Board Members
Val Blaha - President
Val is a music instructor, performing musician, and singer-songwriter. A 20 year resident of Yamhill county, she and her husband co-owned Mossback Farm, where they raised grass fed beef, reforested several riparian areas, and protected habitat for endangered and threatened species.
Val earned an MA in Anthropology from Western Washington University, and has been involved with farmers' markets as a vendor, manager, musician and researcher, and served as president of the Oregon Farmers' Markets Association.
She loves to write, read, paint, travel, and spend time with her husband and teenage son, and is energized to assist with planning and communications for AAYC.
Holli Wagner, Vice President
Holli is a creative business strategist with a passion for the arts.
She has over 15 years of experience in small business ownership and management, as well as a background in technology, event planning and execution.
Holli is currently the owner of Stay McMinnville LLC, a local lodging company, and Wagner Advisory Group LLC, a technology consulting firm. She also owned McMinnville Event Center for the Arts LLC (MECA Gallery) from 2018-2020 along with her husband Mick.
She has 30 years experience in technology and sales, working for large enterprise organizations such as IBM, Bayer Pharmaceuticals and Verizon Enterprise Sales.
As a 50/50 left brain/right brain, she also works in multi media abstracts using water colors, acrylics, digital design and writing. Her primary love is to assist our community in providing resources for the Arts.
David Bernstein, Treasurer
Courtney Terry, Secretary
Chair, Grants and Scholarships
Courtney Terry (she/her) is an Adult Services Librarian at McMinnville Public Library. Since 2013, she has coordinated and hosted a monthly Poetry Night through the Library. She has served on the board for AAYC since 2019, coordinating the Arts Education Grants and Scholarship program. Her experiences funding amazing artistic projects for students across Yamhill County has been one of the many rewarding reasons she loves being part of AAYC. She also loves reading (or listening to) a good sci-fi or fantasy novel and spending time with her many animals.
Courtney lives on the stolen traditional lands of the Yamhill Kalapuya, one of the many bands of Kalapuya people who lived throughout the Willamette Valley. In 1855, The Treaty with the Kalapuya, etc ceded tribal lands to the United States. Members of at least 27 different tribes were forcibly removed to the Grand Ronde Reservation. Today, an estimated 4,000 Kalapuya descendents are members of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. Learn more here: www.grandronde.org/history-culture/
Donna Sires, Board Member
Donna Sires is a pastel artist and retired art director, illustrator and graphic designer. She has lived in Yamhill County for over 18 years and participates every year in the Art Harvest Studio Tours, the Willamette Valley Lavender Festival, and the Chehalem Mountain Art Affair. She is passionate about promoting the arts in Yamhill County, and enjoys painting (both plein air and in the studio), traveling and being with her husband and family.
Beth Caster - Board Member
Beth has lived and been an active arts volunteer in McMinnville since 1994. She was the Local Wine Column writer for the News Register for 10 years. Licensed as a REALTOR in 2001, Beth has served her industry during that time as an organization leader.
She is an avid knitter and a lover of all things yarn!
As major supporter and sponsor for the McMinnville Farmers Market, Make Music McMinnville, Art Harvest and other events, she also advocates for all of the community around her.
Kyle Dauterman - Board Member
Kyle is a Digital Art, Filmmaking and Podcasting teacher at McMinnville High School. He is passionate about teaching the various forms of digital expression that are available. He formerly worked at McMinnville Community Media in downtown McMinnville, supporting local producers to create public access television shows. He directed a short film in 2019 titled "East of a Dream" that was showcased at the McMinnville Short Film Festival. He has edited and worked on other local films.
Kyle loves spending time with his wife Katie and their two cats, Clementine and Olive. In his free time he plays as much chess as he can and studies the great masters of the past. If you come to a McMinnville High School Baseball game, you will hear him on the microphone announcing the game. He has also taken up the growing sport of Disc Golf and frequently travels around the valley to play at new courses with his friends.
Bonnie Borschowa-Hickerson - Board Member
Bonnie is a retired teacher and currently a professional multimedia, mixed media artist. She has been creating art for the past 10 years. Currently her focus is on mixed media ceramics.
She earned a MS degree in Special Education at Western Oregon University. After graduating she developed programs for students who struggled with education. She also taught regular education, special education, and art education. Teaching art education developed her own love of art.
Bonnie loves to experiment with new art mediums, create, read, spend time in nature, and loves to spend time with family and friends. She feels honored to be part of the AAYC board.
Britt Block - Board Member
Britt Block is a McMinnville artist with the Art Harvest Studio tour. Her large scale pastel paintings focus on the natural world, sometimes investigating the world through a bee's eyes: What a Bee Sees. She has painted seriously for over 30 years and has had work in galleries as well as private collections. Most recently one of her paintings was the featured work in the 2023 Art About Agriculture touring exhibit.
Britt is also a retired high school theater teacher, and has enjoyed connecting with the Gallery Theater community, most recently directing the farce "See How They Run."
Britt is a meditator and mindfulness instructor with an MFA in Arts and Consciousness. She enjoys Tai Chi and the wild world around and within us.
Kimberly Foster - Board Member
Kim’s passions are children and animals. She has a Masters of Arts in Teaching degree from George Fox University, taught elementary school full time for 15 years, and taught computer science part time and worked as an office manager for several years prior to that.
As a newly retired teacher, she and her husband, Mark, are starting a micro-greens business at their property, Hideaway Ranch, in Grand Ronde. They have four grown kids, 7 grandsons, and a granddaughter coming soon.
She loves music, reading, traveling, and hopes to become a foster parent in the future. She appreciates the opportunity to participate on the board and education committee for the AAYC.
