Mario Bustamante
President of the Board of Art Loisaida Foundation - Sculptor-and owner of Mario Metals, an architectural metal fabrication company located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY. He is from Medalllin Columbia and has lived in the East Village/Lower East Side since 1987. His sculptures can be seen in La Plaza Cultural Community Park and Garden on the s/w corner of E. 9th St. and Ave C , in his sculpture park in Middleburgh, NY, and in private collections. His work can be viewed http://www.mariometalss.com. He has over 48 years experience in working with metal, first working with his father in their auto accessory factory in Medellin, then apprenticed himself to a jeweler, and progressed to working as a tool and die maker. Mario is one of the founders of Artistas de Loisiada and Art Loisaida Foundation. Website.
Onno de Jong
Vice President- Graphic and Web Design Company-Circular Creation, Photographer, Videographer, Philosopher and adjunct professor at Parsons, New School. He is the designer of many of our graphics and web site as well as host of Art Loisaida Foundation's web site. Has been involved as participating artist with Artistas de Loisaida since the late 1990's. He is a longtime East Villager, married to a performing artist and has a son Taiyo and is passionate about the environment. Website"
Carolyn Ratcliffe
Artistic Director and Treasurer - Carolyn is a photographer, curator, arts producer and non profit management consultant. She holds an MS degree in Non Profit Management from Milano School of Management, New School and her BA degree is in Art from the University of Alabama where she majored in painting with a minor in European History. She was the Executive Director of La Plaza Cultural Community Park and Garden from 1995-2003 where she founded/directed the La Plaza Cultural Performance Festival from 1996 and until 2003(it hosted events such as Tamar Rogoff's Demeter's Daughter, Yoshiko Chuma's Neighborhood Living Room Project, Dance Space 's Urban Bushwomen Dance project , and Lincoln Center Out of Doors.
She founded Artistas de Loisiada in 1995 with Mario Bustamante, and Robert Slaughter when they mounted two art shows in store fronts on Ave B and Ave C in conjunction with Earth Celebration's Rites of Spring Pageant. They continued to show the work of Lower East side/East Village artists including a 10 year stint at the Cork Gallery, Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center. In 2008 Carolyn, Mario Bustamante and Onno de Jong incorporated Art Loisaida Foundation as a non profit and she has continued to organize art exhibits, screenings, garden events, and monthly children's art classes at Tompkins Square Library.
She is also President of the Board for the Lower East Side Performance Project, Steering Committee for the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative and Chair of the 9BC Tompkins Sq. Block Association and serves as Chair of the Landmarks subcommittee, as well as on the Parks Recreation and Culture committee and the Arts and Culture Task Force of CB#3.
Her photographs and articles have been published in the Villager and CIty, and shown in all of the shows organized by Artistas de Loisaida and Art Loisaida Foundation, as well as solo shows at Tompkins Sq. Library, and Planet One Cafe. She also serves as Development consultant for Downtown Music Productions, The Lower East Side Performing Arts and the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative. E-mail
Kris Enos
Assistant Treasurer-Kris has been a resident of the East Village for twenty-six years. He works as an assistant cameraman on films such as “Black Swan”, “Spiderman 2”, and “25th Hour”. In his spare time he is a freelance still photographer. He shows in numerous Art Loisaida Foundation exhibitions. Kris lives with his wife Kathy, and their two sons. His website is Website
Elodie Lauten
Secretary of Art Loisaida Foundation-Elodie Lauten is a composer, performer, producer and media artist. She has taught at NYU and is on the faculty at CUNY's New York City College of technology. She has over 20 years of experience as a composer and producer of recordings and live events. She is also artistic director of Lower East Side Performing Arts. She holds a Bachelors in Economics and Finance from the Paris Institut d’Etudes Politiques and a Master's in Composition from NYU. She aims to bring forth a progressive and viable vision for the future of classical music and art. She received awards from the National Endowment for the Art, the Massachusetts Council on the Arts, Meet the Composer, ASCAP, the American Music Center. Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and Argosy Foundation. She writes a blog for music internet magazine Sequenza21. Email:
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, phone 212-388-0202 Website
Robert Slaughter
Board member of Art Loisaida Foundation is the FOUNDER and PRESIDENT of the Arts Olympus, Rob has worked for over twenty years pursuing his dream of launching a “Ship of Global Goodwill” through the cultural arts. Early in his career he started working with the Los Angeles Inner City Cultural Center helping stag concerts with such legends as Stevie Wonder and Sarah Vaughn. He himself performed as a Jazz vocalist on cruise ships. While in Miami, he helped produce the first International Film Festival and orchestrated the kickoff events for the now famous Art Deco District of South Beach. In New York City, he produced many events including countless art salons, cabarets, the first International Humanitarian Film Awards and co-hosting a cable television talk show. As a New York art dealer he represented master works from Rembrandt to Picasso and was the North American correspondent for the Latin American issue of “Art and Antiques” magazine. Rob’s creative experience profoundly influenced him spiritually to volunteer teaching art in an inner-city elementary school, hang art exhibits with the mentally challenged and sit on the board of the Poverty Awareness Coalition. He assisted in taking an American delegation of underprivileged children to participate in a “World Children’s Conference” in Stockholm, Sweden. He has participated in events at the United Nations in New York City and Geneva, Switzerland including the “World Conference of Indigenous People” and “Artist for Peace,” crystallizing his vision of a “Ship of Global Goodwill.” WebSite
