ACA Staff & Board
Administrative Staff
Evan Caldwell
Programs Manager
he/him/his
Evan joins the Arlington Center for the Arts after four years in children's programming at the Maria L. Baldwin Community Center/Maud Morgan Arts Center in Cambridge. He additionally has non-profit arts experience at various theaters up and down the East Coast. He attended Bennington College in Vermont, studying Community Engagement through the Arts with an emphasis on theater and music. In his free time, Evan loves cooking, making and enjoying music, hiking, and camping! Evan lives in Somerville with his many plants.
Tom Formicola
Executive Director
he/him/his
Tom joined ACA staff as Executive Director in October 2019. He has worked as a nonprofit administrator for more than thirty years in positions at local organizations, including Boston Center for Adult Education, First Night Boston, the Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs (Boston), Ford Hall Forum, Strand Theatre (Dorchester), and Massachusetts Cultural Council. Tom and his husband Lenny Goldstein have lived in Arlington since 2004.
Michael Mahin
Student Services Manager
he/him/his
Michael joined the ACA staff in 2015, and currently serves as ACA's Student Services Manager. He holds a BA in Writing for Film and TV from Emerson College, and has also worked as a Kindergarten/1st Grade Afterschool Teacher at the Thompson Elementary School in Arlington. He is currently pursuing an MA/MAT English Dual Degree at Salem State University.
Aneleise Ruggles
Communications Director
she/her/hers
Aneleise joined the ACA staff as the Communications Director in March 2019. She has a background in programming and public engagement, and has established a strong commitment to community access and artistic enrichment. She holds a Masters Degree in Arts Administration from Boston University and Bachelors Degree in Studio Arts from Stonehill College. In her free time she is a practicing visual artist focusing on mixed media and also teaches adjunct for the Visual and Performing Arts Dept at Stonehill College in their Arts Administration program. She loves supporting other artists by facilitating opportunities for exhibition, education, and connection.
Pam Shanley
Operations Director
she/her/hers
Pam joined the ACA in 1999 and is a practicing artist on top of all she does to keep the ACA chugging along each day! Her paintings and drawings have been exhibited and collected in private collections in California, Connecticut and Massachusetts. She has worked as teacher, set painter for Deborah Abel Dance company, Little Theater for the Deaf, O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT and the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena, CA. & Farmington Valley Arts Center, Avon, CT. Along with her duties as the Operations Director here at ACA, Pam is also the hardworking Director of Arlington Open Studios!
Delia Tharnish
Education and Programs Director
she/her/hers
Delia joined ACA staff during the summer of 2021 as the Camp Manager, and currently serves as the Programs Manager. She holds a BFA in Photography from University of Colorado Denver, and M.Ed. in Arts, Community and Education from Lesley University. She is passionate about increasing access to the arts, as well as focusing on equitable experiences for underserved youth. As a visual artist, her focuses include photography, mixed media, and poetry.
Board of Directors
Alexandra Pool
Alexandra joined the Board in December 2023. She is an arts manager and fundraiser with experience in management, fundraising, and communications in arts nonprofits and higher education. Her passion for the power of the arts to enrich communities drives her current roles as Director of Development for Commonwealth Shakespeare Company and on the ACA Board. Alexandra holds an MFA in Arts Leadership and Cultural Management, as well as graduate certificates in Nonprofit Administration and in Cultural Organizations and Sustainability Management.
Amy Bressler Nee
Bio coming soon!
Ari Herbstman
Bio coming soon!
Jane Culbert
Jane joined the Board in December 2023. Prior to retirement, Jane worked for 39 years with WolfBrown, a Cambridge-based consulting firm that works with nonprofit cultural organizations, primarily in the field of arts and culture. Jane’s particular expertise is in financial analyses and planning, and she has worked on many planning and evaluation projects. Prior to her work with WolfBrown, Jane served on the staff of several Boston area cultural organizations. She is currently on the Finance Committee of Circus Smirkus. Jane is an amateur singer, and performs with Divi Zheni, a Balkan women’s chorus, and Sharing A New Song, an Arlington-based chorus (and serves on both of their boards).
Jimmy Fox
Jimmy joined the ACA Board in December 2023. As a life-long, avid and active musician in the Boston scene for the past 30 years, Jimmy Fox has a broad set of skills and network of artists that bring music performance and promotion to life. He's a hands-on dad of two who are both in the Arlington schools and extracurricular communities, as they are active in soccer, dance, drama, musicals, art and music programs around town. Jimmy and his family have been residents of Arlington for nearly 18 years, and can always be spotted with a lemonade stand during Arlington Porchfest! While music is his main thing, Jimmy has produced and promoted his music using modern technical programs and platforms, publishing graphic design posters for his shows and networks through the community leveraging social media and online tools. In addition, Jimmy has worked as a Database and Email Administrator, Webmaster, and Desktop and Field Support Specialist, for a variety of companies in the Greater Boston Area.
John Oliver, Chair
John Oliver joined the Board in December 2020. He is a Senior Assistant Branch Manager at Cambridge Savings Bank, and originally met the Arlington Center for the Arts as their Personal Banker. John graduated with a B.A. in English Literature and a Certificate in Religious Studies from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 2013. He is the President and Co-Founder of The BeatHeart Foundation, a small Non-Profit based in Reading, MA, whose mission is to celebrate local art and music while promoting addiction awareness and recovery. John is also an amateur drummer.
Julia Propp
Bio coming soon!
Julie Brown Neu, Treasurer
Julie Neu joined the Board in December 2020. She is a quilt and fiber artist whose work has been included in several recent ACA group shows and in the “Disarming: Memorial Quilts for Mass Shooting Victims” exhibit in 2019. She is also a digital strategist for Baker Library at Harvard Business School. Julie holds a BA in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Virginia and a Masters of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School. She and her family have lived in Arlington for more than a decade.
Laura Wiener
Laura Wiener joined the board in December 2022. She came to be interested in ACA through hosting Porchfest. She’s an urban planner, and loves ACA, and particularly Porchfest, for the way it uses arts to build community. She has worked for the City of Watertown and Town of Arlington Planning Departments, specializing in affordable housing, transportation, and zoning. She also sits on the board of the Housing Corporation of Arlington, and is a Town Meeting Member.
Margaret Moody
Margaret joined the Board in December 2016. She loves old stories and the characters that inhabit them. Her work as a puppeteer includes performing, teaching and presenting public shows. Having a vibrant arts center has made it more fun for Margaret to be an artist and mother in Arlington. She can’t wait to see the new ACA.
Molly Scannell
Bio coming soon!
Nandana Mewada
Nandana Mewada joined the Board in December 2020. She is an independent consultant with 20 years of experience in the sustainable investing industry having worked in the financial sector and with non-profit groups. An ACA “camp parent”, Nandana is an active resident volunteer for the arts, diversity and learning enrichment in Arlington. She and her family enjoy participating in community-based art projects in Arlington. She holds a Masters degree in Economics from Tufts University.
Sarah Buyer, Secretary
Sarah Buyer joined the Board in December 2020. She is an arts administrator specializing in programming and education. She holds a BA in History and Art History from Wellesley College, and an Mlit in Museum Studies from the University of St Andrews. Sarah currently works in Learning & Engagement at deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum and sits on the Boston Committee for Wellesley Friends of Arts. As the former Director of Education at ACA, Sarah has close ties to the community and mission of the Arlington Center for the Arts.
Shannon Ames
Shannon joined the Board in December 2023. She is the Executive Director of the Low Impact Hydropower Institute (LIHI), a national non-profit working to support hydropower that prioritizes environmental, cultural, and recreational resources. Shannon is an avid rower, sparking her interest in river health from a young age. She also learned a wide range of crafts from her mother and great aunt but now concentrates her efforts on ceramics. Shannon has played a key role in passing environmental and energy polices, including renewable portfolio standards and climate change legislation. She has deep experience with boards, volunteering her time for numerous educational, environmental, and industry organizations. Having graduated from Colby College with a BA in Art History, she is thrilled to put her expertise to work for an arts organization. Shannon also has an MBA from Boston University.
Tino D'Agostino
Bio coming soon!