Loading ...Meet the Staff
Peggy Zemach joined DAC in May 2012 as the executive director. Peggy has lived in Durango for fifteen years, and was the first director of the Children’s Museum when it was located at DAC, as well as a founding member of the Durango Discovery Museum. Most recently, she worked as a consultant to the Southern Ute Cultural Center and Museum’s education programs. She brings over twenty years of non-profit experience to the DAC. She holds a B.A in Environmental Education from Colorado College and a Masters degree in Museum Studies from the University of Colorado-Boulder.
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Jeannie Berger, the Membership and Volunteer Coordinator, has been on the staff of the DAC for ten years, including a tenure as Exhibits Director for over a year and half. Before being hired, she was a volunteer herself for many years and became acquainted with artists and the arts community during that time. As a former English teacher, she employs her language skills in the writing and production of the DAC’s Artsline quarterly newsletter. A native of Texas, she moved with her husband to Durango in 1988.
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Sandra Butler is the Education Coordinator at the Durango Arts Center. She has been involved with the DAC for many years as an artist and educator. Her job includes creating and overseeing the DAC education programs for adults, teens, and kids and coordinating the Art After School program in the Durango 9-R elementary schools. Sandra, a working sculptor who exhibits locally and nationally, received her B.A. at Montana State University in Bozeman, and her M.F.A. at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, in the Sculpture and Extended Media Department.
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Jonas Grushkin, Building Facilities Manager, joined the arts center a year ago, and is an accomplished electrician, plumber, carpenter, pianist, photographer (www.grushkin.com) and graphic artist. His responsibilities at DAC include greasing doors and unclogging sinks, along with numerous other fixings that keep the old building operating. He uses his photography abilities to supply marketing images for DAC.
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Julie Madden, has been working with the arts center since July of 2010 and is responsible for all of the arts center’s finances. She said that she enjoys interacting with the people at the arts center—whether they are staff, artists, board members or teachers.
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Diane Panelli, Theatre Events Specialist, joined the Durango Arts Center five years ago when she was asked to join the board because her son, Joey, was involved in the theater program. Currently, Diane manages the DAC Box Office and oversees the Theatre Bar. She loves her job and supporting performing arts opportunities in the community of Durango.
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Mary Puller joined DAC as the Exhibits Director in July 2011. Her previous experience includes the Mingei Folk Art Museum, in San Diego, California, and UNICEF, in Tucson, Arizona. Mary returned to Durango in June and opened Plein, a folkart and fine craft gallery shop, at the Durango Arts Center.
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Theresa Carson is DAC’s Artistic Director and Theatre Manager. Formerly the director of theater at San Juan College and the artistic director of Sandstone Productions in Farmington, New Mexico, Theresa spent two years as a visiting faculty member at Fort Lewis College. She moved to Durango from Moorhead, Minnesota, where she was an assistant professor in the Theater Arts Department at Minnesota State University for four years. A graduate of the University of Iowa, she earned an MFA in directing from the University of Utah. She most recently directed Little Shop of Horrors; Glengarry Glen Ross; Sweeney Todd; Wit; Urinetown, the Musical and The Importance of Being Earnest for the SJC Theater Department; Joseph…Dreamcoat, Oklahoma! and Annie Get Your Gun for Sandstone Productions. She also directed Always…Patsy Cline for the Durango Arts Center in 2010.
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Gayle Burrows, Administrative Assistant, arrived in Durango in 1989 after a four-year stint as a ski bum. She had the usual variety of jobs, including gardener, ski instructor, trail guide, thrift store assistant manager and restaurant worker. Prior to Colorado, she spent nine years in television advertising sales in Chicago and New York City. She declares a strong preference for her Durango lifestyle. She enjoys being a part of DAC’s mission and is proud to be working with one of the most loyal, dedicated, high-energy staff she’s ever encountered.
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Elsa Jagniecki is a recent addition to DAC as the new Marketing Coordinator. Elsa brings a unique “self-taught” grassroots approach in coordinating creative communications for DAC marketing. Elsa holds a MSc in Sustainability & Leadership from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Karlskrona, Sweden and a BA in Cultural Anthropology from Colorado State University. Elsa is a participant in the 2013 class of Leadership La Plata and has been a resident of Durango for eight years. Elsa is excited to work closely with DAC and the local community to help support and promote Arts & Culture in Durango and surrounding communities.
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If you have any questions or comments, please email the staff.
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Board of Directors
Terry Swan, President
Cristie Scott, Vice President (San Juan Board of Cooperative Educ Services // Public Art Commission)
Gary Gould, Treasurer
Allison Andersen, Secretary
Ginny Davis, Ph.D (Fort Lewis College Theatre Department)
Elizabeth Gand (Fort Lewis College Department of Art)
Derek Hines (ConocoPhilips)
Petra Hinke
Tim Kapustka (Studio & // Cabbage Creative)
Joe Kusar (Bank of Colorado)
Maureen May
Stacey Mathews Stasi (Advantage Design)
