Staff, Instructors & Affiliated Artists

One of the most extraordinary and inspiring aspects of the Art House is that it has flowered because of the sheer quantity and quality of time and care given by so many volunteers. The Art House staff runs almost entirely on a volunteer basis (along with some bartering of skills).   It is a profound statement about how the quality of human connections can, collectively, bring to life a truly inspired space for ceative work and interaction.

We understand our collective future to be something defined by the quality international and intercultural relations we share. We see the Art House as a meeting ground for these relations to form. Through international artistic collaborations we can learn from one another and begin to explore a new definition of ourselves as human beings.

Founder, Director, and Resident Artist

Todd's background represents a 15-year process of integrating the arts with intercultural education and community development. In 1993, Todd completed his BA in Fine Arts at the University of Vermont with an independent study in Spain through the School for International Training. To balance his artistic training he simultaneously pursued studies in African and African American literature and political history. After graduating, Todd enrolled in training programs for Health Realization, further developing as a youth educator and group facilitator. In 1998 he came to San Francisco where he continued Health Realization work in correctional facilities and centers for domestic violence education and recovery. Originally with the intention of co-founding a Health Realization practice, he enrolled in and graduated from, the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center's Business Training Program, acquiring skills that would later prove invaluable. Throughout this entire period Todd was delving deeply into dance/music studies of Cuban and Haitian folkloric traditions, as well as Argentine tango. In 2001 he co-founded the SF sister project of Argentine-based dance/street theater group, Tango Protesta, later to be named, in SF, the Milonga Masala Tango Project. It was at this time, through transforming his garage and garden into an interdisciplinary cultural meeting space, that one can see the seeds for what has now evolved to be the Red Poppy Art House and the MAPP (Mission Arts & Performance Project). As an artist, Todd has been painting for 19 years. He was recently recognized in SF Weekly's Best of the Bay as one of the MasterMinds 2006 Honorees for outstanding artists in the bay area.

"In seeing the impact that the Art House has had, as small as it is, on the lives of so many people, I realize now more than ever how deeply we need spaces that offer us a wider and more connected feeling of being in the world. People often say the Art House has a kind of magic. I see it as the very pulse of life within us; as individuals, as artists, as members of families. We need spaces that invite us to feel that pulse and its creative force. It makes us shine, makes us radiant, like plants that just keep growing and growing. And it just so happens that the arts represent one of the most open, least ideological paths for this growth. Our cultural expressions flower naturally with its presence."

Languages: English & Spanish

Managing Director

Hetal Patel has been working in corporate America since graduating from college, learning many skills along the way. She has always been looking for something that has more meaning to her and where she actually feels like the work she is doing matters. Working at the Red Poppy is exactly what she's been looking for. Her background is in Marketing, Finance and Event Planning. She graduated from Boston University with a Bachelors in Business with a concentration in Marketing and Finance. In San Francisco she has worked at Marketing Drive (now Rivet Global) as an Account Executive, and later focused on online marketing and sales support at Education Finance Partners, a private student loan company. She is now ready to combine the skills she has learned with her passion for art and her enthusiasm and love for the Art House. As Managing Director, Hetal will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the art house, including grant writing, staff development, finances, and much more.

"Everyone loves music, and everyone who comes to the Poppy loves its energy and spirit. That's not the only reason I want to be here though. What I love even more is what happens to people when they hear music, see art, or experience performance that speaks to them. I love watching people change in a positive way when they walk through the Red Poppy doors. The audience and artists engage in a deep dialogue, whether by the exchange of energy during a show or a conversation afterward, and that is the most rewarding part for me. As Managing Director, what I want to do most is cultivate an environment where people have the opportunity to explore creativity in the way that is most exhilarating for them."

Languages: Gujarati & English

Performing Arts Program Coordinator

Volunteer Coordinator

in a late-night conversation, usually reserved for idle backporch chatter, but this time over skype, my friend and i tried to sort out what kept us going, what was that light shining our path. having met months before while backpacking, we were now separated by many thousands of miles and languages, so our words were simple. finally, i stammered, "love and beauty. that's my light." a bit surer: "and if you can share that with a friend, its brilliant."

some months later, i found myself at the poppy for the first time, with my same dear friend. we exchanged knowing smiles, no need to say a word. a spontaneous community formed for that one evening, in appreciation of the dance and the sound of flamenco. i was hooked. i became the volunteer coordinator a few months later.

outside of the poppy, i work as a financial advisor to low-income housing developers, and am learning how to incorporate and finance green building. prior to this work, i completed my masters, and also spent nearly a decade in both software and electrical engineering. i am a wonk at heart, and am easily sucked in to any conversation about housing economics, social enterprise, and sustainability. i try to make time to hike, play cello, and be wonky. and breathe.

languages: english. i have mastered the "adorable" level of spanish, some noches below fluent.

Family Art Assistant Coordinator

Languages: Amharic, English & Spanish

Gallery Coordinator and Website Administrator

Diane's passion for musical expression has cultivated over 20 years of working in the music industry. As the National Sales Director for Putumayo World Music she was responsible for the sales and marketing of the record label in the U.S. and Canada.

Diane has an enthusiasm for expanding the awareness and breaking down the barriers between different cultures by means of music and art. She has currently returned to school to study art history, with an emphasis in Buddhist Temple architecture, at the University of California, Berkeley. She has made many pilgrimages to the temples and shrines of Japan.

Editor

Emailer Coordinator

Aimee studies Political Rhetoric within the Communications department at SFSU. She enjoys bike rides, tea, Mexican pottery clay, birds, dancing and her morning paper. Friends, music, art and literature make her really, really happy.

Book Keeper

Resident Artist-Director Aid

Languages: Spanish & English

Assistant Editor & Publicist

Workshop Coordinator

Angela is a research analyst for the California labor union United Healthcare Workers West. She holds a BA in Economics with a concentration in Public Policy from Lewis & Clark College in Portland Oregon. In Portland, she spent several years working with various non-profits on fair trade, workers’ rights, and international labor issues.

Angela’s artistic experience includes theatre, piano, clarinet, and voice. She has performed in dozens of stage productions, helped to write full-length plays and musicals, and directed the Vagina Monologues through the Lewis & Clark College Womyn’s Center. She has spent years constructing theatre sets and designing and running stage lights. Additionally, she worked three years as the publicity and design coordinator for the Lewis and Clark College Theatre Department. Angela’s passion is singing: she is a guitarist and singer/songerwriter (in both English and Mandarin Chinese) and performs locally around San Francisco.

Languages: English & Mandarin

The Art House gives special thanks to Alexander Allende , Todd's original partner, whose personal commitment, friendship, renovation skills, and extensive labor, was essential in getting the Art House off the ground. And to Mark Eisner , founder of Red Poppy (501c3), who partnered with Todd during the second year while producing Festival Neruda . Mark's   generous support carried the Art House through a time of great vulnerability. You can visit Mark and learn about his work on the life and poetry of Pablo Neruda at www.redpoppy.net.

Since its first days the Art House it has survived and thrived on the direct support of so many friends and volunteers who together with Todd, Alex and Mark, made it happen. Their names include: Clara Cheeves (intern, art teacher, sidewalk mural), Elwyn Crawford (intern/curator), Koch (art installation & frame and piano donation), Nyarkoa Yaa Mensah (for loving guidance and rekindling the spirit), Fernando Perez (carpentry/framing), Alexandra Rodriguez (intern), Elyse Hogue (spirits), Michelle Amador and the True Believers (for a year's commitment to playing jazz at the Art House), Riaz Abdulla (concert support and piano serenades), Chris Studley (lighting), Frances Vieras (event coordinator & hostess with the mostest), Luis Vasquez-Gomez (Reiki sessions), Manuel Trujillo (Noches Bohemias), Eric Flanniken (Carpentry/Catoring), Veronica Solis (support & community outreach), Susana Aragon (art teacher), Jim (skill saw & heater), DJ Lamont Young, Rennea Couttenye & Ritmo de Cascabel, Jef Stot & Soozyq, Techung, Yumi Thomas, Guitar Box Story, the Zach Hash Trio, the Wiatt Grant Trio, (for donating their performances at our benefits), RUPA (for her assistance at our events, for researching sound equipment, and for donating proceeds from her concert), Carmen (flowers from the corner), Denhi (Friday bread/tapas & Marvelous flower arrangements), Alexandra Jones and Leda (for their good taste & commitment to supporting the arts), John (donation of the printing press and canvases) Indira Urrutia, Ella Noe, Susana, Diana Suarez, and Aaron Keirbel and all the other volunteers (performance night support), Eric Moffat (mics & recording assistance), Marcus Shelby (for spreading the word in the press), La Tania (offering free flamenco to the community), Chelis Lopez at KPOO, Michelle Gutierrez and Alfonso Tuxedor at El Techolote, Rene Yanez at SOMARTS, Alexandra Post (updating our emailer), Alexandra Rodriguez (intern/admin), Alexa Fabrega (for her extensive hours dedicated to PR and her for crucial role in the development of our performance series), and, of course, our families who supported us through it all, and our neighbors Maria (with her family) and Rene (with his family) who patiently put up with us. Todd would like to thank everyone else whose names are not here but whose contributions, in talent, time, goods, or monetary assistance, have helped the Art House hold its course. Todd would also like to thank Beverley Deberry-Cannady, whose friendship, courage, and guidance served as a living example in learning to trust in what has yet to be known or seen.