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Elizabeth Reiss, President & CEO
elizabeth@artscenteronline.org
(518) 273-0552
Elizabeth Reiss is a lifelong arts advocate. Her career has been guided by the simple belief that the arts belong in everyone’s life. Raised in LI, Reiss has worked in NYC, Pittsburgh, and the Capital Region, in art museums, children’s museums, arts festivals, and now at The Arts Center.
Reiss has worked as a museum educator, education department director, exhibitions manager and development and public relations director, as well as organizational leader. Her favorite projects have been developing Craft in the Classroom, a K-12 craft education curricula developed with the NYC board of education, renovating an empty storefront to become the Children’s Museum of the Arts in SoHo, and, as part of the Three Rivers Arts Festival in Pittsburgh, presenting public art projects that interacted with the environment, with artists Magdalena Abakanowicz, Patrick Dougherty, Steven Siegel, and Stacey Levy, among others. Reiss continues to also work in Pittsburgh, as the Managing Director of Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company.
Reiss has a BA from Bard College and an M.Ed from Bank Street School for Education. She has played an active role in community and professional service organizations and serves as the President of Arts NYS and the Co-Chair of the Troy Cultural Alliance.
Joseph Mastroianni, Vice President of Programs
joseph@artscenteronline.org
(518) 273-0552, x133
Joseph Mastroianni is the Vice President of Programs at The Arts Center of the Capital Region. Joseph leads the Education Department through hiring teaching artists, curriculum/programming development, and contract services with other local organizations or schools.
Joseph received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the State University of Albany in 2010 and his Master of Fine Arts from the State University of New Paltz in 2012. Throughout his academic career, Joseph was a T.A. for foundation art classes at New Paltz as well as the Visiting Artist Coordinator for his master program and later became an instructor at The Arts Center of the Capital Region starting in 2013.
Throughout Joseph’s academic and professional career, he has been a board member of the O+ Music and Arts Festival in Kingston, New York. He also was a recipient of several grants for multiple public art projects in both Kingston and Troy, New York. Most recently he has been an active member of the Troy 100 forum in Troy, New York and assisted with The Arts Center of the Capital Region’s 2019 Public Art programs.
Nicole Peterson, Director of External Relations
nicole@artscenteronline.org
(518) 273-0552, x125
Nicole began her career in the arts in 2005 at Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield MA, and has worked in the arts, both in museums and arts centers, ever since. Nicole is now the Director of External Relations at the Arts Center of the Capital Region.
Nicole started her career in the Capital Region at the Albany Institute of History & Art by transcribing letters from the second US Ambassador to Japan. Realizing her comfort with historical research, project management and interpersonal relations, the Institute quickly hired her as a member of the development team. In the matter of a few short years, Nicole rose from Intern to Manager of Corporate Giving and Special Events. After five years at the Institute, she left to become the Director of Development, then Director of External Relations for the Arts Center of the Capital Region. At ACCR, Nicole manages a complex development program, from institutional giving, major grant writing, individual giving programs and special events.
Nicole has a BA in History/Political Science from the College of Saint Rose and an MA in History from the University of St. Andrews. She is part of the Rensselaer County Chamber’s Leadership Academy Class of 2020.
Jamie Dougherty, Director of Finance and Facilities
jamie@artscenteronline.org
(518) 273-0552, x124
Jamie Dougherty, born and raised in Oceanside, CA, graduated from California State University Long Beach with a BA in Dance. After pursuing a modern dance career in New York City, she decided to move into the admin side of the art world. She completed a bookkeeping certificate program at CUNY LaGuardia in Queens and started as an intern at Dance New Amsterdam in lower Manhattan. She left Dance New Amsterdam as the Business Manager to join the finance team at Mark Morris Dance Group in Brooklyn. In 2015, a desire to move out of the city led Jamie up the Hudson River to Troy, NY where she joined The Arts Center of the Capital Region as the Business Manager.
Greg Back, Development Manager
greg@artscenteronline.org
(518) 273-0552, x127
Greg Back has served in the role of Development Manager since 2022. Greg has made Troy his home for the past decade and is a tireless advocate for the Collar City’s ongoing renaissance. Greg graduated from UAlbany in 2012 with a dual degree in English & Public Policy. An early advocate for close ties between craft beverage manufacturers and the state’s agricultural sector, Greg helped author the transformative New York Farm Brewery Bill in 2012. Greg comes to the Arts Center following a decade of work with and on behalf of downtown Troy businesses, a passion he brings to his role here at the Arts Center. Greg is committed to the idea of making the Arts Center an accessible space for community engagement while serving as a booster for Troy’s continued revitalization.
Jillian Hirsch, Director of Arts Education
Jillian Hirsch is an artist, educator, and currently the Director of Arts Education at the Arts Center of the Capital Region. She oversees all adult classes, youth camps, studios, and teaching faculty at the Arts Center. Before joining the Arts Center, she was a high school art teacher and pottery instructor in Knoxville, Tennessee. Jillian is well known throughout the Capital Region and beyond for her collaborative large-scale mosaic murals and community-based art projects. She received her Master of Fine Arts in 2020 from The University of Tennessee (concentration in ceramics) and is a licensed K-12 visual art educator.
Molly demarco, development associate
(518)273-0552 x123
Molly DeMarco, from East Greenbush, NY, graduated from SUNY Oswego with a BA in Music. She found her way back to New York after graduating and working at Walt Disney World for a year, and now she’s our Development Associate. During her college years, she served as head vocal coordinator and president of Vocal Effect, the school’s only show choir. She also lived in London for a summer, taking classes and interning at Sunday Best Recordings. When she was younger, she and her sister attended the Arts Center’s children’s camps. Her artistic interests include singing, dancing, painting, and attempting to create pottery via wheel.
Gwen Krause, Chair
Dan Centi, Treasurer
Shanelle Carter, Secretary
Amy Williams, Immediate Past Chair
Edwin C. Anker IV
Julia Arndt
Gabby Calabrese
Rhiannon Gifford, Esq
Kevin Houlihan
Sam Judge
James Knox
Mary LaFleur
Jennifer Laflin
Brian McCandless, MD
Angela O’Neal
Sugi Pickard
Starletta Renee
Jesse Roberts
Megan Stacy
Erin White
Mark Zielinski
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265 River Street, Troy, NY 12180
Front Desk: 518-273-0552
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