Steering Committee

Steering Committee members get to decide the direction that RALSD takes in its efforts to provide new and valuable programming and resources to its members. Becoming a member of the RALSD Steering Committee is a two-year commitment and you will be expected to lead a subcommittee and attend monthly Steering Committee meetings. You are granted a yearly professional development stipend as well as numerous opportunities to attend conferences and networking events, both in San Diego and across the U.S. The work is not always easy but the opportunity to meet and be met by some of the biggest players in the San Diego Arts Community as well as the leadership opportunities pay dividends.

CURRENT STEERING COMMITTEE

 Stephania Villar

2019 Chair, Executive Committee

Marketing Production Specialist, Balboa Park Cultural Partnership

Stephania Villar is Marketing Production Specialist for the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership and joined the Partnership to assist with Maker Faire San Diego, the Explorer Annual Pass, and other Cultural Partnership events and programs. Most recently she’s begun working for Park-wide Communications. Having earned a BA in History from Pitzer College and an MA in Public History from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, she has previously worked for the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, the San Diego Air & Space Museum, and Coronado Historical Association and has been an active member of Rising Arts Leaders San Diego for the last several years. She’s a big lover of stories, food, travel, and memes. All the memes.

Shayla James

2019 Vice Chair, Executive Committee

Professional Musician, Teaching Artist

Shayla James balances her time as an educator, performer, and researcher in the non-profit sector. She is a multi-instrumentalist who believes in being an advocate for arts education and programming for all ages. Her work is rooted in community engagement, empowerment, and collaboration across disciplines.

She is part of the strings and piano faculty at Villa Musica, has taught for Arts for Learning, and has volunteered in the Learning and Community Engagement Department at the San Diego Symphony. She is an actor and musician with the theater company Blindspot Collective, primarily in the play Safa’s Story, an interactive Forum Theatre play for children and families created to support bullying prevention and cultural sensitivity. She volunteers as a Membership Committee Board Member for YNPN San Diego.

As a contracted researcher, her interests include arts assessment, education, cultural policy and EDIA (equity, diversity, inclusion, accessibility) principles. She received a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Coe College. She attended UC-San Diego for a Master of Arts degree in Music with an emphasis in Integrative Studies (Ethnomusicology and Critical Studies). She enjoys hiking, putting together puzzles and performing with her rock/pop band. She is excited to participate in Rising Arts Leaders this year in a greater capacity as Vice Chair.  

Thom Dancy

2019 Secretary, Executive Committee

Outreach and Communications Coordinator, Malashock Dance

Thom Dancy has danced with Milwaukee Ballet, Grand Rapids Ballet, The Big Muddy Dance Company, Malashock Dance, and The Muny. Thom has also worked as an audition assistant for The Muny, The Big Muddy, and Malashock Dance, and has traveled the United States as a choreographer and teacher. He is a proud member of the Actors’ Equity Association.

Thom assisted in The Big Muddy’s growth from 2013-2017, working as the company’s Social Media Coordinator and providing grant support, choreographic/program development, branding development, and national advocacy.

Thom serves on AERO San Diego‘s Advocacy Committee and is on the 2019 Executive Committee for Rising Arts Leaders of San Diego. He is the recent recipient of a 2018 Professional Development Grant from the California Arts Council. Thom has presented breakout sessions for Kickstart The Arts San Diego, the Arts Empower Mega Conference, San Diego Unified School District, and the Arts for Learning Board of Directors. Through Malashock Dance, Thom is a member of the National Dance Educators Organization (NDEO).

Kristen Mihalko

2019 Treasurer, Executive Committee

Senior Manager of Programs and Special Events, Balboa Park Cultural Partnership

Kristen Mihalko has worked in the non-profit sector for 8 years mainly in program development and coordination. As an advocate for career development and personal growth, she volunteers her time as the Treasurer for YNPN San Diego and Rising Arts Leaders San Diego. She is currently earning a certificate in Arts and Culture Leadership at the University of San Diego. Kristen is the Senior Manager of Programs and Special Events for the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership and holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa in Family Resources with a certificate in Women’s Studies and a Master’s Degree in Strategic Communications from National University.

Lara Bullock

2019 Advocacy Co-Chair 

Art Curator and Historian

Lara Bullock is a writer, contemporary art historian, and curator. She earned her Ph.D. in Contemporary Art History at the University of California, San Diego in 2015. She received her B.A. in Art History with Honours from the University of British Columbia, with an English Minor (2005) and her M.A. in Art History, Theory, and Criticism with scholarships from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2007). As a critic, she has published for a variety of print and online media. She has composed various catalog essays for both galleries and museums, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego’s catalog for the exhibition Viva la Revolucion: Dialogue with the Urban Landscape. As both a curator and scholar, Lara is interested in cultural criticism, DIY aesthetics, and “art” as a malleable and ever-changing term, especially as it is accepted in the world of galleries, museums, and the academy.

Zaquia Salinas

2019 Advocacy Co-Chair

Professional Dancer, Teaching Artist

Director, DISCO RIOT

Zaquia Mahler Salinas, a native San Diegan, is a performer, dance maker, and teacher. After receiving her BA in Dance with Honors from UC Santa Barbara in 2011, she returned to San Diego and danced for Jean Isaacs’ San Diego Dance Theater from 2012-2018. In 2017 she obtained her MFA in Dance: Creative Practice from Saint Mary’s College of California where she focused on artistic development and dance as a platform for social justice. She is currently serving as dance faculty at San Diego City College and the Coronado School for Creative and Performing Arts. As a choreographer, Zaquia has presented dance works throughout California, Texas, Peru and Mexico. She is excited about her most recent undertaking, the creation of the nonprofit movement-based arts organization called DISCO RIOT. This is her first year as a member of the Rising Arts Leaders Steering Committee.

Diana Benavidez

2019 Communications Co-Chair

Creative and Communications Manager, Save Starlight

Co-organizer, Femme Forme

Diana Benavidez is a visual artist, community organizer and an active supporter of female creatives across San Diego. She is currently the Creative and Communications Manager for Save Starlight; a grassroots nonprofit initiative working on reinventing and repurposing Starlight Bowl in Balboa Park. As part of her efforts to support and empower female creatives across San Diego, Benavidez co-organizes Femme Forme; a face-to-face networking event that encourages female identifying creatives to meet and collaborate. Previously, she was the Executive Production Assistant for Parkeology and Design Forward as well as an undergraduate researcher for UC San Diego’s The DesignLab. As a visual artist, her work adopts the Mexican craft of piñata making as a medium to create sculptures that are a reflection of the artist’s own hybrid identity as a Mexican-American growing up near the San Diego/Tijuana border. Artworks have been exhibited in a variety of spaces including UC San Diego’s Adam D. Kamil Gallery and The Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla. Benavidez earned a Visual Arts Degree from UC San Diego.  http://www.dbenavidez.com/

Carmela Prudencio

2019 Communications Co-Chair

Marketing and Communications Coordinator, Museum of Photographic Arts

Co-Owner, Teros Gallery

Carmela Prudencio is a visual artist, marketing specialist, and social media coordinator who concentrates on non-profit arts and culture communications. She is currently the marketing and communications coordinator at the Museum of Photographic Arts and co-owner of Teros Gallery in City Heights. Before entering the non-profit landscape, Carmela worked as a visual merchandiser in the action sports industry and a marketing consultant for emerging streetwear brands. She graduated magna cum laude from the Fashion Institute’s merchandise marketing program. This is her first year as a member of the Rising Arts Leaders Steering Committee.

Nicole Houghton

2019 Membership Co-Chair

Assistant Production Manager, San Diego Symphony

Nicole Houghton has a Bachelor if Fine Arts and a Masters of Arts Management from Carnegie Mellon University. She is currently the Assistant Production Manager of the San Diego Symphony and has held previous positions in orchestra management with the Maryland Symphony and the Pittsburgh Symphony and completed the Essentials of Orchestra Management seminar through the League of American Orchestras. With over 5 years of management experience, she is new to the San Diego area and enjoys exploring the area in her spare time along with hiking, biking, and going to the various beaches.

Katie Lorge

2019 Membership Co-Chair

Program and Marketing Manager, transcenDANCE Youth Arts Project

Katie Lorge is a Program and Marketing Manager at transcenDANCE Youth Arts Project. She is a native San Diegan and lifelong dancer. Katie graduated summa cum laude from UCSD in 2009 with a BA in Dance. After college, Katie fulfilled a longtime dream when she moved to New York to pursue a career in dance. During her two years in NYC, Katie studied and performed with a number of choreographers, and was an administrative intern with Faye Driscoll Dance Group.

After returning to San Diego in 2012, Katie helped produce the California Arts Council’s first CREATE CA Conference and continued to work with local choreographers as both a performer and curator, showing dance works at Space 4 Art, youTurn, and the Without Walls Festival. Katie likes to think of herself as a storyteller and sees language, images, movement, and media as opportunities to connect and engage with other people. She has previously worked in Development and Marketing with Mainly Mozart, the San Diego Armed Services YMCA, A Reason To Survive (ARTS), and BOOST Collaborative.

Corey Dunlap

2019 Programming Co-Chair

Program Coordinator, Port of San Diego

Corey Dunlap (b. 1990) received his BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in 2013 and is currently an MFA candidate at the University of California, San Diego. Recent solo exhibitions of his work have taken place at Helmuth Projects, San Diego (2017), How’s Howard?, Boston (2016), In The Pines Gallery, Jackson, WY (2015) and Howard Art Project, Boston (2014). He has participated in shows at the San Diego Art Institute, The Chazen Museum of Art, Embassy Galley, and The New Art Center. Corey is a recipient of the 2016 SMFA Traveling Fellowship, which allowed him to travel to Reykjavik, Iceland to attend the SIM International Artist Residency.

Working with the strategies of sculpture and photography, Corey constructs images using digital modeling software. These arrangements are lit, photographed, and manipulated as if real, incorporating a lexicon of bodily and geometric forms. The resulting images depict moments of encounter between objects, often using misrecognition of form as a means of seduction. These effects are produced in an attempt to build believability in the visual universe and to further blur the distinction between object and body.

Samantha Watkins

2019 Programming Co-Chair 

Special Events Manager, La Jolla Playhouse

Samantha Watkins is the Special Event Manager at La Jolla Playhouse and is thrilled to continue to serve on RAL this year. She received her B.A. in Theatre and Broadcast Journalism from Point Loma Nazarene University and has a strong passion for the arts. Specifically, Samantha is excited about creating events to bring together the art community, from providing educational information to showcasing artists’ work. In her spare time, she teaches yoga, runs marathons, and goes line dancing.

Nicole Gonzalez

RALSD Administrative Director

Studio Manager, Joyce Cutler-Shaw Studio

Founder, Inca Colors

Nicole Gonzalez has always been fascinated by fashion and art, and especially the combination of the two. Nicole taught sewing classes to pre-teen and teenage girls at Camp Diva, a youth empowerment camp in Richmond, VA. She also organized her first “slow fashion” show through her community college. In San Diego, Nicole apprenticed with muralist Mario Torero and volunteered at the Centro Cultural de la Raza. While earning her BA in Studio Art from UCSD, Nicole founded Inca Colors, a fun, fair trade clothing and accessories company. Humor, fashion, art, sustainability, and activism all play large roles in Nicole’s life. Nicole also enjoys making zines, dancing, and hiking.

Emeritus Steering Committee Members