The following individuals have been nominated by the current Loudoun Arts Council board as candidates for consideration and election at the arts council's January 2025 Annual Members' Meeting, presented in alphabetical order. Immediately following the annual meeting, the board will briefly convene to elect new officers.

Teresa Yancey CraneTeresa Yancey Crane Teresa Yancey Crane

Because she believes the Arts are central to an authentic human experience, Teresa Yancey Crane makes serving non-profit arts organizations a priority in her community engagement. Her areas of expertise include governance issues, policy formulation, fund raising, communications and managing organizational “start ups” or “turn arounds” to the point of sustainability and profit.

In Loudoun County, Virginia, where she has lived for nearly 40 years, Crane has served:

  • Loudoun Arts Council (vice president 1997-1998, president 1999-2000, and director of Development 2001-2002). She returned to the LAC Board in 2024 and now serves as Vice President.
  • The Loudoun Symphony (board member 2006-2013 and Treasurer)
  • SCORE (Strings Choral Oarff Recorder Ensemble) a children’s music learning and performance group headquartered in The Plains, VA – Founding Board member, 1994-1996
  • She is a member of Virginians for the Arts and supports several of Loudoun’s leading arts organizations

Crane’s earlier board experience includes The Stamford Symphony (Connecticut), where she served from 1982–1984 as head of the board Communications Committee. As a development project for The Richmond Symphony (Virginia), she formed a Young Professionals for the Symphony interest and activity group.  As a student volunteer, Crane created the first “touchable” exhibit for young children at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond.

Professionally, Crane is Founder, current board member, and past President (1998-2023) of the Issue Management Council, an international non-profit membership organization comprised of Fortune 500 companies that employ effective management processes to anticipate and resolve pressing issues. To create a body of literature to support the development of Issue Management as a discipline, Crane has been President of Issue Action Publications, Inc. since its inception in 1982.

Crane has a liberal arts education, with B.A. in Economics (magna cum laude) from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College. Hobbies include travel (marking visits to 62 countries and counting), beekeeping and other interactions with the natural world, and, of course, the arts (they can save our souls!). Her two children were raised with a story and a song every night, plenty of art supplies, instrument lessons and encouragement to audition and perform before live audiences

Haig Evans-KavaldjianHaig Evans-Kavaldjian Haig Evans-Kavaldjian

Haig Evans-Kavaldjian has been interested in computers, philosophy, bookkeeping, food, art, and nature since childhood.

He currently heads the technical team behind the Integrity.gov financial disclosure system used by approximately 25,000 senior officials in the executive branch of the U.S. Federal government.

He also provides technical services to a number of small businesses and non-profit organizations, and serves as the current Treasurer of the Loudoun Arts Council.

Jill Evans-KavaldjianJill Evans-Kavaldjian Jill Evans-Kavaldjian

Jill Evans-Kavaldjian has worked as a fine artist since her teen years, and received a BFA in Painting and Printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University (1988). She moved to Loudoun County in 1997 with her family.

In addition to freelance commission and design work, her career includes work in the for-profit and non-profit sectors as an educator, writer, arts coordinator, and community organizer.

Jill has extensive volunteer experience launching many ventures of all kinds, including the Gateway Gallery cooperative art gallery, the Catoctin Holiday Art Tour, and the Lovettsville Community Market grocery co-op. She has also served as the Arts and Culture Representative for Loudoun’s Rural Economic Development Council and as President of the Loudoun Arts Council.

Brian KirkBrian Kirk Brian Kirk

Brian Kirk has a lifetime of creating art, as a professional, an educator and a therapist. Over the 20+ years he has lived in Loudoun, Kirk has made significant contributions, starting in 2004, when he was a founding participant of the Western Loudoun Artist and Studio Tour. More recently, while serving six years as Vice President and board member for the Friends at Franklin Park Arts Center, Kirk spearheaded the creation of the FPAC Sculpture Garden in 2022.

Early in his career, Kirk supervised the Art Therapy programs at Prince George’s Community Hospital, Area B Mental Health Center Bureau of Rehabilitation Services, and The Green Door, a DC-based psychosocial rehabilitation center. He was an Army Community Services Officer, Department of Defense and served in Brussels, Belgium for three years. Prior to that, Kirk worked for the DoD as an Art Specialist in a Bindlach, Germany recreation center.

Currently, Kirk is an Adjunct Professor at Shepherd University where he teaches Sculpture, Art Education & Printmaking.

Owen PalmiottiOwen Palmiotti Owen Palmiotti

Owen Palmiotti is a novelist and an award-winning screenwriter/filmmaker. He is a former U.S. Naval Reservist and Merchant Marine, and taught navigation at his alma mater, SUNY Maritime College. He is the author of a Young Adult Fiction trilogy, The Adventures of Benjamin Manry.

In 2014, Owen switched to writing screenplays and producing both short films and feature length films. He co-wrote, produced, and executive produced the feature film, Madhouse Mecca, which won Best Editing for a Feature Film and then secured a Domestic and International distribution deal. He is currently breathing life into a historical sports biopic titled Back on the Water. To date, Owen has been part of over eighty films in various capacities. He has also co-founded an art/music/film festival called the Loudoun Arts Film Festival.

Owen is active in the community serving on the board for both the Virginia Production Alliance and the Loudoun Arts Council. He lives in Leesburg, Virginia with his wife, Marissa, and their dog Charlie.

Betsy Scotto-LavinoBetsy Scotto-Lavino Betsy Scotto-Lavino

Dr. Betsy Scotto-Lavino is a qualitative methodologist with expertise in international education and arts-based research. She taught both youth and adult second-language learners and worked in education and training for twenty years. She assisted in the formation of a Fairfax County partnership with the Smithsonian to implement arts integration with language acquisition programming for adult learners. Additionally, she is interested in how the integration of art in public spaces shapes community life and engages the public.

She was selected as a 2019 Open GATE Fellow for George Mason University and traveled to Oslo Metropolitan University in Norway to study arts-based research and Norwegian public art projects.

She is a current director of the Friends of Franklin Park Arts Center and has served on the board of the Loudoun Arts Council in the past. Betsy recognizes the power of the arts in building community and raising the quality of life for all residents.