Board of Directors
Barbara Ockel, President
Barbara brings with her a wealth of knowledge and connections to the Bayview Hunters Point community, having been a Bayview resident since 1993, and from her work as executive director of the Bayview Opera House, a historic community arts center, from 2009 – 2022. An immigrant from Germany, she has had many businesses, from sail-making to working in the public art sector to placing art in Silicon Valley corporations. She is now focused on the future of the Hunters Point Shipyard artists, protecting and expanding the last refuge for artists in San Francisco. In June 2022 Barbara received the Jefferson Award for public service from KPIX-TV (CBS).
Rob Cox, Vice President and Secretary
Rob is a longstanding member of the Hunters Point Shipyard artist community and San Francisco resident. He is a figurative painter with roots in the Bay Area Figurative style. Rob’s canvases range from traditional figurative to referenced abstracts. He has shown in Bay Area galleries and in local and National exhibits. You can see Rob’s work at: robcoxart.com.
Stacey M. Carter, Treasurer
Stacey is a San Francisco artist and artist advocate who has maintained a studio at Hunters Point Shipyard since 1998. She is a graduate of Temple University’s Tyler School of Art having studied in Rome, Italy. She is an accomplished visual artist with a 20-year career in painting and printmaking. She is an urban archaeologist, conjuring up lost or forgotten visions of time and humanity in the bay area. Carter has shown work at the George Krevsky Gallery, and her clients include the NFL football team Baltimore Ravens.
Stacey has taken an active interest in the history of the Shipyard, and has documented this history in countless photographs and paintings.
Jason Guan, Director
Jason is an accountant with experience and great interest in the arts and the non-profit sector. He is a licensed CPA and holds a masters degree in accounting. A native and resident of the Bayview, he has supported the Bayview Opera House and Shipyard Trust for the Arts with bookkeeping and accounting services and is currently working in public accounting.
Andrea Baker, Director
Andrea is principal of Andrea Baker Consulting (ABC), and now her new non-profit En2Action, and has worked to establish vibrant, dynamic commercial corridors in emerging neighborhoods. Baker worked for the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development, as well as at the former San Francisco Redevelopment Agency. ABC has worked in the Bayview District with committed residents and local non-profit organizations to activate Mendell Plaza and the surrounding town center. In September 2022 Andrea received the Jefferson Award for public service from KPIX-TV (CBS).
Nikki Vismara, Director
Nikki is a graduate of The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and completed her Master’s Degree in Paleolithic Art at Lyon University in France. She taught Art History overseas for a decade and co-founded a nonprofit promoting education in West Africa. Her large abstract paintings have been featured at Saks Fifth Avenue and galleries across the United States. Vismara serves on the Advisory Board for The Asylum Project. The artist lives and works in Bayview-Hunters Point, San Francisco.
Advisory Board
Amabel Akwa-Asare
Amabel has served in various positions with the City and County of San Francisco. During her time at the Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure (formerly San Francisco Redevelopment Agency), as the manager of Shipyard Community Benefits, she worked closely with the Shipyard artist community and helped translate the vision of a Shipyard Arts District into reality.
Karen Slater
Karen has lived in San Francisco for more than 30 years, making art, raising a family and volunteering in various ways. She has had a studio at the Shipyard for at least 20 years and has been interested in the redevelopment process since 2003. Karen's art work is mostly painting, in oil and watercolor. Occasional monoprint work when equipment is available. Her website is: sfslater.com
Marti McKee
Marti is an artist working in drawing and printmaking. After a long stint away from making art, high school to late 30's, Marti began a process of expressing herself through figurative drawing and printmaking. She has been an artist at Pier 70’s Noonan Building since 1997. She currently makes etchings, monotypes, linocuts and collographs - almost exclusively figurative work. She has been in many local group exhibitions and my work has been accepted into juried exhibitions nationally and throughout California. Marti has been an San Francisco Open Studios participant for more than 20 years.
Melonie Green
Melonie is one of the two newly appointed co-directors of the African American Art & Culture Complex in San Francisco. Originally from Memphis, TN Melonie and her twin sister, Melorra have generated an enormous artistic legacy in the past decade in San Francisco, producing more than 70 exhibits and 100 public events. Her favorite sweet treat is ice cream.
In memoriam: Scott Madison
A co-founder of the Shipyard Trust for the Arts (STAR), member of the STAR Board for many years and most recently of the Advisory Board, Scott was the co-owner of the Eclectic Cookery at the Shipyard. In the mid 1980’s Scott, artist Linda Hope and others began a long and arduous fight to save the Shipyard artists from eviction. In 1995 they founded the Shipyard Trust for the Arts. In 2004, thanks to their hard work and dedication, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, local politicians and Hunters Point artists celebrated the agreement with the Hunters Point developer assuring there would be no net loss of artist studio space at Hunters Point as a result of development. Scott was active in the Shipyard artist community until his death in August 2020.