Staff
Deborah
Thornton
Deborah L. Thornton has 25 years experience in organizational development, arts administration, fundraising and program development. These are rooted in a heritage of growing up in southern Louisiana - a rich mix of cultures, ethnicities, lifestyles, aesthetics, dialects, music, and stories. Upon graduation from college, armed with a Fine Arts degree in Visual Art, she engaged in a variety of life-education experiences that lured her out west. Visiting Colorado in 1982, she fell in love with the spirit of community in Manitou Springs and quickly became engaged with the arts industry/arts community of the Pikes Peak region. During her travels around the country, she saw that arts graduates around the nation were getting an aesthetic education but little business training to prepare them for an arts career. With a conviction to improve this condition and enhance the community, she helped develop the mission and programs, raise funding and open a new concept in arts facilities: the Business of Art Center. She stepped in as Executive Director for 4 years and was then hired by the Colorado Council on the Arts as an Associate Director running grants and technical assistance programs for over 400 arts organizations representing all arts disciplines throughout the state of Colorado. She has been part of Imagination Celebration since 1989 as a Steering Committee member, Steering Committee Chair, and on the Board of Directors. After several years of consulting with arts groups and communities around the state, she joined the Imagination Celebration staff as the Resource Development and Outreach Coordinator. Her service has been recognized with several awards including the Virginia Hagnauer Award for Service and Leadership and the Arts/Business/Education Pikes Peak Arts Council Award. She and her husband, Dan Wecks, jointly received the Community Weaver Award from Public Radio Station KRCC for arts, business and civic service to the Pikes Peak region. Contact Us
Jane
Bennett
Jane Bennett has lived in Colorado Springs since 1989 when she and her
husband and son, Matthew retired from military service. She has family
locally and throughout the world to include two adult stepsons, Guy and
Michael. Throughout her life as an “Army Brat,” then as a wife
and mother she has had a love of the Arts, especially the Visual Arts.
That interest and passion is what led her to the Kennedy Center Imagination
Celebration (KCIC) Mini-Site and Crayola Dream-Makers Site programs, first
as a Parent Coordinator for her son’s elementary school, then as
a KCIC volunteer and since 1998, as KCIC staff. Her goal as the KCIC Schools
& Dream-Makers Coordinator is to give students of all ages the opportunity
to experience, enjoy and learn something new in the Arts through performances,
events, workshops and art exhibitions in schools and in the community.
Jane believes in the importance of children having the opportunity for
creative expression and that the Arts are “portal that enables us
to see what children are feeling and thinking, celebrating or questioning”.
She also wants teachers, parents and other adult leaders and caregivers
to know of and participate in Arts and Arts Education opportunities to
benefit the children of the Pikes Peak region. Contact
Us
Amber
Carlton
Amber Carlton has been active in the arts all her life. She grew up in Oklahoma and lived in Dallas for seven years before making her home in Colorado Springs. She holds a B.A. in English and Theater from the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. In addition to performing, Amber served as a founding board member for Stage Door Theatrical Company in Norman, OK and she also served on the board of directors for Bucket Productions in Dallas. Prior to joining the Imagination Celebration staff, Amber worked as production assistant in the Performing Arts department at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. She also held the position of Interim Director of Performing Arts at the Fine Arts Center in 2002. Through her own experiences and through her experiences with Imagination Celebration, Amber has seen first-hand how arts can change lives and make the world more colorful and worthwhile. Contact Us
Mary Beth Burichin - Picture and Bio Coming Soon!
Allison Daniell - Picture and Bio Coming Soon!
Aleta Tyree - Picture and Bio Coming Soon!
KCIC Board of Directors
The following people
serve as the Board of Directors for Sprinkle Art Inc., doing business
as The Kennedy Center Imagination Celebration, in Colorado Springs:
President • Judith Casey
Vice President • Sean Anglum
Secretary • Mary Helsaple
Treasurer • John Norton
Director • Lew Davis
Director • Diane Loschen
Director • Senga Nengudi-Fittz