Board of Directors

Board of Directors

Jean Marie Durant
Board President
Lauren Fernandez
Vice President
Tom Neff
Treasurer
Sharon Shrank
Secretary
Headshot of Joshua Bane
Joshua Bane
Board Member
Shirin Richens
Shirin Richens
Board Member
Tayleur Crenshaw
Tayleur Crenshaw
Board Member

Board Advisory Committee

Howard Flax – President, Flax Art and Design
Danielle Fox – Owner; Slate Contemporary Gallery and Art Consulting
Moss Kardener – Chief Brand Advisor, OnStrategy Consultants
Zoa Town – Vice President, Property and Asset Management at TMG Partners.

Pam Versaw – Business Development and Operations Consultant, Venture Capital and Biochemistry

Arts Venue Committee

Jean Marie Durant – Board President
Chandra Cerrito – Owner, Chandra Cerrito Art Advisors
Meghan Faulkner – Principal, Local Language
Christine Ferrouge – Artist, Werkshack
Danielle Fox – Owner – Slate Contemporary Gallery and Art Consulting and Committee Chair
Johanna Poethig – Artist, Mercury 20 Gallery
Ginny Van Dine – Administrative Support, Slate Contemporary Gallery and Art Consulting
Jan Watten – Owner, Gray Loft Gallery

Programming and Events Committee

Jean Marie Durant – Committee Chair and Board Member

Xiaoyi Jin – Volunteer Programming and Events Coordinator

Malena Hansen – Volunteer Programming and Events Coordinator

Rebecca Recco – Volunteer Docent and Tour Leader

Isabel Flax – Volunteer

Jules Korman – Volunteer

Carolann Merchant –

Marketing and Communications Committee

Sharon Shrank – Committee Chair and Board Member

Carolyn Smith – Social Media and Marketing Contractor

Kyra Cyphers – Public Relations Volunteer, Vice President at DKC

Alex Shapiro – Marketing and Public Relations Volunteer

Lisa Timonova – Graphic Design Volunteer

Development and Fundraising Committee

Jean Durant – Committee Chair and Board President

Tom Neff – Co-Chair and Board Treasurer

Shirin Richens – Board Member

Celine Piser – Grant Writer, Researcher, Editor

Community Engagement and Outreach Committee

Lauren Fernandez – Committee Chair and Board Vice President

Joshua Bane – Board Member

Open – Volunteer Coordinator

Technology Support

Queen Shabazz – Full Stack Engineer & Designer, OAM Webmaster

Rachel Beck – Salesforce, Website Resource Volunteer

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News

Board President

Jean Marie Durant

A curious thinker, change agent and leader of creative teams for retail organizations such as Old Navy, Gap, Gymboree, Blockbuster and most recently Banana Republic. Jean is passionate about growing Oakland’s diverse and electric visual arts communities by connecting the public to the arts and creative spaces that make the Town so special. You’ll see Jean around Oakland riding her Public bike, walking Lake Merritt or searching out new street murals and pop-up art spaces.

Pronouns – she/her

Vice President

Lauren Fernandez

Lauren has a deep appreciation for the arts and the City of Oakland. Originally from Miami, she worked with Miami Light Project to help it survive and thrive in the artsy and gentrifying Wynwood area. Since moving to Oakland, she has been wowed by the amazing and inspiring art she sees being created from East to West Oakland and from traditional galleries to murals to repurposed factories. As a first-generation Cuban-American and an HR professional at the Berkeley Lab, she is deeply committed to promoting equity in the arts in Oakland and using art as a mechanism for social justice.

Pronouns – she/her

Treasurer

Tom Neff

Managing Partner / Tax Stockholder / International Tax Co-Chair

Tom Neff, CPA, is RINA’s Managing Partner, Co-Chair of the International Tax Practice Group, and manager of the firm’s Wealth Management division. Tom advises businesses and individuals investing abroad and foreigners investing in the US on tax structuring and multinational tax planning.  Prior to moving to the Bay Area, Tom spent 5 years with a CPA firm located in the US Virgin Islands. He is passionate about the local Performing Arts scene and can be seen monthly performing at the All-Out Comedy Theater in Oakland with his improv troupe.

Secretary

Sharon Shrank

Senior marketing executive with twenty years of experience building global omni-channel retail brands in both mature and emerging markets. Specialties: E-commerce, direct marketing, catalog circulation and segmentation, retail marketing, campaign development, brand positioning, brand development, consumer research studies, store events, social media, email marketing, search engine marketing, integrated marketing planning. Sharon leads marketing strategy for the organization. Board member since 2018.

Board Member

Joshua Bane

Joshua Bane leads companies and  communities to create the experience, culture, and support needed to show up as we are: diverse individuals in an ever changing world. He currently works for Galileo Learning and will be helping to lead the organizations Community Outreach and Engagement work. Board member since January 2020.

Board Member

Shirin Richens

Shirin Richens, IIDA MBE is the owner of Nomadika Design Studio, a published and award winning design firm focusing on Commercial Interior Design and Interior Architecture since 1999.  The Visual Arts layer is vital to our projects and in turn our community.  Often our favorite phase of a project is meeting our local Oakland artists and makers in their studios and collaborating to create that unique piece that brings it all together or visiting Oakland Gallerists to curate an interior just-so.  It’s these personal and meaningful experiences in our Oakland Art Community that inspired me to join Art Murmur and its mission to help the Arts thrive.  Shirin will be supporting the organization in Fundraising and Development as a Board Member since January 2020.

Board Member

Tayleur Crenshaw

Tayleur is a creator, a spoken word artist, a black woman. Tayleur’s ultimate goal is to love on black people and to encourage their wildest dreams.

As a New York native and Howard University grad, Tayleur was born and raised in culture in its most raw and passionate form.

In 2018 Tayleur moved to Oakland, California and co-founded Gold Beams (Instagram / Website), a brand that curates spaces for the black community with special highlights on black creatives.  Her brand’s signature event, Second Mondays, has grown to host over 150 people monthly (with a recent all time attendee high of 400) and is a space where the community can share and engage with art, enjoy free food and wine, and commune over dope BBQ / family reunion vibes.  Gold beams also curates, and is contracted to curate, socials, talk series, workshops, panel discussions, creative sessions and more.