STAFF & BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Gordon Hatt | Executive Director 

Gordon Hatt (BA 1983, MA 1985, Art History, University of Toronto) arrived at CAFKA after working as Curator of Zone A for Nuit Blanche in Toronto, October 4, 2008.  He was Director/Curator at Rodman Hall Arts Centre in St. Catharines from 2004 to 2007 and from 1988 to 2004 he worked in a variety of capacities at Cambridge Galleries, the last seven of those years as curator of temporary exhibitions.  At Cambridge, he developed a programming philosophy of audience development through the presentation of advanced contemporary art and he brings this philosophy to CAFKA.  Gordon has been active in the development and the promotion of Canadian artists for over 20 years, following the work of young artists and developing a public context for their work.  He has written numerous articles, essays and interviews charting the progress of a generation. Gordon Hatt has acted as Executive Director since 2008.

gwhatt@cafka.org

 

Sarah Kernohan | Artistic Director 

Sarah Kernohan is a practicing artist and graduate of he Ontario College of Art and Design. Sarah has been involved with CAFKA since 2008 as a member of CAFKA’s board of directors as Vice Chair and the chair of the Volunteer and Membership Committees. Sarah has been involved in the programming at CAFKA at first a member and then chair of the Programming Committee. She has extensive experience working in a variety of roles with artist-run organizations, independent projects and with public galleries. Sarah Kernohan has acted as Artistic Director since 2010.

sarah@cafka.org

 
 

BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2012

K. J. (Jennifer) Bedford

Chair and President
Artist / Communications Officer, Oakville Galleries
Elected to the Board March 2010
K. Jennifer Bedford is a Kitchener-based artist/photographer working in marketing & communications and specializing in digital design for non-profit organizations. She is an avid arts supporter and has a solid arts administration background working for organizations such as McMaster Museum of Art, Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Cambridge Galleries, CAFKA and Oakville Galleries. Jennifer is adept at crafting effective marketing strategies and launching online campaigns and promotions. Jennifer holds a combined Honours BA in Communications Studies, Multimedia and Visual Art from McMaster University, Hamilton. She also studied Applied Photography at Sheridan College, Oakville. Her photographs have been shown in Canada and the United States, and her photo documentation has been published in Azure magazine, Border Crossings, Canadian Art online, C Magazine and featured in Canadian and American exhibition catalogues.

 

Julie Ellis

Secretary
Support, Crawford & Company (Canada) Inc.
Julie Ellis has worked in the insurance industry for over a decade with a background in project management, finance and customer service. Julie has volunteered as event co-ordinator for CAFKA since 2009, assisted in event planning and marketing for the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery and held the position Smart Shop & Mission Chair for the Canadian Cancer Society in 2011, Relay for Life, Kitchener. In 2012 she was nominated to CAFKA's board secretary.

 

Jason Santo

Vice Chair
Trainer - Learning & Creative Services, Desire2Learn
Elected to the Board March 2011
Jason Santo is a digital generalist with professional competencies including customer service, business development, learning enablement and marketing. He is also a Community Specialist certified by the Word of Mouth Marketing Association. Jason has worked as a Business Development Coordinator for Canada's Technology Triangle, Marketing Manager at PostRank Inc., Product Marketing Manager at Google and is currently employed as a Trainer with Learning & Creative Services at Desire2Learn. Jason started volunteering with CAFKA as an event co-ordinator in 2009. He has also a volunteered as a community management consultant for Extend-A-Family.
 
 

Brian Hawthornthwaite

Treasurer
Chartered Accountant
Elected to the Board April 2012
Brian Hawthornthwaite is a chartered accountant and a senior manager who has had a successful career within a sales and service culture. He has a proven track record in the areas of financial management, strategic planning and implementation, objective setting and in improving financial performance. Brian has worked effectively with boards of directors, including audit, conduct review and corporate governance committees. He has been instrumental in a successful and complex turn-around situation and managed an information systems department. He has proven that he can lead effectively in different types of corporate and employee cultures, and has demonstrated strong technical and team building skills. Brian graduated with a BBA from Wilfrid Laurier University and obtained his CA designation during eight years of public accounting experience with Deloitte Haskins and Sells.

 

Peter J. Lenardon

Director
Manager, Government Relations, Research In Motion
Elected to the Board March 2011
Peter Lenardon has lived in Kitchener-Waterloo since he began attending the University of Waterloo in 1991 where he graduated with a BA in Political Science. Peter is a veteran of the region's tech sector, having worked in communications roles for local startup PixStream, Sybase and most recently Research In Motion where he is currently Manager of Government Relations.

 

Kyle Bishop

Director
Artist / Teacher, Waterloo Collegiate Institute
Elected to the Board March 2011
Kyle Bishop is an artist with a background of work in artist-run spaces. He has worked as the Community Relations Facilitator for the Niagara Artists’ Centre in St. Catharines, ON and served as a board member and interim president of Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre in Kingston, ON. He has taught visual arts at Preston High School in Cambridge and now teaches visual and media arts at Waterloo. Kyle has exhibited his artwork in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Ontario and has himself curated a number of exhibitions.

 

Ciara McKeown

Director
Art in Public Places Coordinator, City Of Hamilton
Elected to the Board April 2012
Ciara McKeown has a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University and a Masters in Arts Management, focused on Public Art and Cultural Policy, from New York University. She has worked as an Onsite Project Co-ordinator for the independent project LEITMOTIF, curated by Stuart Keeler, during Scotiabank Nuit Blanche, Toronto; as Organizer and Co-chair of the public art round table at the 2011 Creative City Network of Canada; a volunteer with the City of Mississauga's Culture Division assisting with researching and editing the draft Public Art Master Plan, and was the Volunteer Coordinator at the Toronto launch of the Ontario Arts Council’s Culture Days. Ciara spent five years in New York City, as: Director of nbART (North Brooklyn Public Art Coalition); Exhibitions Coordinator for the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian; Executive Assistant, Exhibitions, at the American Federation of Arts; Fair Assistant, Pulse Contemporary Art Fair. Ciara assisted in Business Administration with International Network for the Conservation of Contemporary Art and worked with the Registrar department, Whitney Museum of American Art. She currently works as the Art in Public Places Coordinator for the City of Hamilton where she oversees a large portfolio, managing fabrication, installation and planning of commissions, develops program initiatives, coordinating with city-wide planning initiatives, and helps manage project budgets and financials.

 

Stephen Lavigne

Director
Artist / Educator
Elected to the Board April 2012
Stephen Lavigne is an artist and educator. He completed his MFA at the University of Western Ontario in 2007. He has exhibited his work in solo and group exhibitions in Ontario, Alberta and in the United States. He has worked in art education at the University of Western Ontario, Museum London, the Kitchener Waterloo Art Gallery and as the workshop and tour co-ordinator for CAFKA during SURVIVE. RESIST.

 

Amy Corner

Director
Advertising Sales Manager, Canadian Art Magazine
Elected to the Board April 2012
Amy Corner has been the Advertising Director of Canadian Art Magazine and Canadianart.ca. since 2008, where she has increased Canadian Art’s retail/trade advertising by 30%. From 1998 to 2008 she worked for Transcontinental Media, Toronto, Ont. where she was the National Account Manager, Style at Home, Decormag and Canadian Home & Country.

 

Graham Whiting

Director
Principal Architect, Whiting Design
Elected to the Board April 2012
Graham Whiting holds degrees in Architecture and in Environmental Studies from the University of Waterloo. Having held positions with several architectural firms and designed all over Ontario and in Italy, Graham became principal of his of Whiting Design in 1995. Also, as a partner in Tavis-Roland Development Inc., he has designed commercial projects such as the Princess Twin Cinema and Waterloo Entertainment Centre renovations in Waterloo’s downtown core. Graham has behind him a trail of green buildings from clinics to cafes, residences, offices and studios. He was chosen by WRGS (Waterloo Region Green Solutions) to create a design and retrofit plan for both the REEP (Residential Energy Efficiency Project) House for Sustainable Living and the REEP Green Office. Graham was instrumental in helping CAFKA develop two projects for SURVIVE. RESIST. as well as participating in the production of Design Camp CAFKA during the biennial.