The Fresh Arts Team

Executive Director

ANGELA CARRANZA

Angela Carranza is a dedicated nonprofit arts leader with a strong background in project and program management. She currently serves as the Executive Director of Fresh Arts after holding several positions at the organization since 2011. She is a cum laude graduate of the University of Houston with a BA in Art History and a minor in Studio Arts with a concentration in ceramics. Prior to Fresh Arts, Angela spent a decade in the interior design industry as a small business manager and designer focused on art-centric styling solutions and provided a range of services including decorative painting, furniture design, and event planning.

A lover of art adventures, hot dogs, and the Beatles, Angela is also an active community volunteer having served on committees for United Way of Houston, the Mayor’s Millennial Advisory Board for the City of Houston, and currently serves on the executive board for Barrio Dogs. Angela is also a mom to a Beatles-loving preschooler, two rescue dogs + two cats, and shares a life of laughter with her husband, a former chef, who endures her love of hot dogs.

Accounting + Operations Manager​

MICAH SALINAS

Micah Salinas is a painter and visual artist with over a decade of experience in the Houston arts community. Her work has been featured in International Art Fund/Luz Art Gallery and in press across Houston. In her years of working as a freelance artist, she discovered a deep rooted passion for helping artists thrive in their careers. In 2020 she founded The Weekend Pop-Up Gallery, a nonprofit that hosts art shows and supports local businesses across the city at no expense to the artist. With her new position as Operations Manager at Fresh Arts, she is dedicated to fulfill her dream of seeing Houston artists across the city become the most fruitful and successful in the U.S. She is the mother of two, a lover of 60’s jazz, and all things quirky!

Grant Writer + Fiscal Sponsorship Manager

JULIA BARBOSA LANDOIS

Julia Barbosa Landois is a visual artist and performer with over a decade of experience working in the arts as an educator, exhibitions coordinator, and art-handler. She holds a BFA in Painting with a minor in Women and Gender Studies from the University of Texas at San Antonio and an MFA in Sculpture/New Media from the University of Pennsylvania. Her work has been featured in galleries, museums, and performance festivals in the USA, Latin America, and Europe, and her awards include residencies at the Santa Fe Art Institute, Lademoen Kunstnerverksteder (Norway), and Künstlerhaus Bethanien (Germany). Landois was a 2018-2019 Studio Resident at the Lawndale Art Center and received a grant from the National Association of Latino Arts & Cultures in 2019 to co-create MantecaHTX, the nation’s first online directory of Latinx creatives. Her passion for empowering local artists is why she enjoys writing grants to help Fresh Arts do its vital work in the Houston creative community.

Program + Marketing Manager

DARAL MOORE-WASHINGTON

Daral Moore-Washington is an emerging arts administration leader with experience in project management, event planning, and social media management, with interests in graphic design, strategic planning, and workflow optimization. She is a recent graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, earning a Master in Arts Management and holds a BA in Fine Arts from the University of Houston-Downtown. As Program + Marketing Manager she is responsible for managing program resources and logistics while facilitating brand and content distribution on all audience facing platforms. Since 2017, Daral has held several part time positions at Fresh Arts, ranging from Artist Resource Intern to Special Events Assistant, and most recently Marketing + Communications Coordinator.  If you ever want to spark a conversation with her, color theory, anime, and bullet journaling are excellent starting points.

Cultural Arts Manager

NICOLE PERALTA

As a recent graduate of the Artist INC program, Nicole Peralta returns to Fresh Arts to serve as the Cultural Arts Manager. In her newly created position for the organization, Nicole manages the cultural initiatives for Arts District Houston which will include strategic planning, marketing, public arts programming and community building. Nicole comes to Fresh Arts with 12 years of experience in constituent relations, community engagement, fundraising and event planning with a variety of Houston-based nonprofits including Rice University and the Houston Symphony. She is a graduate of Austin College with a BA in English and a minor in biology and has a Nonprofit Management Certification from the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. Prior to Fresh Arts, Nicole has been a multidisciplinary artist and yoga teacher for 8 years. Her teaching experiences combine wellness, creativity and mindfulness, and she has led workshops and retreats in Houston, Mexico, Guatemala and Colombia. She enjoys spending time drawing in her art journal, running the trails at Memorial Park, and traveling to Latin America.

Communications Coordinator

JADE BOLDENOW

Jade is an emerging artist in the world of theatre and film, specializing in costume, prop, and set design. In 2022, She received her BA in Theatre Design & Technology from San Diego State University. So far, she has helped create dozens of stage plays, a few short films, and one feature film, and she continues frequently hop on new projects that excite her. She is inspired by whimsical campiness and dark surrealism and is motivated by creating better representation and work conditions in the industry. Alongside her production work, Jade is also building a career in content marketing. She is particularly interested in serving small businesses and nonprofits within the areas of art, entertainment, culture, and social justice. In the last two years, she's helped to develop and implement numerous comprehensive strategies for creating content and managing engagement. Some of her favorite clients and collaborators so far have included: Pacific Arts Movement—hosts of the internationally acclaimed San Diego Asian Film Festival, Antifragile Zine, and now, Fresh Arts! In both her production design and marketing work, Jade is super passionate about helping fellow artists share their message and bring their vision into reality.

Board of Directors 2023

Matthew Kelley (President), Market Square Companies

Jackie Staple, (Vice-President)Jackson Walker LLP

James Phelan (Treasurer), Entrepreneur

Tina Zulu (Secretary), Zulu Creative + Kimono Zulu

Marita Fairbanks, Community Leader and founder of Fresh Arts Coalition*

Jocelyn Gutierrez, Rice MBA

Isabelle “Bella” Kafarela, Kinder Morgan

Edgar Medina, Visual Artist

Ross Muramaru, Amazon

Andrea Parker, DEBNER

Jennifer Perrin, Lumen Technologies 

Austin Thomas, Jackson Walker LLP

John Thrash, eCORP International LLC

Rassul Zarinfar, Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co.

 

*Fresh Arts is the result of a 2012 merger between Spacetaker and Fresh Arts Coalition.