BOARD OF DIRECTORS
CASSANDRA SCHIFFLER, President
Cassandra Schiffler is a painter, printmaker, and arts administrator. She has followed her passion for the arts throughout her personal and professional life, and has exhibited her artwork in solo and group exhibitions throughout the US while maintaining various professional jobs in the arts working in galleries, museums, print studios, universities, art appraisals, and city government. She currently serves the arts community in her role as the Arts & Culture Coordinator for the City of Meridian where she manages the City’s thriving public art program, as well as many other multifaceted arts and culture programming and events. She is deeply committed to fostering innovative art projects that resonate with diverse communities, and she thrives in environments that demand creativity, strategic planning, and a deep appreciation for the transformative power of art. She has been named on the Idaho Business Review‘s Power List of professionals working in the Arts, and in 2024, she received an Accomplished Under 40 award. She is also a regularly exhibiting artist at Capitol Contemporary Gallery in downtown Boise, Idaho. Check out her artwork online at CassandraSchiffler.com.
BRETT PERRY, Vice President
Brett recently joined the Surel’s Place board where he is the chair of the development committee. Brett received the 2023 Boise Mayor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts. After graduating from The Juilliard School in 2008 with a Bachelors of Fine Arts, Brett moved to Boise, Idaho to begin his professional career as a founding member with the Trey McIntyre Project. Since 2017 Brett has been navigating the world as a freelance dancer working with Aszure Barton & Artists, LED, Ballet Idaho and Adam Weinert.
MARI CHRISTMAS, Secretary
Mari Christmas is a Japanese and American writer. Her fiction has appeared in Fence, Black Warrior Review, New Ohio Review, and elsewhere. She is a recipient of the 2020 Rona Jaffe Foundation’s Writers’ Award, the 2013 Black Warrior Review Prize in Fiction, and fellowships from the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center and Surel’s Place. She splits her time between Idaho and Pennsylvania, where she currently serves and teaches as the writer in residence at Allegheny College.
BOB LONG, Treasurer
Bob has been a principal/partner with Jordan & Company since 1987 when the firm of Irwin and Long, CPA’s and Jordan and Company merged. He works in offices in both the “world headquarters” of Jordan & Co. in Pocatello and a satellite office in Boise. Bob has years of experience in financial planning, income tax preparation and planning, business consulting, and litigation support services.
He has also been awarded the Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) designation by the American Institute of CPA’s (AICPA). Professional affiliations include the American Institute of CPA’s and the Idaho Society of CPA’s. Bob is a past president of the Southeast Idaho Chapter of the Idaho Society of CPA’s and a past president of the Pocatello Estate Planning Council.
During the off-hours, Bob enjoys running, hiking, nordic & alpine skiing, travel, and spending time at his cabin in McCall.
MO HAWS, Director
Mo joined the Surel’s Place Board in 2023. Mo Haws is a fourth generation Idahoan and graduate of Boise State University and the University of Idaho College of Law.
DEBORAH MARTELL, Director
Deborah Martell is a German-Israeli-American contemporary artist based in Boise, motivated by her belief that art is a universal language capable of bridging cultural divides, fostering understanding, and driving progress within communities. She is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego, with a degree in Visual Arts and Communication. Deborah’s large-scale mixed media encaustic landscapes explore nature through color, texture, and light, often evoking themes of preservation and fragility. Her compositions guide viewers along ridges, coastlines, and skylines, subtly addressing the uncertainties of climate change by featuring horizon lines as a symbolic precipice between the known and unknown.
Beyond her fine art career, Deborah has previously worked as an Art and Photography Director, served on the TEDxBoise 2019 design team as a set and brand designer, and held the position of Events Chair on the board of the American Institute for Graphic Design (AIGA) in San Diego.
DeborahMartellArt.com
@Deborah.Martell
MARGOT MOLLOY, Director
Margot is a Principal at CK Blueshift, LLC, a consulting group working at the intersection of water and climate. Margot is a strategist, facilitator and executive coach with over a decade of experience working with Fortune 500 companies, non-profits, public agencies, and foundations.
Margot is also a proud co-owner of Garden City based Tumbleweed Bicycle Co. with her husband, Daniel Molloy. Tumbleweed is a specialty bicycle company offering best-in-class bicycles and parts optimized for bikepacking and mountain touring.
HEATHER PLUMMER, Director
Heather Plummer is a writer, employee engagement and experience professional, wife to illustrator Shay Plummer, and mother to musician Lucas Plummer. She holds a BA In English: Rhetoric & Composition from Boise State University and will graduate with an MA in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University in December 2025. Heather is a fifth generation Idahoan who enjoys baking, traveling, supporting Boise’s art community, and spending as much time as possible in the great outdoors.
ROBERTA RENÉ, Member at Large
Pictured: Roberta René (left) and Surel (right), circa 2009.
Roberta René brings her friendship with and memories of Surel along with her to the Board, in addition to her relevant professional experience in corporate communications, marketing, fundraising, and development in both the nonprofit and business sectors. Roberta serves to help continue Surel’s legacy of supporting artists, art, and the community.
DANA ZUCKERMAN, Director
Dana Zuckerman’s background is in urban policy. She is incapable of creating any visual or performing arts and is honored to be surrounded with people who do.
Dana served as chairwoman of CCDC, Boise’s urban renewal agency, was a commissioner on the Idaho Commission for the Arts, chaired the board of TRICA – Treasure Valley Institute of Children’s Arts, sat on the board of The Boise Art Museum, and volunteers with Furnishing Hope which helps transition families out of a shelter into a home of their own. Dana built an “affordable by design” small home mini-subdivision and would love to do that again if there is any affordable land to be found in the Treasure Valley. Dana grew up in Chicago and lived in some great cities and had the privilege of raising her children in Boise, the most family friendly city she’s ever known. Nothing brings her joy more than exploring new cities and their museums, baking anything chocolate, and hearing live music, especially when performed by her kids.
Dana works in placemaking and public art.
STAFF
JODI EICHELBERGER, Director of Programming
Jodi Eichelberger is best known for his part in the original Broadway cast of Avenue Q and for his role as Stingy in the international children’s television show LazyTown which aired in the US on CBS, NBC, Nickelodeon, Sprout, and Netflix. He also worked with the Jim Henson Company in film and on stage. He recently published a book of personal narratives including stories from all these experiences titled Audience of One: Stories of Stage, Screen, and Solitude available wherever you order books. Since returning to Boise he has directed and performed onstage at Alley Repertory Theater and performed at Boise Contemporary Theater. Jodi is also the Producing Artistic Director of Story Story Night. Jodi also lives in the Surel Mitchell Live-Work-Create District.
MARNE ELMORE, Director of Development
Marne grew up in the Wood River Valley in Bellevue, Idaho. She attended Oregon State University where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Art. Marne received a Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of New Mexico with a studio art emphasis in Printmaking. Her artistic practice continues in her spare time, and she is also an active participant with the Rocky Mountain Printmaking Alliance.
HALLIE MAXWELL, Operations Assistant
Hallie Maxwell is a Japanese American interdisciplinary artist based in Idaho. She works with installation, audio, video, drawing, and performance. Maxwell received her MFA in Visual Arts from Boise State University in 2024 and her BA in Art from California Lutheran University in 2019. Maxwell is a recipient of the International Sculpture Center’s 2023 Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award. She has participated in Artist in Residence programs internationally and locally at Cove Park, Surel’s Place, the Common Well, and MING studios. Maxwell is a descendant of survivors of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Her work studies themes such as generational trauma, loss, and disconnection from cultural identity.
hallie@surelsplace.org
REBECCA MITCHELL KELADA
Founding Executive Director
ANDY FARRER
Graphic Designer
CONTACT US
By phone: +1 (208) 901-8498
By mail: P.O. Box 2004 | Boise, ID, 83701