Jennie Stevens

President / Secretary

Jennie has actively served the community for decades in a variety of artistic capacities. Her primary focus is nurturing a love for joyful musical expression in all ages & she has shared this passion in numerous settings around the valley including her unique Woodruff Music Studio for over 30 yrs. Throughout her long teaching career Jennie has honed valuable skills in communication, leadership & patience, and with only vague plans to slow down, continues to encourage & inspire creativity & confidence through the many programs she is involved with.

Jennie is committed to building & strengthening relationships & is thrilled to be engaged in connecting and supporting the coordinated efforts of many wonderful local organizations in the community, while working through the arts guild for the benefit of all.

Diane Mellott

Treasurer / Visual Arts Coordinator

Diane has worked in many organizations over her career and brings valuable skills & experience to this guild. She is a conscientious hardworking & collaborative member of the Board & essential in keeping things organized & running smoothly. She has an eye for detail & has been instrumental in creating a strong foundation for CSAG, cowriting the updated Bylaws, Policies & Procedures, as well as a comprehensive Director’s Handbook for the organization.

A dedicated community volunteer, Diane is consistently seeking opportunities for partnership & cross pollination for the organization. Diane is also a very accomplished visual artist in the Valley.

Kayla Dangerfield

Inspire! Youth Arts Coordinator

Kayla is the mother of 2 creative children & has been involved in theatre since her own youth, performing & stage managing for numerous performances, most recently with Shawnigan Kids Theatre Troupe & Shawnigan Players. She has coordinated youth camps and events over the years, as well as co-coordinated the Inspire! Youth Community Arts Tent at various locations throughout the year, & summer months at Cobble Hill’s local Music In The Park.

Kayla is full of creative ideas and co-facilitates monthly Explore & Create Workshops for youth and families in the Cowichan Valley. She is currently teaching drama for St Johns Academy directing a range of ages in their upcoming performance. Kayla is passionate about the arts & feels strongly that arts experiences should be accessible to all.

Nicole Rallis

Grant Writer

Nicole Rallis is an a/r/tographer dwelling in the liminal spaces between artist, researcher and teacher. She is a settler of mixed European ancestry and lives on the traditional, ancestral and unceded lands of the Quw’utsun people. Nicole is a Ph.D. candidate in curriculum studies and art education at The University of British Columbia. Her areas of interest include poetic inquiry, embodied learning, and land-based pedagogies.

Nicole’s dissertation investigates how art teachers in the Cowichan Valley are artfully engaging with the lands they work, live, and create with to think through important social, political, ecological and cultural issues.  She is a co-author of several peer-reviewed journal articles and is an editor and contributor to the book Walking in Art Education: Ecopedagogical and A/r/tographical Encounters. Nicole is also a special projects assistant with Economic Development Cowichan at the CVRD. She is thrilled to join the CSAG Board of Directors and contribute to the success of the guild through providing grant writing support.

Nemira Samuels

Acoustic Jam Coordinator

Nemira has been a valuable addition to the CSAG scene for many years now, as our Acoustic Jam facilitator. She leads friendly, inclusive musical gatherings for all levels of music lovers that circle up regularly once a month for these popular Jam sessions.

Her background is in banjo playing, and she has been in a number of musical groups playing primarily bluegrass, folk and old time music. Nemira helped found CVGRO, a local musical group that performs, supports & facilities community music within the Cowichan Valley. Over the past 5 years she has helped facilitate hundreds of musical gatherings. When not engaged in her favorite musical pastimes, she puts her nurturing gifts to work as a travelling vet’s assistant, and with her hands in the soil as gardener and grower of food.