Melissa Musante: Executive Director
Melissa comes to MARN with a long history of volunteer service to Milwaukee's arts community and after serving as Film Wisconsin's Associate director since 2007. Additionally she was the National Outreach Sales Manager for Utrecht Art Supplies from 2003-2006. During this time she had the opportunity to visit many of the country's other arts centers. What she learned during those visits was not only is Milwaukee's art scene highly respected across the country and Milwaukee artists are truly producing some of the best work in the country.

She graduated cum laude from the Peck School of the Arts with a BFA focusing in Film & Theatre. As a visual artist, she's been active with MARN for several years and has shown her work at galleries throughout the Milwaukee area. Melissa is also an independent filmmaker, formerly sitting on the boards of both the Milwaukee Independent Film Society and Film Wisconsin, as well as serving as the Milwaukee International Film Festival's Volunteer Coordinator in 2007. Melissa is also a musician - currently playing with an early music ensemble and has performed with several other wind ensembles over the last 25 years.

Linda Corbin-Pardee: Board President
Linda Corbin-Pardee has worked as an arts administrator in Milwaukee for close to 20 years. She currently works at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the Student Union, overseeing the Union Art Gallery, Union Theatre and Studio Arts and Craft Centre and working on other programs. Previously, she taught art history and liberal studies at Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design and was curator and director at Walker's Point Center for the Arts. She is also a singer, activist, mother and wife. Linda received her bachelor's and master's degrees in Art History from UW-Milwaukee. She has been on the board of directors of MARN for four years.

Amy Mangrich: Board Vice President
Amy Mangrich is an artist working primarily in site-specific installations for the public sphere. Mangrich teaches courses in public art at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is also an Instructional Designer, assisting faculty in integrating technology into their courses. Mangrich is a founding member and board vice-president of the Milwaukee Artist Resource Network (MARN). In addition to her work with MARN, Mangrich is a co-founder and project manager of IN:SITE. IN:SITE is a resource for temporary public art in Milwaukee and Milwaukee County.

Melissa Dorn Richards: Board Treasurer
Melissa Dorn Richards is a visual artist and Director of Cultural & Alumni Relations at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD). She received her Bachelor's of Fine Arts from MIAD in 1996, with a major in Sculpture. Since graduating she has pursued her interest in education, teaching in various art programs and schools in the Milwaukee area.

She has made significant contributions to the Milwaukee arts community, serving as Executive Director of the Milwaukee Artist Resource Network (MARN) for two years beginning in 2005, and now serving as Board Treasurer. She is also a board member of Arts@Large, an organization connecting arts to academics. Melissa has been a very active member of the Riverwest Artists Association (RAA), as well.

Her current work focuses on creating bold abstract oil paintings. On the surface, they are simple, strong shapes and confident colors, powerfully outlined in black. To look deeper into her work is to discover her warmth, depth and humor.

Select exhibitions and gallery representation include: Eight Counties at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Hidden River Festival at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts, Artist Market at Milwaukee Art Museum, Around the Coyote Fall and Winter Festivals, Art Chicago, Aqua Art Miami and The Leigh Gallery in Chicago.

Darlene Hagopian: Board Secretary & Membership Chair
Darlene Hagopian has been an artist for 45 years in various disciplines (from photo, fiber, art metal, clay, video, graphic art to bookmaking). She owned a 60's boutique called Geezenstach's, taught art classes, exhibited in galleries and sold her work at various art fairs. Her BFA is from UW-Milwaukee - in addition she has also had many classes with locally and nationally known artists at MIAD, UWM, MATC, Valley Ridge Art Studio, Lemon Street Gallery and Woodland Pattern Book Center.

For 20 years she has served on the boards of various local arts organizations including Riverwest Artists Association (RAA), Wisconsin Designer Crafts Council (WDCC), Milwaukee Artist Resource Network (MARN), Milwaukee Visual Artist's Roundtable (MVAR), and Visual Arts Milwaukee (VAM). She is currently involved with RAA, MARN, Milwaukee Book Art Salon, Milwaukee ATC and the gutter grrls.

Jonathan Jackson: Board Member
Jonathan Jackson is the artistic director of Milwaukee Film, where he oversees the content and programming for the organization's events. Jackson previously served as the artistic director for the Milwaukee International Film Festival, directing film programming there from 2003 to 2008. He is currently an instructor for the UWM Film Department. He previously worked as the program manager of the UWM Union Theatre, as a freelance writer for the Shepherd Express and has curated film programs for the Milwaukee Art Museum.

Kari Garon: Board Member
Kari Garon is a multidisciplinary artist based out of Milwaukee. Primarily recognized for her collage paintings and prints of figurative container forms, her work often focuses on addressing contemporary political and sociological issues. Her artwork has been seen in solo and group exhibitions throughout the state of Wisconsin, as well as through the MARNmentors program. As a graduate from University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, Kari has received a B.F.A. in Painting and Drawing, Printmaking, and a certificate in Peace Studies. Kari has worked with UW-Milwaukee's TRIO & Pre-College Programs and sings with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Chorus.

Dr. Mark Eberhage AKA Mark G.E.: Board Member
Mark is a multi-media artist who was the founder of Joy Farm, a nationally award winning video performance troupe. His documentary, Midwestern Gothic, about Academy Award Winning Director James Marsh's documentary Wisconsin Death Trip is available worldwide on DVD. He has worked with Graham Chapman from Monty Python's Flying Circus. His band Cyberchump plays on national radio programs such as Echoes, Starstreams and Hearts of Space. He has created a number of art installations and performance art pieces in the Milwaukee area. He enjoys creating in a collaborative manner. As a psychologist, he continues to be dedicated to developing behavioral health services for the elderly and can be seen at numerous speaking engagements throughout the area. As a MARN board member, Mark is interested in promoting and enhancing the creative class in Milwaukee.

Additionally he serves as President of Behavioral Solutions, Inc., Board Director of ExtendiCare Foundation, and is a member of the American Psychological Association, and the National Register of Health Care Providers.

Isaiah Rembert:

Isaiah is a native of Detroit Michigan, moved to Milwaukee in 2007 to pursue graduate studies as an economic development fellow at UWMs Center for Economic Development. During his tenure as a fellow, Isaiah worked with  the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC-Milwaukee), which has become a national model for innovative, locally driven, community-economic development organizations. As a musician dedicated to the redevelopment of post industrial cities, Isaiah has been a tireless advocate of art and culture based approaches to community-economic development initiatives, especially at the neighborhood level. While at LISC  he has worked  with  artists, residents, non-profit organizations, and the local business community to define and execute common neighborhood redevelopment  plans, via art and culture.  Though he has worked in Milwaukee's many diverse neighborhoods, Isaiah has worked extensively with the Harambee Great Neighborhood Initiative's committee on Arts and Culture, and is one of the founding members of Harambee's Art in the Neighborhood gallery series.

Before moving to Milwaukee to attend UWM, Isaiah managed an Americorps program for two years in Cleveland, Ohio. Prior to his stint in AmeriCorps, he graduated from Earlham College in 2005 with a B.A. in music, where he studied violin, ethno-musicology (with a focus on the black American classical music tradition), and composition. His graduate work has primarily focused on broadening the “Creative Class” discourse to be more inclusive and more representative of indigenous artistic, aesthetic, and cultural practices.