The group of people who founded what has become The Exchange first met in the summer of 2009, and by the end of that September they had applied to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for incorporation; the application to the federal government for recognition as a non-profit under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service code went in by the end of the fall, and it came back approved in February of 2010 – just in time for the first public event in the building on West Main Street newly renamed the Moose Exchange. (For more on our history, please visit ExchangeArts.org/about-us.)
At the beginning, as the organization got off the ground, developed by-laws, moved into its building, and started hosting events and then renting spaces to artists and small businesses, the board met twice a month for up to four hours at a stretch – a necessary but completely unsustainable pace. By the spring of 2011, with a year of experience under their belts and under the leadership of president Barbara Heintz, the board had streamlined its meetings to once a month and rarely more than sixty minutes, and they have kept to that pretty much ever since (with the exception of the immediate aftermath of the fire at the Moose Exchange in January of 2014; we will save any further elaboration of that process for another time, perhaps its tenth anniversary).
We would like to introduce you to some of The Exchange’s current board members, and we look forward to sharing more of their stories in future blog posts.
Shelby Kellner, who joined the board in January 2022, is the Assistant Director at the Bloomsburg Children’s Museum. She has over six years of experience in the non-profit world; it began when she joined the Museum as a summer camp assistant in 2015. Her love for the Museum was fostered as she began teaching S.T.E.M. classes, such as First Lego League; curating the Annual High School Art Show; and helping plan and implement new engaging exhibits. Shelby’s favorite event is Touch-A-Truck, a day when kids (and adults) can climb in and explore many different vehicles while learning about the jobs associated with them. She has taken this event from its humble beginnings with a few companies on Seventh Street to over 30 participating companies hosted at Rohrbach’s Farm. Shelby currently heads the Friends of the Bloomsburg Children’s Museum. Through this, she tables outreach events, trains and welcomes new and returning volunteers, and plans significant fundraising events.
While you can often find her at the Bloomsburg Children’s Museum, she enjoys her time off to travel. Shelby enjoys venturing up and down the East Coast to explore lighthouses, getting stamps in her Lighthouse Passport. She hopes to visit Cape Hatteras Lighthouse for their special anniversary stamp in 2022.
David Miller is a theatre artist, most often working as director, playwright, and actor. He is an Associate Professor at Bloomsburg University where he teaches, perhaps not surprisingly, directing, playwriting, and acting, as well as directs productions. David’s most recent production with the BU Players was Everybody, by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, in which the lead role was cast by on-stage lottery as part of the production. David is a Resident Director for Amphibian Stage Productions in Fort Worth, Texas, where he most recently directed Gutenberg! The Musical! as part of the company’s 20th anniversary season. David is proud to be an Affiliated Artist with Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble, where he last contributed as lead playwright on Remembered, a play inspired by and performed in Rosemont Cemetery. His next directing role will be here in Bloomsburg, directing the workshop of a new play by Mora V. Harris as part of the Plays in Bloom Residency in the theatre program’s new theatre laboratory in May: playsinbloom.org.
David is in his second year as a Board Member of The Exchange. His relationship with The Exchange as an artist began years ago with directing productions at the old Moose space and has continued as a visual artist through a good number of exhibits, regularly contributing solo pieces and also collaborative pieces he creates with his now five-year-old son. For more, please visit mrdavidamiller.com.
Leah Bedrosian Peterson is an interdisciplinary artist and filmmaker whose creative work addresses the overlap of identity, culture, and desire – ideas that she navigates through hybrid modes of visual storytelling. She has exhibited and screened both nationally and internationally, most recently in New York City; Sydney, Australia; Yerevan, Armenia; Geneva, Switzerland; Triberg, Germany; Toronto, Canada; Tucson, Arizona; Hollywood, California; Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago; Philadelphia; Austin, Texas; Washington, D.C.; Brooklyn, N.Y.; and Medellin, Columbia. leahbedrosian.com
Bedrosian Peterson’s most recent film, Under the Walnut Tree (UTWT), is a stop-motion animation that references the true story of a refugee, Shahan Natalie, as he navigated the world alone at the tender age of 11 after witnessing the destruction of his community during the Hamidian Massacres (the precursor to the Armenian Genocide). UTWT has received substantial recognition at multiple national film festivals including being awarded the “Director’s Choice Award” at the Black Maria Film Festival; nominated for the “Women Film Critic Choice Award” at the Socially Relevant Film Festival New York; nominated for the “Best Short Animation” by the Arpa International Film Festival held at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood; winning first place as “The Audience Favorite” at the Florida Animation Festival; and was exhibited at The Arlington Center for the Arts in Arlington, Massachusetts, in their show titled “I’m New Here: Perspectives on Migration”. vimeo.com/user6420356
In her first year on The Exchange’s board, Bedrosian Peterson is Department Chair and Professor of Film and Video Arts at Lycoming College and director of the international student film festival, OnScreen Film and Video Festival. filmfreeway.com/OnScreenFilmandVideoFestival
Shane Kiefer is the Director of Marketing for the Columbia-Montour Visitors Bureau and is in his fourth year serving on the Exchange’s Board of Directors. Shane’s appreciation of the arts stems from his love of photography. His subject material is typically either abandoned buildings and forgotten locations, or natural landscapes. Shane believes that art is a conduit to the preservation of memories and important stories, and that it can be a powerful tool to bring people of all ages and generations together.
A native of Union County, Shane grew up north of Mifflinburg near R.B. Winter State Park and subsequently attended Bucknell University. He now lives in
Lewisburg with his wife and enjoys a wide range of outdoor activities in addition to his regular photography passion.
Charisse Baldoria is a pianist, composer, and music professor who has lived in Bloomsburg and taught at Bloomsburg University for the last ten years. A
prizewinner in international piano competitions, she has performed on five continents and established a career as a musician with multidisciplinary interests, collaborating with local artists in the visual arts, world music, and dance. Being a board member at the Exchange is thus a perfect fit for her passion for the arts and for sharing it with the community; in 2021, Charisse served as president.
Her album Gamelan on Piano features music inspired by Southeast Asia, while Evocaci n showcases flamenco and tango inspirations. An upcoming album release features Leopold Godowsky’s complete Java Suite, inspired by his travels to the island of Java in 1923, and his other pieces inspired by non-Western cultures. Charisse has written music for solo piano, voice and piano, and electronic and commercial music, and will be releasing Alchemy, an album of her original compositions, in 2022. Learn more about her music at CharisseBaldoria.com.
Charisse came to the United States as a Fulbright scholar from the Philippines, obtaining her master’s and doctoral degrees in music from the University of Michigan. She loves photography (and has exhibited at the Exchange Gallery), travel (she just returned from the Gal pagos), birding (with local birders and wherever she goes), gardening (she looks forward to spring), and food (enjoying it anytime and anywhere).