Advisory Board

In Memoriam, Moe Brooker

Moe was a member of our honorary board since its inception. Moe was a great artist, teacher and friend...a fine man who inspired so many others! Moe's paintings really represented his soul- colorful, well composed, rhythmic and commanding. Moe was a living example of what it means to be a truly great artist, and we were so privileged to have known him. The world lost a wonderful man, artist, teacher, friend.

He will always be in our hearts and his paintings are here for posterity...Gone but never forgotten! ♡RIP

Thora Jacobson (She/Her) - Co-Chair, Visual Arts Management Consultant

Thora is a visual arts management consultant focusing on systems development, program design, and strategic planning. She is also an independent curator, having organized in 2019 an exhibition at InLiquid of materials-based artists who have taught in Philadelphia area art schools and influenced generations of students. In September 2020, she juried CRAFT! – Da Vinci’s first contemporary all-craft exhibition in its 89-year history.

She retired from full time employment in January 2018 when the Philadelphia Art Alliance, where she had been Executive Director for four years, became part of the University of the Arts. For three years prior to her tenure at the Art Alliance, she worked at Mural Arts Philadelphia where she served as Director of Design Review and managed the development and publication of Mural Arts @ 30 that examined the development and expansion of the organization over its first 30 years.

Prior to that, Jacobson conducted a small research project for the Social Impact of the Arts Project at the University of Pennsylvania on “natural” cultural districts and created a strategic plan for the Asian Arts Initiative. From the end of 2008 to June 2010 Thora served as Chief Operating Officer at Mural Arts for two years and for three years before that, she was COO for the inaugural iteration of Philagrafika 2010, the first international festival of the printed image in Philadelphia. From 1972 to 2006, she was on staff of Philadelphia’s Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial, serving as its Chief Executive Officer for 23 of those years.

She was the Chair of the Philadelphia Art Commission from 1992 to 2001 and was a Trustee and Officer of the National Guild of Community Arts Education from 2005 to 2009. In 2006, Jacobson was honored by Tri-State Artists Equity for her service to the arts community, and also by Moore College of Art and Design with the Visionary Woman Award which she shared with art historian Linda Nochlin and the late photographer Mary Ellen Mark.

David Acosta (He/Him) - DVAA Board President Emeritus, Artistic Director of Casa De Duende

David Acosta is a poet, writer, curator and cultural organizer. For 40 years and counting, he has directed his passion for social and economic justice into work. He was a co-founder of the Philadelphia Latin American Film Festival, directed shows for First Person Arts, and performed at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. He currently serves on the Artist Advisory board of Taller Puertorriqueño, a member of the board of the Philadelphia Cultural Alliance and a founding member of the international artist collective Dissident Bodies with members in the USA, Mexico, Colombia, and India. David is a member of the Dislocada artist collective in Philadelphia and cofounder alongside artist, poet, and writer Susan DiPronio of Wicked Gay Ways a literary and arts journal devoted to queer erotica.

Ona Kalstein (She/Her) - DVAA Board Member Emeritus, Former Assistant Head of the Free Library of Philadelphia's Central Library Art Department

Ona Kalstein has been a DVAA member since 2007 and served on the Board of Directors from 2008 - 2023. She served as the Secretary of DVAA’s board from 2014-2023. Her inspirations span Matisse, Brancusi, and Guatemalan, West African, and Indonesian textile weavers, designers, and dyers. She loves to dance, draw, go to events at DVAA, and is looking forward to when she can travel the world again. She’s currently working on a big project with Alexandria Q, whose editor wants to publish a book of Ona’s drawings.  

Jennifer-Navva Milliken (She/Her) - Executive Director & Chief Curator of The Museum for Art in Wood

Prior to Jennifer-Navva’s arrival at the Center, she served as an embedded staff member in international art museums, as an independent curator, and as the founder of a cross-disciplinary art space. Her exhibitions have been presented in museums, art fairs, galleries, and unconventional spaces, and her writings have been included in exhibition catalogues, anthologies, and publications that investigate and critique the intersecting fields of art, craft, and design. With a global perspective, honed through a life split between two continents, she is driven by the extraordinary power of the arts to challenge preconceptions and bridge divides.

Rachel Zimmerman (She/Her) - Executive Director of Inliquid

Zimmerman graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Photography. She established Rachel Zimmerman Photography in 1994 with a concentration on black and white printing and medical photography. In 2000 Zimmerman formed Studio Z which offers both print and web design, diversifying the services offered to clients and creating a team driven work environment.

In 1999 Zimmerman founded InLiquid to increase community and visibility for independent artists; the site now has approximately 316 members, which includes artists from across the country. In her role as Executive Director of InLiquid, she has created opportunities for independent artists and arts organizations, not only through the web site but through a series of curated gallery exhibitions in various locations (including the Crane Arts Building, International House, Painted Bride Art Center, the Nexus Community Gallery, the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, west elm, URBN, and the corporate offices of the Sundance Channel) and through events such as “Art For the Cash Poor," the annual Silent Auction, and CAF (Community Arts Festival). She has served on numerous committees, including Philagrafika, MANNA’s “A Show of Hands” auction, and The Print Center auction. Currently, she serves on the Fractured Atlas Council, The Night Market Advisory Council, and advisory committees for Design Philadelphia, Fiber Philadelphia, and the art advisory committee of CFEVA. She is a member of Arttable and is also on the executive board of the Old City Arts Association, the board of the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, and is an alumna of Leadership Philadelphia. In 2008 Zimmerman was named one of the region’s “Top 101 Emerging Connectors” and in 2011 was named one of the "76 Creative Connectors" through studies conducted by Leadership Philadelphia.

Zimmerman’s photography is held in a number of permanent collections, including the George Eastman House Museum in Rochester, NY. She has had exhibits at the LG Trip gallery and the Wallingford Community Arts Center.