Susie Lowe
Executive Director
Susie has worked with the NFVCC since 2011. She was the founding Executive Director (2012-2014), Board President (2016-2019), and is now Executive Director (Nov 2019-present). Susie has a Bachelors Degree in Fine Art Media from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA (2004). Susie freelances as a graphic designer and is principal designer for her jewelry company Theoni Designs. She has leadership training through CU Denver School of Public Affairs and Colorado Creative Industries’ Change Leader program.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Sara Rodriguez
President
Sara is one of the founders of the North Fork Valley Creative Coalition, helping to organize the arts community since 2010. She teaches handwork at North Fork School of Integrated Studies, a Waldorf inspired school in Paonia. She has an up-cycled fashion company, ReMixed, where she creates garments from recycled clothing.
Kaspar Keil
Vice President
Kaspar Keil is an entrepreneur, artist and family man. He has divergent life experience from USA distributer of Biomega Danish life-style design products to owner operator of Redstone Records, a studio boutique. Kaspar is a self taught maker, hacker, automotive slacker, that personifies the mantra “if you build it they will come”, he looks forward to cultivating the awareness of local creators.
Heidi Hudek
Board Treasurer
Heidi is a musician as a singer, percussionist in addition to being a photographer, dancer, actress and dual media artist – mostly watercolor and pastel. She also loves to cook with the wonderfully fresh food our valley offers.
Josh Paigen
Board Secretary
Josh was born and raised in Paonia and received his Bachelor’s Degree, with an emphasis in Studio Art, from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, OR. After many years traveling the globe, Josh returned to Paonia to found Wild Feather Farm, a local organic hemp farm. In addition to farming, he is a mixed-media artist, moonlights as a local DJ, and has extensive experience working in event production. He is passionate about public art, freedom of expression, art as activism, and community building through creative industries and events!
Erin Hilleary
Erin was born in Nederland and spent her early childhood in Paonia, where she created her first memories of music, art and the way they pervade the culture here. She has since supported herself as a professional artist for twenty years, traveled and lived all over the world, and wrapped every aspect of her life around art. She participated full throttle in major art movements – a gypsy collective of artists fleshing out the surrealist abstract world of our dreams and slathering it all over the streets of our beautiful cities. Erin returned to Paonia in 2017 to live and work as a massage therapist, yoga instructor, artist and mother. Paonia is her favorite place and she feels that the Creative Coalition is a great way for her to support the arts here because it is concerned with funding, substantiating and protecting our creative culture.
