Meet Our Board
Our Board Members are a dedicated team of volunteer artists committed to improving the arts in our community.
If you have any questions for us, please don’t hesitate to drop us a line.
Mark Hannon, President
Mark Hannon is a graduate of the Paier School of Art in Hamden, Connecticut where he studied illustration. Professionally Mark works as an illustrator, graphic designer and web designer.
As President, Mark wears many hats; sometimes webmaster, sometimes master of ceremonies at the monthly meetings as well as organizer of the online figure drawing sessions. Mark lends his support to the other board members who run the education, membership, marketing, Make Music Day planning and show committees wherever he can.
I especially like to see people who find us because they are looking for opportunities to be creative. Many of these new friends have found little opportunity to explore their creativity before they came to us. They will find plenty of encouragement here.
Board member since 2014. Primary mediums: pen & ink, acrylic and digital. Web: Mark Hannon Design
Debbie Gilbert, Vice President, Treaturer
Debbie Gilbert is a sculptor, collage and fiber artist, with occasional forays into watercolor and photography. She enjoys mixing mediums such as natural elements, paper, reclaimed and recycled materials. Her wearable art collection includes one-of-a-kind felted purses and scarves, and jewelry. Ms. Gilbert favors 3-dimensional art, as it brings more senses into the enjoyment and practice of art.
She has two grown sons and lives with her husband and a sweet old dog.
Anne K. Mulligan, Board Secretary
Anne K. Mulligan is a lifelong Connecticut resident who has made her living in graphic design creating everything from advertising and trade show signage to logos and toy packaging. She currently serves on the board as Secretary to the Arts Alliance of Stratford and lives in Stratford with her husband and 3 cats. In addition to print design, Anne creates jewelry under the company name “Flotsam and Whimsy.”
Web: AK Mulligan Marketing & Design
Web: Flotsam & Whimsy Wire-Wrapped Jewelry
Colin Healy, Music Director
Colin Healy is the Principal at Colin Healy Design LLC, Stratford, CT with specialties in Transforming Homes for Transforming Lives; Design or Aging in Place, Multi-Generational Homes and Green Homes. He lectures on these topics.
A staple of the Connecticut Folk Music scene for more than 40 years, Healy is a guitarist, fiddler and mandolinist performing with the Healy-Butler Reunion and the Walkingwood Mandolin Quartet. He spearheaded the First Make Music Day Stratford in 2018.
Web: Colin Healy Design
Facebook: Colin Healy Design
Megan McCool, Education Coordinator
Megan Bonneau McCool holds an A.B. in American Studies and an M.F.A. in Dance, both from Smith College. As a youth, she trained in classical ballet at the Pioneer Valley Ballet in Northampton, MA and at the School of American Ballet in NYC, and then danced as an apprentice with the New York City Ballet in the early 1990’s. She later spent 10 years serving in various capacities as Ballet Mistress, Office Manager, artistic consultant and advisory board member for PVB. She has taught classical ballet extensively for over 25 years, and has choreographed over 30 commissioned ballets throughout the northeast at numerous ballet schools and colleges. Her choreography has also been performed at the RDA Festivals and at the ACDFA’s National Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. In Stratford, where she has resided for the past 14 years, she has also been actively involved as a facilitator of cultural arts events in the public schools and as a choreographer in public school musicals, and will be teaching a class and choreographing a ballet at Smith College in the fall of 2021. She has also spent the last few years occasionally photographing arts organizations’ performances and activities throughout CT and the northeast.
I’m excited by AAS’s commitment build community in Stratford by offering opportunities to for artists and creatives to collaborate with the public and art lovers.
Awards: Arts & Culture Empowerment Artists Award (2018) – Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County, Monticello College Foundation Choreography Scholarship (1995), Honoree of the RDA/NE “Choreography Connection” (1995), Mae L. Wien Award for Outstanding Promise (1991) – School of American Ballet, National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (currently called National YoungArts Foundation) First Division Award (1991), US Department of Education – Presidential Scholar Semi-Finalist (1991)
Web: Megan Bonneau McCool Photography
Randye S. Spina, Membership Coordinator