LEADERSHIP

J. Carlos Velázquez, Executive Director

Carlos is a long-time patron of the arts and served on the Board of Trustees for the Nevada Museum of Art, Theater Alliance, and the Contemporary American Theater Festival. He also served on the Arlington County Commission for the Arts in which time he worked on building the foundation for a cultural equity framework as the Co-chair of the Grants Committee. He has the distinction of serving as a Helen Hayes judge. He is the President and CEO of HMA Associates, Inc. a communications firm with offices in Arlington County and Washington, DC.

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Eric J. Rubio, Co-President

Eric is an arts and non-profit management professional originally from the Chicago area and an Arlingtonian since 2021. He presently serves as Director of Finance and Administration for the National Symphony Orchestra, is a member of the sixth and current cohort of Sphinx LEAD and a regular writer and speaker on arts and nonprofit management.  

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Sara Barker, Co-President

Sara Barker serves as the artistic director of Arlington's Avant Bard Theatre and is an acting company member with Rorschach Theatre in Washington, DC. She also serves as the arts & culture commissioner on the Arlington Economic Development Commission. Sara holds a BA in philosophy and the history of mathematics from St. John's College in Annapolis and is a cybersecurity editor for the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in Arlington. She resides in Arlington with her husband, a Yorktown High School teacher, and their two children who attend Ashlawn Elementary and Kenmore Middle School. Sara is a trained discussion leader with the Touchstones Discussion Project (https://touchstones.org/) for which she regularly volunteers.  

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​​David Briggs, Secretary

David is a lifelong patron of the arts and theater. He previously served as the Chair of the Arlington Commission for the Arts, a Board Member of the Virginia Commission for the Arts (VCA) and has served on the boards of several non-profit organizations. David also has served on the “Majors’ Judging Panel for VCA. Before retiring, David served as a lawyer.

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​Ray Ficca, Director

Ray serves as the President for the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts. He previously managed several theater venues and groups, as well as currently acts/directs in both theater and television.

 

Carol Patch, Treasurer

Carol is a long-time resident of Arlington and practicing folk artist who also enjoys attending a diverse number of arts performances and events. For six years, Carol served on the Arlington Commission for the Arts.

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Natalie Roy, Director

Natalie is currently the CEO and Founder of the Bicycling Realty Group of KW Metro Center, a top producing real estate team in Arlington and the Washington, DC area. She has lived in Lyon Park for 32 years and served as president of the civic association for several years, as well as Lyon Park’s Vice President for Development and Vice President for Neighborhood Conservation. She has long supported the arts and brings to the Board energy, enthusiasm and scores of important contacts around the DMV.

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Roland Watkins, Director

Roland has provided leadership to the Arlington Human Rights Commission, the Arlington Commission on Aging, the Arlington Ambassador Program under the Arlington Neighborhood Village, and is a Silver Lifetime member of the Arlington Chapter of the NAACP.  In 2024, he served as President of Equality NoVa which is the oldest LGBTQ+ organization in the state of Virginia. Prior to his retirement in 2019, he was an attorney with the National Mediation Board, a small independent Federal agency charged with the regulating of labor relation in the airline and railroad industries. 

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Janet Kopenhaver, President Emeritus

Janet is an avid advocate for the arts and culture industry and is very well-known in the County as a representative of the arts. She previously served as the Chair of the Arlington Commission for the Arts for three years, as well as a three-year term as a Helen Hayes Judge for the region. She recently retired after 30 years as a lobbyist and President of her company Eye on Washington.

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Sara Duke, Emeritus Founding Board Director

Sara is the Executive Director for the County’s largest non-profit children’s theater organization Encore Stage and Studio.

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Robert Goler, Emeritus Founding Board Director

Robert serves as the Curator for the U.S. Mint. He served on the Arlington Commission for the Arts for six years, two of which as Vice Chair. Robert plays the bassoon/contrabassoon with a number of local groups including the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic, NIH Philharmonic, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, Loudon Symphony Orchestra and Trinity Chamber Orchestra. He also has served as a Judge of a Virginia Commission for the Arts grants panel.

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