RiverArts Staff and Board Members

Chris Sade, Executive Director

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Chris brings 30 years of professional experience in the fine art moving, shipping and storage industry to RiverArts. In addition to managing a large and diverse national team that provided services for museums, galleries and private collectors, Sade directed sales, marketing and business management.

“Becoming the Executive Director of RiverArts provides me the opportunity to utilize my life skills in the arts while making connections with the wonderful people who live or travel here. I believe this will be a very satisfying experience, watching people come together for art’s sake. I can see a bright future for the arts in Kent County, and I want to be part of it.

Chris has drop-in office hours most Tuesdays from 1:00-3:00 pm.. Stop by the Gallery if you would like to meet with him or if you just want to drop in to say hello.

Chris usually works Mondays thru Fridays In addition, you can catch him at many RiverArts' meetings and events. You can reach him directly by emailing: chrissade@chestertownriverarts.org

Sue Wilson, Gallery and Gift Shop Director

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Sue loves to spend time with her large family and close friends. She and her husband love to seek out places they've never explored, always opting to take the road less traveled. She enjoys reading almost anything, including fiction, books about history and especially biographies, and loves learning new things. Sue says:- "I love RiverArts because the creativity, ingenuity and motivation of the artistic community inspires me."

At RiverArts, Sue directs the daily gallery and the gift shop operations, works with volunteer committees on event and exhibit planning, supervises the front desk, and offers warm welcome and helpful encouragement to members, artists, and visitors alike.

Sue usually works Saturdays thru Tuesdays in the gallery and is available other days by email or appointment. In addition, you will see her at most gallery & special events.

You can reach Sue directly by emailing: suewilson@chestertownriverarts.org

Sarah Lyle, KidSPOT Coordinator

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Sarah was involved with the arts community in Chestertown in various capacities for years before RiverArts became an entity, including as part of Chester River Artworks, one of RiverArts' legacy organizations. When KidSPOT was looking for someone to run things and she had availability, her background in art education and working with young children made it a no-brainer. Sarah says "KidSPOT at RiverArts is a beautiful concept: We make creative exploration available to children for free and I love that I get to play there too."

As KidSPOT Coordinator, Sarah organizes Saturday morning activities and KidSPOT community outreach. She also manages the KidSPOT social media pages. 

You can reach Sarah directly by emailing: sarahlyle@chestertownriverarts.org

Chris Neiman, Clay Studio Manager

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Chris enjoys making functional pottery for himself and his business, and spends spare time enjoying outdoor activities with his wife. His hobbies include building/repairing computers and digital design projects. One of his favorite parts of RiverArts is "KidSPOT cultivating artistic expression!"

Chris was a longtime Clay Studio potter and joined the RiverArts staff January 2021, becoming the go-to guy for the RiverArts Clay Studio Community. He makes the studio accessible to potters, keeps the space and equipment clean and running smoothly, plans events and classes, and spreads the word about the beauty and fun and artistry of all things ceramics.

You can reach Chris directly by emailing: chrisneiman@chestertownriverarts.org

Kris Kelley Majors, Arts Education Coordinator

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Kris has been a RiverArts member-artist since she was a teen and an instructor since 2019. Kris earned her B.A. at Washington College in Psychology and Studio Art. She moved to Philadelphia to pursue her Master’s of Fine Art and Certificate in Teaching at Temple University. In 2022, she returned to the Eastern Shore with her husband. Kris loves RiverArts because "it provides opportunities for community members of all ages and experience levels to discover the arts and become artists."

As ArtsAlive! Coordinator, Kris develops and manages a varied curriculum of adult programing aimed to serve RiverArts’ mission of engaging the community with the arts. She is passionate about bringing the arts to underserved communities and helping artists to have successful and sustainable practices. She also oversees marketing, web development, and social media for the organization. 

You can reach Kris directly by emailing: kriskelley@chestertownriverarts.org

Meghan Efland

Meghan Efland has served as the Secretary, Vice President and is currently the President of the Board. She has been a RiverArts member for 8 years, and that all started with a beginner wheel pottery class. Meghan is the Director of Supply Chain at Paul Reed Smith Guitars and is the Ward 4 Town Councilperson for Chestertown. Meghan lives in Chestertown with her partner Marc Quigley and they are avid supporters of the arts and the Chestertown community.

Maureen Karnes

Treasurer

Raven Bishop

Raven Bishop is a technologist and arts educator who believes in promoting creativity and connection as central components of the collaboration process in working with students, teachers, artists and stakeholders in any community. An artist in her own right, Raven's creative work explores expression in a variety of forms, from augmented and virtual reality to sculptural ephemera. Raven has been involved with RiverArts in a variety of ways including serving on the KidSPOT Advisory Committee, curating exhibits, teaching classes and serving a previous term on the RiverArts Board. She is excited to begin this new term on the board of an organization she cares deeply about.

Zane Carter

With a degree in commercial art and illustration from Ringling College of Art & Design in Sarasota, FL, Zane began his career at a variety of corporate design firms in Washington, DC, including advertising, marketing communications, museum and exhibition design. He launched his own marketing communications and design firm at age twenty-seven, which grew to more than thirty designers, writers, web developers and video producers, and won a number of national awards. His clients comprise a wide array of prominent international corporations and institutions.

Zane sold the firm in 2006 and with his wife, Nancy, moved full time to the Easter Shore. He was a founding board member of RiverArts and returned to the board in 2022. He also serves on the board of the Kent County Chamber of Commerce. 

Cindy Bowers Fulton

Cindy Bowers Fulton has been part of the Chestertown arts scene for 22years. She was first a member of Artworks and Arts at Still Pond Station where she served on the board of directors. She was one of the people who helped form the business plan for RiverArts in 2012. Cindy has been a volunteer and a teacher for RiverArts as well as teaching in her own studio and at the retirement community, Heron Point. She was also the chairman for the popular studio tour for 11 years.

Before coming to Chestertown, Cindy and her family lived abroad for 16 years in England and the Netherlands. She exhibited her art there, organized art lectures, and taught advanced placement art at the American School of the Hague. She has a BA in art from Grinnell College and has exhibited in many states, including at the Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo, Ohio. Her work can be found in corporate and family collections in 15 states and several countries. Her professional art career and teaching career spans more than 50 years. 

Patricia Gilkison

Patricia Gilkison retired from a career in the arts spanning 30 years. She started as an Assistant Curator at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, then went on to spend 25 years at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. As Associate Manager of Special Exhibitions and Gallery Installations at The Met, she coordinated the planning, budgets, installation, and financial management for over 60 exhibitions every year. As a visitor to Chestertown she was attracted to the vibrant arts community and decided to relocate here. She looks forward to continuing her work with the artists and organizations supporting the arts on the eastern shore.

Kyle Hackett

Kyle Hackett is a Visual Artist based in Harrisonburg, VA where he is an Assistant Professor of Painting and Drawing at James Madison University. Hackett earned his MFA from the LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Painting at Maryland Institute College of Art, and his BFA in Fine Arts as a McNair Scholar from the University of Delaware. 

Hackett has received numerous honors and awards, including DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Artist Fellowship and Grant, Civil Society Institute Fellowship at Vermont Studio Center Residency, The Ruth Katzman Scholarship at The League Residency, Best in Show at the 2014 Bethesda Painting Awards Exhibition, and Best in Show at the Regional Juried Biennial at Rehoboth Arts League. He was a semifinalist in the 2016 and 2019 BP Portrait Award (London), honorable mention in the 2019 Art Olympia International Open Art Competition (Tokyo) and finalist in the 2020 Prisma Art Prize 5th Edition (Rome) and finalist in the 2021 11th Biennial Alexander Rutsch Award for Painting.

Hackett’s work has been published in New American Paintings, the Washington Post, and distinguished as "Ten Memorable Paintings of 2014" in the Huffington Post. He received A Mayoral Salute for his solo exhibition and artist talk at Baltimore City Hall Gallery, "Rate of Contingency". Hackett’s work is represented by Goya Contemporary Gallery (Baltimore, MD) and notably collected by Ethan Cohen Gallery (New York), Wangechi Mutu Studio, University Museums at University of Delaware, University of Maryland, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and the Trawick Foundation.

John Harrison

John’s first roles were in nature conservation but his love of exhibition production led him to a career in museums. John now has more than 30 years experience in UK museums, first as a natural history curator and then as Director of a large non-profit housing internationally important collections of African zoology and ethnography. For the 12 years before he moved to the USA John worked as a freelance museum consultant guiding smaller, volunteer-run museums towards professional development and sustainability. John hopes to bring this experience to bear on the organizational health of RiverArts.

Anne Highfield-Clark

A public school educator for 31 years, Anne Highfield-Clark was named the 2016-17 Cecil County Teacher of the Year as well as the 2015 Gilder Lehrman Institute History Teacher of the Year for Maryland. Her lifelong advocacy for elementary school children has shaped her vision for a more equitable and inclusive society where the arts unite us. Active with the KidSpot team, Anne is helping to grow a more vibrant community of support for our youngest artists as they play, create, and explore.  She also enjoys teaching smart phone photography classes for RiverArts.

Shelly Holland

Shelly Holland is an Accountant with years of experience in Governmental and Tax accounting. Shelly childhood mission was to be a “volunteer”. That came true. Shelly serves on the Board of Directors of CoLaborer’s International and Community Helping Hands. Shelly is a member of the Millington Lions Club, Town Council Member in Millington, and a lifetime Girl Scout. Shelly believes it is important to give back to your community and help others. Shelly enjoys traveling with her family and spoiling her grandson, Liam.

Lydia Woolever

A Kent County native and daughter of two local artists, Lydia Woolever is a senior editor at Baltimore magazine and a freelance journalist based in Chestertown. Her writing focuses on the Chesapeake Bay watershed through stories on its people, history, art, culture, and sense of place, with an emphasis on the regional foodway. Her work has appeared in Esquire magazine, Popular Mechanics, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Edible Delmarva, where it has won several national awards. Lydia regularly attends the Clay Studio and moonlights as a flower farmer, creating sustainably grown floral arrangements for community members across the Eastern Shore.