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The TCC Board of Directors
Jules Epstein, Chair
Currently, Taos Ceramics Center's Operations Manager and Gallery Curator, Jules was among the founding members of the Taos Ceramics Center in 2019. He earned his BFA in Graphic Design in 1977 from the Pennsylvania State University and in 1981, founded and was President, CEO, and Creative Director of Primary Design, Inc, a national award- winning, Boston-based, brand design firm for 32 years, having sold it in 2013. While CEO of Primary Design, he was regularly a guest speaker on topics of design and marketing at professional conferences throughout the US. Jules taught graphic design at the college level for 5 years, earlier in his career. He has been a founder and an executive member of several not-for-profit organizations including ones based in education and civic leadership, and since 2017, has been a member of the Taos Arts Council board of directors.
Kathy Bartlett, Vice Chair
Kathy Bartlett, MFA, JD is a resident of Santa Fe who offers extensive experience in the arts and nonprofit sectors including at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York City, working in the Department of Exhibitions and International Program 1994-2000. Upon receiving a Juris Doctorate degree in 2003 from Fordham University School of Law, Kathy worked as an associate attorney with Gulielmetti Levinson, PC, a progressive law firm serving clients in the arts. Beginning in 2004, she served as in-house counsel Senior Attorney for the American Heart Association, Inc., National Center, located in Dallas, TX. Kathy has provided legal counsel and negotiated contracts for various mission-aligned business teams including research awards, corporate sponsorships, scientific publishing, licensing agreements and government grants, before retiring in 2020. She is a former board member of the Santa Fe Art Institute and ClayWorks; and grantee of the New York Foundation for the Arts.
Georgia Epstein, Treasurer
Georgia Epstein, the General Manager and Treasurer of the Taos Ceramics Center, was among the founding members of the Taos Ceramics Center in 2019. Following a successful career working as national real estate sales and marketing director based in Boston, MA, Georgia retired to Taos, NM in 2013 with her husband and two daughters. Georgia discovered ceramics in 2016 and studied for two years at the University of New Mexico before building her own studio and subsequently envisioning and creating the Taos Ceramics Center. Georgia has earned the respect and accolades of ceramics professionals throughout the west and southwest for her knowledge of ceramics, studio management, and the science of ceramic glazing.
Anne Bruce, Secretary
Anne Bruce Graduated from State University of New York in Purchase with a BA degree in Liberal Arts in 1978. She worked in the film industry in New York from 1980 to 1991 as an assistant/editor on documentaries, features, industrials, and commercial advertising. After eleven years in the industry, she took a professional break to raise two daughters and resumed working in 2005 through 2015 teaching drawing and painting groups at several Atria Assisted Living facilities in the tri-state area. In 2016, she became a full-time resident of Taos, NM and in 2019 became one of the original founders of the Taos Ceramics Center.
Lee Akins, Board Member
Lee Akins was born in Texas but spent most of his childhood in Taiwan where he studied Manderin Chinese. He received a BFA from the Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, Ohio in 1975 and a M.F.A. in ceramics in 1986 from Southern Methodist University. He has taught ceramics at the college level for more than 40 years and is currently a part-time instructor and department head at the University of New Mexico, Taos, as well as an instructor at the Taos Ceramics Center. Over his many years in the field of ceramics, Lee has taught hundreds of classes and workshops on practically every aspect of the ceramic arts. His work has been featured in ceramic magazines and publications, including Ceramics Monthly.
Marah Moore, Board Member
Marah Moore was the founder and Director of the i2i Institute, a consultancy based in Taos, NM. For over three decades she worked with non-profit and philanthropic clients throughout the world. She holds a BA from St. Johns College, Santa Fe, NM, snd a Master’s degree in Community and Regional Planning (MCRP) from the University of New Mexico. She is now (mostly) netired and is focusing on making art.
Theresa Pesola, Board Member
Theresa Pesola was raised on a farm in Iowa. She attended the University of New Mexico and where she received a BA. Starting with a real estate broker's license, she founded a successful independent property management company in Albuquerque, NM representing residential and commercial property. She retired from that business after forty years and embarked on a new chapter of her life studying ceramics at the University of New Mexico where she trained many of the ceramic work-study students for more than twenty years. Today, she is a full-time resident of Taos, NM and was among the five founding members of the Taos Ceramics Center.
Kathleen Sanders, Board Member
Kathleen Sanders, MD, was among the founding members of the Taos Ceramics Center in 2019. She received a Bachelor of Science from American University and then worked for the NIH in the Cancer Institute for 2 years before attending UCLA Medical School. She completed Pediatric training at Harbor General Hospital followed by a Pediatric Gastroenterology fellowship at University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Thereafter, she was a faculty member at University of California Davis, University of Iowa, and lastly at Dell Children’s Hospital in Austin until retirement. She has had a lifelong interest in painting and ceramics.
Abby Salsbury, Board Member
Abby Salsbury received a BFA from the Philadelphia College of Art in 1988. She was the founder and designer of "Abby Salsbury - Potter” tableware in 1988 and the owner/director of The Artistry craft gallery in Housatonic, MA, from 1989 - 1991. Abby taught at the Interlaken School for the Arts, MA, and in 1998, founded "Butterpie Productions” tableware which she still operates today. She served 2 years on the Alliance Board of the Harwood Museum of Art, Taos, NM from 2004 – 2006 and taught clay workshops for children at the Museum from 2007 - 2010. Abby was creator, partner, marketing director and exhibitor for "Taos Folk Holiday show", Taos, NM from 2011 – 2017 and the "Pressing On" - annual printmaking show, Taos, NM, from 2010 - 2020. In addition, Abby has taught various workshops in clay at Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, NM, Santa Fe Clay, Taos Clay, and privately.