board

Board of Directors
President:
Perry Patterson
Vice President:
Debbi Alves
Treasurer:
Charles Wittenberg
Secretary:
Doug Allen

Directors:
Bob Avakian
Larissa Bernat
Christina Bertsch
L.A. Brown
Shelley Christiansen
Nancy Corvese
JoAnn Fruchtman
Nina Howell
Jean Kanarian
Paul Mahoney
Richard Maloney
Glen Mattera

Presidents Emeritus
Marston Clough
Judy Cunniffe
Pam Flam
Mike Kidder
Bruce MacNelly
Jean McCarthy
Judy McConnell
Peggy Pinney
Marcia Randol
Marilyn Wortman

Executive Directors Emeritus
Francine Kelly
Peggy Pinney

In Memoriam: Board Member Allyson Getsinger
(1954 - 2020)

Board Bios

Perry Patterson, President, and his wife Kim are the latest in the family to summer or live year-round on East Chop in the family home that goes back to 1906. Perry retired in 2011 from a career in publishing as President, and Partner of the Institute of Financial Management, and served earlier as Vice President, Group Publisher and member of the board in the Manhattan division of Bureau of National Affairs, then promptly moved year round to the island. On the island, Perry has served as President, Treasurer and board member of the East Chop Beach Club and Commodore of the East Chop Yacht Club. To stay active Perry enjoys tennis, skiing and boating and is the broker and principal of MV Luxury Homes. He graduated from Rutgers University Graduate School of Business with an MBA and has a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Massachusetts.

Deborah (Debbi) Alves, Vice President, began visiting Martha’s Vineyard with her grandparents as a very young child. Debbi has always said that Martha’s Vineyard is her heart home. After visiting the Vineyard with her own children, Debbi purchased a home in 2010 and in 2021 moved to the Vineyard full time. With a Master’s in Social Work from Fordham University, Debbi worked for many years in the non-profit sector, providing leadership and organizational development assistance to other non-profits. In 1992, Debbi’s career took a major turn when she joined a commercial real estate development company. Working to ensure that the commercial development and surrounding community were both served through the development of retail, market rate and affordable housing, Debbi was part of the very successful Cityplace Company. She has served as a board member of many organizations while living in Texas and Kansas, including Girls, Inc., YWCA, Planned Parenthood of Kansas & Mid-Missouri, the Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey and more. While in Dallas, Debbi was the President of The Real Estate Council and chaired the City of Dallas Board of Adjustment. Debbi is an avid reader, golfer, kayaker, gardener, hiker and a brand new equestrienne. You can find her most afternoons on beautiful State Beach.

Doug Allen, Secretary, was born in Jamaica, West Indies, raised in NYC, and is now a resident of Maplewood, NJ and Martha's Vineyard, MA. Doug and Denise, his wife of 35 years, have two adult sons, Daniel and Dorian. Doug recently retired after 38 years of service to IBM as a Senior Tax Advisor specializing in International Transfer Pricing. Doug earned a Bachelors degree in Accounting at C.U.N.Y Baruch College and a Masters in Taxation at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Doug has been passionate about photography since he purchased his first camera at 14 years old. He is an active high school sports photographer and has covered local football, soccer, lacrosse, swimming, and field hockey events in prep, county, and state championship tournaments as well as Ivy League swimming championships. His greatest joy is shooting sunrises and sunsets, cityscapes and street photography in black and white. His photographs have been featured by the International Center of Photography, Martha's Vineyard Magazine, and Nat GEO. Doug has been a regular to Martha's Vineyard since 1987, when he first visited his wife’s family home on the island. He now calls the island his second home and enjoys exploring the island, especially during the off season, discovering new hiking trails and photographing the beauty of Martha's Vineyard.

Charles Wittenberg, Treasurer, Charlie Wittenberg was introduced to Martha’s Vineyard almost thirty years ago through his wife Lucinda whose family has been summering here for many generations. Charlie and Lucinda moved to the island full time in 2017 after spending twenty years in Sudbury, MA raising their two sons. Charlie’s business life started as a corporate lawyer with Hale and Dorr in Boston, but soon moved to the business side where he was on the management team of the country’s first laser hair removal company, ThermoLase, and later ran a document management software company, Green Pasture Software, that he sold to IBM. Charlie received a law degree from the NYU School of Law and an undergraduate degree in Applied Math and Economics from Brown University. He has artistic experience in photography and printmaking, but nowadays is found most frequently at the Edgartown Golf Club.

Bob Avakian and his wife Gail visited Martha’s Vineyard for the summer in 1973 and it has been home ever since. He is a fine art photographer whose love of buildings as well as the nighttime hours has led his work to evolve as an exploration of the solitude of the night and the rural habitat. Bob never considered photography as something to explore, until time allowed him to take an architectural photography class at Maine Media workshops. From there he went on to take classes at Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester. Bob has received numerous awards for his work, including: Photolucida Critical Mass 2013 Top 50 and awards in the Neutral Density Photography Awards and the International Photo Awards. In 2019 he participated in Rfotofolio’s “Depth of Field” show at the Center for Photographic Art. In 2013 he was awarded a solo show of his night photography at the South Shore Art center in Cohasset, MA. Bob’s work is in the collections of the Boston Athenaeum, Martha’s Vineyard Hospital’s permanent art collection, the Danforth Art Museum and other notable institutions. His photographs have been featured in Lenswork’s Seeing in Sixes, Lenscratch, Rfotofolio, Peta Pixel, and Dodho magazine among numerous others. On Martha’s Vineyard, Bob’s images can be seen at Granary Gallery in West Tisbury.

Larissa Bernat is a first grade teacher at the Oak Bluffs School. She routinely weaves creative art projects into all areas of the curriculum. Larissa has taught bookmaking and papermaking to children for over 15 years at Seastone Kids. Her experience includes teaching bookmaking at Featherstone and the Belmont School District. Larissa began spending summers on the Vineyard when she was nine years old. After living in Boston and San Diego, Larissa relocated to the island in 2005 to be closer to her family. She can be found exploring hiking trails, biking in the State Forest, or making one-of-a-kind books when she is not teaching. Larissa shares a multi-generational home in West Tisbury with her mother, artist Sandy Bernat, and daughter Skylar.

L.A. Brown Lisa Brown founded L.A. Brown Photography a multifaceted photography business in 1984. She graduated high school from Kent Place School in Summit, NJ where she lived in the art studio and photography studios. Lisa began Providence College as an art/painting major and shifted to a photography focused curriculum, graduating with a BA in photography and a minor in political science. Lisa then went on to hone her photography career at NESOP in Boston. Today you can find her on the tennis courts, golfing or swimming but most likely working with clients at KIN in Edgartown, a beautiful boutique and art shop she created with her niece. Since 1986, Lisa has lived on Martha’s Vineyard year round.

Shelley Christiansen is a licensed real estate broker and writer, living in Oak Bluffs. The former “summer kid” made the island her year-round home in 2004. A native of New York, Shelley pursued a long career in public affairs and corporate communications. She has worked professionally for the National Urban League, Burson-Marsteller Public Relations and Mobil Corporation and as a consulting writer/editor. Prior to making the Vineyard her full-time home, Shelley’s life journey took her from New York to Washington DC, Dallas Texas and Stavanger Norway. On island, she contributes essays and features to Martha’s Vineyard Magazine. For four years, her biweekly Martha’s Vineyard commentaries aired on WCAI-FM, the Cape & Islands NPR Station. Shelley is presently affiliated with Donnelly + Co. Real Estate, serving for buyers and sellers island-wide. In Oak Bluffs, she serves on the Cottage City Historic District Commission and the Copeland District Committee, in the interest of protecting the architectural character of the neighborhood she calls home. In her spare time, she is likely to be out reveling in nature.

Nancy Corvese is a retired Physical Therapist from RI who first came to MV in 1990 visiting close friends in East Chop with her husband and two children. Since falling in love with the island they purchased their home on East Chop in 1996 and have been bouncing back and forth from RI ever since. The plan is for a permanent move to Martha’s Vineyard where she can explore more of her love for the Island. Professionally following receiving MS degree from Boston University she has worked in neuro rehab and home care settings facilitating, educating and motivating her patients for the best mobility and life style outcomes. She has served on the executive boards of the RI PT Association, East Chop Association, Kingston Congregational Church council, volunteered on several school committees and capital campaigns. Artistically she has studied stained glass work in RI and enjoys the artistic process and the opportunity to explore her love of light and it’s transparent color through glass design. As a grandparent to two young boys she has marveled at the opportunity to look at nature with a fresh eye through them. She loves the outdoors and spends time there while gardening, swimming, kayaking, tennis, cycling, x country skiing and meditative walks through East Chop and beyond. She is thrilled to be a part of Featherstone and it’s growth as it strives to fulfill it’s mission to “engage, enrich and connect our community through the power of art and creativity”.

Nina Howell has been a designer since receiving her BA in Fine Arts from Colgate University. She started at Sotheby’s in New York working with the art experts and printers in all stages of production and design. Moving to Boston, Nina worked as a graphic designer for Madison Publishing for four years before deciding to pursue a degree in jewelry design from the North Bennet Street School. Upon graduation, Nina designed and sold handmade fine jewelry at stores and shows throughout the East Coast. Nina’s family has been coming to the Vineyard for generations. She moved here full time in 2007 to Harthaven in Oak Bluffs with her husband Bill and their three children. She has been working at Vineyard Design Center for nine years helping her clients plan their own creative and functional kitchens and baths. She enjoys pulling together all of the elements of a project: space planning, colors, and textures. The Howells’ children grew up with Featherstone taking classes from a very young age. They have fond memories of experimenting with color and design techniques. Nina is honored to be a part of the Featherstone community by serving on the board.

Jean Kanarian is a Managing Partner at Boston consultancy SMR, where she founded the sales and revenue growth practice. She is known for her executive leadership experience and track record of transformational growth in the payments, software and financial services industries. Prior to SMR, Jean had a track record of positively transforming revenue growth in senior corporate positions at American Express and start- ups like CashEdge (culminating in a successful acquisition by Fiserv). Along with her expertise in revenue optimization, Jean has a reputation for engaging customers and employees in innovative ways - including art! A 10-year board member at the Boston Children’s Chorus, Jean helped steward singers and successfully execute their strategic plan. She graduated magna cum laude from Boston University with a double degree in economics and journalism. When she is not traveling the world, she is always on the lookout for what’s interesting - which led her to take her first (of many) classes at Featherstone 10 years ago! She joyfully volunteers at Featherstone's Francine Kelly Gallery on Wednesdays, and takes long walks around the coastline in Edgartown as she dreams up new ways to grow businesses!

Paul Mahoney is the president and owner of Jardin Mahoney, Inc. in Oak Bluffs. He was born and raised in Winchester, MA and went on to graduate with a B.S. in Finance from Boston College. Following school, he spent ten years in the Air Force working for the Massachusetts Air National Guard as a pilot. As a child, throughout college, and intermittently as a young adult, Paul worked at the Winchester and Falmouth branches of Mahoney's Garden Center, the family business his father began. In 2002, he moved to Martha's Vineyard acquiring the Oak Bluffs location with his wife Linda. Today, the business is still family run with daughters Christie and Kelly and son Sean all involved. Paul got involved with Featherstone through his other daughter Laurie who was longtime friends with Francine Kelly. He later helped with the landscaping for the upper campus when the new pottery studio and art barn were built.

Richard Beasley Maloney began visiting Martha’s Vineyard every summer in 2012 when Paul Levine asked him to coordinate the music for his annual “World of the Troubadour and Trobairitz” performances at the West Tisbury Library. Richard and his wife Michele enjoyed the experience so much they started living on the island part-time in November 2020. Richard joined the board of Featherstone in 2021 and serves on the strategic planning committee. Richard is a Clinical Associate Professor and Director of the Performing Arts Administration graduate program at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at New York University, where he teaches courses in performing arts administration, cultural and creative industries, research methods, and cultural policy. Richard grew up playing guitar and keyboards in rock bands in the Boston area. Since that time, he has focused on the medieval, renaissance, and baroque lute and has performed in dozens of early music concerts. Richard is vice-president of the board of directors of ENCATC (the European Network on Cultural Management and Cultural Policy) and a member of the board of directors and chair of the arts policy committee of the arts advocacy organization MassCreative. Richard attended Bates College (BA), Berklee College of Music (BM), Longy School of Music of Bard College (Graduate Diploma), Boston University (MS), and Northeastern University (PhD). In 2021, he was named a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts in the UK (FRSA). After college, Richard spent several years working as a high school and college tennis coach. He is a member of the East Chop Tennis Club. Michele and Richard have two children in college and one in high school.

​BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Board Bios

BOARD OF DIRECTORS