Erie Arts & Culture 2022 Appreciation Awards

City Gallery is the Love Child of Visual Artist Lena Logvina & Performing Artist/Musician Stephen Trohoske. Opened in September 2021, these long time Gallery Owners strive to bring an inclusive & diverse space to a rapidly, growing downtown. 

Lena Logvina was born in Kiev, Ukraine & brings her unique vision of her Eastern European Upbringing combined with her Life & Growth in Erie, Pennsylvania. Lena is more then strictly a visual artist, she has a talent for curating & producing diverse, successful shows, opening up the floor to a wide spectrum of Artists from all backgrounds & cultures. 

Stephen Trohoske has worked for over three decades as Performing Musician as well as a producer & promoter of Live Music Events. His main focus is bring together Eclectic, Musical Acts & Presentations that raise the level of Culture in our community. 

“This award means so very much to us & we are honored & thrilled that Erie Arts & Culture have recognized us for the exact & greatest reason  we started this journey. Thank you.”

Tina Mengine has a long and distinguished public service career primarily focused on economic development and revitalization of Northwestern Pennsylvania. For the last three years, Mengine has been leading change and growth throughout Erie County as President & CEO of the Erie County Redevelopment Authority (ECRDA).

Committed to and focused on improving the quality of life in Erie, Mengine has worked to incorporate art and design into economic development, recognizing that a sense of place is essential to economic and community growth.

Under Mengine’s leadership, ECRDA has spearheaded economic growth by helping hundreds of businesses expand and grow and by tackling industrial blight rehabilitation and site development.

Partnering ECRDA with the former StARTup Incubator, Mengine established the StARTup Grant Program designed to assist fledging creative businesses with financial assistance through grants. To date, $190,000 has been awarded to 44 new businesses. As ECRDA leads the revitalization of the 12th Street corridor, public art will play a key role in the transformation. The first project at the former EMI site at 12th & Cherry will not only feature an innovative public art display, but the building redesign will be architecturally striking as well.

As Chief of Staff for former Erie Mayor Filippi, Mengine led all city departments including the Office of Community & Economic Development. With a focus on rebuilding the downtown and tourism industry, Mengine established the Office of Cultural Affairs, from which grew well-attended and highly publicized events such as CelebrateErie, Downtown Fridays and Downtown D’Lights which helped jumpstart downtown Erie’s revitalization.

Mengine is the recipient of numerous awards, notably Women Making History, the Commitment to Erie Award, the Community Impact Award, and Ad Person of the Year.

Mengine holds a Bachelor of Science from LaRoche University and leadership certifications, including a Certificate in Change Leadership from Cornell University.

Zach Flock, a native of southwestern Pennsylvania, came to Erie to study at Gannon University, and spent the next two-plus decades building a home in the Erie theatre community. A lifelong theatre geek, he parlayed his love of community theatre into a passion for public service. Having spent time on the board of the Erie Playhouse and directing for Gannon’s Shakespeare Summer Nights, Zach and a group of like-minded artists founded Dramashop in 2011, with a mission to provide entertaining and provocative theatrical experiences designed to challenge and engage the Erie community. As founding artistic director, Zach produced 11 seasons and more than 70 productions of bold, creative theatre, filling a void left by the closing of several niche theatres in the early 2000s. During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Zach was instrumental in Dramashop’s pivot to innovative, online delivery and eventual return to safe, in-person theatre. A producer, director, actor, designer and playwright, Zach stepped down from Dramashop following the 2021-22 season and currently lives in New Stanton, PA, with his wife, Jessica, and their dachshunds, Millie and Eleanor. Zach holds a B.A. in Theatre & Communication Arts, and a Master’s in Public Administration, both from Gannon University. He is currently employed as Director of Marketing & Communications for Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA.

"It's an honor to be recognized for my work at Dramashop, especially as a new generation of artists takes on leadership of this great organization. I've always viewed my role in Erie's theatre community as a public service -- something not done for my own betterment, but for the betterment of the community. It takes a team to produce great theatre, and an entire community to keep great theatre afloat. I'm grateful to Erie Arts & Culture for acknowledging any contributions I've made to the rich tapestry that is Erie's vibrant theatre community. We are so lucky to have so many diverse offerings right here in our backyard. Though I've moved on to other opportunities, I will always carry a special place for Erie's theatre community in my heart. Helming Dramashop for 11 years was the honor of a lifetime, and to receive any recognition for that work is icing on the cake. I'm humbled by this opportunity."

Lourdes Jasso Tellez was born in 1983 in Acambaro, Guanajuato, Mexico. By the age 3, she and her parents immigrated to the United States along with her two sisters. Lourdes grew up in Chicago, immersed in the working class and vibrant Latino culture of her surroundings. As a youngster she participated in Mexican Folkloric Dance performances. Her artistic efforts eventually culminated into a passion for photography, while a student in high school. It was a passion she carried with her out of the barrio and into college.

 In 2005, Lourdes earned her Bachelor of Arts in Photography from Colombia College Chicago. From that point on, she knew she would be able to change the lives of inner-city youth with the same art form that saved her own life from the more negative aspects of Chicago’s inner city. 

Lourdes’ vast experiences in arts and education include working in the Photography Department at Columbia College Chicago, along with the Museum of Contemporary Photography's Exhibition Department. Lourdes participated in the collaboration between the Museum of Contemporary Photography’s Education Department and the Chicago Public Schools, to bring photography classes to inner city students, exposing them to both traditional and digital photographic processes as a form of creative self-expression

In 2007, Lourdes moved with her family to Erie, Pennsylvania in search of new opportunities. For the past fourteen years she has been using her lifelong skills to transform the way youth see the world at the Benedictine Sisters of Erie Inner-City Neighborhood Art House as Program Director, where inner city youth are introduced to a variety of artistic mediums to help them self-express. Her ties to the community include her seat on the Erie Democratic Committee as the Committeewoman for the Sixth Ward, Sixth District. She serves as a mentor for Gaia Youth United, a teen group of girls who want to create action surrounding social justice topics. Lourdes is VP of Folk/Traditional Arts for the CHROMA Guild and has also served on the Erie Jazz Fest Artist Committee.  Lourdes’ commitment to the Erie community was recognized when she was nominated to be in the Erie’s 40 Under 40: Class of 2019. She is currently pursuing her career as a mixed media artist with a focus on social justice causes. In this work, Lourdes seeks to center the experiences of Mexican immigrant women in the United States.

Quote: I am very passionate about the work that I do, I am living proof of the positive impact the arts can have on the life of a young person. It is an honor to receive the Carla Hughes Art Educator Award.

Sue Amendolara received a Master of Fine Arts degree in Jewelry Design/Metalsmithing from Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. She taught Jewelry Design/Metalsmithing at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania for 31 years and retired in 2022. She was President of the Society of North American Goldsmiths and served on the Board of Governors at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, TN. Amendolara's metalwork has been exhibited regionally and nationally in juried and invitational exhibitions in galleries and museums throughout the United States for over thirty-five years. Her work has been included in international exhibitions in Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Korea, Thailand and Japan. Articles have been written about her work in Ornament, American Craft and Metalsmith magazines. Her work is included in over 20 books and she has presented lectures and workshops at universities, museums and craft centers around the world. Her work is part of the permanent collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, The Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C. and the White House Collection of American Crafts, Washington D.C. Regionally, her work is part of the collection at the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA, the Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, Ohio, the Racine Art Museum in Racine, Wisconsin, the Kamm Teapot Foundation, Sparta, NC and the Erie Art Museum, Erie, PA.

"I am honored to receive this award from Erie Arts and Culture and grateful to live in a community filled with talented and generous artists. My involvement with the community and teaching at Edinboro University (PennWest) has influenced and inspired my work for decades. I look forward to the next chapter amongst my peers."