Arts Council and Staff

Ilene Stowe is an enthusiastic artist and, in some ways, new to the lifestyle of a creator. Having spent 40 years in corporate America and raising nine children, she has been busy, to say the least. Now is her time as an artist, and all that waiting to create is finally paying off.

“I've just been doing it for three years now,” Stowe said of her watercolor paintings, which have the free-flowing, professional appearance of an artist who has worked much longer.

Stowe is unusually adept at capturing the essence of people’s pets, and she becomes emotional when discussing the subject.

“People have asked me to do pictures of pets that have passed, so I do those and it's so rewarding for me . . . because you know their pets are their baby,” she said. “I did a really lot of them at Christmas.”

Born in Modesto, California, and raised primarily in Millcreek, Stowe has lived all over Utah and has been in Holladay since 1983. She studied art at Utah State University, Southern Utah University and Salt Lake Community College.

Stowe wanted to create art since she can remember. She is also a master gardener, which influences her art.     

She creates no prints and sells only originals. It’s as if she is making up for lost time. An enthusiastic student, Stowe studies with artist Harold Peterson.

The  youngest of eight children, Liz was born and raised in Millcreek, UT  (though she happily spent her summers at her family cabin in Oakley, UT). Eventually her family moved to the east coast, bouncing around the  region until they settled in New Hampshire. There, Liz met and married  her husband Matthew. 

Liz and Matthew raised three kids in a quaint New  England town near the coast, but after 20+ years, the Rocky Mountains  called them back to Utah, where they now reside.

In all that time, Liz  never lost her love for the arts. As a child, she practiced dance at  fellow Arts Council member Ginger Gunn's Dance School, later moving to  Princeton Ballet. 

In her teens she traded her toe shoes for soccer  cleats and continued to play well into her adult years. She even started  an over 40 women’s team back east. 

Though she dedicated most of her  time and energy toward raising her children, Liz always knew she would  return to a creative outlet. That outlet came in the form of a local  metalsmithing class—a class that gave Liz the push she needed to attend  and graduate from B Golden Jewelry School. 

Liz is now an instructor and  class coordinator at that very same school. Between teaching new artists  how to create their own art, Liz can usually be found in her home  studio. There, she creates & sells her own jewelry under the name  Sterling Perch Jewelry. 

Liz is excited to be a part of the Holladay Arts  Council and is looking forward to helping others pursue their own  artistic endeavors.

Fred grew up in New England, and after college, and several corporate transfers, both domestic and international, was relocated from Denver to Holladay 21 years ago. Over time that corporate transfer turned into his creating a marketing consultancy business. 

Fred graduated with a degree in Fine Arts, and has had a love of the creative process his entire adult life regardless of medium, music or dance. His creative passion is fine art landscape photography in and around local mountains and the Western national parks. 

He has always been a believer in giving back to his community, and the arts council is affording him the opportunity to continue that sharing.

JC moved to Holladay from Akron, Ohio with his amazing wife and two kids to pursue his career as a creative. He’s held a couple of cool jobs that’s allowed him to illustrate, write and design for products, games and movies. He currently owns a creative branding agency called Peeko and a publishing company called Oople Made.

Jon is a native of northern Utah, and was born into an energetic and artistic family. Inspired by his mother’s paintings and his father’s photography, he began painting as a child. He was fascinated by the natural world around him, and did everything he could to explore it. His life-long love of plants and flowers developed into work in gardens, greenhouses and landscaping. 

Jon took a break from painting in order to complete other studies and begin a successful career as a software developer and IT professional. A college art class reawakened his creative passion, and he began painting again. 

He began with a series of abstracts, and while showing them in a local gallery stroll, he met teacher and mentor Sydney Bowman. With her guidance, Jon began to study art in earnest, beginning with the fundamentals of drawing, painting, and portraiture. He expanded his experience using a variety of new mediums and subjects. Building on his rapidly widening skills, he achieved new focus and realism in his paintings. After mastering realism, Jon began to explore other styles. His painting styles include realism, impressionism, and abstract works. 

When Jon isn't painting he enjoys spending time with his family, running, gardening, and traveling.

Thomas Kolonusz-Partee was born and lived in Budapest, Hungary. His family emigrated to Munich, Germany when he was a child, and later settled in the San Francisco area. Thomas studied sculpture and metal arts at California College of Arts & Crafts and started his own fabrication shop, specializing in lighting/furniture engineering and design and restoration of 18thand 19th century lighting.

In 2003 Thomas earned a degree in Architecture from the College of Arts in San Francisco. He worked with many respected architects on projects that included residential renovations, public art, and experimental architectural. In 2012, Thomas opened a new custom metal fabrication shop/studio that started in California and is now in Holladay, with an emphasis on sculpture.

Beth  Wolfer has lived in Holladay for around ten years. She grew up in  Northern California and moved to Utah  in the late 80s, living first in Olympus Cove, then in Emigration  Canyon, and in Cottonwood Heights. Her career has been dedicated to  raising money and awareness for great causes including saving animals,  placing service dogs with people who need them, promoting  public television, alleviating hunger, and helping abused and neglected  children. 

She  is passionate about helping people find and express their voice as a  public speaking coach and volunteer.  She provides individual as well as group speaker coaching, and is head  coach for TEDxSaltLakeCity, an annual event that features speakers who  share Ideas Worth Spreading. She also teaches public speaking at the University of Utah.

When  she is not fundraising or coaching, she serves with her dog as a  therapy team for Intermountain Therapy  Animals, a Holladay nonprofit, where she is also on the board. She has  also been involved with the literary arts program of the Utah Arts  Festival and has presented as a storyteller at The Bee, a Salt Lake  storytelling event modeled on National Public Radio’s  The Moth Story Hour.

As the City of Holladay's Arts & Culture Manager, Megan directs the Holladay Arts Council and the Holladay Historical Commission. She has worked in public and nonprofit arts/education administration for 10+ years, most recently with Artspace and Salt Lake County. Megan holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts and English from the University of Puget Sound and a Master of Arts in Community Leadership, emphasis in Arts and Cultural Leadership, from Westminster University.

Megan is passionate about using art as a tool for community-building and connection and is thrilled to have the opportunity to do this alongside the dedicated volunteers of the Holladay Arts Council.

Paul Fotheringham has been a resident of Holladay for 20+ years. He grew up just next door to Holladay in the Millcreek area, graduated from Olympus High back in the glory days, and subsequently graduated from the U with a BA in Accounting. Paul is currently Director of Treasury Management at First Utah Bank, a local Community Bank, headquartered just north of Olympus High School.             

Paul was elected a City Council member in 2017, has previously served as Holladay's representative on Salt Lake County's Community & Economic Development Advisory Council (CEDAC), and also served on local school community councils. When a vacancy on the Arts Council opened for City Council Liaison, Paul jumped at the chance to join the group. Prior to joining the Arts Council in January 2020, Paul and his wife Lisa have been regular attendees and volunteers at Arts Council events.

Highlighting his interest in the arts, Paul enjoys attending his daughter Megan’s ballet performances. Megan has been featured as Holladay’s Artist of the Month. According to Paul, Megan, currently a Sophomore Dance major at Westminster College, is the finest, most accomplished, and most beautiful ballerina in the Intermountain West. She even invited Paul to see her perform on stage in St. Petersburg, Russia – (it’s advisable to avoid asking Paul about it unless you have a completely free hour).

Bonnie graduated from University of Utah with a Degree in Human Resource Management and  Clinical Degree from Utah State University in Chemistry and Nutrition. She has served in many professional positions and volunteer positions with Department of veterans Affairs, Retail management  positions and event planning. Nell is semi-Retired with a passion for Art and Serving my community.  The Holladay Art Council is one of the Gems in our community and Bonnie is glad to be serving as a member.

Sandy is a Utah native and lived in Holladay during her teen years.  She spent 22 years in Scottsdale as a sales rep for Toys and Halloween products.  She has been painting primarily in oils since 2005. 

Sandy is excited to be a member of the Holladay Arts Council.

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Love of the arts is genetic for Beckie. Her mother taught art in the Granite School Continuing Education Program and her sister, Bonnie  Posselli, is a professional, working artist.

Her roots run deep  in Holladay. She lives on third-generation property and has a great desire to see that Holladay keeps the intimate  community atmosphere, that drew her family here, while the city continues to grow.

In  addition to Holladay Arts.org and several artists' websites, Beckie also  maintains art groups' websites which include the Plain Air Painters of  Utah, and Plein Air Utah.