AAM Board of Trustee Members. From Top Left: Don Wooters, Robert Fogarty, Ron Flohr, Christine Martin, Chuck Mangold, Jr., Chris Sadler, Shelton Hawkins, Denise Grant, Sue Bredekamp, Joanne Lukens, Elizabeth Spurry, Holly Townsend, Karen Shook, Jazmine Paxon, Brenda Fike, Deputy Director Jennifer Chrzanowski, Ann Scully, Board Chair Donna Alpi, and Director Charlotte Kasic. Not pictured: Sanford Cardin, Jim Harris, Elizabeth “Diz” Hormel, Victoria Gomez Lozano, Chris Walsh, Daniel Weiss
The Academy Art Museum has elected four new Trustees to serve on its Board. The Museum is thrilled to welcome Ron Flohr, Denise Grant, Victoria Gomez-Lozano and Holly Townsend. Board Chair Donna Alpi says, “We are delighted to have this talented group of Trustees join our Board and are grateful for their commitment to furthering the Academy Art Museum’s mission of making art available to everyone on the Eastern Shore.” These Trustees collectively bring a wealth of financial and business expertise and non-profit Board experience.
Ron Flohr has more than 20 years of experience in financial services. As a Certified Financial Planner, his professional focus is to work with individuals and businesses to identify their financial goals and customize investment and wealth management strategies to achieve them. An active community member, Ron has served as president of the Easton Waterfowl Festival, a past board member of the Easton Rotary Club, the Mid Shore Early Learning Center, a past board member and president of the Talbot Country Club and a past board member and commodore of the Chesapeake Bay Yacht Club.
Denise Grant is an accomplished executive with over 30 years of experience developing strategies and implementing solutions in the corporate, public and social impact sectors around the world. She is the founder and CEO of Overlook Strategies and serves as a Senior Advisor to Heidrick & Struggles, the leadership and organizational consulting firm. She has worked with boards and CEOs of some of the world’s most high-profile NGOs and social impact organizations on a wide range of matters. She has led broad organizational assessments and initiatives, counseled boards regarding governance and other matters, and conducted top leadership succession projects. Early in her career, Denise practiced law for nearly a decade, including as an attorney with Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. Denise is a Presidentially appointed Trustee of the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board which governs the nearly $500 million global Fulbright cultural and educational diplomacy program. She has served as a Trustee at Transylvania University and on numerous Boards of Directors including the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, the Bryce Harlow Foundation, the Avalon Foundation and the East Tennessee State University Development Corporation.
Victoria Gomez Lozano was born and raised in Chihuahua, Mexico and has lived in the United States for 16 years. She is a graduate of Tecnologico Espiritu Santo, Guayaquil, with a Banking and Finance degree. During her career in the fields of banking and industry, she realized her desire to serve the people in her community as a leader, mentor and interpreter. Now in her sixth year as a member of the Chesapeake Multicultural Center’s administrative staff, she serves as their Hispanic Outreach Coordinator. Victoria has served on the board of Talbot County Public School’s Education Foundation Board, Talbot Mentors, and the East-End Neighborhood Association. She is currently the Board Chair of the Department of Social Services.
Holly Townsend is the founder of the Townsend Group, a company that provided a variety of services designed to increase non-dues revenues for associations and foundations. These services included sales, custom research, video production, cross-platform media programs, creative services and financial services. As its President and CEO for 35 years, she set the company vision, made all strategic decisions, and oversaw all business operations. Her clients included scores of national blue-chip associations and foundations in a wide range of industries and professions including housing, education, healthcare, the arts, design, architecture and urban planning, engineering, criminal justice, and law. Holly previously served on the Board of Trustees of the Avalon Foundation.
As the premier art museum on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, the Academy Art Museum presents high-quality exhibitions and a full range of art classes for visitors of all ages. Past exhibitions have featured artists such as James Turrell, Robert Rauschenberg, Mark Rothko, Pat Steir and Richard Diebenkorn. The permanent collection focuses on works on paper by American and European artists from four centuries including recent acquisitions by Graciela Iturbide and Zanele Muholi. Arts educational programs range from life drawing lessons to digital art instruction, and include lunchtime and cocktail hour concerts, lectures and special art events, as well as a Fall Craft Show celebrating 26 years. AAM also provides arts education to school children from the region and is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. To continue the institutional movement of offering free public programming and to give barrier-free access to art, AAM eliminated admission fees in 2023.
