Talbot Arts Council has Two New Board Members

The Talbot County Arts Council has welcomed two new members to complete its fifteen-member board of directors.  The newcomers, both residents of the Town of Easton, are:

Janet Adams was born in Queen Anne’s County and graduated from Kennard High School in Centreville.  She earned a BS degree from Bowie State College and taught for 34 years as a first and second grade classroom teacher, a reading teacher, and a teaching specialist in the schools of Queen Anne’s and Charles Counties.  Afterward she was director of the Even Start Program in Queen Anne’s County and later of the Judy Center in Kent County. She was married to the late Charles E. Adams, and they made their home in Centreville for their daughter and other family members. From childhood she was exposed to literature, music, museums, and theater.  She took piano lessons and played the clarinet in the high school and college bands.  After retiring in 2002 she started quilting and loves the process of creating with fabric–putting the small pieces together and making something entirely new and beautiful.  Since moving to Easton in 2013, she has taken art classes from local artist Jane Bollman. Always active in church and community, she is member of the trustee board and communications chairman of the New Life Community United Methodist Church. She is also past president of the Cambridge Alumnae Chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, the Queen Anne’s County Quilt Guild, and the Queen Anne’s County Homemakers, and a present member of the Bayside Quilters of the Eastern Shore.  Her volunteer experience includes the Hospice of Queen Anne’s County and Brookletts, Place, the Talbot County Senior Center.  She enjoys traveling, jewelry making, flower arranging, and collecting children’s literature that is illustrated or written by African Americans.  She also collects elephant figurines—symbolizing strength wisdom, and loyalty.

Pete Lesher succeeds Dirck Bartlett as the Talbot County Council’s representative on the Arts Council.  A native of Pennsylvania, he graduated from Lafayette College and holds a masters degree in history from Columbia University. He has served on the staff of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum since 1991. As chief curator, he leads a team that creates new exhibitions, and he has authored, edited, or contributed to exhibition catalogs, monographs, and periodical articles. He does frequent public speaking on a variety of maritime history topics.  His civic engagements include serving as chairman of the St. Michaels Historic District Commission, on the board of Maryland Humanities, on the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority, on the Council of American Maritime Museums board, and as an accreditation peer reviewer for the American Alliance of Museums.  Past service includes curatorial chairman of the Talbot Historical Society, president of the Museum Small Craft Association, president of the Eastern Shore Association of Municipalities, and member of the Easton Historic District Commission.  He is past council president of Grace Lutheran Church in Easton and a current member of the choir and worship leadership team. He has performed as a vocalist with the Baltimore Symphony Chorus, Concert Artists of Baltimore, and the ensemble now known as Tidewater Singers, where he was also a board member. An Eagle Scout, he is a den leader with Cub Scout Pack 190 in Easton and a member of the Talbot County Public Schools’ Gifted and Talented Advisory Committee. He is a graduate of the Maryland Municipal League’s Academy for Excellence in Local Government and was a member of the Easton Town Council from 2009 to 2018.   He is now serving his first term on the Talbot County Council.  Pete lives in Easton with his wife, Mariana, and two children who attend Talbot County Public Schools.

For further information on the Talbot County Arts Council is available by phone 410-310-9812/email [email protected]/or www.talbotarts.org.