David Bethune grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He moved to the Valley in 2008 after completing his Bachelors of Art in social anthropology at Dalhousie. Since moving to the Valley he has split his time between working for a local vegetable farmer, renovating his old farm house and growing copious amounts of garlic. David has recently started a second degree this time at Acadia in Business. You’ll see David driving around the Valley on a very small white motorcycle and during the growing season, out in his garlic patch during his spare time.

accounts@artscentre.ca

Andrea Clarke was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta and moved to Wolfville, Nova Scotia two years ago to study Nutrition and Dietetics at Acadia University. As a teenager, Andrea became very interested in food and healthy eating. She views cooking food as a way to “fuel our bodies like Ferraris” with the best possible ingredients and sharing food as a way to celebrate and form beautiful relationships. Several of Andrea’s hobbies include hiking, snowboarding, playing volleyball and netball, and cooking. In two years time Andrea hopes to be a Registered Dietician and then continue to go to Culinary School.

Gordon Weld, born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, is returning for a second summer as Communications Coordinator! Still a university student, Gordon is attending Wolfville’s Acadia University and pursuing a co-op degree in Business, besides acting as Coordinator for Acadia’s Axe Radio, where he has held several positions since 2009. Gordon is ecstatic to be joining us again for another summer season!

mail@artscentre.ca
boxoffice@twoplanks.ca

Chris O’Neill is a professional actor and playwright who co-founded the organisation and was the driving push to build the Centre, acting as the fundraising and programming locus for the past ten years. She has taught writing and acting, served on both provincial and national boards of arts organisations and  served on community boards. She continues to work as a theatre artist, with four plays co-written with husband Ken Schwartz to her credit, including the published Westray: The Long Way Home. She is most known in theatre as an actor.  She was most recently seen with Two Planks in Beowulf,  Jerome: the Historical Spectacle, Our Town and was Athena in The Odyssey in 2007. She was awarded the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal for contribution to her community and Canada in 2002, and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.

chris@artscentre.ca
1-902-582-3842 

Ken Schwartz is a co-founding artistic director of Two Planks and a Passion Theatre since 1992. A two-time graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada, Ken is an award-winning director, educator and dramaturge. He has directed over 30 productions for the company, including The Odyssey and Beowulf by Rick Chafe, Our Town by Thornton Wilder, Rockbound by Allen Cole and Jerome: the Historical Spectacle by Ami McKay. In 2009 he collected Merritt Awards for outstanding achievement in Nova Scotian theatre as both director and producer of Our Town. In 2008 he was awarded the Established Artist Recognition award by the Nova Scotia Arts and Culture Partnership Council and collected the Merritt Award as producer of The Odyssey. In 2002 he was awarded the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal for his contributions to the art form, and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.   His most recent production is his own adaptation of Lysistrata, with music and lyrics by Allen Cole. 

artisticdirectors@twoplanks.ca
902-582-3073 

Roxy Peterson was born and raised in London, Great Britain, and comes to us with honours in design and semiology studies from the London Metropolitan University. He has been involved with Summer Camping, youth and community work for 15 years in London GB, Franklin PA, and Okeechobee FL. He has lived in Canada since 2008 and has worked for Ross Creek since then  as the Education and Camp Director, managing March Break, SummerArts Camp, Youth Art Enrichment programs, the Positive Action Project for Anti-Bullying and the Ross Creek Youth Council among other things.

education@artscentre.ca
902-582-3842

Laurel Green (BFA 2011 at the University of Maine at Presque Isle) was born and raised in the woods and along the banks of the Upper Saint John River Valley, New Brunswick, where she co-founded the River Valley Arts Alliance (RiVA) from 2009-2012. RiVA is an arts organization  in Woodstock, NB dedicated to connecting artists and audiences, and to furthering the advancement of the arts in the Upper Saint John River Valley through advocacy and education. Laurel became co-organizer of RiVA’s major flagship project, the Dooryard Arts Festival — a 4-day, multidisciplinary art and music festival held in Woodstock — which is currently going into its 5^th  year. Her responsibilities included booking musical acts, curating and installing art exhibits, orchestrating an open air artist market, organizing and facilitating art & music workshops and managing a small army of volunteers. In 2012, Laurel became the Assistant Director at the Andrew & Laura McCain Art Gallery in Florenceville-Bristol, NB, where she helped to expand the educational and artist programs offered by the Gallery. While Laurel has been dedicated to her creative community in NB, she is ecstatic to be welcomed into the Ross Creek family! She is responsible for professional artist programs, including galleries and residencies, outreach, school and community programs.

programs@artscentre.ca
1-902-582-3842