from the Eastman School where she studied with James VanDemark and Carnegie Mellon University where she studied with Jeffrey Turner. She is an alumna of the League of American Orchestra’s Essentials of Orchestral Management training program.

Elysian McNiff Koglmeier - Treasurer

Elysian McNiff Koglmeier is Head of Growth for Artwork Archive, an online art inventory management system for artists, collectors and organizations.

Growing up with a father as an art therapist and a mother who dedicated her career to art education, Elysian has always been passionate about the creative process and the importance of empowering artists and cultural institutions. She has pursued this passion both in the public and private sector. Elysian started her career in museums (Middlebury College Museum of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), ran New England Foundation for the Arts’ public art program, served as curator for Brown University and RISD, and contributed to publications such as Art New England, Art Business News, and Public Art Review. A move out west brought her to Craftsy (now Bluprint) in Denver where she produced online art classes and managed partnerships for a startup that created online educational opportunities for enthusiastic makers.

Elysian received her BA in History from Middlebury College and her MA in Public Humanities from Brown University.

Most importantly, Elysian is the mother to a medically complex toddler so she and her family are passionate “consumers” of all the great work we do bringing arts into healthcare. Her son, Odin, has been surrounded by art since day one, and Elysian is on the Children’s Hospital Colorado’s Art Selection Committee – working towards bringing more creativity into the days of patients, family, providers and staff.

Cynthia Perlis

Cynthia Perlis: “I have been director of UCSF Art for Recovery since its inception in 1988. I retired in January 2020 and was asked to return as of June, 2020, to the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center to write a book on art work by cancer patients as well as other special projects. As Director of Art for Recovery’s award-winning program, I have created and facilitated numerous art and healing programs including: the Breast Cancer Quilts Project, Firefly Project, Employee Well-Being Project, Healing Garden Music Series, the Open Art Studio for anyone dealing with cancer at Mission Bay and Mount Zion, writing workshops, art workshops on the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, and Hematology/Oncology Dept., and the Precision Cancer Medicine Building Canvas Project. In addition, in collaboration with the UCSF Department of Medical Humanities, I have published: The Firefly Project: Conversations about what it means to be alive, Bedside Manners: What to say and what not to say when someone is ill, The Portable Artist Workbook and The Portable Artist Coloring Book, the Art for Recovery Book of Prompts, and Prompts for Reflection, and The Postcard Quote Project. In the spring of 2018, the Patient as Teacher Anthology was published. As an artist, I am a painter, illustrator, and work in mixed media. Along with my Art for Recovery staff we have painted eight murals (six on the ceilings of the Ultrasound suites) throughout UCSF and worked with architects to create the Mount Zion Meditation Room. I am currently serving on the Mission Bay Core Committee for Arts and Interiors for the new cancer center, and the UCSF Patient Family Advisory Board, and currently, co-leading NOAH’s ARC, a national initiative to alleviate burnout and stress in clinicians through the expressive arts. My background is in fine arts, psychology and art history, and my career began doing research in 18^th and 19^th Century American Painting and Sculpture, National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.”

Purvi Shah

Purvi Shah, long-time Bay Area resident, identified a way to leverage training and a career in design and hard-won experience in dealing with pediatric cancer for a compassion project. As Executive Director of the Kids & Art Foundation, she helps other families confront the disease. The Foundation teams children touched by cancer with artists. Shah founded Kids & Art in 2008 after her son Amaey was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. She sought a way to make a difference for her own child and thousands more like him. It also served to create some order in her overturned world. Amaey passed away after battling the disease for six of his nine years in 2011, fighting ALL twice and developing chemo-induced AML. Shah offers a lot to the community with her many talents as an entrepreneur, connector, artist, educator, and writer. She’s also a certified yoga teacher.

Lisa Simms Booth

With deep roots in community activism and social justice, Lisa Simms Booth found herself unwittingly becoming a patient advocate when her mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2003. Navigating her mother’s complex cancer journey drove her to commit to improving this experience for other families going through a similar path. Lisa channeled this sense of purpose in the leadership roles she played at the Milken Institute’s FasterCures center and at the Biden Cancer Initiative which focused on improving the cancer journey. Today, Lisa continues to advocate for cancer patients and their families as the executive director for the Smith Center for Healing and the Arts, the only independent, non-profit organization providing holistic, innovative health services in Washington, DC. Founded in 1996, Smith Center’s mission is to develop and promote healing practices that explore physical, emotional, and mental wellness and lead to life-affirming changes for those affected by cancer. Smith Center’s work is based on a single profound idea: that everyone harbors the innate ability to heal, even in the face of life’s most serious challenges.

Lisa is a Pittsburgh native, a graduate of Michigan State University and currently resides in Silver Spring, MD.

George Tingwald, MD

George Tingwald uses his combination of qualifications as both an architect and physician in his role as Administrative Director of Medical Planning for Stanford Healthcare in Palo Alto, California. The recently opened New Stanford Hospital is the culmination of 15 years of planning, design and construction for Project Renewal for the medical campus. He has served of the Facilities Guidelines Institute for over 25 years and is a founding member of the American College of Healthcare Architects. An accomplished public speaker, Dr. Tingwald is the 2020 recipient of the Changemaker award from the Center for Health Design.

Joshua Vickery

Joshua Vickery is a vocalist, actor, teacher, producer, musical director, arts administrator and conductor. Joshua’s love of music and the arts has allowed him to have an incredible career thus far. He earned his Associate of Arts Degree in Vocal Performance at Indian River Community College, receiving the honor of Outstanding Fine Arts Graduate. He then earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in General Education/Music at Palm Beach Atlantic University where he served in various leadership roles.

Joshua grew up with a passion for music ministry and service. He served on several large church teams as music and worship director over vocal praise teams, orchestras, youth choirs, drama and pageants. He helped director the Palm Beach Singing Christmas Trees which was televised to thousands in South Florida.

During his tenure in these churches, he founded and served as the Executive Producer of the Central Florida Christmas Celebration, in which he coached youth and adult vocal performers, developed shows and scripts, and managed hundreds of volunteers.

Joshua is the founder of Central Florida Community Arts, an organization in which he was the executive director for 11 years. This organization consists of thousands of artists in multiple choirs, an adult and youth symphony orchestra, children/youth arts program, theatre, School of Performing Arts and programs for seniors, vulnerable communities and arts and wellness. CFCArts strives to make the arts affordable and accessible, and uses the arts as a catalyst to create change in the community in a variety of ways.

Joshua is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Encore Creativity, the nation’s largest and fastest growing choral and arts organization for older adults. He leads the company and is focused on strategic partnerships, fundraising, strategic planning and the national expansion. He is working to leverage Encore to be the nation’s thought leader on creative aging.

Joshua has been a featured soloist in countless venues, produced musical recordings, and been a director of numerous productions. Joshua has been an entertainment leader, casting director, and vocal coach for Walt Disney Entertainment.

He also serves as a consultant for other arts organizations in its beginning stages and a voice for local, state and national arts advocacy.

Joshua currently resides in Pasadena, MD and has enjoyed serving on the board of several fine entities including: Zebra Coalition, Orange County Arts and Cultural Advisory, UCF Non-Profit Advisory Board, Florida Alliance for Arts Education, National Alliance for Music with Vulnerable Communities, Tourist Development Tax Grant Review, and Chorus America Leadership Forum. He has the honor of several accolades including Arts Educational Professional of the Year (FAAE), Orlando 50 Most Powerful People 2017-19 (Orlando Magazine), Top 3 Community Leader (Orlando Weekly), Top Arts Advocate (Orlando Weekly), 10 People who Make Central Florida A Better Place (Orlando Sentinel), and 40 under 40 (Orlando Business Journal).

Miriam Zimms

Miriam Zimms: “After a very successful 22-year career as an innovative national environmental business management and marketing consultant serving on various Boards, I came to art twelve years ago through the Arts in Medicine (AIM) studio at Moffitt Cancer Center. After a body battle with two separate cancers, two years of physical therapy to walk again with adaptive equipment, and using the AIM studio to establish a daily healing-arts practice, my body and life purpose shifted. As an emerging and “outsider” artist who did not come through the traditional route, my arts practice helps me focus away from pain, anxiety/PTSD, and other issues I never experienced before. I am an emerging Guatemalan-American artist showcasing body loss (that is often left unspoken) in an abstract way and botanicals using repetitive patterns and colors throughout FL galleries, including the State Capitol. I am also a teaching artist in the community for the wellness arts as a Certified Zentangle Teacher (meditative arts) and Level I and Level II Expressive Arts Facilitator (therapeutic arts) where no prior art experience is necessary, just exploration and openness to experience and receive the power of the healing arts. For twelve years, I have advocated and supported it in the community via “Ted-Talk like” presentations, on TV, radio, print and social media throughout FL and the U.S. My advocacy is part of everything I do, whether it’s taping a show on Arts In Medicine for PBS; being interviewed for a national article on the healing arts; depicting loss and healing in gallery shows; or teaching for the Children’s Cancer Center, Faces of Courage Cancer Camps, or the Franciscan Retreat Center. I always share my story that “the healing arts chose me” for a mutually beneficial human connection, inclusivity, and overall well-being experience for all. To learn more about me, visit https://encasawithm.com/

Past Board Members

Ariadne (Ari) Albright

Ariadne (Ari) Albright is a fine artist and natural traveler who has spent nearly three decades generating narrative paintings that explore themes of identity and belonging.

Born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Ariadne (air-ee-odd-knee) received her B.F.A. in Printmaking from the University of Washington and M.F.A. in Painting from the University of South Dakota. Ariadne is employed as an artist, arts educator, arts administrator and artist in residence. She is the Arts Program Coordinator at Sanford Vermillion Medical Center; an active roster artist with the South Dakota Arts Council’s (SDAC) Artists in the Schools and Communities Program since 2007; and teaches related courses at the University of South Dakota as they explore building an arts in health curriculum within their college of fine arts. Based on the quality of life outcomes of arts programming at Sanford Vermillion Medical Center, Ms. Albright presents extensively on best practices in the mid-west region including the 2014 MAYO Clinic Arts in Healthcare Symposium, MN; 2015 Pioneer Network Conference, IL and 2016 South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations (SDAHO). Her first book, Self-Service: An Artist in Healthcare funded in part by the SDAC is due this fall. Ari resides in Vermillion, South Dakota with her son Cyrus and their parrot named “Bird.”

Steven Boudreau

Steven Boudreau is Chief Administrative Officer for the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH). He is responsible for developing and branding the agency’s workforce, career, and leadership development program for a staff of approximately 500 public health champions. He is a member of the Department’s Executive Leadership Team and the Health Policy and Leadership Team. He is the Department’s Diversity Liaison, a member of the WaterFire Salute to Veterans Organizing Committee, the national One Mind Music and Brain Think Tank, a member of the Board of Directors for The Avenue Concept and a member of Leadership Rhode Island 2021. Steven is also convener and Co-chair of the Rhode Island State Arts and Health Network – a statewide coalition of individuals and organizations who are rethinking the connection between the arts, art-therapies, and health and well-being for the state. In 2016, Steven utilized his strengths to engage a cross-sector partnership with the RI State Council on the Arts and a network of 35 artists, arts-therapists, and clinicians to develop a first-of-its-kind State Arts and Health Plan. His speaking engagements, writings, and national involvement include participation in 2018 and 2020 National Organization for Arts in Health Leadership Summits and he participated in “Creating Healthy Communities: Arts + Public Health in America” – A national initiative led by the University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine in partnership with ArtPlace America. Separately, Steven is a Strengths Champion and is thrilled by the potential he sees in each person and gains strength from learning how to help them unleash it.

Ferol Carytsas

Ferol currently serves as lecturer and undergraduate advisor with the UF Center for Arts in Medicine. Prior to joining the Center full time, she was Volunteer Coordinator at UF Health Shands Arts in Medicine and remains an active musician by performing in chamber groups, orchestras, and healthcare settings. She has completed an Undergraduate Certificate in Arts in Healthcare, co-authored the articles, The effects of arts-in-medicine programming on the medical-surgical work environment and Arts in health: considering language from an educational perspective in the United States, and contributed to the White Paper, Talking about arts and health.
Ferol graduated from the University of Florida with a M.M. in music education after receiving an Undergraduate Diploma in viola performance from Longy School of Music and a B.A. in music from Florida State University. Prior to attending FSU, she worked in arts administration assisting in the management of youth orchestras, volunteers, and database maintenance for non-profit music organizations. While at UF she served as the Editorial Assistant for the International Journal of Music Education: Practice and was an assistant editor of the publication, Music assessment across cultures and continents: The culture of shared practice.

Claire de Boer - Past President

Claire de Boer lives in Mount Gretna, Pa., – a historic, artistic, academic, athletic village tucked within a woodsy trail network and picturesque lake. Claire’s work home is in the Department of Humanities at the Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey. She serves as director of The Doctors Kienle Center for Humanistic Medicine and Center Stage Arts in Health at the College of Medicine and its affiliated hospital, the Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. Claire’s educational background is rooted in Human Development and Family Studies from Cornell University, Ithaca, and Master’s in Global and International Education from Drexel University, Philadelphia. Her studies propelled her to lead arts and education programs in Ithaca, New York, mid-coast Maine and Rotterdam, the Netherlands. In 2011, when she found a happy home in the Department of Humanities, Claire fused her storyline into one culminating project: to found an Arts in Health organization in a large medical center. She has since developed great reverence for the magic of the performing, visual and participatory arts and their striking impact toward health and wellbeing. Her areas of focus within the field of Arts in Health include program efficiency, funding structure and research strategies. Claire is an open water swimmer, long-distance cyclist, trail runner, ensemble musician, multi-linguist and fiber-arts lover. If asked to join someone for a swim, she will never, ever decline.

Linh Dang

Linh Dang is Senior Director of NYC Health + Hospitals Arts in Medicine, an Artist, and SoulCollage® Facilitator. Before joining the largest public health care system in the country, Linh oversaw the art collection and arts in medicine program at Stanford Health Care for 12 years. With over 15 years of experience, her specialty is improving the patient experience and staff engagement utilizing art for health and visual imagery.

Linh holds a Bachelor of Arts in Advertising and minor in Studio Art from San Jose State University as well as a Masters Certificate in Arts in Medicine from University of Florida. In 2018, Linh is proud to join the nearly 700 certified patient experience professionals.

Linh enjoys rock climbing, yoga, and hiking. She currently lives in Manhattan, NY. In addition to overseeing the art collection and arts programs for 11 acute care hospitals, 5 nursing homes, and 70 clinics, she keeps herself busy creating and teaching art in her spare time.

Maegan Dubois

Maegan Dubois, LMHC, ATR-BC is a licensed mental health counselor and board-certified art therapist creating the Healing Arts Program at Bradley Hospital in 2012, and has been practicing art therapy at Bradley for more than 10 years. She has extensive experience working with the Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities (CADD) inpatient and partial programs, Children’s Partial Program, and the Pediatric Partial Program. Maegan holds a bachelor’s degree in art therapy from Emmanuel College, and went on to receive her master’s degree in art therapy and mental health counseling from Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she received much of her training.

Maegan has been working with PeaceLove for over 9 years as a community artist, advocate, and CREATOR. Maegan has recently joined PeaceLove Studios as the Operations/Programs Manager. Maegan holds a passion for collaboration within community based organizations, and artists in healthcare to promote diverse modes of expression in correlation with high quality mental health care.

Todd Frazier - Past President

Todd Frazier, past President of NOAH, is Director of Houston Methodist Hospital’s Center for Performing Arts Medicine (CPAM) and Founder of American Festival for the Arts and Houston Arts Partners. His work in the non-profit sector focuses on the arts as a unique and dynamic common denominator in strategic collaboration and innovation. He has spent 20+ years forging and supporting research, education and accessibility collaborations between K-12, university, hospital, and arts and culture communities throughout the nation. For CPAM, he directs specialized artists health care; integration of the arts into the hospital environment; therapy that utilizes the arts in clinical patient care; and research that seeks to harness the broadest potential of the arts in therapy, rehabilitation and human performance. Frazier attended The Eastman and Juilliard Schools of Music and his love for history and work in the medical field inspire his compositions: We Hold These Truths, from Thomas Jefferson, was premiered at the Kennedy Center with Renee Fleming; Save the World: In Memoriam Richard Smalley, commemorates the discovery of nanotechnology; Buffalo Altar, a Texas story, is in actor Barry Corbin’s repertoire, and Breath of Life, an opera set in a hospital, tells the transformational story of a heart transplant.

Jackie Hamilton

A background in studio art, English literature and dance led Jackie Hamilton to a 30 year career in communications, marketing and advertising both in the corporate world and for ad agencies. In 2007, she was hired by UK HealthCare to manage development communications in support of the new patient care facility and to staff an advisory art committee who were charged with developing an art program for the organization. Jackie directed the development and implementation of the UK Arts in HealthCare Program from its inception. Ultimately the program will include a $10 million permanent collection; 3 rotating galleries in the hospital that feature regional and national artists for six months; a weekly performing arts program; art therapy, music therapy; therapeutic workshops; annual concerts by internationally renowned performers; and integrative medicine modalities. The visual art collection extends to all UK HealthCare locations and clinics and is dedicated to creating a healing environment and fostering patient satisfaction.

Louis H. Hart III, MD

My name is Louis H. Hart III, MD and I am the inaugural Medical Director of Health Equity for Yale New Haven Health System. My leadership work addresses unjust structural and societal barriers that lead to inequitable health outcomes for the patients that we serve. By ingraining an equity lens into our clinical operations, we are leveraging and optimizing our existing data & analytics tools and clinical processes to advance various health equity related goals across the health system. Through transparent measurement, explicit acknowledgement, and data-informed intentionality, we strive to proactively eliminate health disparities that exist across social and racial lines. We view inequities and clinical bias as unwanted variations in care and therefore, must be rooted out. I am also proud to see patients clinically as a Pediatric Hospitalist, where I am responsible for teaching medical students and residents as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics as a faculty member of the Yale School of Medicine. I received my bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University and my Doctor of Medicine from the University of California, San Diego. I then completed my residency training in Pediatrics at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine / NYC Health + Hospitals – Bellevue.

Patricia Lambert

Patricia Dewey Lambert, PhD, is Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in Arts Management with the University of Oregon’s School of Planning, Public Policy, and Management. Patricia Lambert is a well-established specialist in arts in health national field development in the spheres of higher education, administration, and policy. Patricia has been engaged with NOAH since its inception as a member, ambassador, conference participation, lead author for the 2017 white paper, lead author for the first version of the NOAH Arts in Healthcare Management Handbook, and a contributor to the Core Curriculum project. She has published numerous journal articles, book chapters, and monographs in the field; most significantly Managing Arts Programs in Healthcare (Routledge 2017), and a co-authored book on Arts Education and Cultural Engagement for Creative Aging is currently under contract with Oxford University Press. She has presented her research in the arts in health field at many relevant conferences and in an array of webinars. Patricia will bring specific skill sets to the NOAH board from her work as an educator and a researcher with extensive experience in curricular design, in-class and online courses/trainings, and publications. She is a cultural policy scholar who has long engaged with colleagues at federal and state arts councils and agencies. She possesses experience in fundraising, public relations, and advocacy. An occasional artist in healthcare, she is a certified therapeutic harp practitioner who specializes in hospice and palliative care. Although she does not represent historically marginalized demographic groups, she will be able to bring to NOAH numerous tools regarding DEI that come from the higher education environment. She contends that it is through the power of education and professional development that NOAH will be able to most effectively diversify its membership, as well as the arts in health field as a whole.

Jennifer Lo, MD

Dr. Jennifer José Lo is the Medical Director at the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC), where she works to advance its mission to protect, preserve, and promote the health and well-being of all Boston residents, particularly the most vulnerable. She is currently working on programming to improve mental health and wellness in the City of Boston using art and creative expression. Originally raised in Northern California and a product of the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, she has since practiced in a variety of settings across the United States. Dr. Lo completed her medical training at the University of Hawaii, Manoa; practiced rural medicine on the Island of Lanai in Hawaii; started her public health career at the Duval County Health Department in Jacksonville, Florida; and led a multidisciplinary team to improve health outcomes for homeless families and children at Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program. Immediately prior to her role at BPHC, she served as Medical Director at the Greater Roslindale Medical and Dental Center, a local community health center, where she implemented programs such as behavioral health integration and complex care management in order to position the health center as an NCQA-certified Patient-Centered Medical Home. In addition, she facilitated the expansion of services such as family planning, community health worker outreach, and residency training clinics offered at the health center. Throughout her career, Dr. Lo has promoted and practiced physician wellness through creative expression. Her hobbies include knitting, pottery, and enjoying music and dance with her two daughters. Dr. Lo is also a faculty member in the Department of Family Medicine at Boston University’s School of Medicine.

Robin Richardson

Robin N. Richardson is a dynamic leader in care delivery transformation and accomplished healthcare strategist with over 15 years of industry experience. As Chief Strategy Officer of a global health consulting company, Robin is responsible for driving a vision of care transformation tailored to meet the needs of communities around the world. With a background in health policy and advocacy working for three different state governments and in Washington, DC, Robin has a proven track record of successfully redesigning and implementing healthcare programs that improve outcomes and increase access to care. Her expertise in global health and community engagement has been instrumental in identifying community needs and developing creative solutions that address the unique challenges faced by historically underserved populations.

Annette Ridenour - Past Treasurer

Annette Ridenour has been a leader in health care design for 35+ years as president and founder of Aesthetics, Inc. She has been described as a practical visionary for her ability to combine explorative thought with strategic thinking focused upon implementation. Annette is also President emeritus of the Society for the Arts in Healthcare, co-author of “Transforming the Healthcare Experience through the Arts”. Numerous articles by and about her have appeared in such national art and healthcare publications. She has lectured on Arts in Healthcare in six countries. She won the 2012 award for Arts in the Patient Environment from the Academy for Health and Design.

Alan Siegel, MD

Dr. Alan Siegel finished his medical training at University of Virginia in 1997 and has worked since 1999 as a Family Physician within the Bay Area’s Contra Costa Health Services (CCHS). Within CCHS, he founded and directs Art of Health and Healing (AHH) since late 2010. In this role, he collaborated with California Institute for Integrative Studies to start a thriving Expressive Arts Therapy training program. Alan became interested in arts in health through his previous work on the board of ArtsChange, an arts empowerment organization, and through his passion as a musician. He has worked on improving healing environments, providing Therapeutic Musicians in the ICU and wards, developing a Therapy Pets program and hospital farmers’ market, helping to develop the community-based Stress Relief Through the Arts program, and starting wellness classes for staff and patients. He has also led and grown a unique staff program, Health Care Workers As Creators, over the last decade. Alan provides leadership for the renowned Contra Costa Family Medicine Residency Program, specializing in ambulatory education and faculty development, and is presently a UCSF Champion of Change Fellow. He leads an R&B/Motown/Blues band, The Rhythm Method.

Barbara Steinhaus - Immediate Past President

Barbara Steinhaus began her vocal training in Atlanta, Georgia, though a native of Madison, Wisconsin. She won honors, scholarships, and degrees: a BMusic from Georgia State University, a Music University of Illinois, and a DMA from the University of Georgia. Articles based on her doctoral thesis, “An Investigation of Marian Andersons’s Interpretation of Black Spiritual Art Songs in Selected Recording,” have been published in journals such as the NATS Journal of Singing. Highlights as a professional soprano include Steinhaus singing with Georgia Opera and Atlanta Opera Studio; in Francis Poulenc’s Gloria at Carnegie Hall, New York City in 1990; and in art song recitals such as Das Spanische Liederbuch (Wolf) with John Wustman at the piano. Currently she is the Department of Music Chair at Brenau University in Gainesville, Georgia, teaching Applied Voice, Vocal Pedagogy, and music history courses. She has students at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Syracuse University. In 2014, she went back to school earning a Graduate Certificate in Arts in Medicine from the University of Florida. Steinhaus is initiating new curriculum in this field serving both fine arts and health science majors, all the while maintaining a bedside musician practice at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center.

Katherine Trapanovski - Immediate Past Vice President

Katherine Trapanovski is the Director of Events and Outreach at the Center for the Arts, University at Buffalo and Program Director of the Center’s Arts in Healthcare Initiative. She has been an active member of the Center’s staff since 1994 creating and managing many special programs including Explore the Arts, a theatrical arts program for youth; Music is Art LIVE at the Center, a television show focusing on local musical and artistic talent and the Arts in Healthcare Summer Intensive, a program designed to educate individuals about the Arts in Healthcare field. Katherine was integral in the creation of the Center’s Arts in Healthcare Initiative in 2008, and has served as Program Director since its inception. As Program Director Katherine successfully established the Arts in Healthcare Initiative at two partner hospitals; managing various elements of the program including artists in residence, funding, education and touring artist residencies. Katherine has focused her management career on the administration of arts organizations having served as the Marketing Director for the Greater Buffalo Opera Company before joining the University. She has also worked as a consultant for the Gus Giordano Dance School in Chicago. Katherine has represented Center staff on the organization’s advisory board and was elected senator to the university’s Professional Staff Senate. Katherine is a graduate of the University at Buffalo’s School of Management with a Masters of Business Administration in International Management and Marketing.

Kim Wiese

Kim Wiese is the Vice President of Portfolio Management and Growth for Hennepin Healthcare, an integrated system of care that includes a nationally recognized Level 1 adult and pediatric Trauma hospital, as well as a clinic system with ten primary and over 40 specialty clinics located throughout Hennepin County, serving 3,000 patients every day.

Kim joined Hennepin Healthcare in 2015 from ActiveHealth Management (part of Aetna) where she was the SVP of Product Marketing and Strategy. Prior to that, Kim led national and international care and population health support initiatives for Optum, a division of UnitedHealth Group. Kim began her post-MBA career at General Mills as a product manager. She worked for Publicis, a multinational advertising agency, where she led global brand presence initiatives and a start-up company before moving into the health care industry.

Kim earned her masters of business administration from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business in New York City. She holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Northern Iowa.

Kim is passionate about the arts and healing program initiatives. She serves on the Arts Council at Hennepin Healthcare to help raised awareness and funds for arts programming. Kim has also supported Arts and Healing at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota.

She is an avocational mosaic artist, a twin and one of 13 children.

Naj Wikoff - Past Vice President

Naj Wikoff, MA, is a two-time Fulbright Senior Scholar, past president of the Society for the Arts in Healthcare, former director of the Healing Arts program of the C. Everett Koop Institute at the Dartmouth Medical School, and director of Arts and Productions at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine. Naj is a founding member of the National Initiative for the Arts in Health in the Military and Lesley University’s Institute for Arts and Health. Twenty years ago, he established Creative Healing Connections, which uses the arts and nature to support the healing of women living with cancer, military spouses, and active duty and veteran service women living with PTSD and Military Sexual Trauma. Naj regularly consults on arts and health, healing spaces, and arts and trauma issues to health and arts institutions, and has worked with victims of terror and war in Palestine and Israel. In addition, for the past six years as arts coordinator for Connecting Youth and Community, Naj has been using the arts to reduce the use of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs by teens.

Former Founding Staff

Katie White Swanson

Katie White Swanson was the Strategic Operations Manager and Project Manager for NOAH. She resides in Helena, Montana, where she performs as a violist, maintains a private studio, and conducts arts in health activities in the community. She holds a D.M.A. in Viola Performance with a Supporting Area in Arts Administration and Arts in Healthcare Management from the University of Oregon, where she also completed a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management. Originally from Texas, Katie earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in Viola Performance from Baylor University.

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