1708 Gallery

Board of Directors 2012/2013

1708 Gallery's Board of Directors consists of a majority of professional artists. The dedication of this active Board has been a key element in the long-term success of 1708 Gallery. The Board of Directors and an active executive committee lead the governance process. 1708 Gallery is dedicated to developing best practices in governance. The Board participates in strategic planning, development initiatives, and oversight of the programmatic activities of 1708 Gallery, in partnership with the professional staff.

Emeritus Council

Staff

Emily Smith, Executive Director
Prior to coming to 1708, Emily was the Curatorial Fellow in Modern and Contemporary Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts where she worked from 2007 until 2010. Projects at VMFA include the exhibitions, The Ludwig and Rosy Fischer Collection of German Expressionist Art; Matisse, Picasso, and Modern Art in Paris; and Labor and Leisure: Works by African American Artists in the VMFA Permanent Collections. Prior to VMFA, she was Director of Exhibitions at Piedmont Arts in Martinsville, Virginia (2004-2007) and the Assistant Director at Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, Virginia (2003-2004). Smith was an adjunct faculty member in art history at Patrick Henry Community College, Martinsville, VA and was a critic for a Charlottesville, Virginia weekly paper.  Smith received a MA in Art History from the University of Virginia in 2002.

Jolene Giandomenico, Assistant Director
Jolene earned a BFA in Photography and Filmmaking in 2005 from Virginia Commonwealth University. She spent all four of her undergraduate years working as a lab technician in the school’s Graphics Lab used by School of the Arts students and faculty. During her senior year she was asked to direct, film and edit a marketing DVD for VCU's School of the Arts highlighting individual departments' students and facilities. After graduating, Jolene was hired as an accounting clerk for the pre-production of HBO's John Adams mini-series filmed in Virginia. From there, Jolene spent over two years as an accounting and office manager for a leading HVAC company before taking a position as Gallery Administrator for 1708 Gallery in November of 2007. She has since been promoted to Assistant Director.

Matt Shelton, Gallery Coordinator
Matt Shelton began working for 1708 after earning an MFA in Painting and Printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2012. From September 2011 to March 2012, Matt worked as an instructor for 1708's Arts for All outreach program, teaching a mural painting course for clients of Richmond's Offender Aid and Restoration. Matt moved to Richmond from New Orleans, where he was Director of the Art Program at St. Andrew's Episcopal School in New Orleans and volunteered for Creative Time's site-specific producion of Waiting for Godot in New Orleans. A 2011-2012 VMFA Graduate Fellowship recipient, Matt will participate in artist Lisi Raskin's Motorpark project at the Maine College of Art ICA in Portland this summer, and looks forward to teaching a course on art and social justice at VCU in the fall.