Board of Directors
Victoria Turner, president
Victoria Turner is a retired school educator and counselor. She received a BS in education, an MS in special education and an EDS is psychology and counseling from Pittsburg State University. She worked as a special education educator for 30 years and a school counselor for 12 years. She is a past officer of the Chanute, Kansas Art Board and a past negotiator for ANW Education Coop. She also served as an officer of the Beta Sigma Phi sorority, and a volunteer for the Blue Valley and Olathe schools music programs. Turner enjoys music, art, travel and gardening. She has two grown children and three grandchildren.
Tom Platt, treasurer
Tom Platt got involved in the Westport Center for the Arts through his Heart of Westport neighborhood association and his work with the Kansas City Public Library, where Kids Team Up for Art sessions have been held. more
Diane Kennedy, secretary
Diane Kennedy is a retired pediatric nurse and clinical researcher who has been a life long lover of the arts. She is very inspired to support local artists and, in doing so, enriching the lives of Kansas Citians. Serving Westport Center for the Arts as secretary and grant writer has been a wonderful opportunity for Diane to experience the creative energy of fellow board members as well as area artists.
Diane enjoys spending time with her family, granddaughters and friends, attending adult ballet classes, singing in choirs and working for human rights.
Don McLain
Don McClain has been an activist in Kansas City for 35 years. He has served as: an executive director of a not-for-profit; on several Boards including UNAKC; administrator for The Mary Ellen Carter Foundation for 28 year; an instructor in Peace Studies at Park University for 10 years. McLain for 16 years worked in the field of community and rural human development briefly in 17 Countries, including three years in Brussels raising money for third-world development projects and three years in India living and working in Indian villages. He has a personal interest ion art and see it as a basic item for a complete life. McClain is also a retired United Methodist minister and member of Peace Church UCC in Kansas City.
Joshua Stark
Glenn Stewart
Glenn has been a WCA board member since about 2018. She is an originator of The Dancing Word, together with Rev. Scott Meyers and Choreographer Suzanne Ryanstrati.
She graduated with a double major in English and French, and a minor in journalism, so the arts have been a part of her life in many ways. To Glenn, art can be expressed in so many different ways. It is a form self-expression, communication and healing for the artist and viewer.
Glenn enjoys making short documentary films about art, music and unique individuals. She also enjoys painting water colors, with acrylic, with Gesso board. Sometimes, a title or subject will come to her, especially if she has seen or heard something that generates interest. She has learned to stop, write it down or record the thought on her cell phone.
She enjoys *au natural* gardening and currently has an herb garden in her apartment courtyard. It’s a form of art, and she lets Mother Nature set the theme
Glenn’s community interests includes heading the beautification committee for Heart of Westport neighborhood and being a board member for the Volker Neighborhood Association.
Deanna Capps
Deanna is a professional artist and graphic designer. She earned her BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree) in Illustration and Graphic Design from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2004. more
Founders
Scott Myers
Scott Myers, one of the founders and a long-time board president of Westport Center for the Arts, passed away in 2023. He was an artist in his own right, having written seven full length plays. more
Marian Thomas
Marian M. Thomas earned the Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Oberlin College, and the Master of Music in Applied Organ degree from Boston University’s School for the Arts. more
Adjunct Staff
Lyra Pherigo, Brown Bag Concert Director
Nora Burkett and Glenn Stewart, Dancing Word co-directors
Mary Jo Draper, Marketing and Website Manager
Support
Deanna Capps, Financial Manager