Jan Williamson is the Executive Director of the 18th Street Arts Center. She joined 18th Street in 1995 as the General Manager and from 1996 to 2006, she was Co-Executive Director with Clayton Campbell. During her tenure she has led the effort to purchase the 18th Street property, developed 18th Street¹s model Residency Program and Arts Education Program and and is now leading the effort to envision and plan 18th Street¹s new expanded facility. Through 18th Street she consults on professional development for individual artists and small nonprofit arts organizations and the operation of multi-tenant nonprofits. She holds a certification from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders and a Bachelor¹s degree in Fine Art from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is an active
member of the Santa Monica City Arts Commission, and serves on Commission¹s Artist Live-Work Task Force. Before coming to 18th Street she was a founding
team-member for artist Tom Van Sant's visionary GeoSphere Project, the first satellite composite map of the Earth free of clouds and a state-of-the-art interactive multimedia program for museums and planetariums. As the GeoSphere's Director of Operations she oversaw the production and licensing of giant globes and maps for Earth Situation Rooms which were installed in the United States, Brazil, Japan, and Spain. Prior to the GeoSphere Project she served for seven years in the museum field as a preparator and registrar.

Clayton Campbell is an artist and arts organizer who has been with 18th Street Arts Center since 1995 and currently holds the position of Artistic Director. He specializes in international cultural exchange and artist residencies and is the Artist Residency Advisor, United States Artists; and past  President of the International Network of Residential Arts Centers, (Res Artis). He has been a trustee of the Alliance of Artist Communities; consultant for the government of Taiwan’s international artist in residence program; the Rockefeller Bellagio artist residency program; and for the UCLA Fowler Museum’s public arts programming.

His past experience as an arts organizer includes; Program Director, the Kampo Cultural Center, New York; Production Manager, Theater of the Open Eye and the Joseph Campbell Foundation, New York; and Founder, the Performing Space, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Mr. Campbell writes extensively on the arts. He is the Los Angeles Editor of Contemporary magazine, London; Los Angeles Correspondent for Flash Art magazine, Milan, Italy; and contributor to Afterimage magazine, New York; THE Magazine of Santa Fe: Object Journal of Contemporary Design, Australia; DART International magazine ,Toronto; Art Press, Paris, France.

In 2002 Clayton was awarded by the French Government the title “Chevalier de les Artes et Letres, for his work in international cultural exchange.

Campbell’s conceptual and public practice art work focuses on commentary and investigates issues of diversity and social justice. He exhibits his projects and photographic and media works at museums and galleries. His work is in major collections including the Library of Congress, the Phoenix Art Museum, and the Maison Europeenne de la Photographie, and the Center for Political Graphics. His most recent exhibition, “Words My Son Has Learned Since 9-11” was shown at the Maison Europeenne de la Photographie, Paris; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s LACMA Lab; the Higher Bridges Arts Center, Enniskillen, Northern Ireland; and was part of a retrospective exhibit which traveled through Croatia. In 2008 it will travel to the Wyspa Foundation in Gdansk, Poland, and the Center for the Study of the South in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

www.claytoncampbell.com

Nicole Gordillo is the Development Associate for 18th Street Arts Center. In this capacity, she is responsible for fund raising and grant administration for the Center. She has worked closely with government agencies, non-profit organizations and well-known artists and curators in the installation of works, management of programs, and execution of opening events and exhibitions.

As the Coordinator of the City of Pasadena’s ArtNight Festival, she implemented innovative approaches to building community and corporate support while initiating fresh marketing strategies, gaining the festival an award of “Best Cultural Event in Pasadena” from the Pasadena Weekly. Nicole also worked with the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs in the development and implementation of a city-wide pilot program presenting temporary public art opportunities in all disciplines for artists and arts organizations. Nicole has held positions in national organizations such as Americans for the Arts in Washington, D.C. where she worked closely with research, government affairs, and field services staff to complete projects linking cultural theory, practice, advocacy and policy.  Additionally, she held positions in regional organizations such as Inner-City Arts, and L.A. Freewaves, as well as consulted for marketing and PR companies such as Operation PR in southern California and Canada.

Nicole completed her Bachelor’s degree of Fine Arts in Theatre through a Presidential Scholarship at the University of Southern California.  She also studied theatre at the University of Miami, Northwestern University and the British-American Dramatic Academy in London, England.  More recently, she obtained her Master’s degree in Public Art Studies also from the University of Southern California, receiving the Director’s Award and the George and Marion Blumenthal Scholarship.

Nicole comes to 18th Street with a strong interest in building more vibrant communities through the arts and contributing to the development and execution of programs and projects that act as catalysts for the creative expression of individuals and communities through active engagement and involvement. 

Ronald Lopez, 35, is an artist and curator with a devotion to emerging art, social justice, and alternative explorations. He specializes in creative access and traverses through social networks.

Lopez has produced provocative art for more than a decade and has helped to implement city art programs in Los Angeles and Istanbul, Turkey. While in Istanbul, Lopez founded and developed the Aden Art Center (March 2002), a national, non-profit creative center for young and emerging artists. The Center featured an international program that included an artist-in-residence program and an exchange component for festivals.

Lopez's recent video and wallpaper installation, "Searching for Bonnie Birch", unveiled a U.S. covert military campaign in the Congo during the 1960's. Its' focus was soldier George Torres and the U.S. government's refusal to acknowledge such a mission. In 2006, Lopez introduced audiences to the U.S. version of "Does Religion Kill?", a thought provoking group exhibition featuring video, illustration, drawing and an interactive dialogue mural. "Does Religion Kill?" first premiered during Turkey's 9th International Istanbul Biennial in September 2005 as a parallel project.

Lopez has also participated in public art forums, including speaking engagements at the Arts Initiative Symposium in Yokohama, Japan organized by Arts Autonomy Network, the Alliance for Artists Communities' annual conference at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and at the Res Artis' annual conference at Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporaneo in Mexico City.

Some of Lopez's other notable roles and accomplishments include: 1996 California Arts Council / CORO Arts Leadership Fellow, Director of Operations at the Progressive Arts Academy in Compton, California, Analyst to The Regional Arts Council in the City of Los Angeles, Reviewer to The Getty Museum's Development Plan in 1996, Gallery Manager to Couturier Gallery, and artist-in-residence at various art centers throughout Los Angeles.

Lopez is a native Angeleno and has returned to his roots after several years in the Middle East. He presently serves as the Program Coordinator at 18th Street Arts Center in Santa Monica, California.

www.adenistanbul.net
www.ronaldlopez.com

Ramla is a graduate of California State University, a certified visitation
monitor, and has been an administrator in the legal and construction fields.
Prior to joining 18th Street, she held the position of Administrator of
Chagdud Gonpa Foundation, a non-profit international Nyingma Buddhist
organization focused on the preservation of the arts, culture, philosophy
and meditation practices of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. Ramla
has traveled extensively in Europe and Asia, arranged pilgrimages, and
designed sacred space in both the private and public sectors. As Business
Manager, she is responsible for the management and administration so
essential to the success of the 18th Street Arts Center.

Amber Jones is a recent college graduate from Bethune-Cookman University located in Daytona Beach, Florida. She attained her Bachelor of Arts Degree in the area of News-Editorial and Public Relations. During her college tenure, Amber played a major role in the event planning and implementation of essential PR tools used for various public relations campaigns on the university’s campus. She served as Entertainment editor of the university’s newspaper, active board member of the campus’ Public Relations Association and was the Public Relations director of S.I.F.E. (Students in Free Enterprise). Amber was also the student chairperson for a large-scale Walt Disney campaign with several major sponsors and over 5,000 attendees throughout Central Florida.
Amber was placed at 18th Street Arts Center through a program with one of our many partnership organizations, Public Allies. Public Allies is a community-based program, sponsored by Americorps, which selects young leaders from diverse communities and instills in them how to be stronger leaders in their communities. The goal of the program is to prepare these young leaders on how to confront social justice issues and influence major change within the community.

Adela has been with 18th Street Art Center practically from the day it opened in 1988. As a staff member, she ensures that the studios for the visiting artists are prepared for each incoming artist and she beautifies and cleans the gallery, offices and common areas of the Center.

Joan Abrahamson is president of the Jefferson Institute, a public policy institute that identifies and implements innovative approaches to current policy problems. She was assistant chief of staff to Vice President George H. W. Bush from 1981 to 1985. She has also worked with the U.N. Human Rights Commission and UNESCO’s Division of Human Rights and Peace, where she designed new procedures for the treatment of alleged violations of human rights. She planned and implemented the Vienna International Congress on the Teaching of Human Rights and the International Symposium on the Political Participation of Women. In 1985 she was named a MacArthur Fellow. She is president of the Jonas Salk Foundation and founding chair of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.

Andrew is the founder of the EarthWays Foundation in Malibu, California, as well as several other nonprofit social justice and environmental organizations. His foundation has initiated projects to protect wilderness and assist threatened communities in South, Central and North America. Andrew is also author of the book Consciousness in Action. His personal interest continues to focus on potential solutions to our ecological problems by dealing with the issues of poverty in the third world, consumption in our country, expanding human population, specific environmental problems, and the undeniable interconnectedness of all these things. EarthWays projects are meant to be a catalyst for personal & global awareness and social & environmental activism.

Ms. Ellman is the founder and president of Art Source L.A., Inc. a worldwide full service fine art consulting firm.
Ms. Ellman is active in the arts community and has given seminars and lectures on the local and national level for organizations such as the San Francisco Art Institute, University of California at Los Angeles, Harvard Business School and California Lawyers for the Arts. She has curated critically acclaimed solo and group shows, as well as numerous exhibition projects for more than thirty-five years. In addition to the 18th Street Arts Center she has served as a docent for nine years for the Venice Art Walk, volunteered for Inner City Arts, Chrysalis and other community organizations.

Lori Harris is a lawyer for and for the past 14 years has served as a Deputy Public Defender in Los Angeles. She currently advocates on the behalf of youth incarcerated in the state prisons.  Her past experience includes working in the arts as an administrator, producer and board member for Inner City Cultural Center and Kaos Networks.  She was the founding president of Art Against Apartheid.  

James Rojas  Native Angelino James Rojas is a planning advocate who currently serves as a project manager for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, were he funds pedestrian and transportation enhancement projects. Prior to joining the MTA in 1997, he worked as a planner with the City of Santa Monica. James Rojas is one of the few nationally recognized urban planners to examine U.S. Latino cultural influences on urban design.  He holds a Master of City Planning and a Master of Science of Architecture Studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. For the past 14 years Mr. Rojas has lectured extensively at universities, planning conferences, secondary schools, and grassroots community meetings on the impact of Latino populations on land use and transportation. 

Alice Salinas is an affordable housing consultant and activist. Her commitment to housing the homeless and very-low income individuals stems from the many years of working with poor families in addressing their needs for decent and safe shelter. She also works with homeless advocates assisting them permanent solutions to the issue of chronic homelessness. Alice was born and raised in LA, is a graduate of the Occidental College and UCLA. She has one sister, two brothers and is the daughter of a United Auto Worker.

Joan Annett

It is with deep sadness that 18th Street Arts Center announces the death of Joan Annett, our beloved friend, colleague, and partner.

Joan was a pioneer and leader in the Senior Health & Housing industry and she played a crucial role in bringing her tenacious energy to 18th Street Arts Center.

Joan will be dearly missed by her family, friends, and colleagues here at the center.