Summer 2023 Youth Zine
ABOUT
THE CREATIVE GUTS TEAM
Founders Laura Harper Lake and Sarah Wrightsman began the Creative Guts Podcast in the spring of 2019, interviewing creatives of all different disciplines and releasing episodes for free. Observing a need for further events and programming that would serve the creative community in New Hampshire, and to create an organization that would live beyond the founders' tenure, Creative Guts evolved into a nonprofit in 2021. In 2023, Creative Guts was honored as the recipient for the 2023 NH Governor’s Arts Award for Creative Communities. The NH Governor’s Arts Awards publicly recognize outstanding contributions to the state’s arts and cultural life made by individuals, organizations, and communities and are given every other year.
Creative Guts' mission is to awaken creativity within people of all ages by curating an environment for connection, collaboration, and the opportunity for gutsy creatives to share their stories with the world. Creative Guts’ program of work is rooted in creating opportunities for people to share their creativity, collaborate and connect with one another, and feel empowered and encouraged to explore their creativity.
Creative Guts serves practicing creatives of all disciplines by offering opportunities for them to share their work and tell their stories through the podcast, zines, events, tiny art exchanges, and more. The organization's goal is to strike a balance between curated opportunities (e.g., the zines and the podcast) and opportunities that are open to all (e.g. tiny art exchanges, open mics).
Additionally, Creative Guts aims to serve those that don't yet identify as creatives by offering programming that aims to unleash the inner artist in all. Our goal is to welcome everyone to the Creative Guts' community and empower and encourage people of all ages to flex their creative muscles.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Laura Harper Lake
Co-Founder &
Chair
Laura Harper Lake is an interdisciplinary artist, with a prime focus on painting, illustration, digital painting, and mixed media. She graduated with a degree in Studio Arts from Chester College of New England in 2007. Laura has exhibited her work in various New Hampshire, Maine, and Boston, MA galleries, as well as had her work included in publications. Laura works under the name Artful Harper Studios. Laura is also the graphic designer and a business advisor for the Regional Economic Development Center, a non-profit focused on creating opportunities for small businesses in New Hampshire. She is a graduate of Leadership New Hampshire and is a“10 to Watch” winner by Seacoast Media Group and Catapult Seacoast. Laura and her husband Geoff live in Epping, NH, with a plucky pup, named Max, and an omniscient feline, Rainer Maria.
Becky Barsi
Vice Chair
Becky Barsi is a multimedia artist whose background is as varied as the artwork she creates. Coming from a family of artists and creatives, she approaches creation with experimentation and play. Becky is an art teacher at the Derryfield School in Manchester, NH. She was honored to be recognized as the 2020 NAEA Independent School Art Educator of the Year, as well as the 2023 New Hampshire Art Educator of the Year.
Sarah Wrightsman
Co-Founder & Director
Sarah Wrightsman is an advocate for housing, the arts, and the great state of New Hampshire. By day, Sarah is the Manager of Community Engagement and Education at New Hampshire Housing. Sarah was named 40 Under Forty by Union Leader; New Hampshire Magazine’s “It List”; “10 to Watch” winner by Seacoast Media Group and Catapult Seacoast; and the 2018 Civic Leader of the Year by Stay Work Play NH and NH Public Radio. Born and raised in Nottingham, Sarah is a lifelong resident of New Hampshire’s seacoast and a devoted lover of the Granite State. In her free time, Sarah loves hiking NH's mountains, reading, and playing ultimate. In addition to Creative Guts, Sarah serves as the President of Seacoast Ultimate. Sarah lives in Newmarket with her husband and their toddler and pet rabbit.
Karla Dillon
Director
Karla Dillon brings over 20 years of accounting and finance experience to the team and her creative superpowers include the orderly capture and clear presentation of financial data. She is a passionate and active supporter of local art and her community. Karla is also well known by dogs and birds for providing affection, treats, and kind words to all.
Joe Acone
Joe Acone is an artist, designer, nerd, and educator from southern New Hampshire. His creative passions reside at the intersection of portrait painting, game design, fantasy/scifi illustration, and performance art. He has half a decade of college teaching experience and is the current acting chair of the Arts and Design program at the Derryfield School. His artistic practice intermingles with his teaching praxis, and is always striving to inspire his students to claim and elevate their own creative practices. He is also a woodworker, bread baker, Dungeon Master, and cat dad.
Secretary
Sy Dahar is an attorney in Manchester, NH with over 30 years of experience advising individuals and small business. Over the course of his professional career he has been an active member of the community volunteering and serving on nonprofit boards. Sy is married to New Hampshire based art instructor and artist Hannah Cole Dahar and with Hannah is busy raising their teenage son. As a family there is a commitment to the arts and community service.
S. William Dahar II
Director
Drew Collins is a financial reporting accountant who is energized by research, communication, and continual improvement in business and creative endeavors. His previous nonprofit work includes serving as Treasurer of Exeter Area Christian Fellowship for three years and answering tax questions for friends and family. Drew is an alumnus of Saint Anselm College, and since graduating in 2019 has kept his love of debate, history, and tabletop gaming alive. Drew is married to his high school sweetheart, Joy, and spends most of his free time outside with their two young children in Fremont, NH.
Drew Collins
Treasurer
Ash Sullivan is a Manchester, NH-based creative who is passionate about keeping all arts alive and connecting creatives to the right people for their pursuits. Ash previously served as President on the executive board of 180 Degree Consulting – Hofstra Branch for three years. In 2024, she graduated from Hofstra University with a BBA and an MBA in Management. Combined with her role as a Commercial Property Manager by day, Ash brings experience in real estate, networking, and event planning. She is an award-winning costumer and published portrait photographer. She has a cat named Taffeta who likes to "help" mom sew by sitting on her fabric.
Ash Sullivan
Director
Our Strategic Plan
In late 2021, the Creative Guts team embarked on a strategic planning process and developed this strategic plan to guide our work for the following three years.
2023 Annual Report
The 2023 Creative Guts Annual Report reviews the organization's programs, key partners, financials, and more in a visually appealing two-page summary.
2024 Annual Report
The 2024 Creative Guts Annual Report reviews the organization's programs, key partners, financials, and more in a visually appealing two-page summary.
Creative Guts Received the 2023 NH Governor’s Arts Award for Creative Communities
Creative Guts is honored to have been selected as the recipient for the 2023 NH Governor’s Arts Award for Creative Communities. The NH Governor’s Arts Awards publicly recognize outstanding contributions to the state’s arts and cultural life made by individuals, organizations, and communities and are given every other year.
The New Hampshire 2023 Governor’s Arts Awards ceremony was live streamed via the Arts Council’s Facebook and YouTube accounts from StudioLab in Derry, N.H. on October 23, 2023. In addition to the award presentations, the event include video profiles of each winner and live music. You can watch the Creative Guts profile and the award ceremony on the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts YouTube Channel.
The N.H. Governor’s Arts Awards publicly recognize outstanding contributions to the state’s arts and cultural life made by individuals, organizations and communities and are given every other year. Awardees receive a sculpture designed and created by André Belanger of Berlin that echoes the N.H. State House Eagle, widely considered the first piece of public art in the state.
To be eligible for nominations, individuals must reside in New Hampshire or have made significant contributions to the arts while living in New Hampshire; nominated organizations, cities and towns must be physically located in New Hampshire.
We are humbled and honored to have been selected for this award. Receiving this award means a lot to us. We’d like to thank Governor Sununu and the NH State Council on the Arts for this award. We also would like to thank our partners, sponsors, guests of the show, participants of our events, and the listeners. You make Creative Guts what it is and we appreciate you. Creative Guts has been a labor of love — it’s been fun, but it’s also been hard work — it means a lot to know that our work matters.
