Innovation & Education Advisory Council
At Ignite With Art, our Innovation & Education Advisory Council brings together visionary leaders, creative pioneers, and esteemed educational professionals. This council’s collective wisdom and forward-thinking spirit help guide our mission—to foster intercultural exchange, ignite creative synergies, and inspire lifelong learning through the transformative power of the arts.
Institutional Advisory Framework
The Innovation & Education Advisory Council operates in a strictly consultative and strategic capacity, offering expert insight—spanning organizational strategy, public policy, and creative practice—to shape our public programming, educational initiatives, and cultural heritage projects.
Comprising distinguished leaders across business, the arts, academia, and cultural preservation, the council collaborates directly with institutional leadership to ensure our work remains at the vanguard of creative, educational, and operational excellence.
Founder and Executive Director, Ignite With Art, Inc. | Visiting Scholar, State University of New York at New Paltz
Dr. La Tasha A. Brown
Dr. La Tasha A. Brown is a public historian, researcher, cultural sector leader, and Visiting Scholar at the State University of New York at New Paltz, as well as the Founder and Executive Director of Ignite With Art, Inc. At the intersection of cultural studies, material culture, and vernacular art, her research investigates transnational cultural geographies and spatial histories, centering counter-archives to chart diasporic memory and Black world-making. Dr. Brown’s public-facing and archival research bridges rigorous academic methodology with community-engaged practice. She holds a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies from the University of Warwick, an M.A. in African & African Diaspora Studies from Florida International University, and a B.A. in History with a minor in English Literature from St. Lawrence University, alongside a Graduate Certificate in Program Management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Recognized as a City & State New York Trailblazer in Higher Education in 2024, her recent work includes receiving William G. Pomeroy Foundation New York State Historical Marker Grants for projects honoring civil engineer Garnet D. Baltimore—Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s first African American graduate class of 1881—in Troy, and Harlem Renaissance sculptor Augusta Savage in Saugerties, alongside public programming and curatorial initiatives dedicated to unearthing regional Black heritage and advancing public discourse on art and culture.
Robyn
Diaz
Art Director, Productside | Graphic Designer and Illustrator
Patricia
Meschino
Cultural Journalist and Writer
Photographer, Book Artist, and Professor Emeritus of Photography and Related Media, State University of New York at New Paltz
Francois Deschamps
Francois Deschamps taught photography and related media at the State University of New York at New Paltz from 1980 to 2020. He has received two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as three fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts. In 2010, he was awarded a Fulbright grant to Mali, and in 2018, another Fulbright grant to the Czech Republic. He has published over 15 artist books with the Borowsky Center at University of the Arts, Nexus Press, Visual Studies Workshop Press, State University of New York Press, and Auckland University Press, to name a few. Most recently, Model Theory was published by Visual Studies Workshop Press in 2023. Photo-Rapide: Francois Deschamps was a one-person show at the Dorsky Museum in 2013. Details are available at francoisdeschamps.net.
Robyn Diaz is an Albany-based graphic designer, illustrator, and art director with more than 20 years of experience in visual communication, illustration, and creative project management. She holds a BFA in Illustration from the Savannah College of Art and Design, where she studied mural art, participated in community mural projects, and taught art through youth programs in Savannah. Her work spans branding, print and digital design, illustration, events, video, and collaborative creative projects. Robyn currently works as an Art Director at Productside, where she leads the company’s visual brand and creates a wide range of marketing and communications materials. Previously, she worked at SUNY System Administration, collaborating with research initiatives, student programs, and departments across the SUNY system to develop visual communications for colleges, universities, and statewide programs. She also works as a freelance designer with small businesses, artists, and organizations. Robyn currently serves on the Board of Directors of Up-Stitch, an Albany-area nonprofit creative reuse organization that promotes creativity and sustainability by keeping donated textiles and craft materials in circulation. She is particularly interested in projects that bring art and design into community spaces and create opportunities for people to connect, participate, and create. Outside of her creative work, Robyn enjoys gardening and hiking with her family in the Adirondacks.
Writer, Playwright, Artist/Curator, and Academic | Associate Lecturer, London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London
Dr. Michael
McMillan
Dr. Michael McMillan, Arts.D., is a British-born writer, playwright, artist/curator, and scholar to parents from St. Vincent & the Grenadines, who is best known for the much-loved and critically acclaimed The Front Room installation that has been iterated nationally and internationally. His interdisciplinary practice centres around the praxis (theory and practice) of 'the creative process, ethnography, oral histories, material culture and performativity'. His practice began after winning an essay competition at fifteen and attending FESTAC 77 (2nd World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture) in Nigeria 1977, which was a transformative experience. His plays have been produced by the Royal Court Theatre, Talawa Theatre, Channel 4, BBC4 Radio Drama, and most recently Waiting for Myself to Appear, a one-woman performance piece that has been made into a triptych film installation at the Museum of the Home. His practice as artist/curator began with The West Indian Front Room, with over 35,000 visitors, which was the Geffrye Museum’s most successful exhibition (2005-06). The Front Room went on to inspire the BBC4 documentary, Tales from the Front Room (2007), a website, and a book, The Front Room: Diaspora migrant aesthetics in the Home (originally published 2009 by Black Dog, published as a revised edition by Lund Humphries in 2023). The Front Room has been iterated internationally: Van Huis Uit: The Living Room of Migrants in the Netherlands (Imagine IC, Amsterdam, and Netherlands Tour, 2007–08), A Living Room Surrounded by Salt (IBB, Curaçao, 2008), The Front Room ‘Inna Joburg’ (FADA Gallery/VIAD, University of Johannesburg, 2016) and in the group show Home Sweet Home (Arles Festival, France, 2019). It was also featured in the group show Life Between Islands: Caribbean-British Arts 1950s - Now (Tate Britain, 2021-22) and is a permanent 1970s period room at the Museum of the Home (formerly the Geffrye Museum) since 2021. As well as various writer and artist residencies, McMillan has edited numerous publications, published book chapters and peer-reviewed articles in academic journals, and presented at international conferences, symposia, and festivals. He has the first Arts Doctorate from Middlesex University (2010), and is currently an Associate Lecturer in Cultural & Historical Studies at London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London, and Research Associate with VIAD (Visual Identities in Art & Design Research Centre) at the University of Johannesburg. McMillan is a member of the Society of Authors, and a Royal Literary Fund (RLF) fellow that includes being a member of Writersmosaic editorial board. Website: www.michaelmcmillan.uk.
Patricia Meschino is a New York City-based journalist who has specialized in writing about Caribbean music for over three decades. Patricia’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, Billboard, Rolling Stone, NPR Music, Grammy.com, and The Daily Beast, among other publications. Patricia is the former Music Editor of Air Jamaica’s award-winning in-flight magazine SkyWritings, a position she held for 12 years, until the airline ceased operations. She is a former staff writer at Bobmarley.com and was the international editor of the English language edition of the German reggae publication, Riddim. Patricia is the recipient of several awards for her writing including the Jamaica Reggae Industry Award (JaRIA) for highlighting Jamaican music at Billboard (April 2023); the New York City-based Jamaica Independence Foundation, Inc. (JIFINYC) Excellence in Media Award (August 2022); the Golden Pen Award for journalistic achievements at the inaugural Inspire Awards, Montego Bay, Jamaica as part of the island’s largest music festival, Reggae Sumfest (July 2018); Irie Jam Radio Caribbean Heritage Award (2014); Caribbean Media Exchange Journalism Excellence Award (2013); and the Tropicalfete Award of Excellence (2011). In 2015 Patricia was recognized with a legislative resolution from New York Senator Jesse Hamilton as a commendation for 'her eminent work as an American journalist'.
Paul
Zuber, Esq.
Executive Vice President, The Business Council of New York State, Inc.
Paul currently serves as the Executive Vice President of The Business Council of New York State and brings the knowledge and unique insight of more than two decade’s worth of experience working both in key positions within the New York State Legislature and as a pivotal and successful advocate for such high-profile clients as Firemen’s Association of the State of New York, MGM, Resorts World, Total Wine and More, and the New York State Laborers. Paul has served as Executive Vice President for the last five years and oversees all policy and political engagement with the New York State Legislature and the Governor’s Office. After Paul earned his JD from the University of Maryland, he joined the New York State Senate Majority Counsel/Program staff. During the next seven years, Paul became a highly respected advisor to the Majority Leader and key members of the Senate Conference. His particular issue areas covered a diverse range of key policy subjects such as transportation, racing and wagering, alcohol and beverage control as well as NYS fiscal policy as Paul represented the Senate in ongoing Budget negotiations with the Assembly and the Executive while in State service. In 2010 Paul joined Albany Strategic Advisors as a Vice President working with many of the firm’s top clients on a range of legislative issues. Over the years Paul has utilized many of the contacts and experience gained in the Senate to guide ASA’s clients through a multitude of complex issue areas relating to alcoholic beverage control, racing and wagering, MWBE compliance and enforcement, and labor relations. Before joining ASA, Paul spent seven years as the Director of Legislative Affairs for Powers & Company where he managed and provided strategic advice for all of the firm’s legislative and state procurement clients. Throughout his professional career, Paul has worked closely with members of the New York State Black, Latino, and Asian Caucus on such important issues as the NYS Minority and Women-Owned Business program and other caucus priorities. New and continuing clients benefit from the combination of Paul’s results-oriented approach and tremendous experience providing bi-partisan New York State government relations.