Board | Members

DIRECTORS

Art League RI is governed by a Board of Directors and managed by an Executive Director. Board members serve three-year terms and are elected at the annual meeting held each year in June.

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PRESIDENT – RUTH CLEGG

Ruth Clegg is an Elected Artist Gallery Member and is a professional photographer with over 40 years of art and business experience. A 1977 graduate of the University of Rhode Island with a degree in Fine Arts Ruth concentrated in the area of printmaking, primarily lithography and photography. Ruth maintains a home studio and has taught photography and multimedia at the Rocky Hill School. She currently educates professional photographers within her professional organizations. Ruth has received numerous professional awards and degrees (Master of Photography, Photographic Craftsman). Her photography, painting and printmaking has been juried and exhibited nationally and is in many private collections.

Ruth is Past President of the Professional Photographers’ Association of New England and Rhode Island and the Junior League of Rhode Island. Board experience includes: Community Prep School, St. Mary’s Home for Children, The Art Connection RI, the Providence Art Club, and the North Kingstown Chamber of Commerce. She is a 1998 graduate of Leadership RI (Sigma Class). Ruth is a member of the Professional Photographers’ Associations of RI, NE and America, View Arts Center, Providence Art Club, South County Art Association, Jamestown Art Center and the North Kingstown Chamber of Commerce.

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TREASURER – KEITH PRUE

Keith Prue picked up his first camera at age fourteen in England where he was born and raised. He is a substantially self-taught artist, attending workshops in the USA and overseas with internationally acclaimed master photographer Ernesto Bazan, and studying for two years with the late Ben Lifson, one of the world’s most prominent photography writers and critics.

Exhibiting online and showing in group exhibitions in the USA and Mexico, his photographs are held in private collections in the USA, Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, UK and France. Keith is an Elected Artist Gallery Member, and an Exhibiting Member of the RI Center for Photographic Arts.

Keith has owned and managed real estate in RI since 2002, and sits on the board of a 169 unit condominium complex. Prior to real estate, Keith, a UK Chartered Accountant, enjoyed a 24 year career in finance, the last 20 years with PwC where he was a partner specializing in corporate finance and valuations. Keith worked and lived in Poland for nine years and served on the Polish PwC board for three years. Prior to that he worked and lived in New Zealand for four years and also Zambia. He is an extensive traveler having visited more than 50 countries.

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DIRECTOR – CAROLYN CROOK

Carolyn Ancona Crook is a 30-year veteran in the marketing communications industry. Her career has focused on three key areas of expertise: new business development, project management and media relations. Carolyn was executive vice president of The Gorman Group. Carolyn joined Trainor Communications as a senior member of their account service team working with clients such as Lightolier. She spent the next seven years as vice president at Chaffee & Partners. She assisted the agency in business development, project management and media relations. As a member of the Chaffee Communications team, Carolyn applied her strong public relations skills to develop the most effective narrative for a client’s experience, successfully delivering it to their audience.

In 2015, Carolyn joined Weston Wright Architects where her work centers on business development and media relations. Carolyn studied Fine and Applied Arts with a concentration in photography at the University of Massachusetts. She later spent a year living in Rome with the RISD European Studies program where the study of architecture was a daily focus.

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DIRECTOR – HEATHER STIVISON

Heather Stivison’s artwork spans several disciplines including painting, drawing, and fiber. In the past four years, her work has been exhibited in universities, galleries, and museums in seven states. Originally from New Jersey, Heather is a former museum director who served as the president of both the New Jersey Association of Museums and the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums. She is a published author and a recipient of an art history research grant from the Arts & Crafts Research Fund. Heather recently returned to school to earn an MFA in painting from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Heather is an Elected Artist member.

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DIRECTOR – SHAWN QUIRK

Shawn Quirk is an independent filmmaker, Emmy winning producer, and festival programmer who has directed several short films and short documentaries. His film “Ouroboros” won the Audience Choice Award at the Spokane International Film Festival in 2008, he edited “Transjourney,” which won the Festival Favorite Award at the Cinema Diverse: Palm Springs LGBTQ Film Festival in 2015, and his most recent film “The Nature of Memory” premiered at the 2019 Ann Arbor Film Festival. 

Since 2011, Shawn has been the Program Director for the Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival.  In 2017, he served as Jury President for the Festival international du cinema francophone en Acadie.  He has been a panelist speaker at the Krakow Film Festival, REGARD, and the Quebec City Film Festival.  In addition, he has spoken as guest lecturer in both film and French language studies courses at universities including Dartmouth College, Harvard University, RISD, and UMass Boston.

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DIRECTOR – SUSAN DANSEREAU

Susan Dansereau is a classically trained painter, mixed media artist, former rock-and-roll lighting designer, traveler and commercial interior designer currently based in Pawtucket, RI. She divides her time between Rhode Island and Italy. She is known both for her artwork that fragments form into shape and for manipulating the color theory that informs atmospheric space.

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR – ELLEN MATESANZ

Ellen Matesanz brings to her role a broad background with expertise in art education, medical business management, and higher education administration. As a former Art League RI Board member (2016 -2018), Ellen works in partnership with the current Board of Directors, performing a key role in the operations, management and strategic planning of Art League RI. Early in her career, she was a secondary education art teacher at Coyle & Cassidy High School in Taunton, MA. A career shift brought her to Brown University where she served as Administrative Director for the Dean of Biology and Medicine, and for the past 15 years continued to serve in leadership roles in both for-profit and non-profit medical group practices, hospitals and medical foundations. Ellen earned a Master of Health Administration from Simmons College, a Master of Business Administration from the University of Rhode Island, and a Bachelor’s degree in Art/Art History from Rhode Island College.

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ELECTED ARTIST MEMBERS

Elected Artists are artists whose work meets the visual arts standards of Art League RI. Elected Artist status is granted through a credentialed jury process. You’ll find the works of these Elected Artist Members throughout Rhode Island.

+honorary member.  ALRI members have recognized these individuals by electing them as Honorary Members. Honorary Members have contributed to the field of visual arts either through outstanding artistic creativity or through exceptional leadership. Their achievements have national or international influence, have advanced the mission and vision of ALRI, and promoted the integrity of visual arts professional practices.
*founding member
^ President Emerita
#deceased

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ARTIST AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS

Members join ALRI as supporters and participants in the visual arts. Membership is open to anyone. Many Members are artists. Along with Elected Artists, Members are instrumental in their service on ALRI’s committees and may serve on the ALRI Board.