Our Board of Directors
Living Dream Arts is proud to have a talented Board of Directors with a diversity of professions and cultural backgrounds that contribute to the strength of the organization. We will be adding two new board members this June to our current board.
Matthew Freedman, Chair
Matthew Freedman currently works as a staff attorney for The Utility Reform Network (TURN), a San Francisco-based non-profit, where he represents consumer interests before the California legislature and California Public Utilities Commission on a wide range of California electricity policy issues. Matt has been active in the fire circus arts community since 2004 as a performer and an organizer of the Solar Flare Burning Man conclave. Matt participated in the Dreamtime Circus 2008 India tour and the Laughing for Life Circus 2008 Thailand tour. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University and a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School. He originally hails from the historic town of Marblehead, MA and the dense urban core of New York City.
Karen Shelar, Treasurer
Karen Shelar received her Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law and her Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Biology and Management from the University of California at Davis. She is a practicing lawyer. Karen participated in the Dreamtime 2010 Peru tour to teach free circus arts workshops and to perform for children in schools, after school programs and orphanages.
Jeanette Wong, Secretary
A San Francisco native, Jeanette Wong is a classically trained composer with a wide range of musical influences. Her interest in multimedia has led to collaborations in film, dance, and theater in addition to more traditional concert and chamber pieces and her works have been performed throughout the United States and Europe. She holds a B.M. in Music Theory & Composition from New York University and is an alumna of the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts. She has held administrative positions at the San Francisco Symphony, League of American Orchetras, Michael Stockler Productions, and MTV Networks in addition to serving as a freelance consultant on various arts projects. Jeanette is currently the Executive Assistant to the General Manager at the San Francisco Symphony.
Dominick Palamenti, Board Member
Dominick gets people into bed for a living. Literally. He is an officer and employee-owner of Savvy Rest, an organic mattress company. He received his BA at the American College of Switzerland and has lived in Italy, NYC, and Virginia. Dominick brings 20+ years of business experience, both in manufacturing and retail. Dominick is also an actor, trained in Europe and at HB Studio in New York City. After relocating to the Bay Area, he happily immersed himself once again into the theater world and is currently a company member of Ubuntu Theater Project.
Elaine Chu, Board Member
Elaine Chu is a San Francisco native. She graduated from School of the Arts High School and went on to study painting and art history at the Maryland Institute College of Arts. After graduating she spent many years traveling and during her experiences she met many artists and friends that have influenced her work today. Preferring to paint large scale she has worked with the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program and currently paints with Precita Eyes Muralists in San Francisco and with her own company Twin Walls Mural Company with partner in paint Marina Perez- Wong based in San Francisco and Brooklyn. Working large scale and with different communities, she finds it challenging but rewarding to be able to bring a group of people to collaborate on one unified vision in a monumental scale.