Meet the 2012-2013 Executive Board

Congratulations! Thank you everyone who voted. Here's the 

2012-13  board for WCA Philadelphia Chapter. 

Ellen K. Bonett - Co-President

I want to engage my audience. My art is not just a reflection of myself; it is a culmination of universal ideas and perceptions translated into different media. The community plays a necessary role in the translation, because my work is mainly abstract. If the public can assimilate a personal reflection in the work, then I have achieved my objective of inspiring interaction. I am gradually combining all of the elements that excite me in my work – recognizable 3D objects, abstract forms and color into larger installations. More information about Ellen and her work can be found http://ekb-art.org/home.html. 

Bonnie MacAllister- Co-President

Bonnie MacAllister renders moments in a variety of media.  She has recently exhibited cross-genre work in NY at Et Al Projects (film and still photography printed on metal) and at Raandesk Gallery (film and performance), in MD at Sandy Spring Museum (film, photography, performance, and fiber art), and in Pennsylvania at the Ellen Powell Tiberino Museum (film and performance), and in Virginia at Artomatic (computer generated imagery).  MacAllister is a recipient (with Jeanne Lombardo) of the 2012 Artlines Fellowship to design a national zine, and she has represented the Philadelphia Chapter and the Young Women's Caucus at National Conference twice.  She edits the cross-genre collaborative site and publication, www.certaincircuits.org.   She consults on marketing and development for nonprofits and individuals, and she is a writer for Flying Kite and Tom Tom, among others. For more information, please visit bonniemacallister.com.

Virginia Maksymowicz- Treasurer

Virginia Maksymowicz was born in 1952 in Brooklyn, NY and now lives in Philadelphia. PA. She received a B.A. in Fine Arts from Brooklyn College of the City University of New York  (1973) and an M.F.A. in Visual Arts from the University of California, San Diego (1977). She has exhibited her work at the Franklin Furnace, Alternative Museum, the Elizabeth Foundation and Grey Gallery in New York City, as well as in college, university and nonprofit galleries throughout the U.S. and abroad. 

She is a past recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship in sculpture (1984), and over the years has been honored with numerous other grants and awards. Her artwork has been reviewed in Sculpture Magazine, The New York Times, New York Newsday, The New Art Examiner and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Her series, The History of Art, appears on the cover of The Female Body, published by the University of Michigan Press.

She has been a visiting artist at the American Academy in Rome, an artist-in-residence at the Powel House Museum in Philadelphia, and a fellow at the Vermont Studio Center.

Maksymowicz is currently Associate Professor of Art at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Her website is http://tandm.us/.

Laura Petrovich-Cheney-Secretary

Laura Petrovich-Cheney graduated with a BA from Dickinson College, MS from Drexel University and an MFA from Moore College of Art & Design.  Her work has been exhibited in numerous venues including the George Segall Gallery, Monmouth Museum, Delaware Art Museum and the Shore Institute of Contemporary Art. She has received a grant from The Dodge Foundation and awards from the National Art Education Association, the Council for Art Education, National Academy of Art and the New Jersey State Department of Education. In the fall of 2013, she will participate in a residency to the Arctic Circle.

Petrovich-Cheney’s work focuses on resurrecting debris found in the natural environment. She upcycles and repurposes washed up boats, hollowed tree trunks, abandoned wasps’ nests and her honeybees’ wax to create sculptures and mixed media work. Her autobiography and the environment inform her work as she documents place and experience.

In addition, she is a National Board Certified Art Educator working with children from kindergarten to middle school. She presents lectures on art education nationally.  Petrovich-Cheney is also an active member several not-for-profit art organizations and was selected to write the art education curriculum for New Jersey Museum of Contemporary Art. She maintains a blog on her art practice and writes reviews of art exhibits in the tri-state area.

Laura Petrovich-Cheney is full-time practicing, professional artist who lives and works in Asbury Park, NJ, who also maintains several organic vegetable gardens, flower gardens, a small orchard and several colonies of honeybees.

Thank you for taking the time to vote. Please remember that this is a volunteer organization, not a newsletter.