Susan Hogg
Chairman
Susan lives in Granite Bay and is enjoying the retirement life with her husband John. Their next chapter includes both loving the arts - Susan is a painter and John is a piano player. They spend time traveling, playing golf and time with family. They have two sons, Mike and Jeff, both are married to wonderful women and they have one granddaughter.
Susan holds a B.A. from the University of California, Irvine in Social Ecology and an M.A. from California State University, Sacramento in Criminal Justice. She started her love of art there with an Art History class taught by Dr. Phil Leider who brought art to life. Her journey has come full circle as she loves visiting art museums and art collections and has become an impressionist painter.
Her career included serving as an elected and appointed official on the Placer County Board of Supervisors, Roseville Joint Union High School Board of Trustees and the Roseville Transportation Commission. Susan has led large organizations including serving as the Deputy Director of both the California Department of Transportation and the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Susan is a member of Blue Line Art and the Folsom Art Association.
John Marin
Vice-Chairman
John lives north of Auburn with his wife Therese, for over 30 years. They have two adult children, Vanessa and Keith. John's hobbies include snow skiing, hiking, traveling, stonework and climbing mountains!
John holds a B.S. in Urban Planning/Architectural Design from California Polytechnic University Pomona.
He retired from Placer County after a 30-year career working in management roles, including Administrative Officer, Architect, and Director of the Community Resources Development Agency.
In the latter position, he was responsible for handling environmental review of projects and for coordinating the review of the largest, most complex development proposals facing the County, all during a period of explosive growth. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Placer Land Trust.
Karen Killebrew
Secretary
Karen Killebrew is retired and lives in Applegate, CA. She spent thirty years in the retail travel industry and owned a travel agency in Oakland, CA for eighteen years.
Karen’s knowledge of sales and marketing led to her second career as a marketing and public relations consultant, developing and implementing marketing and media plans for businesses and non-profit organizations.
Karen worked with the Arts Council of Placer County from 2006 to 2014 as a contractor and as a member of the staff. Projects included designing and implementing online programs including an Arts Calendar and Arts Directory and conducting training and workshops. She coordinated the Autumn Arts Studios tour in 2013 and 2014.
Other duties included Public Relations and Website Content Management of PlacerArts.org and SierraNevadaArtsAlliance.org, database marketing and Social Media.
She was an active participant in and presented Cultural and Heritage Tourism conferences and workshops on behalf of both PlacerArts and California Watchable Wildlife.
Her skills include project management, media relations, and website content management. She has conducted numerous seminars and workshops for a variety of organizations and is a skilled meeting facilitator.
Karen is a 2007 graduate of Sierra Business Council’s Sierra Leadership Institute, and she enjoys applying the skills learned in this respected leadership program.
Other organizations Karen has worked with include California Watchable Wildlife, Hawaii Watchable Wildlife, American River Conservancy, High Sierra RC&D Council, Placer Land Trust, Sierra County Historical Association and Foothill Farmers Market Association.
She served on the board of the International Ecotourism Society from 1995 to 2005, and the board of PlacerGROWN from 2006 to 2010. She is currently a member of the board of the Placer County Visitors Bureau (term expires June 2018).
John M. Kennedy
District 5 Representative
John lives in North Auburn/Christian Valley. He has three grown daughters and three grandchildren. John’s hobbies include snowshoeing, fishing - especially in Alaska and Mexico - and traveling. John also loves working with clay and can often be found in his ceramics studio working on sculptures, wheel thrown pottery and hand built Neolithic Celtic figures.
John retired from Pacific Gas & Electric after a 35-year career working in a variety of capacities, including network specialist; data management analyst; leading a team of Senior IT Architects responsible for PG&E’s network and desktop technologies; and Relationship Manager for the Microsoft Enterprise contract. His years of experience in these many integral roles led to his ultimate promotion to Chief of Staff, where he managed the “Business of IT” for the Computing Services director. Tasks in this position included consolidation of facilities management, including PG&E’s three data centers; a two-year initiative to review and validate 200 IT contracts for compliance and actual spend; and, savvy financial management of the $50M labor and contract pool, resulting in a total savings of $6M.
John holds a B.S. degree in Biological Science with an emphasis in the Marine Environment from California State University Fullerton, Fullerton, CA, and an M.S. degree in Project and Systems Management from Golden Gate University, Walnut Creek and Sacramento, CA campuses.
David Kelly
District 4 Representative
David likes to "hang out" with his wife Andrea. They share an interest in art collection, particularly of California funk art. He is a fan of Stanford and 49er football and Kings basketball. David has a continuing interest in politics and government matters and has also been involved in a variety of nonprofit organizations including the Placer Community Foundation and Blue Line Arts. He and Andrea reside in Granite Bay.
David is an attorney at the Burton Law Firm located in east Roseville and has nearly 40 years experience. He has a broad background in the law with experience as diverse as managing complex real estate acquisitions to drafting wills and powers of attorney. As a mediator, he empowers clients to develop options and take charge of resolving their own disputes. His unique strength is the ability to combine a sense of trust with the wisdom of a mature practice and the creativity to "think out of the box" that results in satisfying client-oriented solutions.
David holds a J.D. from Stanford University Law School and a B.A. in Political Science from Sanford University.
Lesli Goto
District 4 Representative
It was over a steaming bowl of bucatini that Lesli Goto relayed to me her plans. I was well aware that hers was the sort of life in which fact and fiction become inseparable, that to tease them out would be to ruin the rich diaphanous double helix they formed, and so I remained austere in my inquiries, preferring to rather let her ruminate on the anodyne comfort that she feels has stifled contemporary art. "It's all like, I love parasites and viruses, but yeesh, it's not exactly the metaphor I want to use when describing art. Unless it's a good parasite."
Newly inducted into the Arts Council of Placer County Board, it's something she hopes to put a small dent in. The UCSB alumnus is gearing up for getting down. "Ack I can't believe the local press posted that I was recently anointed onto the board.....as if I was drenched in oil.....silly."
Noon was high. Already, the adjacent street emanated its peculiar haze, a dull yellow of heat and CFC's.
Barbara Burge
District 2 Representative
Barbara lives in Sun City Lincoln Hills after thirty+ years running her own business as a certified residential and commercial interior designer in Michigan and in Montreal, Canada.
In addition to raising a family, Barbara has been a tireless volunteer starting in her early married years. She has volunteered for the National Ski Patrol, was a special need art history instructor, an event planner, parent volunteer leader, and fundraiser, for the Clarkston Schools in Michigan.
Barbara is a Charter Member of the Art League of Lincoln, 2013, and for the last three years has served on the board of directors, Vice President for over two years, Gift Shop Manager for five years, and curator of seven exhibits.
Barbara grew up in Michigan, raised her family there, lived in Montreal, Canada for eleven years before moving to California in 2011. She has two adult children, a son in Berkeley, CA and a daughter in Sydney, Australia.
Barbara loves promoting the arts, enjoys sports and watching sci-fi movies and believes that you should have a passion for what you do.
Anita Menon
District 1 Representative
Anita Menon is a director and choreographer who is recognized as one of the leading exponents of Bharatanatyam, a classical dance form originating in Southern India. Anita is the recipient of the prestigious Performing Arts Fellowship in 2014 from the Regional Arts and Culture Council, the first Asian-American to receive this honor.
As the Founder and Artistic Director of the Anjali School of Dance, her classical yet inventive approach creates an exceptional style that is distinct, meaningful and appealing to diverse audiences around the world.
Besides choreographing dances with strong women role models including Jhansi Ki Rani, Meerabhai and Chitrangadha, her passion has been to choreograph Western stories through Indian dance including Red Riding Hood, Pegasus, and Wizard of Oz. Anita has directed theatrical productions that are Indian adaptations of Classical Western plays including Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream as well as Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot murder mystery “Death on the Nile” titled Murder on the Ganges. Her productions are known for their big dance numbers using several styles of dance including Indian folk, Ballet, Hip-Hop, Jazz and Bollywood. A video montage of her work can be seen here.
She co-directed "The Jungle Book" at Northwest Children’s Theater MainStage (2014-2015 season) which subsequently went onto have the best ticket sales in the theater's history for that time slot. The Jungle Book also received four Portland Area Musical Theater Award nominations. She also co-directed "Chitra: The Girl Prince" (2017-2018 season) that went onto receive several PAMTA and Grammy nominations and wins. She has been invited yet again to collaborate to create a new production titled "Tenali: The Royal Trickster" which opens in March 2019.
As a dancer, Anita has traveled the world delivering performances in the United States, India, France, United Kingdom, Malaysia, and Singapore. Anita served on several arts council boards (at the local, county and regional level). She recently moved to the Sacramento area and looks forward to serving on the Arts Council of Placer County. She is also looking to connect with local artists and arts organizations.
Benjamin Newman
District 1 Representative
In 2006, Benjamin relocated to California from New York City with his wife Kareen and their two boys. While working for a university in Sacramento, he entered an art contest for faculty and staff and displayed his first metal sculpture. Since then, his work has been exhibited in galleries and museums, both locally and internationally.
After participating in numerous art events, Benjamin decided to showcase his work in the children’s book Recycled Insects, which he authored. Subsequently, an example of his art was featured in the book Odd is Art published by Ripley Entertainment Inc. Since becoming an author, he has been invited to speak at various events across the state, where he shares as both an artist and writer.
As a member of the Arts Council of Placer County, Benjamin hopes to assist those dedicated to furthering the arts in Placer County.
