Press Releases

Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Announces Election of Board Officers

Baltimore, MD – June 21, 2006 – Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation (MAAF) elected officers for its fiscal year 2007 at a board meeting in Baltimore on June 9, 2006.  Lisa Frigand was elected to her first term as Chair, Dorothy McSweeny was elected to her first term as Vice Chair, Anthony Gittens was elected to a seventh term as Secretary, and Richard Ressmeyer was elected to his second term as Treasurer.  Immediate Past Chair E. Scott Johnson will remain on the board for another year as an at-large member to aid in leadership transition.

Chair Lisa Frigand is a Program Manager of Manhattan Economic Development for Consolidated Edison Company of New York.  Mrs. Frigand is on the Board of Directors of Van Alen Institute and Alliance of Resident Theatres/NY.  She is also on the Board of Advisors for Dancing in the Streets and Franklin Furnace. On June 20, 2006, she was honored by the Arts and Business Council of New York with the Encore Award as Business Volunteer of the Year.  She has served on the Mid Atlantic board since 1997.

Vice Chair Dorothy Pierce McSweeny is the Chair of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. She serves or has served on the boards of the Washington Ballet, Democratic National Leadership Committee, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Very Special Arts, and the National Symphony Orchestra.  She is a Member of the National Race for the Cure Founding Committee and was chosen Washingtonian of the Year in 1995 by Washingtonian Magazine.  Ms. McSweeny was the Lyndon Johnson Presidential Oral Historian at the White House from 1967-1971 and Special Assistant to Speaker of the House, John McCormack, from 1971-1972.  She has served on the MAAF board since 2000.

Secretary Anthony Gittens is Executive Director of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and Founder and Director of The Washington, DC International Film Festival. He received the Mayor's Award for Excellence in Service to the Arts, was named Public Humanist of the Year by the Humanities Council of Washington, DC, and Professor Emeritus by the University of the District of Columbia.

Treasurer Richard Ressmeyer is Director of Arts for the West Virginia Division of Culture and History. He is the former Executive Director of the Intermuseum Conservation Association Laboratory and Fuller Museum of Art. Mr. Ressmeyer was previously a curator with the Sunrise Museum in West Virginia and the Heritage Plantation of Sandwich on Cape Cod.

Immediate Past Chair E. Scott Johnson is a partner with Ober, Kaler, Grimes & Shriver, a law firm with offices in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC. He chairs the firm's Intellectual Property Practice Group, and focuses on intellectual property matters, including copyright, trademark, licensing, technology, entertainment and media law. He was recently named a Fellow of the Maryland Bar Foundation and was presented with Young Audiences of Maryland’s Nina Woods Collier Arts Champion Award on June 17, 2006.  Mr. Johnson is President of Maryland Lawyers for the Arts and chair of the CityLit Project.  He serves on the boards of the Maryland State Arts Council, Creative Alliance, and the Washington Area Music Association.  He is a voting Member of National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers.

In addition to the election of officers, the board elected Richard W. McGrath and for a second three-year term and Magda A. Ratajski for a full three-year term.

Richard W. McGrath is the Shareholder of Richard W. McGrath CPA, P.C. in Rochester, NY, and has been a member of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants since 1979.  Mr. McGrath has served as a board member of the Arts & Cultural Council for Greater Rochester and the Rochester Yacht Club.  He was a member of the board of the New York State Council on the Arts from 1993-1999.  He has also served on the boards of the Garth Fagan Dance Company (Board Chair from 1988-1991), St. John Fisher College, the Landmark Society of Western New York, and the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester. 

Magda Ratajski is President of MarassCo. in Norfolk, VA, a public relations and marketing firm.  Previously she was Vice President of Public Relations for Norfolk Southern Railroad.  She was an at-large member of the board of Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation from 1995-2001.  She was the founding President of the Virginia Waterfront International Arts Festival.  She has also served as chairman of WHRO Public Television and Radio in Norfolk, and from 2000-2005 she was Chairman of Virginia Public Broadcasting Board.

Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation welcomes these accomplished professionals and is grateful for their service, expertise, and guidance.

For a complete list of Mid Atlantic’s Board of Directors, please visit www.midatlanticarts.org.

Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation celebrates and supports the wealth and diversity of the region’s arts resources and works to make those resources widely accessible both in the region and beyond. To learn more about MAAF, its programs and services, visit our Web site at www.midatlanticarts.org.