Staff
Maria Nestle, Director
Maria Nestle has more than 30 years of experience in administration, marketing, and program development with The Arc Lexington and its affiliated programs. As Director of Arts and Media at the Paul Nigra Center for Creative Arts, Maria oversees a wide range of innovate programs designed to make art, music and media accessible to people of abilities.
Maria previously served as manager of the internationally recognized rock band Flame, a group of talented musicians who happen to have disabilities. In that role, she coordinated concert tours, media relations, artist development, and helped bring the band’s music to audiences across the country.
With an education in Business Management and Marketing, Maria brings a strong background in organizational leadership, program planning, and community engagement.
Outside of the Nigra Center, Maria enjoys spending time with her family and supporting her community.
Contact Maria at (518) 661-9932 or at NestleM@thearclexington.org.
Lori White, Events Coordinator
Lori White joined Lexington in June 2015 as its events coordinator, responsible for booking events at the Nigra Arts Center. Previously, Lori co-owned and operated The Railyard, a family restaurant, for 20 years. Lori has extensive experience catering a wide variety of events, from small parties to large elegant affairs, including weddings, conferences, retreats, meetings, graduation celebrations, social events, banquets and more. Lori is looking forward to working with you to plan the perfect event!
Contact her at (518) 661-9932 or at whitel@thearclexington.org for meeting and event rental information.
Brenda Dwyer, Community Gallery Curator
Brenda is a self-taught artist who expresses herself through the artwork she creates. As co-owner of Adirondack Stained Glass Works in Gloversville, she has explored various styles of art design for more than 30 years. Brenda’s position as environmental and creative arts specialist for Lexington has enabled her to study art in its many forms and media while sharing her wisdom and expertise with others. As the Community Gallery curator at the Nigra Arts Center, Brenda develops and oversees our rotating art exhibits, from submitting calls for artists and selecting pieces to displaying the work. She also teaches a multitude of art classes and participates in our children’s day camp program.
Contact Brenda at (518) 661-9932 or dwyerb@thearclexington.org.
Megan Balser, Community Engagement and Communications Specialist
Megan is a 2014 graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design’s Writing program. In college, she served as an assistant copy editor for District, SCAD’s student-run news source, and interned for two summers at the Spirit of Jefferson newspaper in West Virginia. In addition to editing and proofreading, she wrote for both publications, and between the two has had more than 40 clips published. Currently, Megan is Lexington’s Community Engagement and Communications Specialist.
Contact Megan at balserm@thearclexington.org or (518) 661-9932, ext. 123.
Art Class Instructors
Barney Bellinger
Metal Sculpting
Cheryl Bielli
Multi-media art forms, focusing in acrylic
Brenda Dwyer
Multi-media art forms (acrylic, woodworking, polymer clay, felting, alcohol ink, shibori dying) and cooking classes
Doug Hallberg
Stained Glass
Wally Hart
Cooking classes, specializing in pasta making
Savannah Horan
Multi-media art forms focusing on acrylic
Heather Mattioni
Multi-media art forms focusing in water color
Paul Sunday
Collage, Abstract painting and photography
Patrick White
Guitar Lessons
Jacob Willwerth
Multi-media art forms (acrylic, graphite, charcoal, polymer clay, sewing, beading, origami) and cooking classes
Courtney Wood
Strengthen and Lengthen Yoga and Kid’s Yoga