Founding/Creative Director (currently president) – Nestor Topchy holds a BFA in Painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore (1985) and an MFA in Sculpture from the University of Houston (1987). He is a painter, sculptor, and performance artist, and was Co-Founder/Artistic Director of Zocalo/TemplO, an artist-run exhibition, performance, and residency space (1989-2001). At Zocalo/TemplO, Topchy helped coordinate the work of hundreds of artists, including writers and poets, visual artists, and performance artists from all over the world, and interacted with visitors who came to see the performances and exhibitions each year.

In addition to his academic degrees, he has made a practice of studying the Sacred Arts since 1998, the year his daughter Minerva was born. These studies have included Sacred Geometry under the tutelage of Robert Powell at the Practical Science Institute in Houston (1998), Chinese Art and Calligraphy with Chiu Ching Ping at the Asian Art Association in Houston (2000-2207), and icon making under Dimitri and Vasily Andreyev at the Prosopon School, Russian Orthodox Cathedral in New York (2004.) Nestor has exhibited and performed his work widely, mostly notably at Devin Borden/Hiram Butler Gallery, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Evergreen Museum/Johns Hopkins University, and Museo de Nacion, Lima, Peru. Nestor lives in Houston with his wife Mariana Lemesoff and their daughter Minerva.

Architect – Si Dang (vice president) has a Bachelors of Architecture from the University of Houston (1998) and is the Lead Architect at ANDRIA Design. Before establishing ANDRIA Design, Dang was a Senior Associate at Morris Architects and a Designer at The Douglas Group in Houston, Texas. With ten years of experience, his projects include Bayou City Event Center, Phase V of Moody Gardens, and renovation of the Four Seasons Restaurant and Vargos Restaurant in Houston, among others.

He also helped design Shanghai Science Land, an interactive science museum in Shanghai, China, and General Motors Heritage Center in Detroit, Michigan. In 1999 he co-founded Preston Workshop, an art, architecture and industrial design collaborative focusing on site-specific art installations, contemporary crafts, and engaging the public in the creative arts environment.

Business Manager and advisor – Mariana Lemesoff (treasurer) Established Helios/Avantgarden, bar, the community cultural institution in Montrose set within a historical 1906 craft style house she renovated. She has almost singlhandedly owned, managed, and programmed helios/Aventgarden since 1996, she is also a Co-Founder of TemplO. She is a licensed caterer and a website designer. Her previous business experience includes co-directing M&M Marketing Agency, an educational /job placement service in Los Angeles, California.

Civil Engineer – Hisham El-Chaar PE PM has 24 years of comprehensive knowledge and hands on engineering and construction experience, He has a BSc in Civil Engineering from West Virginia University (1984) and is Project Engineer at S & B Infrastructure in Houston. His previous experience includes Project Manager at Marubeni-Taoseo Consortium in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Senior Project Engineer at Raytheon Engineers and Constructors in Tampa, Project Manager at American Building Systems in Houston, and Structural Engineer at Walt Disney World in Orlando.

Construction Manager – John ‘Juan’ Walker formed Numen Development, a Houston-based company focused on sustainable development. Numen Development has done ground-breaking work in designing and building shipping-container-based projects since 2007. Their single-family Cordell House was selected for inclusion on the 2009 Rice Design Alliance home tour and featured in Dwell Magazine. In 2009, Juan founded Moduluxe to pursue similar projects. Prior to founding Numen Development, Juan spent ten years as a Project Manager for W.M. Dillard & Associates, a commercial design-build firm specializing in large-scale distribution, manufacturing and office/warehouse construction.

Juan has one foot in the art & non-profit worlds as well, having assisted arts organizations including Infernal Bridegroom Productions, Barnevelder Movement/Arts Complex, and Aurora Picture Show with construction and permitting issues on a pro bono basis. He is also a designer, dj, and the Houston contact for the Burningman Festival, an arts event held annually in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada that is an ongoing experiment in temporary community, interactive art, and radical self-expression. Since his residency at Houston’s Commerce Street Artists’ Warehouse in 1989, he has been fascinated with the interrelationship between the built environment, community life, and engaged creativity.

Director of Sustainability – Rhonda Rougeau, LEED AP, Registered Interior Designer is the founder of IEIaustin. Rhonda is the Business Director and Principal of Marketing, Public Relations and Business Development. IEIaustin promotes their clients needs with an eye on sustainability, developing alliances, planning events, generating publicity and providing consulting and design solutions for all kinds.

Prior to this she worked as an independent consultant for a national building and construction trade association, The Vinyl Institute, in marketing and public relations.

She has been a member of the United States Green Building Council and has attended five national conventions. Her design experience includes work on a variety of projects including corporate, historic preservation-adaptive reuse and multifamily residential. She is a member of the National Association of Home Builders and their local chapter, Greater Houston Builders Association.

She holds a Master’s of Art from New York University in Painting and Drawing. Rhonda is continuously involved in exhibiting not only her own art but curating and managing numerous exhibitions at Purse Warehouse Art Gallery, Dakota Lofts Gallery, Erie City Ironworks and The Foundry, including two international bienniales. She has also been a contributing author on the arts for the Houston Artistry publication.