Board of Directors
Gretta Sandberg, President
Gretta Sandberg retired in June 2009 after 44 years as an orchestra director in the public schools of Virginia. She taught elementary and high school levels in Arlington and Fairfax Counties. She has since retired from the Allegheny Mountain String Project (AMSP), a part of the educational department of the Garth Newel Music Center in Warm Springs, Virginia, as a string instructor and orchestra director. Gretta is a co-founder of the AMSP.
Gretta is the founder and director of the Highlands Community Orchestra, an orchestra dedicated to providing an orchestral experience to amateur musicians in Highland & Bath Counties in VA and Pocahontas & Franklin Counties in WV. The Highlands Community Orchestra rehearses at the Highland Center in Monterey, VA. They provide the communities with three concerts a year, including a Holiday Community Concert with the Highland Community Choir and the Highland Handbells.
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Donna Bedwell, Vice President
Donna Bedwell has been a Highland County Arts Council board member since 2017 and served as
President since 2021. A native Highlander, she retired to her family home in Monterey after a
career that included product development, marketing and event planning. She has been a supporter
of the arts through a lifelong interest in hand crafted art and currently coordinates a weekly
basketry workshop in the Arts Council classroom at the Highland Center. She also coordinates the
Highland Arts Academy, a series of annual workshops in the visual arts, which was launched by the
Arts Council in 2019.
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Nancy Mohlmann, Treasurer
Nancy Mohlmann is a finance executive with more than 35 years of experience in enterprise growth
strategies, board governance, investment selection and oversight, mergers and acquisitions, and
fiduciary responsibilities. She has led financial, tax, audit, investment, and business professionals at
large domestic and international for-profit and non-profit entities. She holds a bachelor’s degree in
Business Administration, a master’s degree in accounting, and a CPA certificate.​
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Cindy Maerz, Secretary
Cindy is an avid consumer of art and music. She started playing the piano in elementary school and enjoys playing for fun (and stress relief!). In college, she played the clarinet in the symphonic, marching and pep bands (she says watching the band at half time is the best part of any football game!) and has most recently been learning the ukulele. She has also enjoyed volunteering in the arts, spending many years as a volunteer with a local youth theater group doing tasks from ticket sales to costumes to cast parties.​
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Cristin Dorgelo
Cristin loves Highland County for its beautiful nature and its talented community. She discovered the craft of basket weaving through a Highland Arts Academy workshop, and soon after joined the Arts Council. Basket weaving has become a hobby that she treasures; she now shares her work at Art on Main at The 3rd Space in Monterey.
Cristin believes the events and learning opportunities offered through the Arts Council enrich our community, attract visitors to our county, and form an important pillar for economic development, to help ensure Highland County and its residents thrive. Cristin has experience in senior executive roles leading and advising successful nonprofit organizations. She brings a wealth of knowledge in areas such as grant writing and board governance to the Arts Council.
Professionally, Cristin is an independent management consultant with more than 25 years of executive leadership and public policy experience. She is an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Federation of American Scientists, a Visiting Fellow at the Burnes Center for Social Change at Northeastern University, and President Emerita at the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC). Her work at ASTC has supported expansion of community science programs at science centers and museums across the country.
She previously served as a senior policy official for the Office of Management and Budget and for the Office of Science and Technology Policy within the Executive Office of the President, driving Federal government initiatives and partnerships to address national challenges.
She holds a BA in history with a minor in anthropology from UCLA. She is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist.
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Katherine (Kate) MacKenzie
Kate’s resume includes a list of skills that will be very important for the Arts Council. She has experience in graphic design, events planning, marketing, and website development. She personally expressed her desire to academically and professionally pursue creative and educational project development. She is passionate and committed to forwarding artistic opportunity and involvement within Highland County by connecting musicians and artists she has met to the Highland County network.
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John Wade Meyers
Wade is the new Music teacher for Highland County Public Schools. He has over six years of management experience in nonprofit arts organizations, leading teams of up to 70 individuals. He has successfully implemented strategic plans to revitalize arts programs and enhance community cultural engagement. Passionate about promoting the arts as a means to foster community development and enrichment. His skills also include social media development and implementation. As the Arts Council moves toward more performance workshops and continues a strong music presence in Highland County, Wade will be a great asset to the Board of Directors.
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Wendy Jaccard
Wendy has over 25 years of professional experience in the nonprofit sector, including institutions of higher education, health care providers and hospitals, and both large, national and small nonprofits. Her organizational skills and strong background in fundraising, project management and technology and operations will be beneficial to the future development and growth of the Highland County Arts Council.