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Staff
Celeste Lawson has more than 20 years experience as a non-profit manager and arts administrator working with some of our community's best known non-profit and arts organizations such as The King Urban Life Center, Buffalo Inner City Ballet, Buffalo State College Performing Arts Center and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. She has a history in ethnic dance and had has received several grants for choreographic projects. She now invests energy in creative writing. Celeste has had several essays and articles published and as well as poems and is a popular anchor reader at various literary events. Celeste has also participated as a presenter in workshops focused on the writing arts and spoken word. She is a Leadership Buffalo '95 graduate where she also spent three years on the Board of Directors, a 1992 graduate of Leadership 2000, a program of the National Endowment on the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration. Celeste is a member of the Buffalo Arts Commission, on the Board of the Market Arcade Film and Art Center, Project Flight, past Chair and Co-chair of the United Way's Women in Governance Project and Board Member of the Atlantic Corridor. She has served on various panels for the National Endowment on the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, New York Foundation on the Arts, Erie County Cultural Resources Advisory Board, and the City of Buffalo Funding Review Panel. Celeste is involved in a host of community projects for arts organizations as well as other types of non-profit groups.
Lawrence (Larry) Cook is the Arts Council's Deputy Director. For more than 14 years he has been an invaluable resource to many artists and arts organizations in Erie County. Overseeing the Arts Council’s regrant programs like the Decentralization Program, KeyArts, and Strategic Opportunities Stipend, Larry’s expertise stretches beyond Erie County into Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, and Niagara counties as well. Larry also conducts the Arts Council’s technical assistance efforts to help position artists and art organizations to become more managerially sound, economically viable, and forward-looking. Larry’s positive outlook and exceptional adeptness at his position has made him an invaluable resource for our arts and cultural community.
Nancy Yager has worked at the Arts Council in Buffalo & Erie County for the past 9 years. She now oversees all fundraising activities and day to day programming. She is responsible for the administration of the membership program, annual fund drive and the website. Nancy sees most Arts Organizations as potential profit-making entities and holds a positive outlook on the future of the arts in WNY. For 10 years preceding the Arts Council, she held the position of Case Manager for Persons with Disabilities specializing in the fields of Mental Retardation and Physical Accessibility to Homes. Nancy's educational background includes Bachelor of Science degree in Social Work from Buffalo State College. Patricia Crowe Office Assistant (716) 856-7520 x 10 Originally from Lackawanna, Pat called Phoenix home for 20 years retiring to her WNY roots in 2000. A graduate of Bryant and Stratton, she has been with the Arts Council for 1 ½ years.
The Arts Council in Buffalo & Erie County is supported by the New York State Council on the Arts, Erie County, Artvoice, East Hill Foundation, Goodyear Foundation, Hahn Foundation, Hodgson Russ, LLP, HSBC, KeyBank, Knox Foundation, Lamar Advertising, M & T Bank, Progressive Direct Marketing, The Buffalo News, The Buffalo Niagara Partnership, The Summit Federal Credit Union, Rich Products, Time Warner, Univera, Verizon, WBFO FM 88.7, WIVBTV Channel 7, Zeron Foundation, artists, arts organizations, individuals, special events and membership fees. |
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Celeste M. Lawson
Lawrence H. Cook II
Nancy Yager