Welcome the Greater Lawrence Fellowship of the Arts
OUR MISSION
The Greater Lawrence Fellowship of the Arts is committed to providing a safe, nurturing, and creatively charged environment for the youth and young adults of our Lawrence community. Our mission is twofold: to cultivate artistic imagination and to facilitate healing through diverse art forms. We achieve this by incorporating practices such as journaling, mindful breathing, and other exercises, ensuring that each individual gains the most from their artistic experience. Furthermore we meet people where they are, accompanying them as they embark on their creative journeys.
Greater Lawrence Fellowship of the Arts, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
OUR VISION
Our vision is to foster a vibrant and inclusive community in Lawrence, empowering young people and adults alike to explore, express, and heal through the transformative power of the arts. We weave mindfulness and meditative techniques into our approach, supporting individuals on their healing journeys.
Board of Directors
Maurisa Charest
Vice President
Jake Zeigler
Director of Government
Letty Lo
Director of Culture & Education
Maggie Andrulis
Secretary
GLFA Advisory Board & Volunteer
An Advisory Board Member is a volunteer who will assist GLFA in achieving objectives. During your time with GLFA, we appreciate your experience in financial, professional, and personal resources that can be used to benefit the organization.
Lesly Melendez
Lesly brings years of business, nonprofit, government, and community activism to her work. As someone who has this breadth of experience, she is considered a change agent, facilitator, and organizer. As a community weaver, Lesly brings her passion for collaboration, community, and equity to the forefront of her work. She brings a unique perspective to what is needed by people of color to advance in the professional world. Lesly brings her love of writing, community, and civic engagement to this effort.
Jim Henderson
Jonathan Guzman
Jonathan has been involved in the arts since he was a child. Throughout his life, art has temporarily removed him from reality, allowing him to express his emotions, and build on the various aspects of who he is and what he might become. The Pablo Casals Escuela Especializada en Bellas Artes was one of the most prestigious art schools in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, where he studied his academics and art until moving to Lawrence in 2010.
Loida Dominguez
Loida Dominguez, is also the CEO of a Women’s Empowerment brand called, The Empowered Mother. She’s a life coach and mentor, a singer songwriter and the published author of, The Awakened Winners. She uses all of these tools to better support people to awaken to deeper layers of love within themselves.
She is a single mother of a magnificent young man by the name of, Nicholis King Joy. Her son was born with Down Syndrome, he’s been her inspiration and he is the light of her life. She is a devoted and loving mother, that creates change in the way people perceive individuals that need extra support. She offers a perspective of unconditional love and is committed to this being her life’s journey.
She’s also Vegan, in support of the well being of animals as sentient beings. She is passionate about speaking for those that can’t speak for themselves. She’s devoted to being the change she wants to see in the world and is committed to leaving the world better than when she came
Michelle M. Aguillon (she/her/hers)
Michelle is an AAPI theater artist who has directed, acted, designed, and produced in the Boston area for over 25 years. She has directed at Newburyport Arts Center, the Umbrella Stage Company, Chuang Stage Co, Off-Kendrik, Hope Rep Company, Company One, Central Square Theater, Emerson College, the Lyric, Speakeasy, Vokes Players, Theater Uncorked, Arlington Friends, Concord Players, and Hovey Players.
Directing credits include In The Heights, Appropriate, The Elephant Man, Dancing at Lughnasa, Natural Shocks, By The Way Meet Vera Stark, Middleton Heights (World Premiere), Dracula – A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Fences, Joy Luck Club, Disgraced, To Kill a Mockingbird, True West, Piano Lesson, Passion, the Annual Asian-American Playwright Collective Annual Play Festival 2020-2024, Augusta and Noble, Vietgone, Proof, Clybourne Park, Terra Nova, Of Mice and Men, Sense and Sensibility, Miss Saigon, Secret Garden, Rabbit Hole, Marjorie Prime, The Pillowman, Kimberly Akimbo, Looking for Normal, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and G.R. Point.
Upcoming productions where she will be directing are: Yellow Face at Footlight Club, The Kittie Knox Plays with Plays in Place, and Once On This Island with Arlington Friends of the Drama. Michelle is the Executive Director at the Creative Arts School in Reading. She studied acting and theater at San Francisco State University and the National Theater of London. Michelle recently served as the Director of DEI with the Eastern MA Association of Community Theaters (‘21-23). Michelle is also a writer with the Asian American Playwright Collective of Boston; her short plays have been produced by the Annual Boston Theater Marathon