GFA Announces New Board Members for 2024–2025

Welcome new board members

Gasparilla Festival of the Arts is pleased to welcome ten members to the Voting Board of Directors. GFA warmly welcomes Cindy Banua, Sean Patrick Bevil, Kimberli Cummings, Eileen Goldenberg, Rebecca Hagen, Charlie Kemmerer, Jacob Labutka, Maxine Stull and Jenn Versaggi to its esteemed Board of Directors. Eric Page was elected to a second term on the Board. Cindy will serve as Board Secretary this year.

Let’s take a closer look at the accomplished individuals who have joined the Board or been elected to officer positions:

Cindy Banua – New Board Member and incoming Secretary:
As a (architectrual/interior) designer, Cindy manages all aspects of projects from documentation to installation and has worked with Art programs and galleries. As Co-chair, she grew her understanding of the planning, logistics and funding required for large scale arts projects.

Sean Patrick Bevil – New Board Member:
Sean is an attorney with Shumaker, but its his love of the arts that bring him to GFA. As musician (piano, singing), Sean appreciates the value that art can bring to enrich a person’s life. He is drawn to GFA because he wished to support the Tampa Bay area’s artists and to provide our local community with a vital cultural asset in the annual festival. 

Kimberli Cummings – New Board Member:
Kimberli is an award-winning studio artist (ceramics), and was a Local Artist Spotlight featured artist at the Raymond James Gasparilla Festival of the Arts. Community engagement is most important to Kimberli, and she has spent her life connecting with people in the arts and local politics. I enjoy reaching out to elected officials for help and guidance when the need calls. Kimberli earned a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from the University of South Florida, she performed in sitcoms, commercials, theatre productions, and taught acting for several years before leaning heavily into clay in 1991.

Eileen Goldenberg – New Board Member
A practicing artist, Eileen has attended the festival since the ’70’s, and purchased her very first artwork there. She has created public art pieces and donated many works for charity auctions.She has written and illustrated a children’s book and illustrated three others. Eileen donates more than her talent, she donates time by working with Equality Florida, Planned Parenthood, Tampa Aids Network, St. Joseph’s Hospital and many others. She feels privileged to be able to give back to the community.

 Rebecca Hagen – New Board Member:
Rebecca is a professional graphic designer, former college professor and published author. She has been a GFA volunteer since 2018 when she helped the Load-In/Load Out team with the Artist Information Packet. She designed and built the new GFA website, which was launched ahead of the 54th Annual Festival. When she isn’t at her computer working on client projects, Rebecca dabbles in photography, drawing (pastel), calligraphy, watercolor painting and paper crafts. 

 Charlie Kemmerer – New Board Member:
Charlie is the President of CRMPlus Consulting, Inc,, a business consulting firm specializing in Client Resource Management. For the past year he served as a member of the Development, Marketing, and the Unofficial Technology committees as well as serving as the Chairman of the Ad-hoc Collectors Krewe committee and Board advisor. Charlie is passionate about the festival’s commitment to promoting and celebrating the arts in our community.

 Jacob Labutka – New Board Member:
Jacob Labutka s planning manager for the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) and brings extensive grant writing skills to GFA. Jacob is a long-time volunteer, sharing his talents and enthusiasm with the Planning Committee and Artist Hospitality. He looks forward to serving on the board with the organization that has deepened his passion for fostering a local culture that values and supports artists.

Eric Page – Re-Elected Board Member:
Eric Page is an attorney at Shutts & Bowen, LLP in Tampa. His love of the arts comes from growing up in a home where the arts, in many different forms, played a major part in family life. A returning board member, Eric attended his first festival in 2004. He’s been attending and making art purchases ever since, Eric has been a member of the Collector’s Krewe and currently heads GFA’s Development Committee.

 Maxine Stull – New Board Member:
Maxine Stull is a third-generation Tampa native and real-estate professional, and she knows that a community’s cultural offerings are a key element to a community’s desirability. Maxine has watched GFA grow from a sidewalk art show in the 1970s to the vibrant cultural festival it is today. With her extensive connections, she is excited to work with the Development Committee to bring in new avenues of support for GFA.

Jenn Versaggi – New Board Member:
An insurance industry professional, Jennifer Versaggi is a long-time volunteer with GFA and was a Co-Chair of the 54th Annual Festival. Her professional and volunteer activities have given her extensive experience in fundraising and risk management. She has worked with, and lead, the GFA Load-in/Load out committee since 2018, and will be working with the Development Committee going into our 55th year.

GFA would also like to express its heartfelt gratitude to the outgoing leadership, who have played pivotal roles in GFA’s achievements.

Karen Price, outgoing President; Jeff Nader, outgoing Vice President (now President); and Sandra Sroka, outgoing Treasurer, have provided dynamic and committed leadership to the organization. The Festival Co-Chairs, Adam Nichols, and Cindy Banua and Jenn Versaggi, deserve special recognition for their passion and dedication in making GFA 54 a record-breaking year.

The flavor and success of the 54th Annual Gasparilla Festival of the Arts were captured in our Festival Recap Video. View the video on our YouTube channel.

Blanket Approval

Blanket Approval is a 4-piece indie rock band from New York City. They formed in 2021 when lead singer Jack Matteucci took a collection of demos recorded in the basement of his physics lab, moved to Brooklyn, and met drummer/singer Joey Hadden. The two were later joined by bassist Max Mena and keyboardist/guitarist/singer Rahul Chakraborty.  The group has played dozens of shows around New York City and the Northeast, from Burlington to Baltimore. They’ve released 10 singles to date, blending hard rock with tight melodies and groovy bass lines; drawing from influences like Portugal. The Man and Franz Ferdinand.

The Savants

The Savants are a nine piece southern soul group from Gainesville, FL. They perform original soul music inspired by the Muscle Shoals Sound as well as the iconic and legendary music that came out of labels like Stax Records and Atlantic Records during the 1960s & 1970s.

Formed in 2011 in Gainesville, FL, the group has undergone several personal changes over the years but settled into its current lineup around 2020.

The band has made its presence felt around the southeast, notably playing Red Gorilla at SXSW in 2017, Suwannee Hulaween in 2016 and Changeville in its hometown in 2018 and 2016. Along the way they have been featured alongside groups such as; Gary Clark Jr., Durand Jones and the Indications, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Kendra Morris, Charles Bradley and His Extraordinares, George Porter Jr of the Meters, The Original Wailers, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Postmodern Jukebox and more.

TV Breakup Scene

Tv Breakup Scene is an indie pop punk band from Tampa, FL inspired by Paramore with a gaze-y twist. After a year of writing they finally made their debut with their new release Troubled Mind!

Nick Ewing

Music’s ability to release energy within us is overwhelming. Capturing moments of emotion and expression to elicit that reaction is such a joyful honor. It’s allowed me to connect, create, and cultivate so many beautiful experiences. Let this be with you… Cheers!

Mia Marlene

Danish-American, California-born, and Florida-raised multi-instrumentalist Mia Marlene offers a vibrant sonic world through her indie pop music, which is infused with hues of 1980’s synth pop and lush, captivating melodies. Her self-produced debut album, “good for my art,”  features songs about living abroad, creative aspirations, and terrible exes (because, well, you know).

Mia Marlene’s music is anchored in her many experiences living in London, Copenhagen, Colorado, and Washington D.C.; places that shaped her sonic vision and imprinted onto her the wealth of the human experience, and how all of these experiences can serve as creative fuel for songwriting and music-making.

Prizilla

PRIZILLA is a pop-soul whirlwind, where horns wail, melodies sparkle, and every beat feels like an invitation. With a microphone in one hand and a saxophone in the other, she leads her band through a kaleidoscope of pop, funk, and soul, crafting music that’s as bold as it is unforgettable. It’s a sound that dances between the playful and the profound, wrapping stories in irresistible rhythms that refuse to stand still.

 Since releasing PEOPLE PERSON, their debut EP, the band has been turning heads and moving feet. With over 50,000 fans following along online, PRIZILLA has earned a reputation for live shows that are part concert, part catharsis, and entirely unmissable.

  The band has shared stages with Nick Hakim and Madison McFerrin, lit up NYC with Couch and The Retrograde, and shaken the rafters with St. Paul & the Broken Bones and Flipturn at FL Fin Fest. PRIZILLA shows no signs of stopping, proving that music isn’t just something you hear—it’s something you feel. And they feel it. This is music for anyone who craves the unexpected, the unforgettable, and the kind of energy that makes you lose track of time. Come for the sax solos; stay for the magic.

Pusha Preme

The Bronx New York-based singer-producer Pusha Preme has been making waves with his delicate blend of heartfelt melodies; Goal-oriented lyrics, and harmonies that reel you in like a fish on a hook. Above all, Pusha’s music is often praised for its high intimacy and familiar themes that find their way to a special place in the listener’s heart.

MK Blessed

Mk Blessed was born in Congo Kinshasa in Sep 18th  He is a singer/songwriter and a speaker who started writing songs at the age of 7 and taught them to His Church worship team, which enjoyed singing His songs.

He formed His first Music group at the Age of 10 and was doing secular music.

When He was 13 he fled his home country and went to a Refugee camp due to war, He lived there for 10 years and then immigrated to the USA in 2016, though He has been writing for a while Mk Blessed released His first single on Dec,  4 2021 entitled Faithful God.

MK blessed is a husband of one wife and a father of two girls, He went to Kampala High School and later attended Bible college in Uganda East Africa, He is a founder of a non profit organization named Fociom that shares love with the underprivileged of the world like himself, Mk Blessed passion is to help others.

Izzy Bradburn

Singer, songwriter, guitarist. I aim to write emotional music that addresses the world we live in and how it makes us all feel.

Boho Sideshow

This unique & unscripted collection of Sideshow characters are of various talents and backgrounds to make for a spectacle of amazing musical entertainment. Experience the anecdotal mishaps from the wild to the fantastical. Boho Sideshow comes from parts unknown, but are known for performing an exhibition of Eclectic Americana Music.

Fabiola Méndez

FABIOLA MÉNDEZ is a Puerto Rican cuatrista, singer, educator, and Emmy-nominated composer. Her artistic vision and original music focus on the exploration of her culture, her ancestry, and her identities.

Native to Caguas, PR, Fabiola began playing the cuatro, Puerto Rico’s national instrument, at the age of six. She got her early music trainings at the Antonio Paoli School of Music in Caguas and her Bachelor’s in Music from Berklee College of Music, where in 2018 she made history as the first graduate to play the Puerto Rican cuatro as principal instrument.

Fabiola’s mission has always been to share and celebrate the cuatro, folk music, and collective story-telling. In doing so, she’s had the honor of performing at venues such as the NPR Tiny Desk, Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, Celebrity Series of Boston, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Fred Rogers Productions, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, among many others. She has also collaborated with many local and international artists, including the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, Totó La Momposina, Pedro Capó, Andy Montañez, Danny Rivera, Chicago Philharmonic, and the Boston Landmarks Orchestra.

Her list of recordings include: Herencia Criolla (2009), Al Otro Lado Del Charco (2019), Afrorriqueña (2021), and Flora Campesina (2024). In 2022, she produced her first
documentary “Negrura”, showcasing Afro-Latinx stories in topics around colorism and discrimination within our own communities.

In recent years, she’s had the honor of receiving recognitions such as the Quincy Jones Award, ambassador for the Puerto Rican Day Parade in NYC, the Brother Thomas Fellowship, the Whippoorwill Arts Fellowship, and the ASCAP Foundation Lucille and Jack Yellen Award 2022. She was also nominated for a Children’s and Family Emmy in the category of Outstanding Interactive Media and won the “Latin Artist of the Year 2023” by the Boston Music Awards. Her music is featured on the film Beautiful, FL (Disney+), on the tv shows Alma’s Way, Work It Out Wombats (PBS Kids), and Mecha Builders (HBO Max), as well as indie films, jingles, and TV commercials.