About

Blue Trail brings together the vision and expertise of exciting leaders across the art, design, placemaking and environmental fields. Join us!

Advisory Board

Jessica Appelgren, Vice President
Saatchi & Saatchi S
Howard Baral, Advisor
United Nations Safe Planet Campaign
Jim Baral, CEO
Baral Media Group
Jon Carnero, VP Digital Strategy
Epsilon
Brianna Cutts, Principal
Sibbett Group / Exhibit Design Consultant
John Drexler, HR/OD Consultant
Ronin Venture Partners Inc.
Shawn Lani, Senior Artist
Exploratorium*
*organization for identification purposes only
Bart Shepherd, Director, Steinhart Aquarium
California Academy of Sciences
Kelly Sicat, Director, Lucas Artists Residency Program
Montalvo Arts Center
Scott Snibbe, Principal
Snibbe Interactive / Artist
Dr. Terri Williams, Director
UC Santa Cruz Marine Science Institute

Jury

Jaime Austin, Curator and Director of Programs
ZERO1
Robin Groesbeck, Senior Director of Exhibits & Design
California Academy of Sciences
Betti-Sue Hertz, Director of Visual Arts
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Brad Simpson, Mechanical Design Engineer
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Leadership

Lisa Zimmerman, Executive Producer ()

The visionary behind Blue Trail, Lisa is CEO of 7Story, an art and placemaking consulting firm that works with emerging and established artists to engage people in places and causes. Lisa has developed and produced artworks in partnership with cities, neighborhoods and non-profit organizations across the Bay Area and produces Enlightened Spaces, an interdisciplinary event series exploring innovations in placemaking. She is recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Our Town grant for a project she developed with the City of Richmond and acclaimed digital media artist Scott Snibbe. Lisa has 25 years of non-profit marketing, communications, fundraising and public engagement experience working with over 40 organizations.

Jennifer Parker, Director ()

Jennifer is founder and executive director of UC Santa Cruz’s OpenLab. Internationally renowned, OpenLab brings together science, art, technology and community to facilitate creative and collaborative research. Jennifer has produced, co-produced or curated over 20 art/science exhibitions and events within both public and private institutions including the World Trade Center in Osaka, Japan, The Art and Trans Festival in the Netherlands, and the Art and Astrophysics exhibition at UCSC and the Tech Museum in San Jose. Jennifer is also an internationally- and nationally-exhibited Bay Area artist and co-producer of SonicSENSE.net (she is currently part of Intersection’s Soundwave exhibition), as well as chair of the art department and associate professor of Art and Digital Arts and New Media at UCSC.

Laura Cassidy, Curator ()

Laura is an independent curator who has spent the last decade working with museums, artists and alternative art spaces to develop innovative programs bridging the gap between art and science. She has worked with the de Young Museum, Conservatory of Flowers, California Academy of Sciences and Montalvo Arts Center among others. She has written reviews and essays for publications such as Art Practical and ArtAsiaPacific, as well as numerous exhibition catalogues. She earned her M.A. from the San Francisco Art Institute and is currently a doctoral student at Stanford University where she is developing art-science initiatives through research, writing, teaching and an interdisciplinary forum called the Environmental Humanities Project.

Debra Darlington, Design Jam Developer ()

Debra is an independent producer with over 20 years of experience facilitating, managing and producing design and educational projects for corporations, museums and educational institutions. An expert in design-thinking and creating group processes that promote creativity and innovation, she has led teams to create educational exhibits on topics ranging from hot air ballooning to the principles of economics to animal habitats, as well as media installations, large-scale public art pieces, audio environments and participatory events.