Board of Directors
Art FORM’s Governing Board is a group dedicated volunteers from diverse professional fields.
Erin Pennell
Founder-Board Member/Teaching Artist
Erin has been an arts educator throughout California for more than 20 years, having worked with children of all ages in both public and private settings. Recognizing the need for an expansion of children’s art programs in San Diego, and the vast quantity of recyclable and reclaimable materials potentially available to students and teachers, she opened The Rare Hare Studio in 2008. The studio has been a mainstay of the Adams Avenue Business District ever since, offering art camps and workshops that feature the wide array of materials that are steadily collected and donated by local individuals, businesses, and industries.
In 2011, Erin developed Art FORM (Found Objects Recycled Materials) a nonprofit 501c3 branch of the studio, as a way to make her programs accessible to a broader range of San Diegans. Art FORM provides arts education with creative reuse to schools and the community for little or no cost; makes recycled materials accessible for projects; and helps students discover an art form that promotes ingenuity and creative problem solving. Art FORM currently offers free workshops to Title I schools and features a creative reuse store that makes scrap materials available to schools, families and the community.
Catherine George Hagan
Treasurer and Volunteer
Catherine is a long-time resident of the Kensington-Normal Heights area of San Diego. She is fortunate her teenage daughter, who is particularly passionate for art, has been able to participate in Art Form/Rare Hare workshops for many years. As an attorney with the State Water Resources Control Board, Catherine advises the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board in its regulatory efforts to protect and restore the quality of waters in the San Diego Region. Through her work and outside interests, Catherine is familiar with many of the environmental challenges facing the region and beyond. She is excited to be able to support Art Form as an organization that, among its many focuses, promotes environmental education through art.
Noreen Clindinning
Board President and Volunteer
Noreen is the President of GRS Group, a national provider of commercial real estate services including Sustainability Solutions. With a background in strategic planning and organizational management, Noreen has extensive experience both in the private sector and with non-profit boards. She is a long-time supporter of Art FORM and Rare Hare, having participated in workshops alongside her daughter and serving on the Art FORM Board as a Member from 2012 to 2014. With a passion for the fiber arts, Noreen regularly shops the Art Form store for yarn and inspiration.
Erin Pennell
Interim Secretary
Deanna Sampson
Board Member and Volunteer
Deanna has a passion for art and the environment. Deanna met Ms. Erin 12 years ago and fell in love with Rare Hare studio. When Art FORM began in 2011 Deanna and her family were founding supporters as Art FORM is the perfect combination of taking care of the earth, landfill diversion and arts education. Deanna is a Website Developer and Fundraiser. She serves on several nonprofit boards and provides 100’s of hours in volunteer service a year.
Catherine Morrison
Board Member and Volunteer
Catherine is an attorney with San Diego’s City Attorneys’ Office, with an interest in nonprofit formation and development. Also, with two artistic teenage daughters at home, she is very interested in and aware of cultivating the arts while being environmentally responsible and conscious. Art FORM is the perfect blend of these two facets of her world.
Peter Dennehy
Board Member and Volunteer
Peter is the VP of Customer & Market Research for Newland. Peter Dennehy holds a J.D. from the University of San Diego’s School of Law and a B.A. in Government/Public Policy from Pomona College.
Peter Dennehy is a Full Member of the Urban Land Institute and is on the Residential Neighborhood Development Product Council, Gold Flight. He is currently a co-Chair of the Urban Land Institute’s San Diego-Tijuana District Council, a member of the City of San Diego’s Consolidated Plan Advisory Board and involved with the Boundless Capital Campaign for the Academy of Our Lady of Peace.
Peter became a regular at Art FORM when his daughter took art classes there for many years. He liked the warm atmosphere, cool art space and the way Erin related to the students. He has several friends on the Board and was honored to join when a space opened up and is looking forward to making Art FORM even more successful in the community.