Therese (Terry) McDevitt is a communications and marketing strategist with broad experience in corporate and nonprofit communications and marketing over a career spanning more than three decades in Texas, New York and Florida, serving as a communications leader on management teams charged with launching major business initiatives and revitalizing legendary brands. She has served as Vice President of Communications at Fortune magazine, a Managing Director at Public Strategies, Inc., as Vice Chancellor of Marketing & Communications at The Texas A&M University System and in a variety of communications roles at major arts organizations in Texas and Florida. Most recently she served three years as Communications Director at Artis–Naples, home of The Baker Museum and the Naples Philharmonic in Naples, FL.
Chris Ann Szep joined the Alliance for the Arts as Director of Development in April 2023. Chris brings to the Alliance an extensive background of fundraising, donor and volunteer engagement, and community development. For the past 16 years, she served as the vice president of community and government relations and college advancement at Cecil College in North East, Maryland, where she successfully led capital and annual fund campaigns, created highly anticipated fundraising events and received federal and state appropriations and grants to increase access to education and the arts.
Chris joined the staff at a critical time for the organization as it continues to recover from Hurricane Ian and continues to create pathways to the arts, increase accessibility and add arts education opportunities in Southwest Florida.
Her work in cultivating financial and other resources to advance art and design scholarships, the Milburn Stone Theatre and art initiatives at the college and throughout the North East community was recognized with Chris being awarded the Mary A. Maloney Distinguished Service Award by the college last year. While fundraising has been the main role in Chris’ professional life, she has also lent her development skills throughout her lifelong volunteer work. Serving on numerous boards, Chris has furthered the work of nonprofit organizations, and has rebranded and marketed Arts and Entertainment Districts to increase tourism. She also previously served as vice president of advancement, US Coast Guard Academy Parents Association Board where she was responsible for financial and other resource development to support the USCGA Corps of Cadets and to expand understanding and appreciation of the Academy.
Brogan Jameson is the youngest member of the Alliance for the Arts staff. In his role as Assistant to the Director of Operations he’s responsible for assisting Jordan Jameson and keeping up office morale.
Berry van Boekel is a Fort Myers, Florida-based artist. His intensely obsessive ongoing project documenting the bands and musicians he listens to, has developed an avid following of art collectors, curators and music fans around the world.
Van Boekel writes “In February 1983, aged 18 years old—in the midst of exploring music, I made a chart of the 10 tracks that I’d enjoyed most. Then three days later I made another one and I’ve continued to do so every three or four days since. At the end of each year I collect all charts and compile a list of 100 songs from it. In 1986 I started to illustrate the lists, first with a copy machine but soon I started to draw. The Top 100 of 1991 was the first in which all one hundred entries were drawn by hand. I have claimed many times that a particular year was going to be the last one but instead I continue with more zeal every year.”
Firmly rooted in portraiture and figure painting, his work nonetheless is able explore a variety of stylistic approaches. The simple elegant concept of the list not only allows for experimentation with a wide range of musical tastes but also gives van Boekel license to evoke different moods and sensibilities within the paintings.
Van Boekel has exhibited with the prestigious alternative non-profit space White Columns in New York, other exhibition venues include Skylab in Columbus; Country Club Projects in Cincinnati, Peel Gallery in Houston; Tempus Projects in Tampa, with the NADA Art Fair in Miami, and most recently at the Dublin Arts Council in Ohio. Van Boekel moved to the United States in 1993 from the Netherlands. He received an MFA from The Ohio State University. Recently van Boekel opened The Top 100 Archive and Studio, a space near downtown Fort Myers dedicated to the history of his Top 100 project.
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