Our advisory board is a group of educators, artists, professionals, and community leaders who bring their experience and perspective to Erguvan’s growing work.
Laura T. Di Summa is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at William Paterson University. She specializes in aesthetics, with a focus on film and aesthetic practices that affect expressions of identity – whether through narrative or exploration.
She is the Chief Editor of Film and Philosophy and the author of A Philosophy of Fashion Through Film (Bloomingdale, 2021) and the co-editor of the Palgrave Handbook for the Philosophy of Film and Motion Pictures (2019). She is working on a new book on fashion and touch.
Oscar is currently working as the Dean of Students for Coral Academy of Science Las Vegas Windmill Campus in the City of Las Vegas, but has also worked for the
Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Adelanto, and Clark County School Districts
as an Elementary, Middle school teacher, coach, master teacher, and school
administrator. After the Rodney King riots, Oscar transferred to Woodrow Wilson High School in Long
Beach, California. While at Wilson, Oscar was placed in Erin Gruwell English class where he became an original Freedom Writer. In Ms. Gruwell class, Oscar and his fellow Freedom Writers began writing in diaries that were later compiled and published in a number one New York Times best-selling book called, The Freedom Writers Diary, which later became a major motion picture called Freedom Writers in 2007 and an Emmy Award recipient for our documentary film called Freedom Writers: Voices from the Heart in 2020. Since then, Oscar continues to motivate, engage, and inspire his students in the power and importance of education through his teaching and leadership. He has also appeared on Primetime Live with Connie Chung as a spokesperson for the Freedom Writers and
has served as a board member and Outreach spokesperson for the Freedom Writers Foundation since 2009.
I grew up in Beverly, MA, a small coastal city north of Boston. After receiving my BFA in Painting from Boston University, I became involved in the Boston artist community, sharing studio spaces, collaborating on and exhibiting work. In the late 1980s I was a founding member of the Brickbottom Artists Building in Somerville, MA, a groundbreaking artists-owned studio building. Not long after moving to New Jersey, I earned my MFA at Rutgers, in 2004. Since that time, I have lived, worked, and taught in the state. My work is in several public and private collections.
Professor Foti is a Master Printer, papermaker, painter, educator, and arts activist. She joined William Paterson University in 2013 after serving as Assistant Professor at Montclair State University, Master Printer at the Brodsky Center for Innovative Editions at Rutgers University, and Interim Education Director at Tamarind Institute. Her work is held in museum and university collections internationally, and she has received fellowships and artist residencies in the United States and abroad.
Foti’s practice often focuses on art as a tool for social and environmental change. She wrote and co-produced the award-winning documentary A Ripple in the Water: Healing Through Art, highlighting community-based papermaking and embroidery projects supporting women in South Africa. She has also collaborated with nonprofit organizations in the United States, Pakistan, and South Africa and participated in international environmental and public art initiatives.
She currently serves as Board President of Inspired Threads and has held leadership and advisory roles with numerous arts organizations in the United States and South Africa.
I have been working within the Visual Arts for over thirty years through practice, curation and education. I have an MA in visual arts and many years experience of teaching in a University setting as well as with community groups. The driving compulsion to create encourages making everyday and more often than not using waste products as materials, from my home and garden. I make paper and botanical inks and have a dedicated drawing practice alongside the main focus of Artists Books. I exhibit internationally and enjoy residency opportunities whenever one presents itself. My ethos dictates that it is important to waste nothing, that everything has a purpose and an inherent beauty to be examined, explored, elevated and a new purpose discovered.
I hold a core believe that everyone can be creative and I endeavour to create pockets of encouragement to enable that connection to happen for others. Through this fundamental belief I have built a number of communities with a central focus of creativity in one form or another as places of safety to explore and discover ones own creative self.
Walk into Dennis O. Collier’s studio and you are transformed. The choice of colors, decor, ambiance and hand-carved wood objects belong more to a Tibetan temple than to a wood shop. Influenced by Buddhist philosophy, the gold, maroon, green, blue and black walls and trim were painted for their intrinsic harmony, creating a spirited space: A place for work and beauty.
For nearly 45 years, his hand-carved wood designs have graced the halls of America’s most prestigious businesses, institutions and private homes. He has established himself as the choice wood carver and designer for architects including Allan Greenberg, Robert A.M. Stern and Johnson & Wanzenberg. A privileged and discrete private clientele as well as institutions such as Yale University, Ursinus College, Simon and Shuster, the Smithsonian Institute and the United States Department of State have commissioned him for works including furniture, architectural ornament, original sculptures, reproductions, restorations and fine woodwork. Dennis Collier has the earned reputation of exceeding his patron’s expectations. His carving skills are matched only by his artistic agility and collaborative spirit.
Nichole Speciale
Nichole Speciale is an artist, arts administrator, and collections care professional based in Rhode Island. She serves as Exhibitions & Collections Manager at Providence College Galleries, bringing more than a decade of experience in book preservation, public art conservation, collections management, and exhibition work. Her previous work has included projects with the Brandeis Library, Cambridge Arts Council, Rose Art Museum, and public and private art collections. As an artist, she works across painting, drawing, embroidery, and collaborative sound projects, with interests ranging from the natural and botanical world to the relationship between image, sound, and space. She holds an MFA in Visual Art from the University of California, San Diego and degrees in Studio Art and Art History from Brandeis University.
Dan has worked in education for four decades: outdoor education/wilderness skills (NOLS), field ecology and natural history, high school history/ social studies, and for the past 20 years, Big Picture Learning. He believes in the transformative power of art and community for students with a wide range of interests and career paths.
Dan served for 8 years as board chair/co-chair of New Village Girls Academy in Los Angeles where he currently lives. www.newvillagegirlsacademy.org
Anne Kjemtrup
Dr. Anne Kjemtrup is a veterinarian, epidemiologist, public health researcher, and longtime community leader based in Davis, California. She works with the California Department of Public Health’s Vector-Borne Disease Section, where her work includes disease surveillance, research, public education, and response related to Lyme disease and other vector-borne illnesses. She earned her DVM and Master of Preventive Veterinary Medicine from UC Davis and holds a Ph.D. Alongside her scientific career, Dr. Kjemtrup has been deeply involved in interfaith and community work in the Sacramento and Davis area. She is a founding member and Sacramento Regional Coordinator of the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom and serves as Treasurer of Celebration of Abraham. In 2022, the City of Davis recognized her community work with the Thong Hy Huynh Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to diversity, social justice, intercultural understanding, and equal rights.
Carol Stakenas is a curator, educator, and arts administrator with extensive experience in contemporary art, public programming, and community-engaged cultural initiatives. She currently serves as Director and Chief Curator of Providence College Galleries, where she leads exhibitions, programs, and initiatives that foster dialogue, participation, and interdisciplinary engagement.
Throughout her career, Stakenas has held leadership and curatorial roles at institutions including Swarthmore College Libraries, No Longer Empty in New York, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE), and Creative Time. Her work has focused on expanding access to contemporary art and creating meaningful connections between artists, institutions, and communities.
Stakenas holds an MFA in Sculpture from Cranbrook Academy of Art, a BFA in Ceramics from the Kansas City Art Institute, and a BA from Goucher College.
My research interests can be summed up in three words: prediction, perception, and learning. I am primarily interested in using neurophysiological measures (particularly EEG) to probe the cognitive implementation of constructs from linguistic theory, particularly as they apply to speech perception, auditory prediction, phonological learning, and computational complexity. I have several years’ experience with EEG and ERP studies, and I served as lab manager of a psycholinguistics ERP lab at the University of Delaware.
An elementary school educator who taught for 33 years and has a long-standing commitment to community service, faith, and building relationships among people of diverse backgrounds. She is actively involved with the Peninsula Multifaith Coalition, where she has served in leadership and as a liaison for the Sisters of Mercy, helping to promote interfaith understanding, education, peace, justice, and community service.
