BOARD & Staff

Shari Broder, Chair of the Marketing/PR Committee, is a labor arbitrator and Chair of the Maine Labor Relations Board and State Board of Arbitration and Conciliation. Although Shari loves helping people resolve disputes, her first love has always been the arts, both as a creator and volunteer. Since 1991, she has been actively involved in arts organizations, first as President of Maine Arts, Inc, which produced the Maine Festival of the Arts and New Years Portland. With her husband Eric Bryant, Shari created the Freeport Open Stage Coffeehouse, which she ran for 10 years. Shari chaired the Freeport Performing Arts Boosters, served on the Board of the Freeport Community Library, and was the volunteer coordinator for 317 Main’s HenryFest. She has performed in Freeport Players productions, was a member of the band Crabapple Jam, and is currently one half of the duo Attractive Nuisance, in which she plays the bass and sings. Before moving to Maine, Shari danced ballet with Eric Hampton. She has a B.A. in studio art and art history. Shari is incurably curious and loves to travel. In what’s left of her spare time, she practices yoga, is an accomplished gourmet cook and baker, and the mother of two fabulous adult children.

Malcolm (Mac) Collins is a semi-retired historical architect and urban designer who has practiced in Freeport and Portland for the past 39 years. He has had leadership roles with the two largest design firms in Maine, but has been a sole proprietor for the past 15 years, working out of his house in Porter’s Landing. His work is focused on historic preservation at all scales, from the restoration of the L. L. Bean Home in Freeport to campus planning projects for Bowdoin College to the re-use of the buildings of the Pineland campus in New Gloucester. He has served as a board member and board president of Greater Portland Landmarks and is the current architect member of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission. In Freeport, Mac served on the original Comprehensive Planning Committee and on the Planning Board for 12 years, and currently is on the board of the Tidebrook Conservation Trust.

Mac’s involvement in bringing the Pinkies to Freeport awakened his interest in public art. He hopes to use the Downtown Vision platform to enliven the town’s open spaces with a variety of art forms.

Mac and his wife, Susan, have been married for 54 years and have two sons living in Bangor and Biddeford. He enjoys sailing, heritage touring, music, day hikes, XC skiing, and low-key cycling.

Josie Gideon is a 17-year-old student at Freeport High School, where she actively explores her passion for music and the arts. As the youth representative on the Meetinghouse Arts board, Josie aims to bring the perspectives of her peers to the forefront, highlighting the contributions of young artists in the community. Her involvement with Meetinghouse Arts has deepened her appreciation for its mission of fostering creativity and collaboration. Alongside her work on the board, Josie balances her studies with being an athlete and a member of the student council. Looking ahead, she aspires to pursue a career in law while continuing to nurture her love for music and the arts.

Scott Miller, Treasurer, is chair of the Finance Committee and a member of the Facilities and Executive Committees. Scott has more than 25 years of experience with performing arts organizations starting in 1994 with Freeport Players. Having both acted and sung for many shows he has now focused on company operations. He serves as Treasurer of Meetinghouse Arts, President of Una Voce Chamber Choir and Treasurer of the exceptional DaPonte String Quartet Foundation. He is past President of the Greater Freeport Community Chorus and of A Company of Girls in Portland Maine. A resident of Freeport, Scott worked at Acadia Insurance Company of Westbrook, Maine for 25 years, holds several insurance designations, and now operates his own business. The rest of the time he can be found outside.

Randy Mraz was born and raised in Aroostook County in a farming family that grew potatoes, peas, grains, and hay in the Fort Fairfield area. He graduated from Drexel University in Philadelphia and returned to the County where he built a house and raised a family with his wife Mary. They now live in Freeport and have 2 grown daughters. He worked for the Maine Department of Agriculture in various capacities including
working as the Director of the Emergency Food Assistance Program. This is the program that is responsible for the distribution of donated USDA foods to food banks, soup kitchens, food pantries and emergency shelters. He also managed the State’s food storage facilities and provided oversight to the 250 Emergency Feeding Organizations. Randy served from 2005 until 2010 on the Board of Directors of the American Commodity Distribution Association (ACDA) which is the national organization of all those entities involved in providing USDA food through all channels. Randy also served on the Board of Directors of the Good Shepherd Food Bank of Maine from 2010 to 2016. He retired from state government in the spring of 2010 and enjoys sailing, gardening, music, hiking, biking, cross country skiing and snowshoeing.

Jamie Peloquin is an active member of the Programming and Marketing Committees. He has been drawn to art since early childhood and moved to Maine in 1990 to attend Maine College of Art, earning a BFA in Graphic Design. After graduating, he worked at MeCA managing the Design Lab, teaching various classes and workshops, and as an assistant coordinator at the Maine Summer Institute in Graphic Design. Jamie has held several graphic design roles in Portland and New York City and ultimately started a small design studio in Maine, working with such clients as Major League Baseball, Hypertherm, TypeCulture, Council of American Jewish Museums, and Crane Papers. Jamie has been working more recently with process change in the software industry. While working in the software and technology industry, he saw the vast underrepresentation of women, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+ people. He has been working to affect change around equity and inclusion within the industry. Jamie also volunteers as the website coordinator for the Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition, which is working to make significant changes in Maine’s correctional system. He continues to explore his creative outlets through writing, design, painting, printmaking, and creating attractive (and often functional) objects.

Lynn Shaffer, President of the Board of Directors, is a retired architect who practiced in Portland and Los Angeles. She moved to Maine with her family in 1991. In Maine Lynn has served in various capacities, including president, on numerous non-profit boards. As an architect Lynn practiced with Scott Simons Architects and later as a sole practitioner.  Her interest in urban design and planning compelled her to participate in Freeport’s Downtown Revisioning process and she is excited about the role Meetinghouse Arts is playing in making the Downtown Vision a reality. In addition to her passion for architecture, Lynn enjoys travel, visual arts, dance, theater, and fully experiencing Maine’s great outdoors.  She has been married to Jim Shaffer for 54 years.  They have two grown sons and four grandchildren.

Kate Werner practiced law in Maine for several years, eventually leaving to open Azure Café, an independent restaurant in Freeport.  Over 17 years, Azure won multiple national, regional, and local culinary and community service awards. Kate organized and ran local charitable events, tirelessly pursued the improvement of education in local schools, and oversaw the donation of tens of thousands of dollars each year from Azure to the Freeport community. She co-founded a Freeport advocacy group supporting transparency and excellence in public education with a focus on arts and gifted arts programming. Kate and her husband, Jonas, have raised two children in Freeport. Her entire family has a passion for theater. Her youngest is a professional actor in New York City and Jonas has performed in many Freeport Players productions. Kate served on the Yarmouth High School Playmakers Board and on the Marketing Committee for Freeport Merchants Association (now VisitFreeport). She and Jonas together have won the Freeport Merchants Association’s Members of the Year Award, Freeport Community Service’s Carol Kaplan Community Service Award, and have been selected as Freeport’s Citizens of the Year. Kate cofounded Balsam Realty in 2021, an independent real estate agency, and continues to serve the local community and support local arts.

Suzanne Watson, Executive Director, has been a great fan of the theater, arts, and culture for over fifty years. She started her work in the arts in college and has continued since moving to Maine in the mid-70s with the Chocolate Church in Bath and as a board member of the Theater Project/Young People’s Theater in Brunswick. After graduating from Bowdoin College and law school she took up environmental and clean energy policy work in Washington, DC., Boston, and Maine, serving in various policy advising roles with the US Congress, the White House, and the State of Maine. She founded the Maine Environment & Energy Center (E2 Center) in 1998 as an affiliate of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, an organization that is now known as the E2Tech Council. She moved to Freeport in 2005, buying a house and building an in-law suite as a turn-key opportunity to come and go from her various posts without moving a stick of furniture. Now settled in Freeport once and for all, she welcomes the opportunity to take on the role of Executive Director of a critical contributor to the economic and cultural dynamic of her community.

Quinn (she/her) graduated summa cum laude from Franklin & Marshall College in 2021 with a B.A. in Studio Art. She has exhibited her work across the East Coast, with several paintings acquired by institutions such as Franklin & Marshall College, Susquehanna University, and Kennesaw State University. She is a 2024 recipient of the Artist Springboard Grant from the Maine Arts Commission, which will support a new series of paintings to be shown at Sidle House Gallery in Freeport, ME, in August 2025. Quinn has worked extensively with arts organizations, including teaching after-school programs at Mayo Street Arts in Portland, ME, framing at Ocean House Gallery in South Portland, and most recently, launching her own business as a live wedding painter through Black Lilac Studio.