Board of Directors
We are grateful to our distinguished Board of Directors and the theater staff for their generosity, loyalty, and guidance. Our shows couldn't go on without them.
Nan Fowler
Vice President
Nan Fowler is the previous owner of Nan’s Pre-Owned Books and the grandmother of the new owner, Kassi Dee. Nan is a long-time resident of the South County area and after years in the medical field, she opened her store 1987. Since that time, she has been active in local politics, Chambers of Commerce and the Grover Beach Community Library. In 2001, she was honored by the State of California Chamber of Commerce for her business activities. In 2002 she was named one of Cuesta College’s Women of Distinction and in 2007 was named the Arroyo Grande Citizen of the Year. Nan is now retired but still works part time at her granddaughter’s bookstore. When she’s not at the store, you can find her being involved with Arroyo Grande Public Art, The AG Historical Society, or traveling with friends.
Michael Gros
Treasurer
R. Michael Gros is a member of the professional theatre director’s union (SDC) and Professor Emeritus and former Co-Chair of Theatre Arts at Santa Barbara City College. He is a Fulbright finalist. He was a member of the graduate theatre faculty at Kansas State University and The University of Akron. Prior to teaching at Kansas State, Michael served as a management consultant and interim Executive Director at the Clark Center for the Performing Arts. Michael served as Artistic Director for six seasons with PCPA Theaterfest producing more than 70 productions under Actors’ Equity Association contracts. He has directed more than 35 full productions, many of which were also under an Equity contract. Michael received an Indy Award for his direction of the Theatre Group production of Present Laughter. He is the Former Dean of Fine, Performing, and Language Arts at Ohlone College. He is Artistic Director of PlayFest Santa Barbara. Michael received a residency Fellowship in non-profit arts leadership at Stanford University. Michael has presented numerous seminars on leadership and arts management through the United States Institute for Theatre Technology Leadership Academy. He regularly speaks on arts advocacy and arts education topics to civic, social, and professional organizations. He earned his MFA in directing from the University of California at Irvine. He earned his BA in theatre, Magna Cum Laude, at UCLA. Michael served on the Board of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology and is a past directing focus group representative (Chair) for the Association of Theatre in Higher Education where he currently serves on the Finance Committee. He has lived in Arroyo Grande for nearly 20 years.
Dennis Kemble
Secretary
Dennis Kemble was raised in Hanford, Callifornia. He graduated from Hanford High School and Cal State, Los Angeles with a degree in Police Science and Administration.
After serving in the Army for three years in Berlin, Germany, he returned to the Los Angeles area where he was hired by the FBI as a Special Agent. That career took him to Chicago, Los Angeles, and Santa Maria where he retired after serving in that capacity for over 30 years.
He immediately commenced his second career as a Home Inspector with Rainbow Ventures Home Inspections. In addition, along with his wife and daughter, they own and operate Rainbow Ventures Property Management, taking car of both full time and vacation rentals in the 5 Cities area.
Dennis and his wife, Gail, have resided in Arroyo Grande for 23 years. He is very active in his church, the Pismo Beach Athletic Club, and is and avid cyclist, participating in numerous long distance rides throughout California.
He is dedicated to ensure the Clark Center continues to provide a venue for music, arts, and showcase the talent in our local community.
Ashlea Boyer
Past President
Ashlea Boyer is a native of Pismo Beach, having moved here from South Lake Tahoe when she was just four years old. An Alumni of Arroyo Grande High School, she then attended the University of California at Santa Barbara, graduating with a degree in English Literature. After college, she spent 5 successful years working her way up to Management Editor of a national fitness magazine in Southern California, working for two of the three largest West Coast publishing houses.
Ashlea returned to the Central Coast for her wedding and stayed to raise her family. She joined the family business in 2003 and began leading the Pismo Beach Homes Team with her Mother, Kathi Foster in real estate. Ashlea has been a leading real estate agent in the Pismo Beach area for 10 years, and has developed a strong client following in the area based on her dedication to our community and outstanding customer service. Her team, The Pismo Beach Homes Team, has been awarded the Quadruple Gold level awards consistently over the past 5 years with Keller Williams Realty. She has been named more than once as the “Agent of the Quarter”.
In 2011, Ashlea was presented with the “Top 20 Under 40” award by the San Luis Obispo County Community Foundation for her professional excellence and profound commitment to the community. Ashlea lives in Arroyo Grande, California with her husband and son and she enjoy running on the beach, volunteering, pilates, snowboarding and the occasional scuba dive. She’s active in many industries, community service and non-profit organizations and serves on the board of the Rotary Club of Pismo Beach, the Clark Center for the Performing Arts, and the Agent Leadership Council for Keller Williams Realty.
Nathan Alvarado
Nathan Alvarado is a financial consultant for Wells Fargo Advisors for twenty years, Nathan is also the Arroyo Grande Branch Manager. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Arroyo Grande Community Hospital and has assisted Lucia Mar Unified School District committees for community oversight. He and his family are active members of 4-H.; Nathan was on the Clark Center Foundation Board for many years.
Fernando Granados
Fernando is a native Californian, spending most of his live in the Riverside area. A long-time dream brought him to the Central Coast in 2021 and he now lives in Oceano with his wife and son who attends AGHS. He’s also the proud Dad to two older daughters, and enjoys spending time with his two beautiful granddaughters.
Fernando is dedicated to our community and is an active member of several other community-driven groups and boards throughout the Five Cities area including; The Vitality Advisory Council of Oceano (VACO) and is an Ambassador with the South County Chamber of Commerce. His passion for our community will be a great addition to our team!
Fernando has been a Mortgage Loan Officer for over 15 years. He works at Envoy Mortgage in Arroyo Grande and is licensed in California, Arizona, and Texas.
He considers himself very blessed, fortunate, and lucky to live and work here in paradise and is so excited to contribute his talents to the Clark Center!
Dave Maislen
David served in the US Air Force and then graduated from San Francisco State University with a BA in Personnel & Industrial Relations and went to work for General Electric. While acting in various management positions with G E, he completed an Executive MBA at the Peter Drucker Graduate School of Management, part of the Claremont Colleges. After retiring in 1996, David began keeping bees and developed his own brand “David’s Blue Ribbon Honey” when his products earned 18 blue ribbons at the 2001 Los Angeles County Fair including Best of Show.
His post-retirement activities are varied; he developed and owned a bus tour company, maintains an organic orchard, small organic farm, and apiary in Arroyo Grande. David is a life member of the California Rare Fruit Growers and served on their board for 4 years. David and his wife Joan are members of the Heritage Foundation supporting the Mid-State Fair, 4H, and FFA endeavors. They have supported the arts at Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts as well as the Clark Center since moving to Arroyo Grande in 2003. David loves to travel the world, but there’s no place like home…Arroyo Grande!
Dave Pier
Executive Director
Dave Pier’s extensive work with community arts organizations began in the mid-1980s at which time he served as President of the Arts Council of the Conejo Valley. In Thousand Oaks he was active in committee work which specified and resulted in construction and programming of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza with its 1800 and 400 seat theatres. In the 1990s he served on the Ventura County Arts Commission and managed the Ventura County Organizational Development Grant Program. He was also President of the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation.
After earning an MBA in Arts Management from UCLA in 1995, for 25 years Pier has managed regional performing arts centers in California, overseeing the successful openings and operations of the Harris Center for the Arts at Folsom Lake College near Sacramento, the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto and a new Performing Arts Center on the campus of California State University, Northridge. As part of the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, he managed the historic John Anson Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood and acclaimed programs including the award-winning family performing arts series Big!World!Fun! and expanded programming under the theatre’s Latino Arts and Community Bridges Initiatives.
Dave is a musician with a background in technical theatre who, before entering the arts management field, worked as a research scientist in the private sector. At ARCO Solar Industries, he led teams of scientists, engineers and technicians in the world’s then leading research group for the development of solar electric energy. His education also includes degrees from Carleton College (B.A., Physics), Columbia University (B.S., Electrical Engineering/Acoustics) and Stanford University (M.S., Materials Science and Engineering), as well as training in music composing and arranging from the Grove School of Music in Los Angeles.
Box Office
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boxoffice@clarkcenter.org
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