Board of Directors
The Oak Park Art League Board of Directors is comprised of dedicated community members. The Board is responsible for the governance and finances of the non-profit organization. The Board sponsors many fundraising initiatives throughout the year. Individual Board members chair committees and aid the staff in specific program projects.
OPAL members are encouraged to share ideas and thoughts with Board members. Anyone who is interested in volunteering for the Board should contact the Executive Director or any Board member. Board membership is voluntary. As a member of the Board, volunteers serve a two-year term and are able to serve for three consecutive terms.
If you are interested in joining the OPAL board, please review the Board Packet.
Fill out and submit the Board Application to the Executive Director or any Board member.
Thank you
Board President Emeritus
Kim Fideler Robinson, Esq.
Jennifer Riegler McNulty
President of the Board: Linda DeViller
Linda DeViller received her BFA in Fine Arts from Bridgewater University in Massachusetts and her MA in Art Education from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her thesis research explored possible alternatives to traditional art and design instruction for the midlife adult learner and was the catalyst in becoming reconnected to her own creativity. Linda enjoys facilitating art experiences for adults, giving them a space to explore and create, and has hosted a monthly Open Studio for midlife women since 2013. She has volunteered for workshops and programming for the Art Institute of Chicago's Family and Community Programs, was a facilitator for inter-generational programming at a senior living facility in Rogers Park, and has been a part of the curatorial team for FIGMENTChicago since 2014
Secretary: Maria Gedroc
Maria Gedroc received her Bachelor of Fine Art from Northern Illinois University and a Master of Art in Arts Administration from The School of Art Institute of Chicago. She is an artist, designer, arts administrator, and educator who has been in more than 180+ art shows and galleries including the Dancing Krow in the Oak Park Harrison Arts District, Oak Park Art League, Chicago Public Library, Ferguson Art Gallery at Concordia University Chicago, Northern Illinois University Museum and Gallery, and It's Liquid International, in Venice and Rome, Italy. Her artwork is included in the Chicago Art Scene, Werks Contemporary Art Magazine, Jack Arends Hall NIU Alumni Celebration: 50 Years of Excellence in the Visual Arts, Motif, The Creative Arts Journal of Concordia University Chicago, and more.
Treasurer: David Baker
David Baker is a broadcast engineer with a BS in Electrical Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology and a BA in Television Production from Columbia College Chicago. David’s interests lie in both the technical as well as artistic side of television, and he has utilized these skills and interests throughout his career. He's also Chair of the Civic Information Systems Commission, a citizen volunteer commission that advises the Oak Park Village Board on technology, information management/resources and policy issues. He enjoys writing, listening to music, guitar and international travel in his spare time, and credits oil painting and charcoal drawing during childhood as his introduction to the love of art.
Buildings & Grounds: Lou Thetard
Lou Thetard, along with his wife Denise and two grown children—Sam and Anna, have lived in Oak Park for 29 years. Lou is a retired administrator, former Dean of Students, from the Maine Township school district. Prior to being an administrator, Lou taught Art and Photography and coached at Maine West High School in Des Plaines for 10 years and at Virden High School for three. Lou graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University with an Accounting degree, but saw the light and obtained a BS in Art Education and an MS in Art Education from Illinois State University. Lou has been involved in various school/extracurricular programs and activities in Oak Park while his kids attended the Oak Park schools, most notably on the board of the OPRFHS Huskie Booster Club for 3+ years. After a long hiatus from the visual arts and feeling the need to give back, Lou looks forward to joining the OPAL board and preparing for the next 100 years.
Community Outreach: Margot McMahon
A lifelong-environmentalist, internationally- awarded Margot McMahon sculpts, writes and paints human, plant and animal forms to say, through art, her hope that decisions be made to support life on earth. She has been called the “Studs Terkel of the sculpting world”, for her humanistic portraits, most recently the Gwendolyn Brooks Monument for Gwendolyn Brooks Park which google maps indicates has 2,300,000 views. The Smithsonian, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago History Museum, Soka Gaikkai International, Mobil Oil, the Chicago Botanic Garden, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and Steans Family Foundation and Yale University have collected her sculptures.
Ginger Brent
Shira Slack
Mia Garcia Hills
Mia is a trained artist, educator, trauma-informed yoga teacher and activist scholar. Her work in and beyond the studio often draws on her various areas of interest, which allows her to integrate mindful movement, creativity and critical reflection.
Mia was a Coca Cola Foundation Museum fellow. Prior museum and gallery experiences include internship and professional positions at the Chicago History Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art, Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, Gallery 400 and GBU Gallery. Mia has taught art courses at Morton East High School, Lake Park High School, Multicultural Arts School, Social Justice High School, Yollocalli Youth Museum, Gary Comer Youth Center, Morton College, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Concordia University Chicago.
Mia earned her BFA’s in Art Education and Studio Arts from University of Illinois Chicago, MAAE in Art Education from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and her PhD in Leadership: Higher Education from Concordia University Chicago.