ASN Staff

MANAGING DIRECTOR

Nicole Michel brings two decades of educational experience and leadership to the Arts Schools Network. Beginning her career with Greenville County Schools in 2005, she taught high school English through 2018, shaping writers and critical thinkers as well as engaged young artists. She then transitioned into school leadership, serving as a middle and then high school Assistant Principal. In 2021 she was named Assistant Director at the Fine Arts Center in Greenville, South Carolina where she helped steward one of the region’s most innovative arts education environments.

Nicole believes deeply in the transformative power of arts schools and that access to rich, high-quality artistic experiences elevates not just student achievement but personal growth, creativity, and lifelong expression. She is passionate about supporting leaders and educators with the resources, community, and shared expertise needed to sustain and expand exceptional arts learning opportunities.

A cum laude graduate of Furman University, Nicole holds a Master’s Degree in English Language and Literature from Middlebury College and a Master’s in Education Administration from Clemson University.

Though she still resides in South Carolina, she will move to San Antonio, Texas this year with her partner, two dogs, and two cats (Clinton, Henry, Zadie, Lucille, and Indi).

Contact Nicole: [email protected]

MEMBERSHIP MANAGER

Laurie Barber has been working in arts education and arts administration in Orange County, California for over 25 years. She has worked for Aids Services Foundation, Segerstrom Center for the Arts and Orange County School of the Arts. She currently works part-time for Arts Schools Network as the Membership Manager. Laurie is passionate about finding ways to increase access to arts education for all and is excited to connect with other arts leaders to grow the ASN community.

Some fun facts about Laurie:

She is a visual artist, and her preferred medium is clay. It’s magical!
She went to culinary school and can make a mean chocolate chip scone.
She volunteers as a cuddler in the NICU for CHOC Hospital.
She loves a good spread sheet and color coding is her jam.
Her goal is to visit all the National parks. 22 down, 42 to go!
She rode her bike 556 miles from San Francisco to LA. She highly recommends an adventure like this for everyone!
She played basketball in high school, and it saved her. Not to brag, but her team was league champs 4 years in a row.
She was taught the importance of craftsmanship at a young age.
She is a recovering self-critic.
She is an angry optimist.
Her life’s calling is to remind everyone that they were born creative and creative expression is for everyone! It is healing, it is essential, it is a human need.

Contact Laurie: [email protected]

CONFERENCE MANAGER

Sharon Maier-Kennelly has been a non-profit arts management professional for more than twenty years. In 2004, she became Executive Director of Landmark on Main Street in Port Washington, New York and grew the performing arts seasons from eight to over fifty shows annually in her nearly eleven years in the role. Sharon's other arts roles on Long Island have included General Manager and Director of Programming Initiatives for Tilles Center, as the Event and Gala Producer at Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts, and the Adult Events Programmer at the Port Washington Public Library. She served as a Board Member of Long Island Arts Alliance, the Art Guild of Long Island, and a committee member for the Town of North Hempstead’s Art Advisory Council. She continues to work as a consultant with Long Island High School for the Arts (LIHSA), a role she's treasured since December 2016.

In Fall 2019, Sharon and her family relocated to Central Oregon. On March 2, 2020 (now known as just two weeks before the pandemic!), she became the Manager of Corporate Giving for the 460-seat Tower Theatre in Bend. In addition to fundraising in this role, with the blessing of the Long Island-based nonprofit Stage the Change, Sharon had the privilege of organizing the first two western Stage the Change Conferences PNW in 2022 and 2023. The mission of the conference is to inspire high school students to use the performing arts to find their social voice and be catalysts for change.

Most recently, Sharon served for more than two years as the Executive Director of the High Desert Food and Farm Alliance, sharing the organization's belief that everyone deserves good food. She left this role Fall 2025 to join her husband in Barcelona, Spain as he led fifteen students from Central Oregon Community College in a study abroad program for twelve weeks. Back in Bend, Oregon, she is thrilled to work with the Arts Schools Network and arts educators throughout the United States to support ASN's annual conference.

Sharon (who is also a calligrapher) & her husband have three grown children living in Western Massachusetts, Chicago, and Memphis. They love hiking all around Central Oregon, attending performing arts events, visiting the area's museums, and traveling.

Contact Sharon: [email protected]