BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Karen first embraced Mexican folk art in 1985, when she visited Patzcuaro, San Miguel de Allende, and Guanajuato. Years later, she was excited to learn about FOFA and its commitment to “preserving and promoting” Oaxacan folk art. In 2018, she helped with FOFA’s competition in Oaxaca and the resulting catalogue. Karen’s love of folk art began early. As a teenager, she moved with her family to Hong Kong, where she was interested in folk art from China, India, Thailand, and the Philippines. Back in the USA, she was drawn to Native American folk art, particularly pottery, beadwork, and weaving. She herself is a ceramicist and stained glass artist.Karen has devoted her professional life to teaching and being a principal in New York City’s public schools, and also advocating for national policies that ensure quality child health and child care programs. She holds an MSEd from Bank Street College of Education and an EdD from Teachers College at Columbia University.

Dana’s interest in Oaxacan folk art grew out of her broader interest in art--particularly in crafts and folk art--and many things Latin (food, music, art, etc.). Her friend,FOFA Board member Amy Mulvihill, shared her wonderful collection of Mexican folk art, much of it crafted by Oaxacan artisans known personally to Amy. This enhanced Dana’s desire to travel to Oaxaca, which she did for the first time in 2003. This was followed by a number of return trips to Oaxaca, during which she deepened her interest in Oaxaca and its rich folk art traditions and became a collector in her own right.Dana has volunteered her assistance for most of FOFA’s benefit sales, and in the fall of 2017 joined FOFA’s team. In August of 2018,s he participated with other FOFA board members in the young artists’ contest. The opportunity to meet and work directly with so many young and talented artisans was incredibly rewarding. Supporting and celebrating the creative life of these emerging Mexican artists is extremely important, especially in the current divisive climate in which we live. Dana worked as a graphic designer and art director within the publishing realm, at publishers (and design studios) including Oxford University Press, Random House and McGraw Hill, and as the principal of her own design firm. She is now retired.

Margee Rogers was first introduced to Mexican culture and folk art in 1967. She lived in Mexico City from 1979 to 1982 and has maintained very close ties with friends and family there, visiting at least once a year. One visit, in December 2011, took her to Oaxaca to explore the folk art villages. She discovered the FOFA 2011 young artist’s exhibit at MEAPO, was impressed with the quality of the work, and the support that FOFA provided the artists. Upon returning to the United States she began to volunteer.  Her involvement has increased through the 2013 and 2016 competitions and ongoing projects to support artists and their families in Oaxaca.

Margee has worked as a nurse practitioner and health care administrator in a large school-based health program in the Bronx for the past 32 years, helping all youth achieve their full potential. She is also an aspiring potter and photographer, a lens that allows her to fully appreciate the talent, perseverance, tradition, and sheer hard work that goes into Oaxacan folk art.

Growing up in El Paso, Texas Marissa was exposed at an early age to bordering Mexican cities and northern Mexican areas such as Chihuahua and Sonora. It was not until after moving to New York City in 1989, however, that she began to discover the contrasting central and southern states of Mexico, including Oaxaca. The connection was immediate from every aspect including food, culture, music, and of course the folk artists and their traditions. After returning several times, Marissa was fortunate enough to get married and host a traditional, indigenous wedding ceremony in Oaxaca in 2003. It was then that she formed long-lasting relationships with local cooks, restaurateurs, musicians, healers, weavers, and artesanos who contributed to the week-long celebration.

Since joining FOFA, Marissa has proudly been able to continue fostering these relationships and collaborate on the vital projects that have been essential to its mission and work. After working as a culinary consultant in the restaurant and hospitality industry in New York for over 25 years, Marissa moved to the Napa Valley in 2014 to begin a new adventure. She still works in hospitality but now within the wine industry, where her skills and experience are a perfect match for her newfound position.  She hopes to bring awareness of FOFA and its mission to the west coast by disseminating information about their important work.

Arden first fell in love with Oaxaca in 1961 – just before her 14th birthday – when she traveled there for the first of three summers to participate in a cultural program for American girls. This was a life-altering experience. Most important was getting to know folk artists and their families in the pueblos surrounding Oaxaca City. 

Decades later, Arden introduced her daughters and husband to this enchanted place in which they devoted the majority of their time to visiting artists in their pueblos and learning about their crafts. This culminated in the creation of a book featuring the region’s spectrum of folk arts — Mexican Folk Art from Oaxacan Artist Families — co-authored and co-photographed with Anya, Arden’s daughter, in 2002. An expanded second edition was published in 2007. In the wake of protests in Oaxaca that seriously compromised the former robust flow of tourism, Arden – in collaboration with board member Cindy Weill (below) founded FOFA in 2007.

The Rothstein family has hosted numerous artesanos in New York City, arranging demonstrations in schools and museums and helping them market their work. The Rothsteins have a large personal collection of Oaxacan folk art that graces their home and professional offices. Arden is a clinical psychologist, psychoanalyst, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, NYU School of Medicine, and Training and Supervising Analyst at the Institute for Psychoanalytic Education affiliated with NYU School of Medicine.

Bill served as a Captain in the U.S. Army from 1966 to 1970 with one year of service in Vietnam. His decorations include the Army Commendation Medal and the Bronze Star. He was an adjunct professor of estate and gift taxation at St. Mary’s University School of Law for over twenty years, and is the author of numerous articles and a frequent lecturer on taxation, estate planning and trust and estate administration issues at programs such as the Wills & Probate Institute at the Center for American and International Law, the Annual American Institute on Federal Taxation, the University of Texas Annual Taxation Conference, the San Antonio Young Lawyer’s Docket Call in Probate Court, and State Bar of Texas seminars. Bill’s civic activities include service as Trustee of the following: College of Arts & Sciences of the University of Virginia; Oldfields School (Glencoe, Maryland); San Antonio Museum of Art; St. Luke’s Episcopal School; City Centre (San Fernando Cathedral) Foundation; Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital Foundation; St. Andrews-Sewanee School (Sewanee, Tennessee); and Main Plaza Conservancy.

Bill, who is fluent in Spanish, is an aficionado of Oaxacan folk art and a serious collector. He has generously helped FOFA apply for its non-profit status and continues to consult on legal issues as they arise. His son, William Scanlan, III, opened the first MailBoxes, Etc. store in Oaxaca, as well as a far wider region including Mexico City. In this capacity, he, too, has been very generous to Oaxacan artesanos and to FOFA.