Greater Columbus Arts Council
2008 Peer Panel - Bios
CAROL ARGIRO
Carol Argiro is Director of the Jazz Academy for the Jazz Arts Group, which will connect individuals with
music through classes for adults and children in the historic Lincoln Theatre starting in Winter 2009.
Previously, Argiro was the Education Director and Interim Executive Director for the Dublin Arts Council.
While at the Council, Argiro developed, implemented and evaluated school and community art education
programs. Argiro has participated in Riverboxes, part of The Ripple Effect, since March of last year, and
she served as project director of the Ohio Humanities Grant, Taiko: The Historical and Cultural Context of
the Art of Japanese Drumming. She is a board member for The Japan America Society of Central Ohio
and a member of the Ohio Arts Education Association. Argiro received a bachelor’s degree in
organizational communication from Ohio University.
ELIZABETH JEWELL BECKER*
Elizabeth Jewell Becker is Executive Director of the Worthington Arts Council. Prior to joining the Council,
she served as Director of Communications and Programs for the Columbus Landmarks Foundation and
President and Owner of EJ Associates, LLC, where she filled a number of interim positions at the Jazz
Arts Group, Columbus Symphony Orchestra and CATCO, among other organizations. Additionally,
Becker was Director of Literary Programs at Thurber House from 1997-2003. She is a member of the
Columbus Symphony Chorus and a volunteer at Franklin County Children’s Services and Faith Mission.
Becker received a master’s in arts policy and administration at The Ohio State University and a bachelor’s
in French from Bethany College.
JANET FEDORENKO
Janet Fedorenko has a PhD in Art Education from the Ohio State University. As an art educator, she has
served as a professor at the University of Toledo, was the Visual Art Consultant for the Ohio Department
of Education, and is presently an educational administrator as the principal of Hanby Arts Magnet School
in Westerville. Fedorenko also is an adjunct professor for the Ohio State University, Ashland University
and Otterbein College.
KIMBERLEE GOODMAN
Arizona native Kimberlee Goodman received her bachelor’s degree in music from Arizona State
University and her master’s degree in music from The Ohio State University. She has served the National
Flute Association as Equipment Manager for a national convention, Visual Documentation Chairperson
and Membership Recruitment Chair. She has presented master classes at New Albany High School
Tartan High School in Oakdale, Minn. and Seattle Pacific University. In July of 2004, Goodman played
principal flute in the International Orchestral Festival Orchestra in Dublin, Ireland. She also performed as
soloist with The Ohio State University Symphony Orchestra as winner of the concerto competition.
Gordon is currently a PhD candidate in musical arts at The Ohio State University. She is on the faculty of
the International Music Camp, where she teaches flute and music appreciation, and she is currently on
the music faculty of Otterbein College.
DAVID S. GUION
David Guion is currently the executive director of the Dublin Arts Council. He has worked with nonprofit
arts organizations and educational institutions in New York, the Bay Area of California and Columbus
since 1986. While raising funds for arts organizations in New York, Guion had the privilege of working
with such iconoclastic artists as Mikhail Baryshnikov, Trisha Brown, Merce Cunningham, Erick Hawkins,
Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, among others. In 1988 he completed a master’s in arts
education from The Ohio State University. In 2001, he began his doctoral coursework in arts education
and was subsequently awarded the Lawrence and Isabel Barnett Fellowship and the Manual Barkan
Dissertation Fellowship Award. Guion is in the final stages of his dissertation. He has conducted
fundraising seminars and workshops for a wide variety of nonprofit organizations and arts professionals in
Ohio, Poland and Chile. He presently serves on the board of directors of the Japan-America Society of
Central Ohio and OhioDance.
SUSAN HALPERN
Since 2003, Susan Halpern has served as Executive Director of the Film Council of Greater Columbus.
She has been an editor for projects ranging from Disney’s The Little Mermaid 2 to a PBS documentary to
* Alternate panelist added for the Fall Project Support grant cycle review
Greater Columbus Arts Council
2008 Peer Panel - Bios
exhibitions for the Wexner Center for the Arts. Halpern is the recipient of multiple residencies, and she’s
been a visiting artist for the Pittsburgh Filmmakers, the Illinois Arts Council, Transylvania University, the
University of Cincinnati and others. She’s won awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the
Ohio Arts Council, The Kentucky Foundation for Women and the Greater Columbus Arts Council. As an
artist, Halpen has exhibited in China, Estonia, the United Kingdom, Holland, Canada and throughout the
United States. She received a master’s from The Ohio State University and a master’s from Ohio
University. Halpern completed her bachelor’s at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred
University.
DOUG PEEBLES*
As President/CEO and Strategic Director of Peebles Creative Group, Doug Peebles provides strategic
leadership to clients such as BalletMet Columbus, COSI Columbus, the Midland Theatre and several for-
profit entities. Peebles is a visiting professor at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism for Ohio University.
Previously, he served locally as Vice President of Creative Services for Bethge Design Ltd. (Ologie) and
the Director of Communications for Conquest Telecommunications. Peebles has been a featured speaker
for a number of events, including the National Newspaper Association’s Smaller Market Symposium, the
Glimcher’s Annual Management Conference and the Ohio Museum Association’s Annual Conference. He
is a graduate of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.
ROBERT E. POTTS
Robert E. Potts is Development Director for Vaud-Villities, a 65-year-old musical group that dazzles its
audiences with Broadway-style performances. Previously, Potts was the Director of Continuing Medical
Education for Doctors Hospital and the Continuing Medical Education Surveyor for the Ohio State Medical
Association. He’s had a distinguished career in broadcasting in Columbus, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, and
he’s been a soloist for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the
Rapids Michigan Symphony Orchestra and Vaud-Villities. Potts has a PhD in educational
communications from The Ohio State University, a master’s in theater from the Carnegie Institute of
Technology and bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the University of Cincinnati.
SUE RILEY
Sue Riley received her bachelor’s and master’s in painting from Drake University. As an arts educator,
she was an adjunct faculty member at both Drake University and Grandview College in Des Moines,
Iowa. She has exhibited work in numerous solo and group shows nationwide and has worked as an artist
and in support of artists since 1988. She was an Ohio Art League Board member from 1999-2001 and
served as Vice President and Juried Exhibition Board Coordinator during that time. She has enjoyed
curatorial projects in both the Columbus and Des Moines arts communities and served as judge for the
Charles H. MacNider Museum of Art Competition and the Metro Arts Annual Arts Competition in Des
Moines, Iowa. Additionally, Sue provided research assistance, photographic coordination, transcription
and editing of two major publications on Native American Art that accompanied U.S. traveling exhibitions.
SUSAN VAN PELT PETRY
Susan Van Pelt Petry was Artistic Director of the Columbus-based Van Pelt Dance Ensemble for seven
years. She led an international tour with the ensemble and has received six Ohio Arts Council
Choreography Fellowships and grants and commissions for her work. Van Pelt Petry has been a visiting
artist at many colleges and universities, at Cleveland SummerDance Festival, and a faculty member at
Ohio University and The Ohio State University, where she is currently Chair of the Department of Dance.
She toured internationally as company teacher and rehearsal director with the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre
Company of Taiwan, was President for OhioDance and is on the Program Advisory Committee for the
Martin Luther King, Jr. Center. She received her bachelor’s from Oberlin College in 1979 and her
master’s from The Ohio State University in 1985.
RODOLFO VAZQUEZ
Flutist Rodolfo Vazquez is a former professor at the Conservatorio Nacional de Musica del Instituto
Nacional de Bellas Artes and principal flute with the Orquestra Filarmonica del Conservatorio Nacional de
Musica, both in Mexico City, and the Orquestra Sinfonica de la Universidad de Guanajuato in
Guanajuato, Mexico. He has been touring as a solo artist and in chamber music ensembles in the U.S.,
* Alternate panelist added for the Fall Project Support grant cycle review
Greater Columbus Arts Council
2008 Peer Panel - Bios
Mexico, England and Switzerland. Vazquez is music director of Vazquez & Ferguson and El Calido
Viento. He has received three awards from the Ohio Arts Council and the Greater Columbus Arts Council
for recordings of Latin American, classical, original and chamber music. Vazquez has studied with the
world-renowned Irish flutist James Galway. In August 2006, he participated in Galway’s Masterclass in
Switzerland and performed with the James Galway Flute Choir. Vazquez is chairman of the Ohio Hispanic
Fine Arts Association, which promotes Latino arts in Ohio.
* Alternate panelist added for the Fall Project Support grant cycle review