2024 Ada Arts Council Board

Board Member Since 2017 | President

Erin Canada-West

Erin Canada-West (she/they) has been a massage therapist for 14+ years and a lifelong lover and collector of the art. She spends time doing art projects with her daughter and learning new art and craft techniques on her own. Although she has no formal art training beyond public school she has a deep appreciation for the power and beauty of art in all it’s forms. She has been on the Ada Arts Council Board for 5+ years and is the current Vice President.

Board Member Since 2024 | Vice President

Alexandra Aguirre

Aguirre is an adjunct instructor of Flute and Piano at ECU. She teaches all the flute students and some piano students at ECU, and coaches the ECU flute ensemble. Aguirre also coordinates the annual student Concerto Competition and collaboratively runs a woodwind studio class. Her favorite part about teaching is “watching students learn, change and grow. I couldn’t be more grateful to be a part of that process.” A piece of advice she would give aspiring artists is “Learn as much as you can, and be prepared to fail. Don’t let the failures chip away at your optimism, and persevere.”

Board Member Since 2020 | Secretary

Ashlee Ray

Ashlee Ray (she/her) is a current Exhibits and Gallery Coordinator and has a B.A. in Art History with a minor in Anthropology from the University of North Texas and a M.A. in Museum Studies from the University of Oklahoma. During her graduate career she interned at various Dallas museums including the Nasher Sculpture Center and Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum. At the same time, she also took part in multiple summer archeology fieldwork courses in Mississippi (the Chickasaw homelands). While studying her focus remained on Southeastern indigenous art, as a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, and as an artist this has heavily influenced her own style and creative process. Her current work focuses on digital illustration and utilizing Southeastern First American iconography with modern graphic styles.

Board Member Since 2024 | Treasurer

Julia Rumley

Julia Rumley (she/her) currently works in banking but in her free time can be found kayaking, gardening, taking photos, baking and spending quality time with family. She enjoys "being apart of an organization that fosters connection and community involvement".  Julia is a receiver of an organ transplant, which has made her an avid advocate for organ, eye, tissue donors! #DonateLife

Board Member Since 2017

Michelle Lastrina

Michelle Lastrina (she/her) is originally from Wethersfield, CT.  In 2006, she earned a BA with a major in Mathematics and minor in Studio Art from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA.  She then went on to earn a PhD in Mathematics from Iowa State University in 2012.  After one year as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA, she moved to Ada, OK where she now lives and works as an Associate Professor of Mathematics at East Central University.  While most of her career in higher education has focused on mathematics, Lastrina also has a background in art and particularly enjoys the beauty and interdisciplinary nature of mathematical art.  As a student she was thrilled to have the opportunity to take a Math Sculpture course at Smith College in Northampton, MA and as a professor she enjoys incorporating artistic visualizations into the various mathematics courses that she teaches to university students.  As a board member and current President of the Ada Arts Council, Lastrina hopes to spread her passion for art throughout the Ada community and she is very excited to be involved with the Council's developing Art Box project for area school

Board Member Since 2019

Kellie Cooper-Turner

Kellie Cooper-Turner (she/her) is originally from southern Arkansas, moved to Oklahoma in 2002. She and her husband, Nate, a local blacksmith, came to Ada in 2010 for Kellie to pursue a degree in Graphic Arts at East Central University. In 2014 she became a Graphic Designer for the Chickasaw Nation and decided to make Ada her permanent home. Since coming to Ada, she has witnessed first-hand the growing involvement of the community in local art, music, and theater which, in turn, has moved her to become more involved, herself. She soon started participating in local music shows and even acted for the first time with the Chickasaw Nation Theater Company in 2016. “With the local passion for the arts continuing to grow, it’s a great time to be an Adan Artist.

Board Member Since 2023

Anne Capshaw-Howard

Anne Capshaw-Howard (she/her) moved to Ada in 2007 to go to ECU on a music scholarship for the oboe where she met her now husband. Growing up she was involved in band, orchestra, choir, drama, and mixed media arts. Being surrounded by music and other arts has made a huge impact on her life and she wants to help promote more in the community. Anne was a floral designer for three years at Ada Forget Me Not Floral before becoming a stay at home mom in 2018. During the pandemic she picked up cross stitch and has enjoyed finding a new outlet to create art for herself and to share with others

Board Member Since 2020

Cynthia Mellon-Parsons

Cynthia Mellon-Parsons (she/they) graduated from East Central University with a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications. She has worked as a graphic designer for the Chickasaw Nation Arts & Humanities Division for almost 10 years. She assists with classes on gorget carving and antiquity-era Mississippian iconography. Cynthia's Taurusean passion for the visual arts, music, and dancing started at a young age. She began painting with acrylics -- on either found objects or canvas -- at the age of 13, entering art shows and contests throughout high school. She has taken lessons in both belly dancing (American cabaret and American tribal style) and ballet in her adult years. Above all, Cynthia is an avid consumer of the arts in all forms, particularly styles that lean on the dark and surreal side. She enjoys alternative dance music, long neighborhood walks, playing tennis and golf, traveling, architecture, Gilded Age history, and all things strange and unusual.

Board Member Since 2023

Dr. Audra Cook

A native of Oklahoma, Dr. Cook (she/her) is a board-certified family medicine physician with over 16 years of experience serving patients of all ages and backgrounds. Dr. Cook received both her undergraduate and medical degrees from Oklahoma University, and she completed her residency in family medicine at the OU Department of Family Medicine in 2005. She then went on to practice in Duncan and Moore, OK before moving to Ada, OK in 2014 where she served patients at Mercy Clinic.

Dr. Cook lives in Ada with her husband, Clint, and their three sons, Keith, Blake, and Caleb. When she's not serving her patients, she can be found cheering on her boys on the baseball field and basketball court, or cooking, gardening, and enjoying the outdoors.

Board Member Since 2023

Erica V. Eppler

Erica V. Eppler (she/her) is a proud Mississippi Choctaw, Shoshone-Bannock, Irish,and Lithuanian mixed human. A love of art and learning empowered her to graduate with honors from East Central University and achieve a Bachelors in Fine Arts. She is a member of the Ada Arts Council and volunteers her time to help the local art community flourish. She has received several awards for her art and has had art displayed in galleries. In her spare time she can be found in the garden with her chickens or spending quality time with family.

Board Member Since 2024

Dr. Dezarae Leto

Dezarae Leto (she/her) is an experienced arts professional with over two decades of involvement in theater, film, runway, and portfolio work. Since relocating, I have been actively engaged with the Ada Shakespeare Theater Company. Additionally, I am the proud owner of Ada Arts & Crafts, LLC. This versatile and ambitious business not only hosts a variety of eclectic art workshops but also fuels a FREE educational art series for the youth, making arts accessible for all! Sponsored by Ada Arts Council, Ada Public Library, and local female-owned and operated businesses!

Board Member Since 2024

Destiny Green

Destiny J. Green (she/her) is an Oklahoma-based artist residing within the Chickasaw Nation. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Texas at Austin and has completed a residency with the School of Visual Arts. Green’s artistic practice has extended across many media and disciplines including lithographic printmaking, paper and fiber sculpture, digital video, and digital photography. Her photography illustrates transitional space, temporal distance, states of paramnesia, and the uncanny utilizing light and digital media manipulation. Green is the proud mother of two brilliant children.

Board Member Since 2024

Kristen Nickell

Krsiten Nickell (she/her) moved to Ada in 2003 to attend ECU's outstanding nursing program. She has lived and worked here since then primarily in home health. She is currently the (RN) Branch Director at Enhabit Home Health. She has been married 17yrs and has 2 children who attend Ada schools. She says her favorite form of art is theatre and is really excited to help promote all arts in our community and expand our outreach. While making time and space for artists to come together, inspire and create.