MEG ADAMS, Board Chair

Meg Adams spent years working in the field of planning and Landscape Architecture both in San Francisco and Boston. She has had a lifelong love of the outdoors, of public open spaces and of art. A graduate of Bowdoin College, with a BA in Asian Studies, Meg also holds an MLA from U.C. Berkeley, where she taught drawing and graphics in the architecture department. She has served on several non-profits in Boston including chairing the education committee at The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Since relocating to Portland in 2020, Meg has become involved in several local non-profits and is excited to join TEMPOart.

MITRA BATTAN, Treasurer

Mitra Battan, an attorney based with years of experience serving boards of several nonprofit organizations, now serves as TEMPOart’s treasurer. She is always learning new skills and meeting new people. She spends time with my husband, Rick; and our two cats, Zydeco & Memphis Whiskey. This is also her 3rd year being co-advisor to several Portland High School students for the Olympia Snowe Women’s Leadership Institute, where she serves as Logistics Chair of the Board.

DAVID EATON, Vice President

David Eaton has over 38 years of experience in commercial real estate financing, providing successful lending solutions for various clients, including healthcare, multi-family and senior housing companies nationwide. He has originated or underwritten over $250,000,000 of real estate loans in the state of Maine and New England. David has specialized in FHA and Fannie Mae eligible properties as a HUD approved underwriter of Multi-Family and Healthcare Facility Loans. He now brings this experience to residential mortgage origination, with an understanding of and commitment to service needs of customers undertaking important and complex financial transactions. Born and raised in Needham, Massachusetts, David has been a Portland resident since 1977, and recently served for 5 years on the Portland Planning Board.  David holds a Master’s Degree in Real Estate Development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an undergraduate degree in Urban Studies from Yale University. 

KERRY EIELSON, Board Member
Kerry is Property Manager at Saco Mill #4, a mixed use mill building on the Saco River. Saco Mill #4 has 150 residential apartments, and about 25 commercial suites.

She is committed to her work as a French language interpreter for ILAP (Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project).

In 2019, Kerry relocated to Portland, Maine from France (where since 2001 she owned and ran La Muse Retreat for writers and artists). As well as her career in property management, she is returning to writing after years supporting the work of other creatives and raising kids. Since her return to the States, she has written for Maine Women Magazine, Downeast Maine Homes, is at work on two books and a series of essays about cooking and home. (Kerry loved her first gig in Maine as chef at Surfpoint Foundation’s artist residency in York.) Kerry designs crochet clothing and accessories for the home, available at Portland Trading Company and Home Remedies, and by direct commission; she also teaches workshops based on a series of crochet kits she’s developed.

Kerry’s earlier professional life in publishing included editorial at The New York Times, Conde Nast and Hachette Publications. Kerry also ghost-wrote four books for a Rodale/Gaiam partnership and authored a book on home weddings for Stewart, Tabori & Change.

Writing, yarn, her family and food are her passions (though not in that order). She also goes a dip in the Atlantic, three times a week, all year long.

RENEE NICHOLAS, Board Member

Renee Nicholas is the VP of Advocacy and Strategic Collaborations and oversees the development of Stand Up To Cancer’s relationships with leading cancer research and advocacy organizations. She leads SU2C’s efforts to increase diverse participation in cancer clinical trials to ensure that new treatments development will be effective for all cancer patients. Central to this effort, Renee works closely with SU2C’s Health Equity Committee, advocacy, and industry collaborators to develop groundbreaking research, education and cancer screening programs. As a cancer survivor and former leader at the LIVESTRONG Foundation, Renee brings a comprehensive and intimate understanding of the cancer patient experience, and a unique ability to translate complex healthcare concepts into approachable and effective implementation strategies.

SANDY SHAPIRO-HURT, Board Member

Being lucky enough to have parents who saw the incredible value of a childhood spent in Camden, on the Maine coast, she spent her summers racing sailboats and teaching sailing on Penobscot Bay and her winters skiing in the Camden Hills.

After graduating from Emerson College in Boston, Sandy went on to have a career she adored in the feature film industry. Sandy worked in set dressing departments for NYC-based films and worked as a location manager and location scout for Maine-based films. It was a thrilling collaboration to work with directors, producers, and writers to come to understand their vision and then explore the state to find the perfect location for every scene. Balancing the needs of property owners, and film crews required stellar communication, mediation, contract negotiations, organization, resourcefulness, and the ability to stay cool in very stressful situations. Now she brings a truly dynamic blend of experience to the world of Maine Real Estate for Sotheby’s. 

She lives in Cape Elizabeth with her husband, daughter, and their spoiled adopted pup from Alabama. Sandy’s passion for conservation and compassion for helping where it’s needed have her busy volunteering at a variety of wonderful local non-profit organizations (her favorites are Chickadeeds, The Boys & Girls Club, and various land trust projects). You will often catch sight of her at the dog park in Fort Williams, in the waves at Scarborough Beach, or cross-country skiing through Robinson Woods.

ALICE SPENCER, Board Member and Founder

Alice Spencer is a painter and printmaker. Her work has been shown throughout New England and abroad. She has served on the boards of the Maine College of Art, Greater Portland Landmarks, and the Waynflete School as well as serving on as on the advisory boards of SPACE Gallery and Safe Space Radio. A founder of the Peregrine Press, a printmaking cooperative in Portland, she has taught printmaking at the Haystack School of Crafts, MECA’s Continuing Studies Program and in Tanzania and Mongolia. She served for 15 years on the City of Portland Public Art Committee, 12 years as its chair, as well as chaired the committee that wrote the city’s guidelines for temporary public art. In 2009 Spencer received the statewide Art Honors award for Leadership in the Arts and an honorary doctorate, both from the Maine College of Art. Spencer is the founder of TEMPOart.

DICK SPENCER, Board Member

Dick Spencer is an attorney with Drummond Woodsum and MacMahon in Portland specializing in land conservation, municipal law and public finance.

Dick had been active in Portland’s non-profit sector. He is a co-founder of Portland Trails and Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust, and as a long-term board member of the Maine Charitable Mechanics Association (Mechanics Hall). He also served in the Maine legislature as the House Chair of the Judiciary Committee.

SHARON TOWNSHEND, Secretary

Sharon Townshend is a sculptor who works in clay. In 1987, with three other artists, she formed Artventure, Inc., and bought a building in South Portland which now houses the studios of 9 clay artists, under the name Sawyer Street Studios. Sharon earned a BFA in painting at Syracuse University, and a MAT at Wesleyan University. She has taught at UNE, USM, Bates College, and UNH., in addition to conducting many Artist-in-Residence workshops in Maine schools. She worked for ten years at the Maine Arts Commission, overseeing the Artists-in-Residence program, and as Director of the Maine Alliance for Arts Education, to advocate for inclusion of the arts in our public schools.  She is currently on the Board of Trustees of Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, an international artists residency community, having been Vice-President, President, Secretary, then Co-President over her 27 years of service.  Sharon has completed 12 public art projects; ceramic relief murals in Maine public schools. The most recent project was the donor recognition wall at the Auburn Public Library.  She has also served on a Percent for Art Selection Committee at Southern Maine Community College.  Her work has been shown widely and can be seen June LaCombe Sculpture, Corey Daniels Gallery, (Wells, ME), Turtle Gallery (Deer Isle), and New Era Gallery (Vinalhaven). For the past 35 years, Sharon has owned a house in Portland and after years of traveling the state, looks forward to focusing on the local Portland arts scene.

LAURA ZORCH MCDERMIT, Executive Director

Laura (she/her) comes to Portland, ME with twenty years of experience, including as a program administrator in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and most recently the Executive Director of the Laramie Public Art Coalition in Laramie, Wyoming. She is passionate about providing arts access for all.

Laura has a Masters in Arts Management from Carnegie Mellon University. She previously worked for the Carnegie Museum of Art as the Manager of Social Engagement and for the Office of Public Art in Pittsburgh as the Educational Programs Manager. Photo by Ana Castro.