STAFF

Patrice Drago, Executive Director • patrice@mdfedart.org

Patrice Drago is a visual artist and art columnist, and she served on the MFA Board of Directors as Vice President of PR & Programming for 12 years.

Patrice brings both management and leadership skills from her career in the hospitality industry. Growing up in hotels managed by her father, she put herself through school, studying journalism at the University of Maine, while working in hotels.

Hired by Marriott International, she was able to create a unique career path at the corporate level, combining her hospitality and business skills with her creative writing ability to work across disciplines to connect operations, human resources, and brand management. She then gave up her corporate career to become a full-time artist.

Since then, she has been writing the Gallery Column for the Capital Newspaper, was an Artist in Residence at Maryland Hall for six years, blogged about art for Visit Annapolis, and is now a co-lead of the Annapolis Gallery Association.

Karen Ricketts, President • krickettsmdfedart@gmail.com

Karen Ricketts is president of the Maryland Federation of Art and has served as a board member for 3 years. As a board member, Karen chaired the Resource Development committee and has supported many fundraising activities.

Karen holds an arts degree from Mary Washington University and began her career with a private multimedia studio arts business. However, her career journey would lead her to a 30-year career in information technology. During these years, Karen rose through the ranks from Programmer to Project Management and on to various leadership roles. In 2020, Karen retired as a Regional Vice President with Salesforce.com.

While the busy pace of raising young daughters and managing a corporate career interrupted Karen’s artistic pursuit – her love and appreciation of the arts has always remained at her core.

Karen resides in Annapolis with her husband. They enjoy the Annapolis boating lifestyle and spending time with their two young grandchildren.

Laura Carty, Assistant Executive Director • laura@mdfedart.org

Amani Freeman, Exhibitions Manager • amani@mdfedart.org

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Executive Committee

Karen Ricketts, President

Craig Friedrich, Operations Vice President

Emil Petruncio, Artist, PR & Programming Vice President

Michelle FauntLeRoy, Development Vice President

Stephanie Sams, International Monetary Fund, Treasurer

Hope Stewart, Secretary

Directors

David Diaz, Artist, Exhibition Committee Chair

Joseph Dickey, (Emeritus), Artist, Johns Hopkins University

Craig Newcomb, Brightview Senior Living, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Committee Chair

Wil Scott, Artist, Exhibitions Committee

Sarah Jane Dunaway, Artist, Assoc. Dir., Develop. Communications, USNA Alumni Association & Foundation

Richard Issacman, Artist, Technology Committee

Carolyn Andros, Artist, Exhibition Committee

Erica Krieger, Artist

Martha Spencer, Global Head, International Baccalaureate Educator Network & School Delivery, Exhibitions Committee

Michele Ward, T. Rowe Price, Investment Committee chair