We are a small team of talented professionals with a wide range of skills and experience. We love what we do, and we do it with passion.
Lissie Stewart, M. Ed.
Founder, Executive Director
Lissie Stewart is the Founder & Executive Director of NOLA Artist Incubator. Lissie’s background is in art education, where she worked for ten years as a teaching artist in NOLA public schools. She is a TeachNOLA Master Teacher and oversaw the Talented Visual Arts Department and Advanced Placement Studio Art program, while working in room 208 at Edna Karr. After leaving the classroom to raise her daughter, she obtained her Masters Degree in Educational Leadership and continues to work with students as a State Certified Evaluator of Talented Art and through facilitating the nonprofit’s educational programs.
She advocates for sustainable urban agriculture and the environment through running the Galvez Garden, an award winning USDA People’s Garden that she established located in St. Roch. Lissie serves as the Vice President of the NOLA Nature School Board, in addition to being a committee member for Sprout and serving on the Leadership Board of the Greater New Orleans Growers Alliance. She is a 4.0 Schools Tiny Fellow Alumni, certified Louisiana Master Gardener, and certified Permaculture Designer (Oregon State University).
After completing her most recent Artist-in-Residency at the Louisiana Children’s Museum, Lissie’s newest installation, as a featured artist in the Committee for a Better New Orleans Civic Art Challenge, demonstrates her continued exploration of themes in nature through her artwork. She’s currently excited about focusing on supporting local artists, growing more gardens, and facilitating more accessible art and gardening programming through her work at the nonprofit.
Eric Smith, Rev.
Vice President
Federal Employee, National Parks Service
Eric Is a highly accomplished Information Technologist, Educator, and Program Planner with extensive contributions to academic excellence and educational growth of schools across the state of Louisiana. He has demonstrated proven ability and professional training and development, educational program planning and execution, policy planning and implementation and the use of effective communication and dealing and relating with adult learners. After successfully demonstrating skills in working in local government in his time working for the City of New Orleans, currently he is navigating making changes at the federal level, working for the National Parks Service.
Annie Phoenix, Ph.D.
Treasurer
Executive Director, Jesuit Social Research Institute at Loyola University New Orleans
Dr. Phoenix specializes in supporting social justice organizations to identify needs, design programs and secure funding. Before joining JSRI, she was the founder and lead consultant at Rosewater Advisors, where she offered partnership support, training, coaching and fundraising services. She previously served as co-founder and development director of Operation Restoration, a non-profit organization that supports currently and formerly incarcerated women. She led efforts to establish a College in Prison program in partnership with Tulane University’s School of Professional Advancement, and she is an experienced advocate who has written and helped pass multiple laws in Louisiana.
Dr. Bethany B Moore
Board Member
Owner, Indigo Coaching Services
Dr. Bethany Moore is an accomplished Inspirational speaker, Educator, Licensed Pharmacist, Certified Herbalist and Spiritual Life coach with a focus on holistic healing through breathwork, meditation and nutritional coaching. Her expertise as a holistic healer is bolstered by a certification as a Master Gardener with the LSU Department of Agriculture, being an experienced grower of herbal medicine. Dr. Moore’s mission is to educate the world about the healing power of herbs and the abundance of which it exists for us in nature. To provide empowerment, education, inspiration and motivation for others to take control of their lives and use their agency to create a life worth living. Dr. Moore believes through breathwork, meditation, understanding the importance of nature and total spiritual awareness one can manifest self-transformation through reciprocation leading to restoration.
Jesse Stewart, J.D./M.A.
Secretary
Litigation Attorney, Phelps Dunbar LLP
Jesse earned his law degree at the University of Virginia, where he was a Law and Public Service scholar and served on the Virginia Law Review and the Virginia Journal of Criminal Law. At UVA, Jesse founded and directed the School of Law’s Alternative Spring Break pro bono program, partnering hundreds of law student volunteers with government and non-profit legal services providers, including the Orleans Public Defenders. When he graduated law school, Jesse was awarded the Herbert L. Kramer/Herbert Bangel Community Service Award (presented to the student who has contributed the most to the law school community) and the Mary Claiborne and Roy H. Ritter Prize (presented to students exemplifying the qualities of honor, character and integrity).
His commitment to providing pro bono services and expanding legal representation for the broader Louisiana community is genuine and substantial, earning him the Louisiana Bar Association Young Lawyer’s Division Pro Bono Award in 2018.
Before law school, Jesse worked at the New York City Council Education Committee, and taught first grade in Newark, New Jersey through the Teach For America program.
Anna K. Lemnitzer, MFA
Board Member
Assistant Professor of Art & Design, West Texas A&M University
We’re delighted to announce our premiere Artist-in-Resident has decided to support our mission by joining the board in 2023. Her experience will be an invaluable addition to the organization.
Anna K. Lemnitzer earned an MFA in Art from The University of Montana, School of Art in 2012, and a BFA in Art Education emphasis Sculpture from The University of Arizona, School of Art in 2005. She is currently an assistant professor of art and design at West Texas A&M University.
Lemnitzer’s studio practice is grounded in playful exploration, fluidity of meaning, and multifaceted layers of the human experience. As a non-linear artist, Lemnitzer considers her work both a mirror and framework in the cultivation of imagination, understanding, and ability. Her process intertwines digital and traditional studio approaches and materiality.
Contact
lissie@nolaartistincubator.org
NOLA Artist Incubator is an equal opportunity organization and will not allow discrimination based upon age, ethnicity, ancestry, gender, national origin, disability, race, size, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, or any other status prohibited by applicable law.
NOLA Artist Incubator 