 | Pikes Peak Arts Council |
STAFF AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Melissa Antoniano | President and Membership and Community Liaison About seven years ago Melissa started playing with several creative hobbies before finding that watercolor provided her with the most serene feeling and best escape from a very demanding career in the telecom industry as a program manager. In February 2022 she moved to Colorado Springs after deciding she'd had enough of Midwest winters. Melissa quickly became enamored by The Springs arts scene and its ease of accessibility, discovering the peace and comfort it afforded her during the past few stressful years which included retirement and personal loss. Melissa is still getting used to the idea of putting her art out in the world and is taking baby steps to do so. Catch her at First Fridays and say hello!
Callie Gribbins | Social Media Coordinator Callie is a local promoter/ music enthusiast. She moved to Colorado Springs in January 2020, before the start of Covid-19. Quickly emerging herself in “underground” live music, to escape the pandemic; she found a community. You can now find her partnering with local artists and venues to produce engaging events across the Pikes Peak region! Callie would like to bring a greater awareness to local artists (communities), and believes "everyone deserves a spot on the map.” |
Kai Gaynor | Secretary and Events Coordinator Kai is a Colorado Springs artist, community advocate and resident of over 10 years. Her career is as a freelance artist and owner of a local art shop called Momo-XO, where she sells variety of art prints, stickers, and etc. Her creative mantra is: "Till death we do art.", which stresses the importance of the creation process as a constant pursuit of self exploration and fulfillment she will.
Daniel Logan | Board Member Daniel is a local artist that paints primarily animals, landscapes, and what he describes as the grit of life using a mixed media of acrylic and charcoal. After getting out of the military in 2019, Daniel pursued his passion for art by graduating from Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design in 2022 with a Bachelors in Illustration. In 2023 Daniel started his own art business and has been pursuing his love for art ever since.
Andrew Ziegler is an educator, poet, actor, and musician living in Colorado Springs. He has been active in the arts community since he moved back to Colorado Springs in 2012 and his contributions include writing, teaching, competing in poetry, creating music, and educating movement arts like martial arts and dance. Ziegler is stoked to be on the board of the Pikes Peak Arts Council and advocate arts in the Pikes Peak region. |
Kay Picard | Treasurer A native of Colorado Springs, her recent retirement has given Kay time to devote to art, hers and others. Primarily self-taught, Kay has surrounded herself with other artists who keep her enthused and charged-up to try other mediums and experiment with other techniques. She prides herself on creating a diverse mix of art: mosaics, glass, clay, acrylic, ink, fabric, and the list goes on. She joined the PPAC board in November 2023 to fulfill a desire to see the arts community grow and strengthen in Colorado Springs. She is a member of the Great Create Art Group of Denver, Lakewood Arts Council, Society of Decorative Painters, and executive board member of the Pikes Peak Arts Council.
Aves Willman | Events Assistant Aves Willman is an illustrator, comic artist, and graphic designer based in Colorado Springs. They glean inspiration from many places in life: a few of the more prominent being their love of music, story, and ancestral cultures- a real live human experience. Currently, they are an instructor at Painting With A Twist in Colorado Springs and illustrate for The Talking Lion podcast. They have contributed to three successful kickstart campaigns: The Cthulhu is Hard to Spell Terrible Two's Anthology, The Sleepless Tarot, and the Impure Blood: Volume IV run. Outside of these projects, they have done work for numerous private clients from DND characters, book covers, portraits, to comics. Currently, they are creating their own Tarot card deck. |
Jessica de la Luna | Curation Lead Jessica began her artistic journey as a dancer when she was a child. Originally from Phoenix AZ, she moved to the Pikes Peak region to become a professor of dance at Pikes Peak State College where she taught for 15 years. During Covid, Jessica decided to retire from dance and change her focus to working with visual artists becoming a curator and an art agent. She curated a space that not only had a traditional gallery but also hosted Colorado Springs' only permanent blacklight gallery as well as an LED gallery and chromadepth gallery. Her ultimate goal as a curator is to create a safe space of creative expression for artist of all experience levels. Being an art agent has given her the opportunity to represent some incredibly talented artists throughout the Pikes Peak region. As an artist, she enjoys mixing techniques to create a connection between the piece and the viewer. She typically works with acrylics to create paint pours and then collages on top of the pours she has created. She also creates jewelry as well as other crafts. Jessica is honored to be on the Pikes Peak Arts Council board providing opportunities for artists' creations to be shown in various venues throughout the city. |
Andrew Ziegler | Membership and Community Committee
