Clelia Scala, Chair

Clelia Scala is a visual artist whose work includes mask and puppet design, installations, collage, and illustration. She recently returned to Kingston from Niagara where she served on the Board of Directors for the Niagara Artists Centre as Board Chair for four years. Clelia’s work has been in galleries in Canada and the United States and in theatres across North America and Europe. She teaches theatre design at the DAN School of Drama and Music at Queen’s University. 

To reach the Chair of the KAC Board of Directors, contact board@artskingston.ca.

Diane Black, Vice Chair

Diane Black is a Kingston artist who began her training in the field of illustration and spent many years in the commercial art world. She has a full time studio practice where sculpture is the primary focus. She also enjoys drawing, painting and printmaking.

Diane’s sculptures are an exploration of life's subtle (or not so subtle) moods through the expressive, unguarded faces and gestures; mostly amusing, sometimes dark, always a reflection of real life. Humour is often used to create a point of connection between the artist and viewer, a way of dropping defences so that observations can be made in a revealing but unthreatening way. Her work has been exhibited in Galleries throughout Ontario and can be found in private collections both in Canada and internationally.

Diane is on the board of the Organization of Kingston Women Artists (OKWA) and is an active member of the Kingston art scene. She teaches drawing, painting, ceramics and sculpture and has coordinated art workshops which attract participants internationally.

Nevena Martinović, Secretary

Nevena Martinović (she/her) is a theatre history and performance scholar, as well as an amateur playwright. Her research primarily focuses on intersections of acting and aging in eighteenth-century British theatre, though she has also published articles on contemporary theatre. Since graduating with her PhD in English Language and Literature, Nevena has been working as the Education Manager at various provincial and national not-for-profit organizations. She also teaches courses on literature, theatre studies, communication, and diversity and inclusion at several Canadian universities and colleges.

Amanda Baker, Treasurer

Amanda Baker (she/her) is a producer, theatre artist, and technologist specializing in immersive and interactive theatre. She holds a BAH in Computing and the Creative Arts and a Certificate in Business from Queen’s University, and a Master’s in Drama, Theatre & Performance Studies from the University of Toronto. She is currently the Festival Administrator for The Kick & Push Festival and Bookkeeper for Generator. Her recent work includes production managing Single Thread’s “Virtual Ambrose,” UX Designer for “The Social Within the City”, and Quality Assurance for the Cohort coding framework. As a disabled artist, accessibility is a strong aspect of her practice, and with CCA support she is currently working on an autobiographical show exploring the humour and realities of living with chronic illness.

Rae McDonald, Director

Rae McDonald is an Equity and Inclusion consultant with the Limestone District School Board. After graduating with a BA in Theatre Studies (Acadia University), and a BEd from the Artist in Community Education program (Queen’s University), Rae has spent the last 24 years as an educator and local artist, creating and implementing arts-based programming with a social justice lens. In addition to teaching, Rae has worked on various Ontario Dance and Drama writing teams connecting Arts curricula to inquiry-based learning grounded in culturally responsive and relevant pedagogy (Council of Ontario Directors of Education, Council of Dance and Drama Education). Locally, Rae continues to be involved in theatre initiatives, as both an actor and director and sits on the board of Kingston School of Arts. Provincially, she is the executive administrator for the Council of Ontario Dance and Drama Educators. Rae is excited to work alongside KAC, supporting local artists, and building community connections.

Brett Christopher, Director

Brett has been an active member of the Canadian Theatre community since graduating from George Brown theatre school in 2001. Celebrated as both a professional actor and director, he has worked with a variety of theatre companies across Canada including: Canadian Stage, Stratford Festival, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Theatre by the Bay, Segal Theatre, Thousand Islands Playhouse, Western Canada Theatre, Magnus Theatre, and the Arts Club. He is also the recipient of both the Masques and Mecca Awards for his performance of the solo show I Am My Own Wife at the Saidye Bronfman Centre in Montreal. During his 5 year tenure as the Artistic Producer of Theatre Kingston, he founded both the Storefront Fringe Festival and The Kick and Push Festival and worked with a variety of local arts organizations such as Cantabile Choirs, Kingston Symphony, Kingston Writersfest, Blue Canoe Productions, and the Queen's Drama Department as well as chairing the City of Kingston's Arts Advisory Committee and sitting on the Board of Tourism Kingston. For the last 6 years, he has held the role of Managing Artistic Director at the Thousand Islands Playhouse in Gananoque, Ontario. The Playhouse, with an operating budget of $2.7 million, annually produces 8 professional plays to more than 45,000 people and creates a series of educational and engagement creative opportunities for people in the region.

Patrick Cameron, Director

Patrick Cameron (he/they) is a strategy consultant and entrepreneur supporting mid-to large enterprises in technology, consumer goods, and professional services in international markets.  Before pursuing his work with large corporations he studied with Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet School’s Professional Division and performed with their company in numerous productions as well as multiple film, theater and TV productions during that period. His passion for business and love of the Arts has led him to advising artistic non-profit organizations throughout Canada on an ongoing basis. Patrick is very excited to be working with the Kingston Arts Council to shape their vision of supporting the future of Arts in Kingston.

Joe Pagnan, Director

As a production designer, Joe has created for companies touring the globe all from their homebase here in Eastern Ontario. From radical social opera with Loosetea Music Theatre to Sondheim in parklands of Aotearoa, they are a former resident artist at Talk Is Free and Birdland Theatre. They were project lead on ARIA: Augmented Reality for Immersive Accessibility. Actively engaged in emerging performance practice and theory, they were an assistant curator of the 2011 Canadian National Exhibition for the Prague Quadrennial of Space and Design. An Associated Designer of Canada and member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees serving on the Prague Quadrennial 2027 Committee and Environmental Stewardship Council for ADC IATSE 659. They hold a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts Honours with specialization Theatre Production from Toronto Metropolitan University.  Other education includes Universität Weimar with Theatre Bauhaus, OWOW Project, Rimini Protokoll, and the Yonge Centre for the Performing Arts.

They currently are a term adjunct  at Queen’s University for Stagecraft and Scenography. Research explores how we define performance space in an unstable or degenerative organic world; works specific to this include Covid Confessions: Compartments, The Candlemakers Game (Project Humanity) a verbatim social therapy production, and What She Burned: an immersive experience sharing Eastern European folklore, obscured by natural erosion on aging (45+ years!) radiological material. They have just launched the Living Edge Theatre Company, focussed on performance within the Frontenac Arch Biosphere.  Living Edge is dedicated to exploring the natural phenomenon at the fringe of performance and ecology: Inspiring conversation and conservation through theatrical performance in sites of significance. They are excited to help promote our region’s unmatched ecosystem for art making.