The Board of Trustees of the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) on March 29 elected five new trustees to three-year terms on the board. According to BMAC Director Danny Lichtenfeld, the new trustees bring to the museum “invaluable personal experience and expertise in contemporary art and museums, community engagement, nonprofit administration, and financial management.”
The new trustees are Enrique Chavez, Katherine Gass Stowe, Laura Howat, Stephanie Huestis, and Petria Mitchell.
Enrique Chavez has served as Brand Stylist at The Orvis Company since 2021. In that role, he is responsible for apparel styling, art direction, production design, and coordination of multiple photo shoots per year, on location and in studio, for Orvis catalogs, mailings, retail stores, and the website. Before joining Orvis, Chavez lived in New York City for 14 years, where he worked as a photo stylist and interior designer. Originally from Brownsville, Texas, Chavez lives in Jamaica, Vermont, with his husband, artist Michael Abrams.
Katherine Gass Stowe is a professional curator and art advisor who has successfully organized private and public collections, installations, exhibitions, and related programming for clients in the U.S. and abroad for over 30 years. Since 2002 she has been the contracted New York Metropolitan Area Curator for Bank of America. Gass Stowe has curated exhibitions at BMAC and the Hall Art Foundation, among others venues, and she has held positions at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum. Gass Stowe lives in Walpole, N.H., with her husband, Chris Stowe.
Laura Howat grew up immersed in the world of art and museums, as her late father, John K. Howat, was the longtime Chairman of the Department of American Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Howat served as a trustee of BMAC from 2009 to 2015 and again from 2016 to 2022. In addition to her work with BMAC and other Brattleboro-area nonprofits, Howat is on the Board of the New York City nonprofit Urban Glass. She lives in Brattleboro.
Stephanie Huestis is Vice President & Commercial Banking Officer at Brattleboro Savings & Loan. Since 2021 she has been a member of BMAC’s Finance Committee. Huestis is a Board member of the Downtown Brattleboro Alliance and Groundworks Collaborative. She is former Board Chair of the United Way of Windham County and past President of the Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce. She was born and raised in Brattleboro.
Petria “Petey” Mitchell of West Brattleboro is an artist and co-owner, with her husband Jim Giddings, of the Brattleboro gallery Mitchell Giddings Fine Arts. Mitchell has served several prior terms on the BMAC Board of Trustees. She was instrumental in the planning and fundraising that led to the renovation and dedication of BMAC’s Wolf Kahn & Emily Mason Gallery. Mitchell is actively involved with many Brattleboro organizations, including River Gallery School of Art, Brattleboro West Arts, and Brattleboro Area Hospice, among others.
With the election of five new trustees and the departure of five others—Steve Heim, Christie Herbert, Aaron Morehouse, Christopher Sink, and Neil Swinton—the size of the BMAC board remains at 19.
In addition to electing new trustees, the Board also elected the following officers to one-year terms: Suzie Walker, President; Daniel Goldstein, Vice President; Christophe Gagne, Treasurer; and Ed McCatty, Secretary.
Founded in 1972, the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center presents rotating exhibits of contemporary art, complemented by lectures, artist talks, film screenings, and other public programs. BMAC is open Wednesday–Sunday, 10–4. Admission is free. Located in historic Union Station in downtown Brattleboro, at the intersection of Main Street and Routes 119 and 142, the museum is wheelchair accessible. For more information, call 802-257-0124 or visit brattleboromuseum.org.
BMAC is supported in part by the Vermont Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support is provided by Brattleboro Savings & Loan, C&S Wholesale Grocers, Sam’s Outdoor Outfitters, and Whetstone Beer Co.
