Meet our board
of directors.
Ruth Anderson
President
Ruth Anderson has built her professional career on arts education and arts leadership experiences in public schools, private schools, universities, nonprofit organizations, and as Director of Arts Education at the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, PA. She is an active member of the American Alliance of Museums and the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. She currently collaborates with several organizations in Bucks County and the Lehigh Valley, where her commitment to advocacy and social justice coupled with her love of the outdoors inspires her visionary use of the arts to strengthen individuals and communities.
Charlene Cerasa
Treasurer
Charlene Cerasa moved to Bucks County in 2017 to be near her daughter and family.
She is a retired School Business Administrator. Throughout her career and after retiring, Charlene pursued and engaged in volunteer opportunities that aligned with her interests and expertise. Most recently, she served nearly 10 years as Treasurer for the York Art Association.
After moving to Bucks County, she joined the board of directors of the Bucks County Symphony Society and currently serves as treasurer.
Charlene notes, “While I am neither an artist nor a musician, I appreciate the arts and I have made wonderful acquaintances and lifelong friends because of my associations.”
Clifford Eberly
Clifford Eberly is an artist and curator living in Doylestown. Since January 2022, he has directed the Hicks Art Center Gallery at Bucks County Community College. Eberly holds a BFA from SCAD and an MFA from Claremont Graduate University. While in California, his installations, performances, collages and paintings were exhibited in solo and group exhibitions at Raid Projects (Eastside International), PØST, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, PAM, Torrance Art Museum, Sturt Haaga Gallery, Coachella Valley Arts Center, The Art Gallery at Glendale Community College, Coastline Art Gallery, and LACMA. In 2019 Eberly received the Curators LAB Grant and organized the exhibition and catalogue for CODE WORD SAFE at the Fellows of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. He is excited to build lasting relationships with the local community to promote the arts through education and innovative exhibitions.
Robbin Farr
MEMBERSHIP & COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS CHAIRPERSON
Former high school literature and creative writing teacher, Robbin Farr is currently co-founder and co-editor of River Heron Review, an online poetry magazine. Writer and poet, she lives in Doylestown where she is actively involved in a community of poets. Her work has been published in numerous literary magazines. Robbin holds an MFA from the University of Queens in Charlotte and teaches writing at Rider University. She fervently believes in supporting the literary arts through readings, publication, and workshops.
Susan Forker
recording secretary
Susan began her career as a film and video editor in New York and then Los Angeles after her graduation from Syracuse University. After moving to Doylestown in 2006, her background as an editor using imagery to tell a story and interests as a vintage collector led her to create joeyfivecents, a brand of handmade jewelry that incorporates antique ephemera and resin. Sourcing materials from the area, she thrives on the local connection in her work between the past and the present with an emphasis on the beauty of asymmetry and imperfection found in her natural surroundings. She has written independent lifestyle pieces for Bucks Life magazine is an active member in Crafts Dept. Philly, a small collaborative of artists in the Philly metro area.
Carol Gilbert
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY
“Art has always been a passion and part of who I am.” Carol Gilbert received a BFA degree from Tyler School of Art and enjoyed working as a Graphic Designer/Illustrator in advertising. After retiring, she pursued the fine arts as an award-winning painter & art teacher, working in her home studio in Bucks County. Carol and her husband were amateur adult ice-dancers, which led to her small business, Carol Anne Skatewear, designing/sewing skatewear for competitors. She became Test Chairperson for the national USFS organization. Bringing the beauty and joy of art to others is my heartfelt desire and reward.
Vincent Hawley
Growing up in an artistic family, Vincent Hawley has consistently been surrounded by art. He received a BFA from TUFTS University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. He went on to study and apprentice in Florence, Italy working with master artisans for a number of years. His sculpture, wearable art and paintings range from millimeters to meters, including large outdoor public sculpture. His works are in public and private collections around the world. Most of Vincent’s work is inspired by the natural beauty of his travels. Vincent currently works out of his studio in Lambertville, NJ and New Hope, PA.
Ed Matzkin
director emeritus
Ed Matzkin worked for twenty-three years in family law and seven more in Credit and Collections. He is an avid bridge player and enjoys attending opera and theater, traveling, and spending time at the New Jersey shore. He also loves spending time with his family. He serves on the Board of the Arts & Cultural Council, most recently as an advisor for legal and financial issues.
William Milnazik
After a successful college experience at Tyler School of Art, Bill worked for one of Philadelphia’s largest and most creative design studios learning the business of creativity for marketing and branding. In 1997 he started AXIS Visual and has been the owner and lead designer ever since. He believes that “beauty and innovation hold endless value to our culture and society. We should protect and promote artistic drive wherever we find it.”
Jane Ramsey
VICE PRESIDENT
Jane has transitioned into a full-time fine artist working in watercolor paintings and graphite drawings. After 35+ years in the advertising field, holding roles as art director, illustrator and designer, she is now focused on fine art. Jane now owns Simons Fine Art Framing & Gallery, a long-established Bucks County art business, where she has studio and permanent gallery space. She makes her home in a small cottage on a preserved farm in upper Bucks County, which is the subject matter for much of her work.
Hayden Saunier
Hayden Saunier is an actor, writer, and founder/director of No River Twice, a poetry + improvisation performance group. She is the author of five books of poetry, has been awarded numerous national prizes for her work and is a former Bucks County Poet Laureate. Film and theatre credits include The Sixth Sense, House of Cards, Mindhunter and work at the Guthrie, Walnut Street, Westbeth, Arden, and Interact Theaters. Hayden believes that the arts connect us to ourselves and our communities in the deepest and most meaningful ways.
Ashara Shapiro
Ashara Shapiro’s creative journey started in the world of performance art, as a Magna Cum Laude Graduate from Emerson College with a BFA in Acting and Theater Education. She spent years as a performer and arts educator but quickly expanded her passions to include creative writing and design. Ashara has an entrepreneurial spirit and has worked on several incredible design projects in Bucks County. Her newest venture is ArtWRKD, an art consortium that has recently opened in Newtown. It is an experiential space that houses a gallery, artists in residence and workshop space. Ashara creates her wearable art brand, ARecherche from her ArtWRKD studio. Ashara also is a published poet in the anthologies, The Pandemic Project and Shocking Verbs, Lawless Nouns, and the literary magazine Neshaminy.
Gene Underwood
Gene had a 35-year career in advertising as an agency partner and creative director. His agency specialized in helping hotels, resorts, and conference centers attract new audiences and then deepen their connections to clients. Then he threw himself into becoming a painter. After a year of private lessons, he used the time of the pandemic to develop a daily painting practice and learn as much as he could about how to express himself in paint. Gene enjoys sharing his marketing experience and ideas with nonprofit organizations, including HRC, the League of Women Voters, and Phillips’ Mill.