Ottawa School of Art

President; Chair, Strategic Planning Committee

Nadia Laham, Ph.D.
Manager, Cultural Industries
Canadian Heritage

Nadia Laham has been quite active on the Ottawa arts scene for the past twenty years. Born in Ottawa, she pursued a Ph.D. Degree in Communications in France before joining the federal public service. Nadia has worked at the Canada Council for the Arts and currently manages the Support for Artistic and Literary Magazines at Canadian Heritage. She also oversees the Dennis Tourbin Fund for Emerging Artists which supports the creation of multi-disciplinary and performance works. Nadia enjoys photography and is thrilled to be able to fulfill a childhood dream by taking drawing courses at the OSA since the beginning of the year.

Vice-President

Heather Beaton
Counsel
Industry Canada Legal Services

Heather is a former student of the Ottawa School of Art and has been a member of the Board since 2006. Heather has been working as legal counsel with the federal government since 1999 and recently completed a MA in Transnational Communications and Global Media at the University of London. She is a keen supporter of the arts scene in Ottawa, including the Ottawa School of Art.

Treasurer

Karen Vinczeffy
Staff Accountant
Welch & Company

Karen Vinczeffy is a chartered accountant and works as a manager at Welch & Company, a medium-sized public accounting firm. She has a lot of experience in auditing not-for-profit organizations, including arts-related organizations. She has always had an interest in art and enjoys taking in the various galleries in the Ottawa area. She likes to travel and enjoys the outdoors.

Secretary

Kim Strydonck, CFRE
Coordinator, Philanthropy
Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation

Kim Strydonck, BAHons, CFRE, has more than a decade of experience as a professional fundraiser, helping causes ranging from academic institutions, social services and peace mandates to her current position as Philanthropy Officer at the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the Canadian War Museum. Kim is an active volunteer – she is on the Board of Directors of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, mentors a fundraiser, and has been on the OSA Board since early 2009. Kim has an Art History degree, post-diploma certificates in Special Event Management and in Fundraising Management, and is a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE).

Community Members

Steve Noble
Replacement Professor
Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa

Steve Noble is a former multinational human resources and employment equity director before returning to graduate school. Steve is on faculty within the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Education and has as his focus university and community connections for at-risk youth, most notably through arts outreach. His areas of teaching involve the arts, social justice and youth social identities.

Daniel G. Marchand
Graduate of the Université du Québec in Trois-Rivières. Daniel pursued a 32-year Canadian Foreign Service career with assignments in the USA, Europe and the Middle East, including that of Canada's Ambassador to Lebanon. Daniel retired from the public service in 2005. He enrolled in the Portfolio Program at the School of the Photographic Arts: Ottawa (SPAO) in 2006-07 and his now pursuing a second career as a freelance photographer.

Stuart Lanctôt Kinmond
Architect (retired); Artist

Montreal native and long-time architect, Stuart Kinmond also lived in Yellowknife and Edmonton before moving to Ottawa in 1984. His career as a visual artist started in the late eighties when he began painting, while continuing to work as an architect part-time. He studied painting and printmaking at the Ottawa School of Art in the nineties and began exhibiting in 2000. He is now a full-time visual artist working in paint, mixed media and digital media out of his Ottawa studio. 

Gregory Evanik
Senior Director
Corporate Planning & Intergovernmental Corporation | Public Works & Government Services Canada

Gregory Evanik has been extremely active in Ottawa community and organizational development during the past 25 years. He has been on boards and fund raising committees for local arts organizations (e.g., VACO), homes for the elderly, Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, medical foundations, hockey associations, etc. He is a sculptor having done his first mural commission in university, has been a student of OSA in the 80s, has participated in a number of exhibitions/showings of his sculptures and water colours, and has been highly active in obtaining support and funding for the new Shenkman Arts Centre. He holds an MBA from the University of Western Ontario and is a Certified Management Consultant in strategic planning.

Elizabeth McGuinness, BA, LLB

Elizabeth McGuinness, BA, LLB served as Vice President, Secretary and Director of ARTSmart, a non-profit organization devoted to raising funds for art education for the youth of Santa Fe, NM. Her responsibilities included maintaining corporate books; establishing new fund raising activities; soliciting and training volunteers; developing new underwriters and donors; interfacing with local politicians and coordinating the establishment of endowment and scholarship funds. As a Partner with Heenan Blaikie, she specialized in financing film and television production. This involved private placements; traditional banking; venture capital funding; production and distribution contracting; and merchandising, additional responsibilities including being the chair of various firm management committees.

Megan Lafrenière
Lafrenière & Pai Gallery

Megan Lafrenière is a co-director of the Lafrenière & Pai Gallery (established 2000) and holds a BFA (Art History) from Concordia University in Montreal. She served as co-representative of the Eastern Region of the Ontario Crafts Council from 2001 to 2006. Along with co-representative Lisa Pai, she initiated the development of an annual panel discussion with the laureate and finalists of the Saidye Bronfman Award. This project bridged successful partnerships between the Ontario Crafts Council, the Ottawa School of Art and the Canadian Museum of Civilization. As gallery co-director, Megan has curated over ninety exhibitions in Ottawa, Toronto, Chicago, Palm Beach and Bangkok and has been invited to sit on juries for regional, provincial and national organizations and has presented talks in Fredericton, Mississauga, Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto. Megan has been an active member of the Ottawa arts community for nearly fifteen years and has enjoyed periodic courses at the OSA.

Jessica Eden
Senior Consultant
Deloitte Inc.

Jessica Eden is an experienced organizational strategy consultant with a long history of involvement in the arts. Jessica is a Senior Consultant with Deloitte’s Human Capital Consulting practice, with a focus on linking business, organizational and HR strategies, supported by skills in strategic planning and communications. She has worked with not-for-profits on projects related to Board governance, organizational effectiveness and design, strategy implementation, and change management. Jessica first became involved with the OSA many years ago through March Break Camps, and most recently has been taking independent study courses in paper arts. She holds a BA in Drama, and was a founding member and co-Producer of the independent, student-owned Gnu Ground Theatre Company in Kingston (created to provide a venue for young practitioners to develop community-oriented theatre experience). She also holds an MBA from Carleton University.

Ex Officio Members

Past President (ex officio)
Diana Cantú
International Datacasting Corporation

Executive Director (ex officio)
Jeff Stellick
Ottawa School of Art