Grants Panelists

Sarah Anson-Ordon received her B.A in Theater Arts (’05) and her M.S. in Arts Administration (’17) from Le Moyne College. She has worked with Long Wharf Theater (New Have, CT), Charlotteville Opera (Charlottesville, VA), RedHouse Theater, Baldwinsville Theater Guild, CNY Playhouse, Breadcrumbs Productions, Thanasis Theater Company, Community Folk Art Center, and Great Northern Artist Collaborative as an actor, lighting designer, and stage manager. She is also a freelance grant writer. Currently, she is the Grants Manager at the Everson Museum of Art, where she has secured over $1.9M in grant funding since 2021.

Carol Dumka is a former music teacher, a retired elementary principal and the former Arts-in-Education Coordinator for Herkimer BOCES. Ms. Dumka began her career as the instrumental music teacher and Director of Music at Sauquoit Valley Central School. While at Sauquoit, she served as president of the Oneida County Music Educators’ Association and was on the Executive Board of the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA). After a short stint as a middle school band director at West Genesee Central School, Ms. Dumka completed her administrative certification and became an elementary principal at Frankfort-Schuyler Central School where she also served as Director of Music. She then spent a year as interim elementary principal for the Jamesville-DeWitt school district before moving on to serve as the elementary principal in the Mt. Markham Central School District where she spent the last 15 years of her career. During this time, she spent six years as the president of the Mohawk Valley School Administrators’ Organization.

In her retirement Carol is performing in several musical groups and teaching private saxophone lessons. She serves on the Executive Board of Local 78, American Federation of Musicians; is President of the Crane School of Music Alumni Board (SUNY Potsdam); Immediate Past President of the CNY Arts Board; and Past President of the New Hartford Citizens’ Band. Ms. Dumka has a Bachelor of Music degree from SUNY Potsdam, a Master of Music degree from Northwestern University and a Certificate of Advanced Study in Education Administration from SUNY Cortland.

Karin Franklin-King is a familiar face and voice in the Central New York broadcast media and arts community. She has a long history of activism in civil rights, education and social justice causes. This native New Yorker-Brooklyn, was lured to Syracuse by Onondaga Community College as drama major then earned theatre degrees at SUNY Oswego (BA) and Cornell (MFA). TV and radio show host, broadcast journalism professor, consultant, actress, singer and motivational speaker are among her many careers and avocations, but her first love is the stage…LIVE performances, especially musical comedy! “I work hard, play hard and ALWAYS make room for artistic endeavors,” she says, adding, “a quote I’ve adopted is ‘Earth without ART is EH!’ ”

Karin is a consummate community volunteer donating thousands of hours to Paul Robeson Performing Arts Company/PRPAC, InterFaith Works, OCC Foundation, Hiscock Legal Aid, and more.  Her numerous awards & recognition range from: Induction into the Syracuse Press Club Hall of Fame and Syracuse Area Live Theatre (SALT) Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical, to InterFaith Works Leadership Award and, most recently, New York Community College Trustees Distinguished Alumnus Award for Professional Achievement.

Soma Mei Sheng Frazier’s debut novel, Off the Books, earned positive reviews from The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Bustle, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly and others, and was included in Bustle’s “Most Anticipated” roundup. Her essays and interviews are featured in People Magazine, Electric Literature and Literary Hub. (Note: Soma did not write the title or subtitle used by People Magazine. The essay’s original title is “Flowers From Family.”) 

Soma has published three acclaimed prose chapbooks, and you can also find her writing in ZYZZYVA, Hyphen, Story, Glimmer Train, The Mississippi Review, Eclectica Magazine, Carve Magazine, Kore Press and elsewhere — or read her interviews with CBS, SF Weekly, Women’s Quarterly Conversation and more. Her poems and stories have earned numerous awards and accolades; been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and named Notable by the storySouth Million Writers Award. Her screenplays have earned nods from HBO, Screencraft, Bluecat and the International Screenwriters Association.

In 2019, Soma relocated from California — where she served as a San Francisco Library Laureate — to New York, for a professorship in creative writing and digital storytelling at the State University of New York at Oswego. There, she founded Subnivean, an undergraduate-staffed literary publication that the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses named one of four national finalists in the Firecracker Awards category Magazines: Best Debut. Before joining SUNY Oswego’s faculty, Soma taught at the University of San Francisco, University of Silicon Valley, Oakland School for the Arts, Holy Names University, Gavilan College, the Sarah Lawrence College Summer High School Writers Program and Valhalla Women’s Correctional Facility, and worked at KQED, a premier national public media source located in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

Pam’s educational background is centered on music – piano performance – with a Bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and a Masters from Manhattan School of Music. She went on to complete all the coursework for a D.M.A in piano performance at Northwestern and all the coursework for a Master of Arts in teaching at National College of Education before she managed to notice that being a student didn’t pay well, and being a musician wasn’t much better.  

In the late seventies, anyone with a pulse could earn a spot as a computer programmer trainee, so she grabbed one as a stop-gap measure. Pam kept teaching piano and playing for singers and high-school shows, but 35 years later, she was reluctantly grateful to have fallen into a tech career that paid the bills and was occasionally mentally stimulating, despite the demoralizing corporate atmosphere. Some of the project and resource management experience even came in handy with the volunteer work as she  took on in goat organizations and with a fiber arts festival – pastimes that saved her sanity and complemented my role as a cashmere goat farmer.   

Pam happily retired from the corporate world 8 years ago, but has been raising goats for 28 years. They keep the old body moving and allow her time to teach a little piano and play piano and organ for churches and a local vocal group.  She loves living in the hills of Madison County on a delightfully isolated farm.   

Erika Hoffman is a photographer based in Herkimer, NY.   She has enjoyed taking pictures since she bought my first camera, a Canon Powershot A640.  The love of photography blossomed into taking black and white and color film classes at Munson in Utica NY.  Erika has loved watching how photographs would magically appear while going through the developing process. 

Erika’s passion for hiking in the Adirondacks and the Catskills with my dog, Beau, lets me capture and document our adventures. She also like snapping everyday life while walking around where she lives.  Travel, another passion of hers, keeps her busy as she is currently crossing National Parks off a bucket list.  Her photographs convey a sense of wonder and adventure to the viewer.

Erika is currently the Head of the Fine Arts Committee at the Mohawk Valley Center for the Arts in LIttle Falls, NY.  She has been on the committee for over 2 years.  She is in charge of exhibiting talented artists from Central New York.

Henry Howard moved to Central New York from Steamboat Springs, Colorado in 2020. Henry began his non-profit career splitting time as a Finance Director for an NGO in Uganda, Africa and developing an after school music recording studio for underserved youth. Henry is currently the Executive Director of Arts At The Palace in Hamilton, NY where he advocates for artistic development and community expression. 

Before moving to NY with his wife and three children (4, 6, and 8), Henry spent time as a songwriter in Nashville, TN and has a number of professional writing credits. Most recently, Henry has helped launch new, innovative, programs, including Tributaries, a rural recording studio for locals and visiting artists, and Creative Endeavors, a professional development course for creators. Henry is thankful to live in a community rich with creative expression and when not working, can be found writing songs or hanging out with his family.

Crystal Lyon is a multidisciplinary artist based in Cortland, New York, and owner of Living Illusion Studio. She is also the Graphic Communications Teacher at OCM BOCES and an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Tompkins Cortland Community College. She is passionate about cultivating the arts in Cortland County through collaboration with community partners to develop events such as Crown City Mural Fest (2022 – 2024), Creative Cortland pop-up art exhibition (2019 – 2024), and the Cortland County Steampunk Festival (2019). Crystal is currently working with city officials focused on the public arts component of the Cortland Downtown Revitalization Initiative and is looking forward to assisting with future arts initiatives in and around the City of Cortland. She holds an MFA in Motion Picture and Television (Academy or Art University, 2013), BFA in New Media (SUNY Cortland, 2009), and an AS in Graphic Design (Tompkins Cortland CC, 2005). Crystal’s personal creative work involves world-building through creative writing and illustrations in the fantasy genre.

Bob Mortis is the Director of Performing Arts and Special Projects Manager for Munson in Utica, NY. Munson is a nationally recognized fine arts center serving diverse audiences through three program divisions; Museum of Art, Performing Arts, and School of Art. As the chief administrator for the Performing Arts division, Mr. Mortis is responsible for programming multiple series that feature world famous soloists and ensembles, rising stars, recitals with commentary, weekly independent and foreign films, family programs, and educational activities. From 2015 to 2018, Mr. Mortis also served as Munson’s Interim Director of Development while the position was vacant. In 2018, Mr. Mortis also began coordinating special events for Munson outside of the performing arts area including the annual Arts Festival, Munson First Fridays, and other inter-divisional and community engagement projects. Mr. Mortis has been with Munson since 1998. Prior to becoming the Director of Performing Arts in 2004, he served Munson as Assistant Director and Ticket Office Manager. He is a member of the Association of Performing Arts Professionals and the New York State Presenters. Mr. Mortis is a 2008 recipient of the Accent on Excellence Award from the Utica Observer-Dispatch and Northland Communications.

Michael R. Pittavino serves as curator of the H. Lee White Maritime Museum at Oswego where he works to promote, preserve and collect the maritime history, heritage, culture and art of the greater Oswego and Lake Ontario region. Prior to joining the Maritime Museum’s team full-time in 2015, Michael earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from SUNY Oswego where he was awarded the Festa Graduate Leadership Fellowship allowing him to work on the development of a new national museum – the National Museum of American Diplomacy, in Washington D.C. 

In recent years, Michael’s work has centered on the care and preservation of the Maritime Museum’s growing collection of art and artifacts, and several historic preservation projects in Oswego Harbor. His work in the arts seeks to develop a sense of place through community curated art exhibits and by featuring diverse local and regional artists’ work. Michael has served as a grant panelist for CNY Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts, and as a member of the Oswego County Historical Society’s collections committee.

Michael is the co-author of Lighthouses & Life-Saving at Oswego, and “Toward the Water”, an essay in the bicentennial edition of The History of Oswego County.

Matt has been involved in the local, community theater for many years as an actor, director, producer, and writer. He co-founded LiFT Theater in 2014, which has produced original work and Shakespeare’s plays in the Mohawk Valley. He teaches writing, Shakespeare, and film, and in his spare time can be found playing board games with his sons, running, cooking, or playing D&D.

Matthew Urtz was appointed the Madison County Historian in April of 2010. In 2011 the Madison County Historian’s Office, the Madison County Clerk’s Office and Madison/Oneida BOCES formed a partnership that allowed teachers to learn about local primary sources and how to utilize them in their classroom. In October of 2014 Urtz, the Madison County Clerk’s Office, the County Historian and Madison/Oneida BOCES were awarded the Excellence in the Education Use of Local Government Records by a Local Government award by the New York State Archives for their work incorporating local government documents into teacher’s lesson plans.

In October of 2013, the Madison County Historian’s Office started a project to record the stories of Veterans from Madison County. The project is ongoing and to date over 20 veterans stories have been recorded. As part of this project, the office digitized a number of photograph collections of some of the veterans as well.
In the fall of 2018, the historian’s office launched “History Where you Eat.” The event features a brief history and tour of local historic restaurants. Close to 20 events have been offered since the program started and they have drawn over 1000 people to local restaurants.

During the COVID pandemic Urtz conducted nearly 100 interviews with business owners, public officials, teachers, school superintendents, not for profit organizations and more about how the pandemic impacted them.In April of 2022 Urtz was awarded the Emily Marshall Champion of Tourism by Madison County Tourism. The award is given annually to those who have had a significant impact on the tourism industry in Madison County. Urtz’s first book, Honoring World War Casualties of Madison County, New York was published by the History Press in August of 2022.