“Open Call” for Board Members
The Arts Council of Placer County is currently seeking qualified applicants for both the Board of Trustees and the Community Grants Committee.
If you are interested in learning more, please read the documents below for instructions on how to proceed.
The Arts Council of Placer County is governed by a Board of Trustees, which meets on a regular basis, usually the 3rd Tuesday of each month. All meetings are open to the public. Meeting agendas and minutes are published below. At this time, all meetings are being held remotely through Zoom.
Interested in joining our next Board Meeting?
Look for the link below. New links are usually published the first week of the month. Check back if the new link is not published for the current month.
If you would like to request being placed on the agenda, please contact Executive Director Jim Crosthwaite at executivedirector@placerarts.org
Board Meetings
April 19, 2022 - Board Agenda
March 22, 2022 - Board Minutes
February 15, 2022 - Board Minutes
January 18, 2022 - Board Minutes
December 21, 2021 - Board Minutes
November 16, 2021 - Board Minutes
October 19, 2021 - Board Minutes
September 21, 2021 - Board Minutes
August 17, 2021 - Board Minutes
July 20, 2021 - Board Minutes
June 16, 2021 - Board Minutes
May 18, 2021 - Board Minutes
April 20, 2021 - Board Minutes
March 15, 2021 - Board Minutes
February 15, 2021 - Board Minutes
January 18, 2021 - Board Minutes
January 11, 2021 - Board Minutes
November 16, 2020 - Board Minutes
October 19, 2020 - Board Minutes
Sep. 21, 2020 - Board Minutes
July 20, 2020 - Board Minutes
May 21, 2020 - Board Minutes
April 20, 2020 - Board Minutes
March 19, 2020 - Board Minutes
March 16, 2020 - Board Minutes
February 24, 2020 - Board Minutes
January 27, 2020 - Board Minutes
November 18, 2019 - Board Minutes
October 21, 2019 - Board Minutes
September 16, 2019 - Board Minutes
August 19, 2019 - Board Minutes
June 17, 2019 - Board Minutes
May 20, 2019 - Board Minutes
April 15, 2019 - Board Minutes
March 18, 2019 - Board Minutes
January 28, 2019 – Board Minutes
November 12, 2018 – Board Minutes
September 17, 2018 – Board Minutes
July 16, 2018 – Board Minutes
May 21, 2018 – Board Minutes
April 16, 2018 – Board Minutes
March 19, 2018 – Board Minutes
January 15, 2018 – Board Minutes
Barbara Burge
Chairwoman
Barbara lives in Roseville 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.
Twiana Armstrong
Vice-Chair
Twiana Armstrong – a transplanted Texan who moved her roots in CA in 1993! She is semi-retired after a 31 year career in the corporate world, and her appreciation for giving back to the community keeps her busy volunteering to ensure Rocklin continues to be a hidden gem.
She recently launched a business consulting company, It’s Personal Enterprises, to share her wealth of leadership and business performance knowledge. Her most important honor is being a mother to her daughter, Alix, as she blossoms into an amazing young woman.
Julie Gilmore
Secretary
Julie has been a local art lover and advocate since her family moved to Placer County in 2005. Volunteering as an art docent in her children’s elementary school gave her an appreciation for the importance of art education and how young people thrive in surprising ways when creativity is encouraged. Later, Julie saw how positively the local youth theatre & high school dance programs contributed to her daughter’s preparedness to flourish as a young, well-rounded adult. Julie now very much enjoys her own painting hobby and attending as many of the county's local arts & culture events as possible in her spare time.
Professionally, Julie graduated from Cal Poly, S.L.O. with an Industrial Engineering degree and worked in the high-tech field for many years. As life evolved, Julie is now a full-time licensed Real Estate professional in Auburn’s downtown Coldwell Banker Realty's office and serves clients in Placer, Nevada, and other nearby counties. She regards our arts community as one of the many great attributes of our region and happily shares events with clients throughout the year. Also, Julie has been a business sponsor for the Placer Artists Studios Tour for many years and has served on various ACPC business sponsorship & grant committees.
Julie is thrilled to be on the Board of Trustees to support and help grow the ACPC’s role as advocate and grant provider for Placer County’s visual and performing arts programs.
Janet Nicholson
Member
Janet Nicholson has worked with her husband Rick for forty-one years as Nicholson Blown Glass. Thirty-nine years have been spent in North Auburn where she has immersed herself in the local art community. As a founding member of The Arts Council of Placer County, she has seen many changes through the years but has always appreciated the commitment and passion of the dedicated artists, volunteers, and administrators. “Art is an extremely important part of a healthy community and I want to help where I can to support Placer County’s goal to create connections and build a vibrant cultural destination”.
Together on nine acres, Janet and Rick have made a home and business where they raised two daughters. Heather is a neonatal intensive care nurse in San Francisco and Hannah has continued in the Nicholson Blown Glass tradition with her business partner, Alana van Altena. Janet is thrilled to be able to step back from the studio and transition into semi-retirement allowing time to participate on the ACPC board.
Unity Lewis
Member
Unity Lewis began making music, performing, drawing, painting and sculpting as early as the age of three. He started seriously recording music and founded his first rap group, in Los Angeles when he was 13. In the Fall of 2000, Unity moved to the Bay Area where he completed his Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts at the California College of the Arts. After attending CCA, he began working on completing his teacher's credential for single subject art and his Masters in Education at Mills College.
Since 2001, Unity has taught Hip-Hop, art and life skills in public schools across the Bay Area and on the island of Guam, where the Guam Legislature awarded a Resolution for his contribution to students’ lives in 2005. For over 20 years now, Unity has been creating, releasing and performing his own art and music full time, as well as curating art exhibits and continuing to grow as an art educator. As a musician, Unity has collaborated with artists such as Dead Prez, Sly Stone, George Clinton, Oscar Brown Jr., and Umar Bin Hassan of The Last Poets to name a few. As a visual artist and curator, he has exhibited and featured in publications alongside Jacob Lawrence, Elizabeth Catlett, Hank Willis Thomas, Betye Saar, Samella Lewis and many others.
Jakob Stevens
Member
Jakob Stevens is a Placer County native involved in local arts, agriculture and community development. With a history in sculpture, painting, poetry, dance, and live theatre, Jakob brings a lifelong enthusiasm for the arts to the ACPC board.
As a career IT network engineer, Jakob serves government agencies in neighboring Sacramento County. His diverse background includes several years as a farmer and winegrower, cultivating heirloom produce and old-growth vineyards in Newcastle and Loomis. Today, Jakob resides in Auburn where he has restored an 1890’s Victorian home and takes inspiration from the rich Gold Country heritage.
Jakob believes creativity is vital in defining what makes the region we live in so special. As a board member, he invites the community at large to actively patronize and participate in our local arts scene!
Gabriel Gonzales
Member
Gabriel Gonzales’s lineage runs deep in working with Ceramics. He is the 3rd generation to do so. His Grandfather Ynocencio worked at the historic Gladding McBean Terra Cotta Company and his father Ray carried the tradition onward with his own enduring works in Ceramic Art and Art Education. Gabriel’s own contemporary work in the medium has been to reconnect to his Hispanic and Indigenous heritage.
Gabriel is also a filmmaker whose narrative works has been awarded the Kingsley’s Merit Award from the Crocker Art Museum. Gabriel was the first filmmaker granted this award. After which Patrick Marasso, Anthony Maki Gill, and Gabriel started the “Projecting Mapping Project” where films and animations would be shown on public buildings at different city events in Placer County.
Gabriel worked with Sierra College’s Marketing Dept for three years where he filmed, edited and worked social media for the college, this is where he began scoring music for his edits during Sierra College’s 80th year documentary film. During this time Gabriel was asked by Sierra College’s Film Dept and Sierra College’s Rainbow Alliance to be Assistant Director and to score the films “Narratives of Courage'' in which the goal of the project was to capture the history of the LGBTQA community in Sacramento and Greater Sacramento regions. He worked and traveled with these films alongside Professor Anggie DiGeorge and Professor Johnnie Terry for more than three years.
Now Gabriel runs his own company Living Ancestors Productions where he films art, music, and culture.
Anthony Maki Gill and Gabriel made the project “Clay and Creativity” which was given a grant by the ACPC. He also was able to work with Foothills Ceramic Art Museum, another recipient of a grant from the ACPC. After which Gabriel was given his own grant from ACPC for his project “Brown Clay” which shared stories with Hispanic artists and provided virtual tours of the artist’s works.
Gabriel also creates music and pop art under the artist name Jackie Dreamspell.
Tiffany Walker
Member
Tiffany is motivated by living a life of exploration. Raised in the foothills of Placer County, she spent most of her childhood outdoors at creative play, and always seeking the next adventure.
Travel has been a great influence. She has ventured around the world, even having had the opportunity to, for a time, live abroad. As a seeker she has gone deep into the woods, down countless rivers, up many high peaks, wandered the desert, explored various coastlines, taken in the cities, towns and villages, and met the most extraordinary people along the way. Her unique cultural experiences have greatly influenced all of her motivations, they have given her an impactful worldview, and are fully apparent in her daily life.
Tiffany is philanthropically passionate. She served in the Peace Corps, has built homes with Habitat for Humanity, she is a Daughter of the Nile, and, in addition to being a Member of The Arts Council of Placer County, sits on the Board of Directors of the local nonprofit Project Go.
Tiffany is an active creator, and draws upon her life experiences, from all walks, in creating her work. Her Art has graced many regional galleries, both in solo and collaborative shows. She is a recognized California Arts Scholar, has won various Art related awards for her Art throughout the years, and has worked as a teacher of Fine Arts for the El Dorado County School District.
