Meet the Team
Module Leaders
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Lisa Ober
Lisa’s career as a professional portrait and still life painter has spanned 25 years resulting in numerous awards and publication of her work. She is an owner of OA Gallery in Kirkwood, Missouri which showcases exceptional contemporary representational art. When she is not in her studio painting she travels the globe teaching pastel and oil painting workshops to other professionals and aspiring artists. Lisa adores art and artists and often helps others to navigate the business of art. |
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Mark Witzling
Mark earned a graduate business degree with High Honors from Boston University and an undergraduate degree from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota he had a successful career as a branding and marketing strategist for well-known consumer product and financial services companies as well as technology and entrepreneurial adventures. Whether launching new brands or leading digital marketing, he is always the client interacting with highly creative people – writers, artists, designers – to create new advertising, packaging and promotional materials. Over time, his interest in the creative side emerged and he began to paint. His work has evolved over time from a purely representational painter to become an abstract artist and he has combined his career experiences for success in each. |
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Patti Harty
Patti Harty has been with Sandler Sales Training licensee Stark and Associates, Inc. for 18 years. She started her career in education, and then found herself drawn to management and later, senior management positions with IBM and SSE. Patti’s emphasis on sales and the development of customer relations have been the foundation of her successful track record. Patti is a sought-after speaker on several topics including communications, motivation and sales. She has a love of art and for assisting artists, especially given that her daughter, Kim Harty, is a successful glass artist and art educator in Detroit. |
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Kathie Thomas
Kathie Thomas is the founder of Beyond Concepts LLC. She has more than 30 years of international experience in: developing creativity, facilitation, managing teams, training & coaching, strategy implementation, change management and communications. Beyond Concepts LLC is an innovation consultancy focused on business growth and transformation. Kathie partners with visionary leaders to turn opportunity into value by tackling highly ambiguous challenges. She has developed proven, proprietary tools and processes to help leaders inject a new level of innovation, creativity and productivity into their teams to unleash the talent of their organizations. She is also an artist, photographer and poet. |
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Jesse Barash
Jesse has over 30 years of experience in Consumer Packaging Goods with the majority of his career spent at Nestle Purina. He has worked in Brand Management, Business-to-Business Marketing, and Innovation. Jesse was the first internal Ideation Facilitator at Nestle Purina, and then started Zero Gravity Consulting in 2011. His company routinely employees the talents of experienced artists who as as Visual Thinkers help brainstorm from a Zero Gravity perspective and then bring the ideas to life in real time. |
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Mich Hancock
Mich Hancock is the dynamic CEO of 100th Monkey Media, a company focused on creating quality connections and interactions for B2B and B2C clients through Social Media. She is also the co-founder of TEDxGatewayArch, an innovative and thought provoking organization that brings TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) Talk experiences to St. Louis. She interviews TEDx speakers and St. Louis visual and performing artists and other movers and shakers on her popular MichMash Podcast and is a sought-after speaker, delivering workshops and seminars for organizations around St. Louis, including the Olin School of Business at Washington University |
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Garry McMichael
Garry is owner of Paint St Louis and since 2008 has been organizing workshops to help artists improve both their creative skills and business success based on the belief that “A rising tide lifts all boats.” He is also a photojournalist and commercial photographer working for numerous regional and national businesses and publications. Garry is actively involved with the Greater St. Louis Art Association, Art St Louis and is past president of the Gateway Pastel Artists Association. His most recent personal project has been a series of photographs and paintings of the St Louis Gateway Arch, called “In the Shadow of the Arch”. |
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Sandy Brooks
Sandy is a master gardener, master naturalist and volunteer with Missouri Department of Conservation, World Bird Sanctuary, Endangered Wolf Center and many other wildlife related programs. She also turned to her love of drawing and photography and has developed educational programs and a non-profit Academy of Nature and Wildlife Arts to provide instruction combining the arts and science of nature just as many of the old masters did. Sandy's academic background includes a BS in physical therapy from University of Missouri-Columbia, MS in physical therapy from University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and PhD in public policy analysis and EdD from St. Louis University. She has built for profit and not-for-profit companies, consulted with multiple state and federal agencies, sat on national non-profit boards and provided expert witness and long term planning services. |
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Patrick Murphy
Patrick Murphy has worked in St. Louis radio and television for the past forty years. He has produced a variety of arts-related programs for for St. Louis public television, including the series "Arts America" and "Night at the Symphony". He is fan of art and artists as well as an accomplished watercolor artist. Patrick will be kicking off the weekend for Marketing My Art with an enthusiastic message. |
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Don Kelley, Expert Jeweler and Art Fair King
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Jennifer Suits, The Art Beacon
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Ben Klapp, Filmmaker
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