Aquil Charlton
A diversely creative and visionary leader, Aquil “AQ” Charlton leverages a wealth of experience as a teaching artist, consultant, and co-founder of artist collaboratives to make positive contributions in Chicago communities and the arts sector. Aquil is a gifted independent musician, rapper, songwriter, DJ, and producer who also plays electronics. He is the founder of Mobile Music Box, a mobile workshop practice of making musical instruments from common and recycled materials, and co-founder of Mobilize Creative Collaborative, which leads mobile play-based community art activations.
Angee Lennard
Angee Lennard is an arts administrator and printmaker dedicated to advancing Chicago’s non-profit arts sector in regards to equity, accessibility, community support, and operational and artistic excellence.
Motived by her own need for a welcoming and accessible space to take artistic risks, she founded the community printmaking studio, Spudnik Press Cooperative in 2007. She envisioned and built an innovative studio model where professional printmaking facilities offer a foundation for residencies, fellowships, education, exhibitions, collaborative projects and public programs, all grounded in printmaking’s history as a community-minded and accessible art form. She led the organization as Executive Director for 15 years.
As a professional printmaker, she has collaborated with local and nationally-recognized artists. Prints published by Angee Lennard have been exhibited at museums and galleries including The MoMA, the Smart Museum of Art, Monique Meloche, Editions VFO.
Her deep involvement in the arts, spanning organizational leadership, operational management, program development, studio maintenance, and print production has led her to a variety of local, regional, and national speaking engagements, as well as consultancy roles with colleges, universities, non-profits, and museums. She has been a lecturer at School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the Arts Administration and Policy and the Printmedia departments. She has served as a Marwen Foundation Teaching Fellow, a grant review panelist for the Illinois Arts Council Agency, and Treasurer for the Chicago Printers Guild (CPG). She earned a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from SAIC in 2005, and has completed additional professional training through Kellogg School Center for Nonprofit Management.
Veronica Anne Salinas
Veronica Anne Salinas (she/they) is an arts administrator, educator, and sound artist. Her creative research practice is rooted in diverse sound disciplines including multichannel work, field recordings, live performance, podcasts, soundwalks, and text scores. Drawing from a professional background in digital media, editorial work, teaching, and non profit arts administration, Veronica brings a fusion of creativity and administrative expertise to HCL.
With an MFA in Sound from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and specialized studies from The Center for Deep Listening, Veronica's arts administrative journey reflects a commitment to nurturing artistic growth and immersive learning experiences.
As a teaching artist and board member of the Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology, as well as the managing editor of the archival project Nameless Sound: 20 Years of Sound, Veronica embodies a commitment to both the sonic arts and the vital administration that supports them.