STAFF MEMBERS
BETHANY ENGSTROM (she/her) // Managing Director
Bethany is an artist, curator, and educator in Belfast, Maine. She has a BA in Art History, a MFA in Intermedia, and an Interdisciplinary PhD in Intermedial Collaborative Practices from the University of Maine. Her recent work utilizes objects, installation, audio, and video, focusing on how these materials can express ideas of time, environment, labor/work, and motherhood. She has participated in residencies at the Volland Foundation, Vermont Studio Center, Hewnoaks Artist Colony, Ellis-Beauregard Foundation and Mildred’s Lane. Recent exhibitions include the Newport Art Museum, Collar Works (Troy, New York), Cove Street Arts, and Waterfall Arts.
Bethany is also a part-time Assistant Professor in the Intermedia MFA program at UMaine and an adjunct Lecturer, Visual Arts at the University of Maine Augusta and Bowdoin College. She was formally the Associate Curator at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art. Along with Patricia Brace and in consultation with Deborah Wing-Sproul she has recently formed the Performance Art Initiative (PAI) that supports exposure, development, exhibition opportunities, and audience engagement for Maine-based artists working in performance.
KAT MILLER (she/they) // Gallery Manager
Kat is an artist based in Portland, Maine. In 2019, she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Maine College of Art and Design. Kat is known for her work with a 4x5 view camera, which she uses to construct narratives in her photography. Their creative themes often revolve around spirituality, connection, and mystical realism, influenced by her exploration of faith and energy. Kat's photographs have been featured in various local group shows, including Creative Portland's "All of the Great Trees" and The Photo Bakery collective's annual auction show, "Photo A Go-Go." Internationally, Kat's work gained exposure in 2018 at Creative Debuts, where her photograph was part of the exhibition "Girls Uninterrupted" in London.
In 2023, Kat assumed a pivotal role as one of the five directors and owners of 82Parris: Gallery and Event Space in Portland, Maine. The gallery's ethos revolves around providing a platform for emerging and early-career artists, fostering an environment for them to showcase their work through solo exhibitions or within the context of themed open calls. Through this venture, Kat is committed to nurturing the artistic community and creating a space where creativity and diversity thrive.
BOARD MEMBERS
JULIET KARELSEN (she/her) // Vice President
Juliet was raised in New York City and has lived in Maine for many years. She is a multi-media artist and curator who received her MFA in painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Though she was trained as a painter and painted for many years, in 2015 and 2016 she took workshops at The Haystack Mountain School of Crafts that changed the way she made art.
She now considers herself a mixed media/fiber artist who sometimes makes 3D sculptural work and who is basically still painting only now she paints with wool, felt, embroidery floss, crepe paper, wires, cyanotypes, lights and mirrors etc. Her work has been exhibited in New York City, Boston, Ohio, Maine, New Hampshire, Montana and abroad in Switzerland, Argentina and Spain. In 2022 she curated an exhibition of Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture alumni at The Maine Jewish Museum.
EILEEN MONAHAN (she/her) // Treasurer
Eileen began her career in the financial services industry with a strong belief that providing appropriate financial advice to her clients would be the foundation of her practice, and 35 years later the trusted client relationships she has established are a testimony to her earliest intentions. She established her own firm, Monahan Associates, in 1986, and has continuously brokered through Commonwealth Financial Services.
Born in Dublin, Ireland, Eileen’s family emigrated to the Bronx in New York where she grew up playing basketball and where she established her still effective killer jump shot. She continues to play basketball and highly values the lessons she has learned playing team sports. Eileen maintains dual citizenship in both Ireland and the United States and loves to spend time with her extended family in Dublin and New York.
KATY KELLEHER (she/her) // Secretary
Katy is an art, design, nature, and science writer living in the woods of Maine. Her work has appeared in the pages of the New York Times, the Guardian, American Scholar, and Town & Country. She’s written online for Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Jezebel, and other sites. She’s a frequent contributor to the Paris Review and spent several years writing a popular column there on color, Hue’s Hue. Her essays have been anthologized in both The Best American Food Writing and The Best American Science and Nature Writing.
LOUISE KENNELLY (she/her)
Louise is an artist, arts advocate and nonprofit leader. She is currently the executive director at the Frederick Arts Council where she has launched innovative programs such as the award-winning Sky Stage, an outdoor amphitheater and public art initiative. She works with the board, team, members and volunteers to provide scholarships, grants, exhibitions, festivals and professional development.Before joining the arts council, she was the executive director of the DC Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative and a Director of the National High School Center. She has won a Maryland Individual Artist Award, a North Carolina Individual Artist Award, is a resident art educator at the Maryland State Arts Council, and represented the state of North Carolina at the LaNapoule Art Foundation Artist Residency. She is an award-winning poet who has been published in numerous journals such as the Alaska Quarterly Review, The Louisville Review, The Abiko Quarterly and Southwest Review. Her artwork has been exhibited at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECA) and the Fayetteville Museum as well as at numerous galleries. She is dedicated to advancing artists, innovators, originals and creatives of all ages and locations.
CHRISTINNE WILLIAMS
KATE KATOMSKI (she/her)
Kate is a multi-media artist and educator whose inter-disciplinary experience includes art and architecture history, environmental and landscape design, costume and set design. She lives and works in Portland, ME and New York, NY. Her body of work includes sculpture, printmaking, performance, video and installation.
Shoshannah is an interdisciplinary artist based in Portland, Maine. She received her BFA from The Savannah College of Art and Design and has studied at the Center for Creative Imaging as well as the Maine Photographic Workshop. She has participated in artist residencies in the United States, the Canadian Maritimes and in Svalbard, Norway, within the Arctic Circle. She has been awarded grants and funding through organizations including the Taconic Foundation, Arts New Brunswick, Canada and the Maine Arts Commission, funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts and has received support from the Kindling Fund, a SPACE Gallery re-granting program funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation.
ADVISORS
JOCELYN LEE (she/her) - founder
We extend our sincere gratitude to our past
STAFF MEMBERS
Erin Hutton, Ember Rilleau, Annika Earley, and Phoebe Cole
BOARD MEMBERS
Donna McNeil, Dharni Vasudevan, Debra Spark, Gillian Schair, Alex Sax, Anne Henshaw, Katarina Weslien, Gabe Demaine