The Team
MARS is a volunteer-driven organization. We are all so grateful to the MANY volunteers who have made this happen. This is a community project that will take more than the Village of Lanesville - if you are interested in getting involved, please reach out.
The founding board of directors and its advisors dedicated their time, energy, and resources to establishing a viable nonprofit capable of launching the Manship Project. Having accomplished this goal, we look to expand this pool of volunteers to meet developing opportunities and challenges.
We care and feel very grateful
At Manship Artists Residency, we value a Culture of Inclusion based on Diversity, Equity and Belonging.
Manship Artists Residency believes that diversity and inclusion are essential to fulfilling its mission. We want to inspire and nurture the human spirit, and we value the perspectives and contributions of all people. We want the Manship experience to include varied ideas, world views, and personal characteristics. Manship Artists Residency is committed to being a community that welcomes and respects everyone.
Manship Artists Residency provides a diverse, equitable and inclusive living and work environment, one where all employees, participants, guests, and volunteers, whatever their gender, race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation or identity, religion, socioeconomic status, education or disability, are celebrated, feel valued, and are respected. We are committed to a non-discriminatory approach to provide equal opportunity for employment and advancement throughout our organization and programs. We actively ensure that all voices are valued and heard, knowing that when we embrace diverse life experiences, perspectives and heritages we build stronger, more vibrant and resilient communities. We are committed to modeling diversity and inclusion, maintaining an inclusive environment with equitable treatment for all, and providing an informed, authentic leadership for cultural equity, one where everyone belongs.
We Serve as Stewards of this Land
We want to acknowledge that Starfield, the site of Paul Manship’s summer residence and studios, occupies traditional unceded Algongian territory, the ancestral homeland of the Pawtucket People and their neighbors the Massachusett and the Penacook tribes, past and present. We honor with gratitude the land itself and the Indigenous Peoples and Nations who have stewarded it throughout the generations, for more than 10,000 years. We honor and respect the enduring relationship that exists between these peoples and this land. This acknowledgement commits us to continuing to learn how to be better stewards of the land on which we gather.
We also recognize the many immigrants who came to Cape Ann seeking to make a home and life for themselves, to raise families and build communities. And, at the Manship site in particular, we call out the Finns, Swedes, Irish and Scottish peoples who labored, often through great sacrifice, in the granite quarries, thereby helping to build many cities along the Atlantic Coast and beyond. We are honored to follow in the footsteps of all who have contributed to our community’s vibrant past, and commit to making choices that allow their legacies to continue and grow so that future generations may enjoy the blessings and the responsibility of protecting this beautiful land and its native flora and fauna.
Board of Trustees
We are excited to announce our newest board member - Karen Bird, who joined the board in February 2023, though she has been involved with Manship Artists Residency for sometime.
Ms. Bird joined the Manship Finance Committee as an advisor in 2021. In 2022 she was invited to join our Board of Directors. Ms. Bird has been in financial management for over 30 years. Her early career began at Tufts New England Medical Center and Brigham Women's Faulkner Hospital. For the next 16 years she was Chief Financial Officer of Dana Farber Cancer Institute, involved in the numerous financial aspects of running a large institution including building a $450 million state of the art cancer facility. As the Executive Director of Alliance of Dedicated Cancer Centers, Ms Bird went on to focus her financial acumen in the policy field working with stakeholders in the government to assure quality cancer care and treatment for the sickest patients.
Having retired in 2021, Ms. Bird joins Manship Residency Board with a passion for the arts and sciences, a cellist herself, she remains active helping in the leadership role of Manship's future growth and sustainability. She also continues her Board membership work as Chair, Board of Lady Doak College Foundation, Tamil Nadu, India, Financial Advisor, Society of Saint John the Evangelist, and Women's Mental Health Leadership Council, McLean.
Rebecca Reynolds
Executive Director. Founding President (2015-2019), Reynolds is a museum professional and arts administrator with some 30 years experience. She served as a curator and art consultant specializing in American sculpture, as the founding director of Forest Hills Educational Trust and its public art program, and as a member of Gloucester’s Committee for the Arts (2016-2019).
Betsy Whittey
Vice-Chair + Founder. A former Assistant Attorney General in Massachusetts and New York, Whittey is now in private practice in Gloucester. Her expertise is in civil litigation, regulatory process, administrative law and consumer protection. She was a close friend of Margaret Cassidy Manship.
Harry Hoglander
Hoglander served several Presidents over the last 16 years and brings both governmental and political experience to the MARS Board. He served as a legislative specialist and campaign manager for Congressman John Tierney and has consulted on multiple political campaigns throughout the country.
Ken Kinna
A long-time and dedicated Manship volunteer, Kinna has filmed several Manship Artist offerings, including Bina Venkataraman’s conversation with Christopher Lydon and Caroline Goulding’s concert in the Manship studio barn. Kinna has an extensive background in photography, film, and media production, including running a local TV station in Lynn, MA, which received awards for its ART617 programming.
Jo-Ann Castano
Chair. A sculptor, arts educator, community cultural organizer with 39 years' experience as an arts administrator and activist, Castano co-established Gloucester’s Committee for the Arts, the Society for the Encouragement for the Arts (seARTS), and the Gloucester Arts & Culture Initiative. She is the Founding Vice-President of Manship Artists (2015-2019).
Fred Groff
As head of the Buildings and Grounds Committee, Grof brings over forty years experience as an architect and project manager of important historic sites such as Boston’s Fenway Park. Grof consulted for MARS as a volunteer, overseeing the renovation of the Manship residence before joining the board in 2019.
Diana N. Theriault
Founder. The great grand-daughter of Paul and Isabel Manship and the grand-niece of Margaret Cassidy and John Manship, Diana Natti is a former Gloucester resident who grew up playing on the Manship estate. She has degrees in art and art history and has studied abroad at an artist residency in France.
Patty Rosenblatt
Rosenblatt has been advising Manship Artists and making organizational and personal connections for this non-profit from the start. As an artist who works with clay and other earths, she has a long view of our impact on the planet and has made a commitment to future generations while working on climate change.
Matt Babson
Treasurer. As a Lanesville native and distant relative of the Manship Family, Babson brings an unique dedication to this project as he literally grew up playing and working on the grounds. As the proprietor of the full service accounting firm, Babson and Company, and as the Chair of the MARS’ Finance Committee, Babson provides valuable expertise and resources to MARS.
Kim Radochia
Clerk. Radochia was one of the first Gloucester residents to step forward to help get this non-profit started. As a sculptor and recipient of several artist residencies, she knows the power and impact of such experiences, and like Paul Manship himself, she has had the benefit of being a resident at the American Academy in Rome, Italy.
José Mateo
Cuban-born choreographer José Mateo is the recipient of the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s 2017/18 Commonwealth Award for Achievement – the state’s highest honor in the arts, sciences and humanities. He is the Founder and Director of José Mateo Ballet Theatre, one of America’s leading producers of new ballets and the area’s most innovative school for quality ballet training, and the creator of Dance for World Community.
Founding Board Members
Linda K. Bruce (2015-2020)
Founding Secretary . A vice president with Morgan Stanley, Kennedy Bruce has worked for some 30 years in the financial industry. She has been an active volunteer involved with numerous charities and co-created and served as the former director of the Kids’ Club After School Program in Lynn, MA.
Valerie Gilman (2017-2020)
The current Ward 4 City Councilor for the City of Gloucester, Val also brings 25 years experience as an Human Resources Management in high technology companies. Her expertise is in strategic planning and customer satisfaction, training and development and performance management.
Donna Hassler (2015-2020)
Founder. Executive Director of Chesterwood, and Administrator of the Historic Artists' Homes and Studios Program for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Hassler is an art historian and museum professional with over 30 years' experience as director and curator of several important cultural institutions.
Sandy Stone (2015-2020)
Founding Treasurer of MARS (2015-2018) and former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for a local federally-funded organization. Sandy has worked in the nonprofit sector for more than 35 years. She is a Gloucester native, a neighbor of MARS, and a founding member of Gloucester’s CERT (Community Emergency Response Team).
Mags Harries (2015-2021)
Founder. An international public artist, who has completed over 30 major public commissions, Harries is a professor at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and a Gloucester summer visitor for over 20 years. She has been the recipient of prestigious artist residencies.
The Founding Board also included current board members: Jo-Ann Castano, Rebecca Reynolds, Diana N. Theriault, and Betsy Whittey
Image credit: © Sash Ludwig, photograph of Rebecca Reynolds