Governing Board

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The Governing Board, established in 2013, holds the fiscal responsibility of the Corporation, sets corporate policy and supports CAG’s mission, goals and activities.​

 

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Bart Doyle,  Chair

​​Bart Doyle is an attorney specializing in real estate, land use, and business transactions. A 31-year resident of Sierra Madre, he was elected to the City Council in 1996 and served two terms as Mayor.  He is the immediate past Chair of the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership and currently serves as Treasurer of the Pasadena Educational Foundation. He also serves on the boards of three industry related non-profits: the Building Industry Association of Los Angeles County, the Building Industry Legal Defense Foundation, and the Construction Industry Air Quality Coalition.

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Carolyn Ash, Vice Chair

​Following retirement as Director of Student-Faculty Programs at Caltech, Carolyn discovered Creative Arts Group and began taking ceramics classes. She became an active volunteer and also served on CAG’s Guild Board as a member and then as president. A long-time resident of Altadena, Carolyn holds a BA from Mount St. Mary’s University. Her hobbies include pottery, traveling, gardening, reading, and gathering with family and friends. 

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Mark Hafeman, Secretary

​Mark is a graduate of Georgetown University, has an MBA from University of Redlands and an M.A. from C.S.U.L.A. He spent 30 years as a teacher with LAUSD. Mark’s dad was active in real estate and his mom was a portrait artist. Luckily, he received the genes for real estate, where he has held a license since the age of eighteen, and in art where he has been a lifelong landscape artist and ceramic sculptor. Currently, he runs a real estate office that specializes in multi-family residential properties. He has been on several non-profit and fundraising boards for the past fifteen years including Methodist Hospital’s annual Mardi Gras fundraiser. He is a founder of a plein air painting group called TULARIVA–Tuesday Los Angeles River Art, and has won several local and national awards for his artwork.

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Helen Stepenhorst, Treasurer

Helen Bechtolt Stapenhorst was shaken from Sherman Oaks to Sierra Madre in 1994, following time in Nagasaki and New York, where she met husband Steve. Helen has spent her career as a non-profit administrator, consultant and fundraiser, currently working in Principal Gifts at Huntington Hospital.  As a volunteer, Helen helped lead the Sierra Madre School PTA and Neighborhood Church in Pasadena. She just completed a term on the Sierra Madre Civic Club board. It was the third grade witch project, 10 and 12 years ago, that introduced Helen to Creative Arts Group.

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Maral Gazarian, Member

Maral is a Sierra Madre native. She spent the last decade in Nevada and the east coast and moved back home to Sierra Madre in 2021 following completion of her husband’s military service. She currently works at Huntington Hospital and has served on various medical committees over the years. She has fond memories of CAG from classes there as a child and is excited to join the governing board. 

 

Dana Brandsey, Member

Dana Brandsey, a proud Los Angeles native raised in the San Fernando Valley, has lived in Sierra Madre for nearly four years, where she is an active member of the PTA at Sierra Madre Elementary. With a passion for the arts, learning French, reading, and outdoor activities like family bike rides and long runs, Dana thrives on staying active and engaged with her community. A graduate of Occidental College, she has built nearly two decades of alumni engagement and development experience in higher education and independent schools. Dana now serves as the Director of Alumni and Parent Engagement at Occidental College, dedicating herself to fostering meaningful connections within the college community. 

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John Vandevelde, Member

ohn was born and raised in Southern California but didn’t discover Sierra Madre until moving into town in 1993 -- the same year he graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a Bachelor of Architecture.  John received his architectural license from the State of California in 1995 while working at WLC Architects in Rancho Cucamonga and then moved on to Ewing Architects in Pasadena before starting his own firm Vandevelde Architects in 1999.  He has served several years on Sierra Madre’s Planning Commission, was active coach and board member for Sierra Madre Little League, and volunteered as both coach and referee in AYSO’s Region 2.  John and his wife Shannon have enjoyed taking ceramic classes at Creative Arts Group and hope to find more time for such pursuits as they adjust to life as empty-nesters. 

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Staff

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Gwen Robertson, Executive Director

​Gwen Robertson joined the staff of Creative Arts Group in 2019 after teaching at The Colburn School, The Museum of Contemporary Art, and Humboldt State University. Her academic research and teaching interests center on rethinking the role of the arts in contemporary life with special focus on community centered artistic practice. She lives in Sierra Madre and serves on a number of local boards including the Sierra Madre Civic Club and the Sierra Madre Rose Float Association. Creative Arts Group brings her academic interests and community passions full circle. She is co-editor of The Community Performance Reader (Routledge) and received her PhD from the University of Iowa in 20th Century and Contemporary Art.

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Kim Totten, Office Manager

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Aurelia Brogan, Program Director

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Jill Field-Duerr, Bookkeeper/Accountant

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Alyson Brandes, Lab Tech and Social Media 

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Aisa Castro, Assistant Lab Tech

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Hannah Blank, Tech Specialist

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Joanne Thrane, Volunteer 

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