BRATTLEBORO — Teta Hilsdon, the new executive director of In-Sight Photography Project, wants to help the art-based youth organization thrive with a more visible presence in downtown Brattleboro.
“In-Sight has remained in the shadows too long,” she told The Commons. “More people need to know what a great place this is.”
Marking an exciting period of transition, The In-Sight Photography Project has announced the hire of two new key staff members and the departure of three old friends. Hilsdon is taking over as executive director; Zachary Stephens is newly on board as program director.
Leaving are Stephen Dybas, Vermont programs director; Sophia LaCava-Bohanan, In-Sight and Exposures assistant director; and Erin Barnard, Exposures program director.
The In-Sight Photography Project, an educational nonprofit serving Windham County, offers photography courses at the introductory, intermediate, and advanced levels for students ages 11 to 18, and has taught more than 1,500 students in its more than 20 years. In-Sight is based just down the street from the Boys & Girls Club.
Through fall and spring classes in their home communities, youth in In-Sight's Exposures exchange programs learn photography skills to document their experiences, cultures, and communities and collaborate with youth in participating locations through an online gallery and forum in which they share and respond to one another's creative works.
Jon Mack, president of the board, says In-Sight had the right focus in hiring Hilsdon and Stephens.
“We are very fortunate to have two local figures, already so well connected in our community and with such outstanding qualifications, who are eager to guide In-Sight into the future,” he said.
He also expressed warm regard for those departing for new challenges beyond Brattleboro.
Dybas and LaCava-Bohanan each joined In-Sight in 2008. Barnard started working with the organization in 1999 and went on to co-found and direct Exposures.
“We have been so blessed to have [had] these three gifted staff members at the helm, providing quality programming and encouraging teens in their creative expression and positive engagement in the community,” Mack said. “On behalf of the board and the many volunteers, students, and families whose lives they've touched, we wish them all the best in their bright futures.”
Teta Hilsdon steering the ship
New Executive Director Teta Hilsdon comes to In-Sight with 11 years' experience as operations manager for the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, which already enjoys deep ties with In-Sight. She was a founding member of both Brattleboro Clayworks and Cherry Street Artisans, and has been creating stoneware and teaching pottery since 1983.
She also serves on the board of the Windham & Windsor Housing Trust and is a registered yoga teacher. She graduated from Marlboro College with a degree in philosophy.
Hilsdon says she is honored to have been named In-Sight executive director.
“I know In-Sight's value. An arts organization changed my life at 17, and I hope others will have the opportunity to experience something like that,” she said.
Hilsdon is overseeing both In-Sight and Exposures, programs that had been under separate leadership. Exposures is a cross-cultural exchange program that exposes youth to photography three weeks each summer at the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, among other initiatives.
Hilsdon says she believes her primary goal is to keep In-Sight financially healthy. She isn't a photographer herself. Indeed, she says, she doesn't even own a camera – but does have a great respect and love for photography as an art form.
“My job is less about teaching. I'll leave the artistic vision to Zach,” she says. As executive director, she says, she'll be devoted to development and operations.
“Frankly, I see my role as more like a board member. Like those on our board, many whom I already know and admire, I am here to carry out the core mission of In-Sight.”
Hilsdon says she won't be rushing around changing the way In-Sight does business, and notes that the organization “has done quite well for more than 20 years.”
“But In-Sight is a constantly growing and changing place, and we will have to adapt,” she says. High on her agenda is increasing In-Sight's visibility in the community, both with public relations and through strategic partnerships.
“Collaboration could be my middle name. I love playing with others, which I have done for years. In that mode, I have formed several art collectives. I think one reason that the board chose me as executive director is because I know and can work with lots of people in the community arts,” she said.
“Far in the future,” she said, she would like to explore “moving In-Sight out of our quiet nook on Flat Street. Perhaps … some frontage on Main Street, [both] for visibility and, frankly, [as] we are outgrowing our space on Flat Street.”
Zachary Stephens keeps students in focus
Newly hired Program Director Zachary Stephens is also a familiar community figure, having served as photo editor at the Brattleboro Reformer for nearly six years. He's co-owner of studio ten13 and a photojournalism instructor at Landmark College.
Before joining the Reformer, he was a photographer for the Rutland Herald, the Bennington Banner, and the Greenfield (Mass.) Recorder.
His work has also appeared in The New York Times, Vermont Life, The Boston Globe, the Boston Herald, and USA Today.
Stephens started out in photography as a teenager studying at In-Sight, has taught here, and is a graduate of the Hallmark Institute of Photography.
He says he looks forward to tackling “anything and everything photography related” at In-Sight.
This week he's driving out to Pine Ridge, S.D., for three weeks of the Exposures cross-cultural exchange program. “Someone has to drive the 30 hours out there to transport needed photography equipment. This is the first time I have gone to Pine Ridge with Exposure, and I expect it to be a life-changing experience, as everyone says it turns out to be,” he says.
Stephens says he, too, plans to introduce changes here only gradually, as the times require.
“Sophie [Sophia LaCava-Bohanan] and Stephen [Dybas] did such a great job here at In-Sight that I certainly don't plan to go in there and make big changes,” he says.
“I feel honored to be in this position, and my goal is to try to be at least as good as the wonderful people who were here before me.”
Stephens brings to In-Sight what he learned while working as the chief photographer and multimedia creator for the Reformer.
“At the Reformer, I became so immersed in this community as I got to know and photograph so many people here. I felt I was there to witness history as it happens, and believed I was obligated to share it with the rest of the community. I am passionate about my involvement with the community. I was afraid when I left the Reformer I would lose that connection. It's pretty fantastic that here at In-Sight I can continue working with the people of Brattleboro.”