at
work
board of directors
Meet The NAIA Executive Directorand Board Members
NAIA Executive Director
top
Teresa Saborsky
NAIA Board Acting Chair January 2010
Board Vice-Chair January 2008 - December 2009
Sculpture
Goshen, Kentucky
I’m a stone sculptor and a “newbie”, starting art shows 5 years ago. From the beginning I loved art shows. To meet my customers and potential customers was exciting to me, but the best discovery at shows was the family of artists. It was at my second show that I heard about NAIA and joined.
Now you may realize that when I say I started 5 years ago that this was at about the time that our business began to make a change. I never experienced the art show “boom” and, starting at the time I did, trying to build a customer base has been a challenge. I’ve utilized the NAIA in many aspects while learning the business, markets, how to keep costs low, etc.
I’ve always thought that as a member of any organization, I had a responsibility to give back to it in any way I could. I began my volunteer work in resurrecting the newsletter. In doing that, I began learning the “voices” in the art show world and all they have to offer. I also began learning of all the hard work and long hours devoted by some amazing people to provide a collective voice for artists. A tremendous amount of work has been done by this organization and I feel extremely fortunate to be one of the voices for artists to make sure we have a fair and honest marketplace for our work.
top
Holly Olinger
NAIA Treasurer
Mixed Media
Charlottesville, VirginiaI left the wold of non-profit management with no regrets. Life comes full circle and now I am tremendously excited about joining the Board of NAIA. I have a special interest in seeing the organization take full advantage of the marketing, networking, and advocacy opportunities that are available through agressive internet usage. I hope my tenure will be remembered as a time of great technological progress for the organization.
My journey as an artist was very business oriented initially. Having previously run a small business, I was very concerned with issues regarding the accounting and marketing end of things. This led me straight into the wholesale marketplace. The intensity of competition at wholesale really helped me to hone my skills in product design, workplace efficiency and customer relations. Although I have made the decision to now focus on my independent work and the artfair scene as a source of income, I still believe many of the basic communication skills I learned from wholesale are of great benefit at art shows. Staying alert and working to sell yourself and your creations must be the number one focus at a show. I love setting up my camp in various cities and beautiful parks, but more importantly, I love the thrill of knowing the "look" when someone comes into my booth and they are intently focused on something I hav e created. There is no better feeling as you close that sale. I hope my passion for this business will be a benefit to all NAIA members.
top
Richard Lobenthal
NAIA Secretary
Consultant - MichiganRichard Lobenthal will be NAIA’s first member of the Board of Directors who is not a working artist (although he is an amateur photographer). Richard first came to NAIA as a consultant aiding us in finding a proactive way to dispel misinformation, and get the word out about NAIA. Out of that discussion came the Independent Artist, NAIA’s newspaper. Richard introduces himself with this personal statement:
I retired from a lifetime career of being a civil rights agency director, dealing with civil rights, and civil liberties, to become a full-time consultant in the same field for another 7 years, adding organizational development and staff training to my repertoire. Following that, I joined boards addressing the same thing! (I am very focused!) In between and throughout, I took photographs and dabbled in showing and selling them, which I still do, although I work in film and digital will be the death of me. I bring years of experience with volunteer organizations, organizational development, strategic planning, fund-raising, and the like to NAIA and look forward to offering whatever skills I have which could be useful.
(I am compelled to add a little more of Richard’s resume below. -- Michael Kopald)
He directed the Michigan Office of the Anti-Defamation League; later, in addition, supervised other offices and was one of the 14 people who ran the national organization. Prior to joining the management team, he was the President of the Professional Staff Organization - a bona fide Landrum-Griffin labor union, and learned about union management and collective bargaining. As a consultant, one of his clients was the Michigan ACLU, which hired him as their Director.
Lastly, another client was the Ecumenical Institute for Jewish-Christian Understanding, which also hired him as their Director. (Other clients included many school districts and medium and small businesses.)
His past is further cluttered with numerous other items like teaching Sociology at Wayne State University, organizing the Michigan Public Interest Group (PIRGIM), representing the U.S. in a UN organization, consulting in Bulgaria (on democracy) and Germany (on social problems when the wall came down), being Michigan Public Radio's civil rights commentator, substantial experience with print-media, etc.
You may contact me by
Stephen King
Director of the Des Moines Arts Festival, Des Moines, Iowa
Stephen is an award-winning professional with over 20 years experience developing and guiding a variety of programs in special event, festival, nonprofit, educational, and administrative environments. At DEG, Stephen produces the award-winning Des Moines Arts Festival, U.S. Cellular World Food Festival, Holiday Lights Des Moines, Skywalk Golf and GuideOne ImaginEve!.
Stephen came to Des Moines after serving as the president/CEO of Celebrate Fairfax, Inc. in Northern Virginia. Before that he was the Director of the Festivals and Events Division of Downtown Fort Worth, Inc. in Fort Worth, Texas. Stephen is an active member within the festivals and events industry. He is past chair of the Visual Arts Affinity Group for the International Festivals and Events Association. And he is credited as a founder of Zapplication, a universal online application system now being widely used within the arts festival industry as a standard for applying to visual arts festivals.
Before settling into the festivals and events industry, Stephen’s professional focus was live theatre where he acted in and directed over 125 plays and musicals, and taught drama at a private college preparatory school in Houston, Texas. Stephen earned a BFA in theatre from Sam Houston State University and a MA in directing from the University of New Mexico. In 2000, Stephen was honored to receive his alma mater’s inaugural Outstanding Alumni Award. Stephen is married and has three girls ages 15, 7 and 4.
Lisa Konikow
Co Art Director of the Arts, Beats and Eats Festival, Royal Oak, Michigan
Lisa Konikow is in her 12th year as Art Director for Arts, Beats & Eats, with annual attendance currently over 300,000 attendees. Since its beginnings in 1998, she has been involved in every aspect of producing the top-rated Juried Fine Arts Fair.
Her responsibilities extend into all other areas of operations, including retail vendor and craft sales, which have secured over $750,000 in the last 10 years. Lisa has played an integral role in making events such as General Motors River Days, Detroit’s Winter Blast and the Share-A-Smile event successful with her strong initiation and keen facilitation of community and arts partner programs. She is a member of ArtServ Michigan and the National Association of Independent Artists (NAIA), as well as the growing and influential Cultural Alliance of SE Michigan.
She has presented at national conferences, participated in a variety of City and County focus groups, and has served as fine arts juror and on a variety of funding panels. Lisa has become integral to Oakland County’s interaction with the arts, especially in communities where her foreign language skills have been utilized. She has studied in Mexico and France and is certified to teach English as a Second Language in Spanish, French and Japanese. Her background includes deep involvement in the arts, including the Detroit Arts Institute and the Chamber Music Society of Detroit, and over 34 years of Aikido training and teaching at several YMCA’s and Community Centers. Lisa managed and partnered in Xochipilli Gallery in Birmingham, MI for 12 years (1984 – 1996), working with many of Michigan and regional top visual artists.
Lois Songer
Jewelry Artist
Key West, Florida
Director of the Key West Craft Show and Old Island Days Art Festival shows.I wasn’t born in Key West, but I got here as soon as I could! Originally from Ohio, I lived there most of my life with short stints in Estes Park, Colorado and Dallas, Texas. In 2004 I moved “home” to Key West with my husband and Springer Spaniel, T-Bone.
I studied the art of visual display and worked for many years in retail display and management. After a career change, I worked as an administrative assistant for a Fortune 500 company in Toledo, OH and finally found my way into event and meeting planning. I loved the fast pace of this work and meeting the challenges all events have.
After leaving the corporate position, I spent time with a friend at his glass studio and discovered lampworking. The first time at the torch left me with a passion for glass and flames. I also became interested in metal clay and metal working to allow me to design jewelry with my glass beads. After taking classes around the country, I started my business in 2001 and have sold my work at bead shows, art and craft shows, galleries and museums.
I love Key West and all the fabulous art and culture we have here on our tiny island. I hit the ground running by volunteering at the Key West Art Center to help with the two shows that they sponsor: The Key West Craft Show and The Old Island Days Art Festival. My application to the Craft Show had been rejected twice so I decided to get in on the other side of the show. Little did I know it would lead me to becoming the shows’ director.
I now find myself in a position of artist and director and have an interesting perspective on shows and jury. The Key West Art Center is a non-profit art organization and has supported our local artists here for 50 years. I found NAIA while searching for resources to give us the guidance we were looking for to make the shows better. After discussion with several members and board members, it is apparent that this is just the organization I was looking for.
Currently I am director of the two shows, and manage the Art Center’s gallery. I also have my own jewelry design business as a lampworker and metal artist. I have served on the boards of several other non-profits and have completed several courses in Leadership Training and Board Dynamics. I feel that I can bring a rounded skill set to the NAIA Board. I am anxious to meet more members and put my skills to work to help meet the challenges NAIA and its members face this year and into the future.
