2018 Spring Into Art Judges
Dr. Nelda Damiano
Associate Curator
Cummer Museum
Jacksonville, Florida
Nelda Damiano joined the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens in 2016 as Associate Curator. She received her doctoral degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, with a focus on Italian Renaissance and Baroque Art. Recently, Dr. Damiano was employed in the capacity of Senior Exhibitions Manager at the National Gallery of Canada, in Ottawa and has previously held curatorial positions at the Prints and Drawings Department at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. She has carried out historical research for exhibitions such as Leonardo, Michelangelo and the Renaissance in Florence (2005), From Raphael to Carracci: The Art of Papal Rome (2209) and Caravaggio and his Followers in Rome (2011). She also contributed to various scholarly publications and exhibition catalogues.
Dr. Audra Pittman
Executive Director
Council on Culture & Arts
Tallahassee/Leon Community, Florida
Recognized as one of Florida Trend Magazine’s People to Know in Tallahassee and Leon County, also selected as one of the Tallahassee Democrat’s 25 Women You Need to Know, Audra Pittman, Ph.D. has served for over 20 years in the arts, education and business communities. Recently she was featured on both the covers of Tallahassee Magazine and Tallahassee Woman Magazine for her efforts in the arts and as a co-host of the television show AM Break with Ann & Audra on Fox 49. The Girl Scouts of the Panhandle presented her with a distinguished award for service in the Arts. In 2017 she won the “Leadership Pacesetter” of the year at the Tallahassee Distinguished Leadership Awards.
Currently Audra serves as the Executive Director for the Council on Culture & Arts. This umbrella organization serves as a clearinghouse for arts and culture in Tallahassee and the Big Bend region. Previously she served as the Chair for the Department of Professional Education at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) where she helped accredit and facilitate the university’s first online teacher certification program for Art & Drama concentrations. She has volunteered and served on the board for numerous organizations including but not limited to; Boys Town North Florida, Thomasville Center for the Arts, and United Way of the Big Bend. She also currently serves on SCAD’s Lucas Theatre Board of Directors in Savannah and the Dean’s Advisory Board for the College of Fine Arts at Florida State University.
Audra’s entrepreneurial spirit is cultivated in her business “Suite P Creative Studio” where she commissions art pieces and hosts pinterest style Art parties for private groups. Dr. Pittman earned a bachelor’s in Fine Arts from the University of Connecticut and a Master of Arts in Teaching from the Maryland Institute College of Art. She completed her graduate studies at the Florida State University with a Ph.D. in Arts Administration and Art Education. She is married to Attorney Sean Pittman and has three young girls, Paloma (7), Phoebe (4) and Pilar (4).