Board of Directors
Lisa H. Frye
Board President and Founder
Lisa H. Frye has always been an artist. Whether the medium is painting, photography, design, event planning or the culinary arts, she loves to create. As a child, her aunt once said that if she were trapped in a room with no doors or windows, she would manage a way to draw herself to freedom.
After achieving her BFA from the University of Louisville, she found that there were many local talented artists that had nowhere to show their works. Her response was to create the non-profit Art Sanctuary organization.
As co-founder and President, she hopes to continue to create a safe place for artists of all stripes to have a place to commune and create. As part of her mission to support artists of all kinds, she also manages and produces local, performing arts group, Va Va Vixens.
Shahn Rigsby
Events Committee and Board Member
Born in Bowling Green, KY – 1968.
Barren County High School, Glasgow, KY – graduated – 1987.
Ringling College of Art & Design, Sarasota, FL – graduated – 2002. (BFA – Fine Arts Painting)
Working background in sales, communications, service and entertainment as well as a long history with music related events, including:
Bogart’s (Cincinnati) 1990
Hound’s Tooth and Club Dreamerz (Chicago) 1993
Main Street Lounge (Louisville) 2004 to 2007 Founding member and events planner for Radio Arcane (Louisville) 2017 to present.
Events Committee duties: Help create events, book bands, create cocktails for the bar, tend the bar, design imagery for certain events, manage social media pages for related events, promote, be interesting enough to make people curious, make art, create atmosphere and try to get people to show up and participate.
“I’m an artist. I’ve been able to maintain being an artist by one means or another for most of my life, no matter what kind of outside job it took to feed me and pay the rent. That’s made me a bit scrappy, a bit innovative and maybe just crazy enough to be bold and find ways to be who I want to be against the odds. Surviving life on your own terms is an art in itself.”
Langan Smith
Board Member
Langan Smith was born in Charlottesville, VA in 1970 and moved to Louisville in 1977. He graduated from Trinity High School in 1988, then attended Miami University where he studied video & audio production, electronic music and photography, graduating with a B.S. in Mass Communication in 1992.
Langan has been involved in video, audio and music for the past 30 years while alternating his residencies between Detroit and Louisville. He lived in Detroit from 1994-1998 and from 2007-2011, playing guitar and bass in bands Jolly Llama, Viola Peacock and El Gato Legato, while working at Vintage King Audio in Ferndale, MI.
Louisville has been his home from 1998-2007 and from 2011 to present. He co-founded the Kino Louisville film club, which held regular filmmaking and screening events in Louisville from 2005-2007. In 2013 he purchased a home in the Schnitzelburg neighborhood and began attending events at Art Sanctuary in 2014. While running the video projection with Ian Ritchie at Hellhouse 2015 dance party, he discovered the joy of making live video art, and is currently involved in the video production for the “Late for Dinner” live stream series which premiered at Art Sanctuary in June 2020. He is co-founder and member of local band Pedal Party, who performed at two multi-artist fundraisers at Art Sanctuary: “Synesthesia – an Immersion of Music and Video Art” in 2019 and “The Ear Sees, The Eye Hears” in 2018.
“Music, film, video art, photography and improvisation have always thrilled me. It’s important to have a local community venue where art of various forms of expression can be created and showcased. I want to help Art Sanctuary continue to thrive as a vibrant space for exploring, creating and enjoying art & music.”
Alexandra Rumsey
Board Member
Alexandra Rumsey is the co-owner of Pale Moon Tattoo in New Albany, IN and Aurora Gallery and Boutique in Louisville, KY. She obtained her Bachelors of Fine Arts from Eastern Kentucky University and her Masters of Fine Arts from Southern Illinois University of Carbondale. Alexandra is a multimedia artist, designer, and entrepreneur. She serves on the board of directors for Family Ark in Jeffersonville, IN and Art Sanctuary in Louisville, KY.
"I believe in deeply ordered chaos." -Bacon, Francis.
Frankie Steele
Chief Operations Officer
and Emeritus Board Member
(non-voting)
Frankie Steele was born in Lexington, KY in 1974, graduated from Danville High School in 1992, and Murray State University in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science in Fine Art. He has worked in commercial printing as a prepress operator for VG Reed, a graphic print and video designer for WDRB Fox41, and the frontend web designer for Kindred Healthcare. In 2002 Frankie married Britany Baker and a year later bought a 1928 Craftsman bungalow in the Schnitzelburg neighborhood of Louisville, KY. In 2004 he and his wife formed Olive Creative, LLC working primarily in commercial and media photography, web and print design, and video. In 2008 Frankie and John Wurth opened Icebox Co-Labs, one of Louisville’s first collaborative working spaces. In 2011 Frankie started working on the facility that is now home to Art Sanctuary. He now serves as Art Sanctuary’s Chief Operations Officer as well as a emeritus board member.
The Chief Operations Officer plans and oversees operational controls, procedures, and implementation of policies pertaining to use of real-estate, materials, tools, and any other physical assets to insure safe, effective, efficient, mission driven use and development. The COO also helps facilitate program development, community integration, and utilization.
“I have worked as a designer and photographer in Louisville, KY for 20 years. I understand the struggles of making a living as an artist both as an employee and as a freelance business owner. My hope is that Art Sanctuary helps artists achieve creative as well as financial success through our facility and programs.”
Erika Williams
Board Member
Jeff Smith
Board Member
Laura Bernethia
Board Member
Maria Elbl
Board Member