Series Producer
Susan Wallner
Consulting Producer
Eric Schultz
Narrators
Nemuna Ceesay
Dan Gordon
Director of Photography & Technical Manager
Joe Conlon
Post-Production Editor
Kevin Ronan
Communications Producer
Mae Eli Kellert
Associate Producer
Jessica Dotson
Contributing Producers
Ilene Dube
Aubrey J. Kauffman
Tom Miller
Nate Reininga
Jack Stawowczyk
Jason Strother
Bob Szuter
Dave Tavani
Sam Vladimirsky
The State of the Arts Advisory Board
Ian Marshall, Ph.D.
Dean, School of Arts and Humanities, Stockton University
Joseph Cronin
Executive Director, Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, Stockton University
Allison Tratner
Executive Director, New Jersey State Council on the Arts
Michelle Baxter-Schaffer
Director of Communications, New Jersey State Council on the Arts
Jeremy Grunin
Board Member, New Jersey State Council on the Arts
Susan Wallner is a principal at PCK Media, an award-winning production company focusing on culture, history, and the arts. She is the series producer for State of the Arts. Many of her 18 New York and Mid-Atlantic Emmys are for her stories she’s produced, written, and directed for State of the Arts, including Rose Marie McCoy: It’s Gonna Work Out Fine and Guthrie at Greystone.
Some of her other favorite projects are a New York Emmy-winning series about the right to vote in New Jersey, an NJ PBS documentary about the historical role of fire in the Pinelands, and a recent video about Michael Graves Design and their work with “design for all.”
Among Susan’s national PBS documentaries are Kea’s Ark, Anne Morrow Lindbergh: You’ll Have the Sky, Ben Shahn: Passion for Justice, and her very first documentary: Toshiko Takaezu: Portrait of an Artist. Produced in 1993, it’s still popular on YouTube.
Eric Schultz is an award-winning producer and director of arts, cultural and music programming and a founding member of PCK Media. He was the co-series producer of State of the Arts from 2011-2024, and is now a consulting producer for the series.
Eric’s performance documentary, Ode to Joy: Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, filmed at the 100th birthday celebration of William H. Scheide in Princeton and in Vienna, aired nationally on PBS in 2016. The previous year, public television viewers saw Pulling Out All the Stops, his film about the Longwood Gardens International Organ Competition. PBS also distributed his documentary Peanuts Gallery, the recipient of a NETA Award for Best Performance Program. His documentary Bonaparte’s Retreat was picked up for national distribution by American Public Television (APT).
Eric is also a cellist and loves to play chamber music and starts most days practicing. Recently he’s been working to learn Italian, a long-time and long-neglected dream.
Joe Conlon has worked in broadcast television for over 30 years as a Director of Photography and Technical Manager. As Director of Photography for State of the Arts, he works closely with the producers to establish the look and coordinate all technical aspects of field production. Joe has been honored with over 30 Emmy nominations and has won 11 for his work as a DP, sound recordist, and Technical Manager. Joe began working with State of the Arts in 1983, winning 7 of his Emmys and contributing to several others the show has earned during that time. He has special interests in lighting and capturing high quality sound. Joe owns and operates Conlon Video Works and provides camera and engineering services for a wide range of clients.
Kevin Ronan is the post-production editor for State of the Arts, overseeing everything from color correction to audio sweetening as the program makes its way to broadcast. Kevin is a television producer/director and seven-time Emmy winner. He’s also the co-owner of Ronan & Ronan Productions. In the mid-1980’s, Kevin began his career as a videographer and editor, and soon added producing and directing to his toolkit. He’s produced hundreds of segments for broadcast, programs for Fortune 500 companies and video projects for many non-profit organizations. Kevin graduated from the University of Hartford and attended The New School, NYC for journalism.
Mae Kellert is the Communications Producer for State of the Arts. They are a creative writer and visual artist with a Master’s in Literature, Media, and Culture from the University of Iceland and a BFA in Photography from Stockton University, with minors in Art History, Writing, and French. They have also studied Painting and Art History at Institut d’études supérieures des arts in Paris and Icelandic Language at Háskóli Íslands in Reykjavík. A part of the State of the Arts team since 2015, Mae oversees their digital communications, manages their website, assists on PCK Media projects, and contributes articles to the blog. With over a decade of professional experience in New Jersey’s arts and sports communities, Mae works creatively as well, exploring identity and nature in their painting, photography, and published writing.
Nemuna Ceesay is an actor/director based in New York. She has been a narrator for State of the Arts since 2019. Selected theater credits: New York Theatre Workshop, The Shed, Second Stage, The Public Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Two River Theater, CalShakes, PlayMakers Rep, Woolly Mammoth, American Repertory Theater, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Selected TV credits: Bull, Broad City, Instinct, Younger, FBI, Prodigal Son, and Katy Keene. Selected Directing credits: Playwrights Horizons (Amusements), The Kitchen NYC (Uncle!) 66th Obie Awards, Clubbed Thumb Winterworks (Reply All), Associate Director of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning A Strange Loop on Broadway. 2022 Clubbed Thumb New Play Directing Fellow. MFA in acting from American Conservatory Theater.
Dan Gordon is a voiceover artist based in Los Angeles. Raised on the other side of the Delaware River from New Jersey in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Dan is proud to support the team as a narrator of State of the Arts since 2012. Dan’s previous voice work includes KCRW; Honda; Kelly Blue Book; Comedy Central; and TV for Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal.
Jessica Dotson is an associate producer and segment producer for State of the Arts. With a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Media Studies from Rutgers University and over seven years of professional experience, she has honed her craft in creating engaging content for television and digital platforms. Jessica started her career at Nickelodeon and rose from production assistant to associate producer. There, she wrote episodes for SpongeBob SquarePants and worked on expansive marketing campaigns producing and editing promos and trailers. Her passion is storytelling, which allows her to have a voice and communicate with the world.
Ilene Dube is a contributing producer for State of the Arts. Her short documentaries have screened at NJ film festivals, arts centers, museums, and libraries. Her documentary about artists in Roosevelt was the catalyst for an exhibition she guest curated at Morven Museum & Garden, and her film Painting the Moon and Beyond: Lois Dodd and Friends became the topic for an exhibition she curated at the Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie. Her arts writing has appeared at JerseyArts, Princeton Magazine, Hyperallergic, and others, and her short stories have been published in more than a dozen literary journals. As an artist she has been exhibited at Phillip’s Mill, Hobart Art in the Native Landscape, Hopewell Tour des Arts, Prallsville Mill, Monmouth Museum, and others.
Aubrey J. Kauffman is a fine art photographer and contributing producer to State of the Arts. He has worked as a cinematographer on numerous Emmy Award winning productions for NJPTV. His photography has been exhibited widely, including solo exhibitions at the New Jersey State Museum, Enfoco at 7th and 2ND Street Gallery in New York, Southern Light Gallery in Amarillo, Texas, the Rider University Art Gallery in Lawrenceville, NJ, and more.
Aubrey has an MFA in Visual Arts from Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts, and he has taught photography at Mason Gross and elsewhere. His work is represented in the permanent collections of the New Jersey State Museum in Trenton, Rider University, and Johnson & Johnson’s Corporate Headquarters in New Brunswick.
Jack Stawowczyk is a videographer and editor based in New Jersey. He’s a graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design, with a B.F.A. in Motion Media Design. He has been working on various productions for PCK Media and State of the Arts since December 2022. An avid video producer from a young age, Jack’s curiosity, love of travel, and attention to detail are important parts of his visual storytelling.
Bob Szuter is a field producer and editor for media projects focused on the arts, social history, food culture, education, and the environment. He has worked on a variety of PBS series, including State of the Arts, Travels with Darley, Pasta & Politics with Nick Acocella, Open Spaces & Historic Places, and Mike Colameco’s Real Food. Many of Bob’s films have been distributed nationally, including Green Builders, The Highlands Rediscovered, and Morristown: Where America Survived. A documentary he produced for NJN Public Television, The Power of the Governor, won the New York Emmy for Best Political Special.
Sam Vladimirsky is a New York Emmy Award-winning director & editor based in New York. He is the founder & Chief Creative Officer of Whimsy, and his work has been featured in Vogue, PBS, and the Museum of Modern Art. Before launching his own production company, he was the Creative Marketing Director at the x2 Academy Award®-winning Breakwater Studios, where he worked with iconic brands like the New York Times, YouTube, UNICEF, and Charles Schwab. Previously, he worked in the photography department at the MoMA and served on the education team at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.