SAC Board

The Board of Directors are volunteers, serving a two-year term and directing the countywide activities and organizational health of the Siskiyou Arts Council. The public is always invited to attend monthly Board meetings on the first Thursday of each month at locations around Siskiyou County.

Click for a Schedule of Board Meetings.

Those interested in serving on the Board may submit a letter of interest, and are welcome to join at any time of the year.

Greg Messer, Board President

Mr. Messer is an accomplished businessman. He has held senior and executive management positions in a number of industries and major corporations. Currently, Mr. Messer is the Managing Partner of ExperShare, llc, a computer systems development firm with offices in Mt. Shasta, San Rafael, Alameda and Selby, North Carolina. In the Arts, Mr. Messer has been a trailing spouse for the past 16 years. His wife, Chris wears the pants in the family when it comes to Watercolor, Mixed Media, Acrylic and other new age art forms. Although not especially talented in the Arts, Mr. Messer brings creativity, business sense, and enthusiasm to the council.

Bob Swanson, Vice President

Board member is a nationally known and published commercial & architectural photographer and fine art printer based in Siskiyou County and the San Francisco Bay Area at www.swansonimages.com. He has previously been on the Board of Directors of the Northern California Chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) and is currently an advisor to that Board. For 5 years until 1994 he was also the Vice President of the San Francisco Alliance for the Mentally Ill (SFAMI) successfully getting a bond issue passed to build a 25 million dollar locked mental hospital built there. Bob is a founder of the Weed Arts Collaborative, on the Weed Image Team Committee, the Siskiyou Artist and Gallery Association and a member of the Mount Shasta Chamber of Commerce. Bob has recognized the desperate need for improvement of arts education and arts awareness in our rural area and wants to see SAC become a driving force for the improvement of the counties cultural base and economic development.

Pamela Newman

Owner/publisher of North State Parent/Shasta Parent magazine, a monthly tabloid serving families in Tehama, Butte, Shasta and Siskiyou Counties since 1993. Active member of California Homeschool Network for eight years, former board member of Sierra-Cascade Girl Scouts. Currently working on The Siskiyou County Arts Bus project, has a strong desire to see arts programs developed throughout Siskiyou County to benefit children.

Christine (Tina) Chenevert

Tina has been a licensed attorney since 1981, who periodically prosecutes major criminal cases in Siskiyou County.   She is married to Doug Blangsted, and they live in Scott Valley with their three rescued dogs.   She also is a certified E.M.T. and volunteer firefighter with the City of Fort Jones.    In addition to being the President of a Scott Valley artists’ co-op, the Marble Rim Gallery, she also is a member of the Board of Directors of the Fort Jones Volunteer Fire Department Association and the Fairchild Medical Center Foundation, and a former board member of Sierra Ambulance.  Since her retirement as a full-time criminal prosecutor, she has delved into artistic endeavors by creating a wide variety of jewelry, sun catchers, and beaded wind chimes which she sells under the name “Spiritina”.  Tina strives to promote camaraderie among Siskiyou County artists as well as recognition by creating a variety of arenas to display and sell their artistic creations to the public.

Nathan Johnston Treasurer

After growing up in Mt. Shasta, Nathan has spent years pursuing local and international work and experiences in the arts, technology, and education, most recently founding the Small World Project, a cross-cultural media exchange project that connects high school students in Hong Kong, mainland China, and the US. His degrees are in Computer Science (Stanford) and Arts in Education (Harvard Graduate School of Education), and he’s excited to help build vibrant, sustainable, relevant and ridiculous arts programs and youth ventures now that he is back in Siskiyou County.

Randy Lawrence Secretary

Supt./President Randy Lawrence of College of the Siskiyous is very active in the local community.  Randy is President-Elect of the Madrone Hospice Board and a Board member of the Siskiyou Economic Development Council, the Community Services Council, and College Options. He is also a member of the Substance Abuse Coalition of Care, Siskiyou Health Partnership and the Rotary Club of Weed.

Randy has a background in music, being a performer, conductor, composer and musicologist as well as teaching music at the college level for 15 years.

He would like COS to partner with SAC to see Siskiyou County become a thriving community for the arts and artists.