Museum expands board

As it embarks on a new era marked with exciting exhibitions and arts engagement activities, the Sonoma Valley Musuem of Art has added four new members to its board of directors. Yvonne Hall, Nancy Kivelson, Jane Milotich and Bonnie Tempesta were elected November 19 at a special membership meeting.

“These smart, hard-working and well-connected four women bring a wealth of business and non-profit proficiency as well as a great passion for the arts and love of this gem of a museum,” said SVMA Executive Director Kate Eilertsen.

Added SVMA Board President Gerrett Snedaker, “ We are lucky to have these new members who bring extensive experience and expertise in business, marketing, philanthropy and most importantly, have a genuine love for the arts.”

Yvonne Hall spent the majority of her business career at Levi Strauss & Co., where she held the position of Vice President of Merchandising for the Levi’s Jeans brand. She moved to Glen Ellen in 2001 and started her involvement with the Museum in 2002, serving on the Wet Paint committee and again as event Chair in 2005. In 2008 she was elected to the museum’s board and served one term until becoming the Executive Director of La Luz Center in 2010. During her time at La Luz she was instrumental in streamlining operations and improving fundraising efforts, reaching record highs for the organization in donations and grant income.

Nancy Kivelson brings to the museum experience in real estate development and financing. She oversees projects for her company, The Kivelstadt Group (“TKG”), working with entitlements, city incentives, financing, consultants and construction. Her philanthropic experience includes serving as a member of the board of trustees of the Philharmonic Baroque Orchestra, headquartered in San Francisco, where she served four years as president. Kivelson has a law degree, a master’s degree in taxation from NYU and is also a licensed real estate broker.

Jane Milotich’s professional career began in the early 1960’s when she developed a 50,000-membership program and directed opening ceremonies for the new LA County Museum of Art. She then wrote for “Time/Life” and “Newsweek” before moving to Fort Worth, where her late husband founded the Kimbell Art Museum. In 1985 she founded the Fort Worth Ballet Company with the personal assistance of George Balanchine, and went on to direct a professional contemporary dance company in Philadelphia before moving to San Francisco in 1995. Jane moved to Sonoma in 2001 and joined the museum’s board of directors in 2002. During her tenure she served as Secretary, Treasurer, and Chair of Wet Paint, before accepting the presidency in 2008. She currently sits on the Development and Exhibition Committees.

Bonnie Tempesta is a Bay Area native and Sonoma resident of 11 years. She founded La Tempesta bakery in South San Francisco in 1983, where at its peak produced 300,000 biscotti daily and became widely recognized as a pioneer in the gourmet food movement. Her non-profit experience includes founding the Teen Inspiration, a non-profit foundation with a mission to begin after-school art and music programs for underprivileged students in San Rafael’s Canal District. More recently, she started a new enterprise called Boncora Bakery, reprising her handmade, hand-cut biscotti for sale online and at select restaurants and gourmet shops.

With the board expansion, Eilertsen said, “the museum is fortunate to have a diverse group of board members that bring with them a commitment to this community and to the art and ideas of our time.”

Now showing

Showing through December 30 at the Museum are two exhibitions. “Larry Thomas: Coastal Echoes” includes drawings, paintings and prints from a series of work inspired by the Northern California coast by one of today’s most treasured Bay Area artists, Larry Thomas. “The Art of Handmade Paper,” curated by Simon Blattner, takes an inside look at the history of papermaking from around the world. The museum, at 551 Broadway, is open to the public Wednesdays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $5 for individuals, $8 for families (children and K–12 students free) and free to the public on Wednesdays, and always free to members.