dA Board

Executive Committee 

Pablo Baler  - President

Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and a current resident of Los Angeles, California, Pablo Baler is a novelist, art critic, and scholar. A graduate of Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Stanford University, and U. C. Berkeley, Baler is a Full Professor of Latin-American Literature. Pablo Baler is the author of the award-winning novel Circa (Ed. Galerna, 1999) and widely translated short stories. He is also the author of Los Sentidos de la distorsión: fantasias epistemológicas del neobarroco latinoamericano (Ed. Corregidor, 2009), a highly praised essay on neobaroque aesthetics published in English as Latin American Neobaroque (Palgrave, 2016). In addition, Baler is the editor of and contributor to The Next Thing: Art in the Twenty-First Century (2013, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press), a collection of essays written by a broad range of authors about the aesthetic sensibility that will define our times. Baler’s collection of short stories, La burocracia mandarina, was published by Lumme Editor in San Paulo, Brazil (2013) and his last novel, Chabrancán, was published in 2020 in Buenos Aires (Ediciones del Camino). As a 2015 and 2020 American Communities Fellow, Baler has been working on an essay on the general interdisciplinary field of ethics and aesthetics titled By Any Stretch of the Imagination. Baler is also an international research fellow at The Center for Fine Art Research at Birmingham City, University, U.K.  TEACHING INTERESTS Literary Theory, Aesthetics, Literature and Philosophy, The Avant-garde, 20th and 21st century Latin-American short story, History of the Spanish American novel, Creative writing and Creative reading, Spanish Journalism, Visual and Cultural criticism, Baroque and Neo-baroque aesthetics. Bio-Art and Post-Humanism.

Maricela Rodarte  -  Secretary 

"Educated, Powerful, Proud, and United!" - This is the mantra Ms. Rodarte has been inspiring the youth of Pomona with via her prolific, community-based club, Latinas Committed to Excellence, since 2009. It is also the motto with which she lives. A lifelong product of Pomona, she grew up awash in love for her city, even while splashing in the fountain outside its Superior Courthouse as a child. Ms. Rodarte continues to feel that childlike joy and unyielding adoration for our community, its culture and the bastion of artistic expression which is the dA. She firmly believes that the dA Center for the Arts stands out as a pivotal part of our community...capable of educating, empowering, inspiring pride in and uniting all of our citizens, even as it gifts a precious fountain to us in which our creative sides can swim.

Angelique Barnum -  Treasurer

Born and raised for most of her life in Pomona, Angelique has worked in various community roles meant to enhance, protect, and preserve this city. Her service to the dA has been an extension of that vision.

For many years Angelique served on the board of Pomona Heritage as membership chair and Vice President, developing the model for the Preservation Workshop - a successful event attended not only by Pomona historic homeowners but restoration enthusiasts all over Southern California. In addition to typical board-related duties, she assisted the group to obtain the first Historic District designation in the city of Pomona.  She also served for many years as a volunteer for the Pomona YWCA.

With experience as an event coordinator from her first business venture, Angelique chaired her children’s elementary largest fundraising event for 7 years, an annual event attended by over 1,800 students and their families each year and requiring the scheduling of over 70 volunteers. 

For the past 18 years, she has built and expanded The Sash Company, recognized as the world leader in the industry with clients such as Miss America, Miss Earth, USC, Oprah Winfrey, American Heart Association, Harvard University, and Buckingham Palace to name a few.  In August ’19 she doubled the size of her operations and currently staffs 17 employees with annual sales of over 1 m.  In December of each year The Sash Company partners with employees to run a toy and clothes drive for an orphanage outside Tijuana, Mexico. In December 2015 Angelique and her husband Robert facilitated and underwrote the exhibition for Pomona Native Samee Ochoa. Angelique dedicated time to bringing Sammee to meet with students in Pomona Unified School District and many other community groups was considered a great achieving moment for the artist and gallery alike.  Subsequent community shows and exhibits followed. 2019 - Goldman Sacs 10,000 SB Graduate  2019 - Spirit of Entrepreneur - Consumer Manufacturing Finalist 2020 - NAWBO-IE Business Woman of the Year

Board Members

Olivia AlaTorre

Olivia is a Pomona resident and local artist with a degree in Public Relations and Advertising from Chapman University. She attended public schools in Pomona and later studied at Mt. San Antonio Community College, where she competed and won several awards in public speaking at state and national levels. Olivia has participated in various organizations, events, and programs that enrich Pomona and is passionate about seeing the city continue to grow in the arts.

Anthony Bonner  

Mr. Anthony Bonner is in his third year as the director of the Garey High School Music Department. A graduate of Garey High School (Class of 2002), Anthony has an extensive background in music education, both performing and teaching and also serves as an Adjunct Music Professor at Citrus College in Glendora, California. Prior to his appointment, Anthony attended Azusa Pacific University and earned his Bachelor of Music degree in Education. A fierce advocate for Arts Education, Anthony is a member of the Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association, the California Music Educators Association, and the Minority Band Directors National Association. In the words of Picasso, “Every child is an artist. The Problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” The dA Center of the Arts ensures that the beauty of our collective people is passed on to our children and thrives in the best way possible!

Vincent Carpio  

Vincent Carpio’s Family history in Pomona runs back to approximately the early 1900s, over 100 years. Born in a family of eight brothers and sisters. Attended Sacred Heart Elementary School, and Damien  High School, and graduated with a B.A degree from Cal Poly Pomona. I have been in Logistics Management where my travels and work experience include Mexico, Puerto Rico, China, Argentina, and most major cities within the USAI currently have my own business as a local licensed Medicare Broker Agent. I have served on nonprofit Boards such as Award-winning Sharkie Park Committee, Marisa Vazquez Scholarship Golf Tournament, Damien High School Alumni Council, and PTA president, currently serving as the Parks and Rec Commission for District 4. 

The Nagler Family - Steven, Pam, and Lucia ( Pomona High Art Teacher)  3 people / 1 vote  - 

We are an art education family. Steven and Pamela Nagler are retired public school teachers who taught at Montclair High School, and Lucia Nagler currently teaches art at Pomona High School. 

Our art practices may be different - Steven has focused on ceramics and performance art; Pamela, drawing, writing, and performance art; Lucia on drawing, painting, ceramics, and printmaking, but we are convinced that art is a universal language that builds bridges between diverse peoples. Our commitment is to build equity - all children have equal access to the arts. 

Currently, Steven performs regularly at John White's 5X5X5 in Ventura; Pamela is working on a book about the Occupation of Indigenous Southern California 1769 -1860; and Lucia has been involved in cultural and language outreach in Mexico, Cuba, and Japan. She is currently pursuing a Master's Degree in Arts Education.

Martin Perez 

Martin was born and raised in Pomona and attended public schools. Martin worked at Kiel rug cleaners, a family-owned business in Pomona, as well as the agriculture fields of Fresno in the production of grapes, walnuts, apricots, and oranges.  He also worked at Simpson and Kimberly Clark. He is a Union member of AWPPW for 40 years and served as an executive board and union organizer.  He is retired and active with Eagles Lodge, Pomona Horseshoes, and Hamilton Park.  

Mike Suarez  

Art has defined Mike's life since he was surrounded by the great muralists’ art when he traveled to Mexico City several times as a youth. Mike was raised in the San Gabriel Valley and came to Pomona almost forty years ago. Mike felt right at home with Pomona's diverse community and its hotbed of politics. Mike received a Broadcasting degree from Chaffey  Community College and a BA from the University of Phoenix in Business Management with an emphasis on marketing. This led to a long career as a media executive. Throughout Mike's adult life, he has been heavily involved in the community as an activist for social and environmental justice. He is currently a board member of the Latino/Latina Round Table.