Michelle Williams is a recent transplant from New York City, where she worked as an actor, singer, writer, EMT, relief worker, and in wine and hospitality. Her mother, Linda Worsley, is a musician and composer, and her father, Richard Williams, is a symphony conductor and the director of Cultural Affairs at Meadowood Napa Valley. Michelle and her four older brothers were raised in the arts, and she studied cello, piano, and bass before focusing her talents to theater and writing. She has worked in theatres and recording studios all across the country as well as internationally. Her writing has been published by slate.com, on americanfrontiers.net, as well as in local magazines and newspapers. She came to Arts Council of Napa Valley in July of 2004, drawn by her love of the arts and her dedication to supporting her local community.
After growing up on the East Coast with her Canadian family, she studied fine art, design and art history at several institutions and received her degree in painting from Richmond College (London, England). After working on her own as a muralist and graphic designer for several years, her passion for creative and socially conscious work lead her to the Arts Council Napa Valley in 1999. Since then, she has balanced her work as Program Manager with her own artistic pursuits as an arts educator and muralist. In 2006, she also worked as Visual Art Teacher and Program Coordinator for On the Move's ArtLinks, an innovative, collaborative arts education program that integrates all of the arts into the current elementary school curriculum. Her work at the Arts Council continues to deepen her commitment to building a strong local arts and culture community.
Kate transferred to the Bay Area as a software developer in the early days of the Silicon Valley boom. Over the next few years, she developed her career from software programming and sales support at Digital Equipment Corp. to executive management at Interlink Computer Sciences. In the late 1980's Kate made the personal decision to place her career on hold while raising her children. Although not pursuing her professional career, Kate remained involved through volunteering and business consulting. Over the years she has shared her skills with numerous schools and non-profit groups. In September, Kate's youngest child entered the University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music as a music education major. Shortly thereafter, Kate decided to return to the workplace full-time but in a way that provided the satisfaction of using her skills in ways that can make a difference. Bringing her varied skills and experience to ACNV has allowed her to do just that.
A California native and Napa Valley resident, Kristine Cummins has translated her professional skill and artistic talent into a tapestry of visual art for over 15 years. Though Kristine now focuses on watercolor, digital art, and website design, she has explored many media. When companies were just starting to think about their own Web presence in 1998, she expanded her skill-set from graphic design to Web design and over a period of five years, worked for three dot.com's producing Web pages to designing billboards. All the while, she has been producing marketing materials independently since 1992 and websites since 1999 as "Kristine Cummins Design". Kristine studied painting at San Jose City College and the College of Marin, and has a certificate in Graphic and Computer Design from Platt College in San Francisco, California. For more about Kristine and her work, see [www.kreations.net] and [www.kristinecummins.com].
