Staff & TCCL Board of Directors

The Tett Centre’s mission is to be a welcoming destination where artists and the community come together to explore, create and be inspired. The Tett Board has recently gone through a governance review to strengthen its impact. We are pleased to welcome its newest Directors who have a love for the arts and bring knowledge and/or skills in one of more areas of board governance and leadership including strategic planning, fiscal and legal oversight, community engagement, fundraising, human resources and policy development. We are committed to representing the diversity of the City of Kingston on our board .
 

While we are happy to receive indications of interest and to answer any questions about TCCL Board service, we are not accepting applications at this time.

Staff

Brianne Franklin

Title: Director

Brianne Franklin has worked in leadership and program development roles at a range of arts, culture, and heritage organizations in Ontario. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Arts Leadership and Management, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Psychology, both from Queen’s University. Brianne has held positions as the Program and Events Coordinator at CreativeHub 1352, a multidisciplinary arts organization based in Mississauga, and as the Education Studio Technician and Facilitator at the Art Gallery of Burlington. She joined the Tett Centre staff as Programming and Communications Coordinator in April 2021, where she has built relationships within the local arts community and developed programming focused on creativity and learning for people of all ages and abilities. She has been supporting the Tett community as Interim Director since October 2021, and accepted the role of Director as of January 4, 2022. Brianne is passionate about community engagement, facilitating creative learning opportunities, and bringing people together through the arts.

Email: director@tettcentre.org

Susanna Gordon

Title: Rentals Coordinator

In addition to her tireless efforts coordinating rentals at the Tett, Susanna Gordon is also an active member of the arts community in Kingston. Susanna has 20+ years of experience as a professional photographer and visual artist. Her artwork has been published in books and magazines in Canada and the U.S. 

Email: rentals@tettcentre.org 

Jung-Ah Kim

Title: Program and Communications Coordinator

Jung-Ah Kim (she/her) is a filmmaker/researcher/curator, who is passionate and interested in supporting the arts and arts organizations. She began her involvement with the Tett community through her work with the Kingston Handloom Weavers and Spinners’ Threads of History project. She gained a lot of knowledge and awareness of the vital local arts community in Katarokwi-Kingston through her work with Creating Communities Through Art, a collaborative research project and exhibition with 6 other Queen’s graduate students, the Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning, and Union Gallery. Jung-Ah has curated multiple shows in Union Gallery, Art & Media Lab, and Studio Theatre at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts, and makes promotional videos and documentation of various activities and events in Kingston. She looks forward to continuously learning, supporting and collaborating with the local arts community in Katarokwi-Kingston to bring exciting projects and events to life.

Email: arts@tettcentre.org

Brandon Elderhorst

Title: Facility Assistant

Brandon Elderhorst (he/him) is an avid supporter of artists in the Kingston community and has a background in music and sound. He played piano and guitar from a young age and pursued a post-secondary education in Music and Digital Media at St. Lawrence College. He then applied his technical knowledge into his fifth-generation family business, where he helped to install and maintain bells and tower clocks all across southern Ontario. He has grown to love fibre arts in recent years, bringing all sorts of creatures to life through his skills in amigurumi crochet. 

Email: info@tettcentre.org

Jake Torrie

Title: Outreach and Development Coordinator

Originally from Ottawa, Jake Torrie (he/him) studied at the University of Toronto before moving to Kingston for graduate studies in the arts. Jake has volunteered with the PhD community at Queen's University on a study of the economic impacts of the arts in Kingston, and completed a master’s thesis at Queen's University about the political economy of Canadian symphony orchestras. Personally, Jake enjoys culinary arts, running, literary fiction, cinema, and music. He is excited to learn more about the arts, help the TCCL build fundraising capacity, and assist with Tett programming to better serve our community.

Email: outreach@tettcentre.org

Board Members

Esmé Rottschäfer

Title: Chair
Represents: Community

Es Rottschäfer is an award-winning strategist who brings 22 years of experience to her consultancy in brand, foresight, and innovation. Her practice brings human-centred design, systems thinking and trend analysis together through project work, workshops, and design research. Es is also the editor-in-chief of INCITE magazine and a patented inventor.

Email: chair@tettcentre.org

Kent Williams

Title: Vice Chair
Represents: Community

Kent is a labour and employment lawyer in Kingston with a practice focused on assisting private and not-for-profit businesses navigate a wide range of labour and employment challenges.  A lifelong musician, prior to attending law school, Kent completed his Bachelor of Music degree at Queen’s University studying classical guitar and composition.  Joining the Board in 2020, Kent enthusiastically combines his professional skillset and passion for the arts to advocate the Tett Centre’s mission and support the arts and culture sector in the Kingston community.

Sam Kapoor

Title: Treasurer
Represents: Community

Sam joined Board in 2018 and is presently Treasurer of the Board, sitting on both the Finance and Recruitment Committees. As a Finanial Planner at the Bank of Montreal, he brings more than 30 yrs of  global business experience in strategy, general management and investment.  He holds an MBA degree from the University of Southern California and has undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from India. Sam brings governance experience in not for profit in health care sector.  He is passionate to give back to the society as a volunteer in whatever free time is available.

Susan Bourette

Title: Secretary
Represents: Community

Susan has worked as a speechwriter for provincial premiers, CEOs and non-profit leaders. She’s also an author, award-winning magazine writer, documentary producer and former Globe and Mail reporter. She currently works for the Ontario Medical Association supporting executive communications, including its Board of Directors. Having been the recipient of a number of fellowships, including a spot at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in literary journalism, she understands the power of artistic programs and communities to inspire creativity, as well as personal and professional growth. When she’s not at her keyboard, you can find her at the jewelry bench, or in front of her sewing machine.

Zoha Khalid

Title: Director at Large
Represents: Community

Zoha Khalid is a communications professional with years of experience working in not-for-profit, international, and community organizations helping them develop and manage their communications strategy. Along with her professional pursuits, Zoha is also a published poet and photographer. She is passionate about the arts and how it brings people together to appreciate life. Zoha’s belief lies in combining her professional experience with a passion for arts to bring new ideas to life. She also writes for local newspapers about arts, small businesses, and social issues. Zoha holds an MA in Political Studies from Queen’s University and currently works as a Youth Employment Facilitator at KEYS Centre, Kingston.

Barbara Hammond

Title: Director at Large
Represents: Community

Barbara joined The Tett Board in 2017. She is a retired teacher of French with the Limestone & District School Board. Barbara has had a long-held passion for the arts and a desire to support children in every area of the Kingston community . She has contributed, in the realm of decor, to high-end events for The Limestone Learning Foundation, for many years. The most recent LLF event was held at The Isabel Bader Centre. Barbara's philosophy is in the words of the incomparable Steve Jobs: "Design is not just what it looks like & feels like...Design is how it works."

Janieta Eyre

Title: Director at Large
Represents: Community

Janieta Eyre is a visual artist living in Kingston, Ontario. She took up photography professionally in 1995 and has since exhibited her work widely both nationally and internationally. Her photographs are included in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Canada; Musée d’art contemporain, Montreal; the Art Gallery of Ontario; DA2, Salamanca, Spain; and the National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavik. She is the recipient of numerous Canada Council, Ontario Arts Council, and Toronto Arts Council Awards. 

Eyre was the recipient of the Duke and Duchess of York Award in Photography (1997) and the Chalmers Award (2014). In 2020, she received the Mary E. Hofstetter Legacy Scholarship for Excellence in the Visual Arts, Banff Centre.
 Her art practice includes photography, video, film, and writing. She has taught at Banff Centre and the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Colin Wiginton

Title: Board Affiliate - Liaison with City of Kingston
Represents: City of Kingston, Arts & Culture Services

Colin Wiginton works as the Director, Arts & Culture Services, and joined the City in 2009 to help develop the first-ever Kingston Culture Plan. That work has resulted in critical investment in the arts, culture and heritage to grow and strengthen those sectors in innovative and sustainable ways. The redevelopment of the J.K. Tett Centre as an arts cluster was another major project Colin helped lead and, during his tenure, the City also introduced a Public Art Master Plan that has resulted in a robust program of temporary and permanent public art projects. Colin also oversees the Grand Theatre along with a diverse array of City-led, arts-related programs like Grand OnStage, the Mayor’s Arts Awards and the Poet Laureate program. He also helped to seed the creation of the Kick & Push Festival and has supported the continuing development of live theatre in Kingston through the Kingston Theatre Alliance.  Recent work includes another first, the development of a Creative Industries Strategy for Kingston—initially focused around film ,music and theatre—that will be critical to the recovery of the arts and culture sectors post-pandemic. Colin grew up in Kingston and pursued a 20 year career in the visual arts and public galleries before returning home in order to give back, having been inspired by the rich cultural life of the city that existed as a young person.