Davis School Arts Foundation

Funding and celebrating art education in the Davis public schools since 1981

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Board Members

Interested in becoming a board member for DSAF. Please start the process by filling out an application form.

Current Board MembersPast Board Members

Lorraine Visher, President
Lorraine has been a resident of Davis for 23 years. Along with her husband, David Visher, she raised two daughters who attended the Davis public schools. Lorraine taught at North Davis Elementary for 20 years, guiding kindergarten, first and second grade children through the joys of learning to read, work with numbers and, of course, art of all kinds. Lorraine is a strong supporter of singing for young children. She led music for the entire First Grade Team at NDE for several years and directed the Intermediate Choir for 3 years. She retired from the school district at the end of 2014. During her teaching years she was a direct recipient of several DSAF grants for clay work, drawing, story telling, music and more. She understands how important these grants are to teachers and how hard DSAF works to provide them. She is looking forward to working with DSAF to facilitate these grants in the future and help bring more art experiences to our children

Edward Bennett, Vice President
Edward grew up in Davis and its siren song lured him back after the birth of his second daughter. He believes in the importance of visualization to provide new ways for individuals and communities to interact with the information around them. Edward completed degrees across multiple institutions, but is content to cross-pollinate interests in food, disease, and agriculture with sound ecology as a composer and sound designer in AR and VR environments. He works with Green Science Games, AlterLearning, the Davis Makerspace, and numerous anonymous online projects seeking to simultaneously create and encourage arts outreach in Davis schools, and across our digital lived lives. He enjoys archery, bikes, chickens, hiking, gardening, statistics, and synthesizers. 
Shelly Gilbride, Board Member

A longtime Davis resident, Shelly joined DSAF after serving for four years as the Programs Officer of the California Arts Council where she was responsible for grant programs to support arts, culture, and creativity across the state. Shelly oversaw the programs at the Arts Council during a period of tremendous growth, initiating and implementing new programs that extended the agency’s reach to support cultural communities, artists and grassroots organizations. She will bring her commitment to supporting and uplifting all cultures to her work at DSAF.

Shelly has over 20 years of experience in nonprofit management and cultural policy as well as a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from UC Davis. She spent the first 10 years of her career in nonprofit management working for performing arts organizations, first in her hometown of Philadelphia and then in New York City. Looking for a change of scenery from NYC, she and her husband Sangho Byun moved to Davis in 2004 so she could pursue her graduate work. At UC Davis, she studied sustainability and community engagement models for dance organizations. After graduating from UC Davis, she and Sangho decided to stay in Davis to raise their two children. Shelly’s deep knowledge of non-profit management, her interest in community engagement and her commitment to cultural exchange and inclusion will coalesce in her role at DSAF.

David Visher, Board Member

With the help of the president of DSAF David Visher raised two children in the Davis School system. He joined board in 2021. On the side he has been helping small farmers succeed for 30 years. Visher built a produce distribution company, farmed 60 acres of specialty crops, and spent nine years with the University of California Cooperative Extension Small Farm Program where he worked directly with farmers and institutions to help small producers in business and marketing. Leaving academia he founded a successful firm that created educational opportunities for farmers and ranchers about business and marketing, strategic planning, and agritourism. Returning to the UC Sustainable Agriculture Program he was a Values Based Supply Chain Analyst for five years. Along the way he has directed seven NGO’s, and since 2002 served as a consultant for the USAID Farmer to Farmer (F2F) program 19 times in 15 countries.

Rijin Sahakian, Board Member

Rijin Sahakian is a writer and arts organiser. She founded Sada, a virtual and physically convened arts education project for Baghdad-based art students, which she directed until its closure in 2015. She has lectured and developed programs in the US and abroad, including at the Montalvo Art Center where she curated Iraq:Reframe, Darat al Funun, Rhode Island School of Design, Home Works, Documenta, and the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, where she guest curated the exhibition Shangri La: Imagined Cities and served as visiting professor at the California Institute of the Arts. Sahakian has contributed writing to a range of publications including Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here, Hyperallergic, Warscapes, e-flux journal, and n+1.

Lacey Boatman, Board Member

Lacey Boatman received a Bachelor of Arts from San Diego State University in Studio Art, with an emphasis in Graphic Design. She also received a Multiple Subject teaching credential from UC Davis and taught Digital Design at New Tech High School in Napa, creating a 4-year program while she was there. Students in the advanced course ran and managed their own graphic design company. She is now working as an educational administrator at the Napa County Office of Education in addition to lecturing at UC Davis as part of the Teacher Education program she found so much value in. Lacey teaches Integrating Movement and the Arts in the Elementary Curriculum for Multiple Subject preservice teachers in and around the Davis area and is a fierce advocate for arts education. Her personal art is ever-evolving. Inspired by nature, experiences, and her own emotional state of being, she enjoys painting with mixed mediums in an abstract expressionism style.

The following members of the community have served on the board of the Davis School Arts Foundation.

We are very grateful to them for their dedication and service to DSAF.

DeKristie Adams
Brianne Agatep
Alan Anderson
Joanne Andresen
Doug Arnold
Barbara Ashby
Ruth Asmundson
Ann Bassi
Erin Beaumont
Heidi Bekebrede
Lou Below
Donna Billick
Christine Blanchard
Karen Block
Lucy Boland
Sunny Booher
Bob Bowen
Susie Boyd
Susan Brady
Rebecca Breitbard
Russell Bruch
Richard Brunelle
Gayle Bryner
Tessie Bynum
Judy Catambay
Vicky Carr
Barbara Carver
Koling Chang
Robert Chason
Colleen Connolly
Diana Connolly
Gregg Cook
Ann Costello
Steve Craig
Richard Cramer
Jennie Cuetara
Julie Cuetara
Dawn Daro
Paul Deering
Lucy Della-Rosa
Tara Diel
Kristen Farrar
Alzada Forbes
Stan Forbes
Charlotte French
Harriet Gadisman
Mark Geiger

Bob Gonzales
Sally Gray
Don Greenbaum
Ellen Halteman
Bob Hansen
Paul Hart
Katie Henry
Patricia Hershberger
Suzy Hernandez
Julie Hochman
Sharna Hoffman
Linda Holte
Jody House
Margaret Hoyt
Joan Hullar
Susan Hulsizer
Stephanie Hunt
Betsy Hyder
Eva Jakab
Michael Jaroff
Harry Johnson
Teresa Kaneko
Karen Karnopp
Janet Kappes
Jackie Kinney
Bob & Cathy Kerr
Joy Klineberg
Elaine Last
Vic Lim
Ann Loud
Carin Loy
Jamie Madison
Mariette Malessy
Mindy Manville
Bill Maul
Dave Maul
Sharon McCorkell
Karmin McCrory
Barbara McGhee
Nancy McIntyre
Foy McNaughton
Dorie Mellon
John Meyer
Libby Miller
Brian Miller
Kyle Monhollen
Ramona Morrow
Natalie Nelson
Margaret Neu
Linda Okupe
Clara Pacheco
Pete Padden
Debbie Parrella
Shelli Porterfield
Tom Powers
Janice Purnell
Jane Rabin
Trent Riesner
Jean Roddy
Alison Rowe
Nancy Rowe
Jerome Rosen
Lea Rosenberg
Jesikah Maria Ross
Karen Roughton
Jenny Ruthheiser
Sally Ryen
Joan Sallee
Lisa Sawyer
Wayne Schrader
Mimi Sen
Susan Shelton
Nancy Shepard
Jeff Simons
Karena Skinner
Cliff Smith
Jean Snyder
Lois Spafford
Wendy Stoltz
Bev Sykes
Kim Tackett-Barbaria
Terry Tafoya
Kara Tolmie
Pamela Trokanski
Adrienne Van Veen
Ciana Wallace
Linda Wayne-Steele
R. Waugh
Joan Wayland
Nancy Weatherford
Leah Wilde
Bob Willett
Barbera Wochok
Nancy Woodbury
Barbara Zadra
Karl Zender
Rudy Zuidema
How can you help?
We are always seeking new members who are interested in working on or with the DSAF Board of Directors. Those who would like to volunteer their time are most welcome. Please contact us via email at info@DavisSchoolArtsFoundation.org or US mail at the address below.

DSAF 2022: The search is on for new board members!

Fill out an application form.

 

OUR MISSION

Arts and cultural education is crucial to the development of all children. The Davis School Arts Foundation provides partnership and support of culturally relevant arts education for children in Davis public schools. We do this through project grants, advocacy and arts integration training for educators.

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Your Donations are Tax Deductible

Davis School Arts Foundation is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization. All donations are tax deductible • Tax ID #94-2791723.


DAVIS SCHOOL ARTS FOUNDATION

Funding and celebrating art education in the Davis public schools since 1981
❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀
P.O. Box 4203 ❖ Davis, CA 95617
✉ info@DavisSchoolArtsFoundation.org