The Ohio Arts Professionals Network is thrilled to announce our 2022 Keynote Speaker, Laura Zabel!
As our communities work towards recovery and rebuilding, we need creativity and culture to help imagine and build a more equitable, connected and vibrant future. Laura's presentation will focus on how arts and community leaders can reach and engage more people, increase community relevance and connection and find creative ways to collaborate with local government and community agencies. Laura will share examples of locally-grown, small-scale projects and programs that demonstrate how artists use critical processes to reconnect, imagine and build a better future.
ABOUT:
Laura Zabel is the Executive Director of Springboard for the Arts, an economic and community development agency run by and for artists. Zabel has been honored with numerous awards, including the YBCA 100, Gard Foundation Award of Excellence, Common Future Local Economy Fellowship and the Bush Foundation Leadership Fellowship. She chairs the board of directors of the Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers and serves as an advisor to Dakota Resources, The Laundromat Project, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, and the University of Kansas Department of Theater and Dance.
Springboard for the Arts provides programs that help artists make a living and a life, and programs that help communities connect to the creative power of artists. Springboard’s work has been featured by The New York Times, PBS, Wall Street Journal, Stanford Social Innovation Review and The Guardian and directly impacts over 20,000 artists each year. Through their free toolkits, training and resources Springboard’s programs have been replicated in over 100 communities across the U.S. and internationally.
Please join us in welcoming:
Anna Kelberg-Kim, Eric Gnezda, Margo Ohlson, Chris Parthemore, Colleen Miller, Sarah C Barr, Janet Herman Barlow, and Violet Rae Webster
New Board Member Biographies:
Anna Kelberg-Kim is an entertainment lawyer and represents a diverse roster of clients in the music industry as well as literary artists, filmmakers, visual artists, performers and performing arts organizations. Anna combines business and legal knowledge of the industry to offer comprehensive representation to entertainment professionals on matters pertaining to Copyright and Trademark; Clearance and Licensing rights; Formation of Business Entity; and Contract Drafting, Review, and Negotiation.
Anna’s passion for helping people to build their careers in entertainment comes from her personal experiences as a musician and as being a parent of a music artist. Anna, classically trained violinist, and pianist, grew up in an arts-rich environment - her family, professional music educators, and music artists always stressed the importance and value of the arts as an integral part of their lives.
Anna believes that one of the keys to professional success is continuous learning and keeping current with industry trends. She is committed to the support of the community by serving as a committee member of the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association. Anna served as a Vice-Chair for 2018-2019 and, currently is a Chair for 2019-2020.
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Eric Gnezda is creator and host of the Ohio-based national television series, Songs at the Center, seen on more than 320 PBS stations across America. An award-winning singer-songwriter himself, he is a regular performer at Nashville’s iconic venue, The Bluebird Café, and a recipient of the Ohioana Citation for Music Composition, joining Michael Feinstein (American Songbook), Jorma Kaukonen (Jefferson Airplane), and Chip Davis (Mannheim Steamroller).
Eric is an Emmy-nominated broadcast journalist and educator, having been a faculty member at Ohio Wesleyan University in public speaking and communication. He is a founding partner of the Ohio Songwriting Festival, a curator of regional songwriting concerts, and is frequently called upon to lead songwriting workshops around Ohio.
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Margo Ohlson is the Director of E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall at The University of Akron with a decade of successful theatre management. Her strengths are ensuring the sustainability of the Theatre’s operations, programs, finances, and community support. She believes in the importance of collaborating with University staff and departments to effectively implement the objectives of the University’s goals and mission. As an APAP Leadership Fellowship recipient, she hopes to fuel a stronger performing arts industry through the work of an arts leader. In her spare time, Margo enjoys spending time with her family of three children, husband, and dog or a long slow jog through the metro parks.
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Chris Parthemore is a native of Sandusky, Ohio and has a Bachelor of Education in Sport Management from Bowling Green State University. He is currently the Executive Director of the Sandusky State Theatre. Chris is a graduate of Leadership Erie County and a former board president of both North Coast Young Professionals and the Sandusky State Theatre. He has been in this role since 2017 and lives in Sandusky with his wife Julia and their daughter Emerson.
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2020 marks Colleen Miller's 30th year as a promoter. Getting started at the gritty Chicago roadhouse Biddy Mulligan’s in 1990 was invaluable. Small club, big acts, Tito Puente, Gil Scott-Heron, Ohio Players. From there, Coronet Theatre, Bela Fleck, Flaco Jimenez, They Might Be Giants. Then Colleen spent 17 fabulous years at Old Town School of Folk Music, Joan Baez, Townes Van Zandt, Alejandro Escovedo. Colleen founded and ran Chicago Folk & Roots Festival 15 years, Wilco, Tinariwen, Patti Smith, attendance 30,000. In 2012, she programmed City Winery Chicago’s launch, which included Lindsey Buckingham, Mavis Staples, Rosanne Cash.
In 2014, Colleen and her husband opened the Music Box Supper Club, a 2 venue complex in Cleveland, 400 public events annually, and an equal number of private events. Her main focus is programming, and… everything else. While the Music Box boasts big names, we're most proud of the local talent we feature, and the community that's been created.
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Sarah Barr is the Executive Director of Marysville Uptown Theatre the non-profit organization that owns and operates the Avalon Theatre in Marysville, Ohio. She is currently heading up a $3.2 million dollar capital campaign to transform the historic venue back into an Art Deco cultural arts center. After the construction, she will oversee the operations & programing of the Avalon.
Previously, Sarah has successfully raised $3.7 of a $3.5 million dollar capital campaign in Sidney, Ohio where they too are transforming the Historic Sidney Theatre into a venue in which to experience performing and cultural arts.
It is Sarah's mission to advocate for the arts and create new traditions and lasting memories through quality cultural arts activities. Sarah sees the value of the arts not only as an economic driving force but also as the unique thread that defines who we are as a community and the experiences we want for future generations.
Sarah shares her love of the arts with her husband Eric, daughter Elizabeth (Lizzie) and two fur babies Max & Bentley. In her free time, she creates pottery, paints and loves to entertain family and friends in her home.
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Janet Herman Barlow has worked for a variety of arts organizations in Ohio and has been involved with over 185 theatre productions since the third grade. She has been the Director of Stocker Arts Center/Lorain County Community College (LCCC) since September 2004.
Prior to coming to LCCC, she served as the General Manager of Cain Park in Cleveland Heights; General Manager of Fairmount Theatre of the Deaf (Cleveland Signstage Theatre); Executive Director of the Renaissance Theatre in Mansfield; and the Executive Director of the Showboat BECKY THATCHER Theatre in Marietta. She was co-chair of the Arts Midwest Conference in 2017 and served on several boards throughout Ohio, including the Board of Trustees of the Ohio Arts Presenters Network (now the Ohio Arts Professionals Network - OAPN). Janet received both the Award of Merit for Exemplary Service to the Performing Arts Field and the Richard Lenhart Award of Excellence from OAPN.
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In 2016, Violet Rae Webster joined the professional staff of The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati as Sales Manager for TCT On Tour, the organization’s touring division. Her focus is booking that division into schools, libraries, performance venues and theatres throughout the tri-state and beyond to present live educational productions that explore historical events, celebrate cultural heritage and new takes on literary favorites.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jessica Rosenblatt Appointed as Executive Director of Ohio Arts Professionals Network (OAPN)
(August, 2019 - COLUMBUS, OH) - Jessica Rosenblatt, Booking Agent with Fighting Chance Records and PR/Marketing Coordinator for Cain Park, has been appointed as the new Executive Director of the Ohio Arts Professionals Network (OAPN).
Pursuing excellence in public relations, artist management, and digital marketing, Jessica Rosenblatt has actively engaged with her community to build local partnerships and relationships. An Ohio native, she first became introduced to OAPN while attending the conference as a booking agent with her label, Fighting Chance Records, in 2015. The following year she was asked to join the OAPN Board of Directors. With her dedication and experience as a booking agent and artist management, PR/Marketing Coordinator with Cain Park and Digital Marketing Manager with the Cleveland International Film Festival, it is our pleasure to announce her as our new Executive Director.
“Jessica not only brings a wealth of experience in arts management and marketing to OAPN and its membership but also a contagious passion for the touring arts industry in Ohio.” — Gary Minyard, President, OAPN
OAPN, founded in 1960, is a professional association that provides a forum for developing business relationships, partnerships, and cooperative ventures among organizations that present arts and entertainment programming as well as performers, arts service organizations, and artist management agencies doing business in Ohio and nearby states. Their purpose is to provide programs and services that strengthen the quality and scope of the performing arts in Ohio.
In 2015, Jessica Rosenblatt became the PR/Marketing Coordinator at Cain Park, Cleveland Heights’ municipally owned and operated ‘Summer Arts Park’ in Cleveland Heights. Her organizational role is to engage the community through social media campaigns and partnerships, coordinate media, and develop marketing projections and plans. As a booking agent with Fighting Chance Records, since 2010, Jessica manages a handful of artists and works with venues throughout the Midwest. Jessica has degrees in Marketing and Small Business Management along with years of hands-on experience in the Arts Management field.
© Copyright 2020. All rights reserved.
Ohio Arts Professionals Network
P.O. Box 10606 Columbus, OH 43201
Phone: (614) 219-9965
Best way to contact us is by email: [email protected]
