PRESIDENT

Heather moved to Ashland in 2015 and joined the AAC board in 2019. Heather teaches kindergarten. When not crocheting, gardening, cooking, or attending art events, she is thinking about doing all of those things. Starting projects is one of her favorite things, finishing them is another story. She thanks the Ashland Arts Council for allowing her to help build community through the arts!

SECRETARY

Amanda has been drawing, sketching, and attempting to paint for most of her life. She moved to Ashland in 2014 and joined the AAC board in 2019. Amanda believes art makes life better and being part of the AAC allows her to promote art in all its forms. When not taking minute meetings, she is a professor at a small liberal arts college in Omaha. Her favorite artists include Gustav Klimt and Catrin Welz-Stein.

Treasurer

Gabe Hopp has been dabbling in art since she was a girl. To this day, she almost always has a creative project going. Gabe has lived in Ashland since 2015 with her husband and (now) two sons. She co-owns One Tree Yoga in Omaha and is the head of the Farmers Market Committee in Ashland.

Natasha received her BFA from the University of Nebraska Lincoln in 2016, with an emphasis in ceramic sculpture and a minor in evolutionary psychology. Natasha is the owner/founder of “The Collective 101”: an artist cooperative in Louisville Nebraska. She spends most of her time creating tattoo art on skin, but also loves to paint and sculpt and enjoys hosting classes to teach others a love of the same.

Outside of her time spent making art for people who like art, Natasha is a full-time mother of two girls. You can usually find her at the CrossFit gym picking up heavy things to get stronger.

My name is Julie Lade-Wills. I have been an Ashland resident for over 30 years and have been teaching middle and high school art at Ashland-Greenwood public schools for the past 9. My husband Daryl Wills, an Ashland native, is a graphic designer and published illustrator. My daughter Cleo Wills is an Ashland-Greenwood graduate currently pursuing a BA in Graphic Design. I am an art educator of 28 years, with an educational background that includes a BFA in Studio Art, a BA in Education and an MFA in Ceramics. I believe in the importance and enrichment that art brings to our daily lives. One of my goals as an art educator has always been to promote the work of our amazing students. It is an exciting time for the arts in our growing community and I look forward to serving on the Ashland Arts Council as a liaison between the school art program and the Ashland community.