New Board Members Announced for the Virginia Commission for the Arts

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Governor Timothy Kaine has appointed Evelia Gonzalez Porto, Dr. Gwendolyn H. Everett of Alexandria and Deborah H. Wyld for five year terms on the board of the Virginia Commission for the Arts.

Ms. Porto, a native of Cartagena, Columbia, has been active in the arts in Virginia for the past 20 years. She has been the President of the Petersburg Ballet and a board member of the Latin Ballet of Virginia and of the Petersburg Symphony. She has been a volunteer for the Richmond Symphony and TheatreVirginia. She serves on the Program Committee for the Richmond Folk Festival, and she has been an advisory panelist for the Virginia Commission for the Arts. In addition to her involvement in the arts, Ms. Porto is a member of the board of directors of the Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Richard Bland College Foundation, raising scholarship funds for African and Latin American students.

Dr. Everett is Chair of the Art Department of Howard University.  She is a former staff member of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and author of the award-winning children's book Li'L Sis and Uncle Willie.  She serves on the board of directors of the Arts Council of Fairfax County and is a member of the Commission on the Future of the Arts in Fairfax County. 

Ms. Wyld has more than 29 years of corporate and financial communications experience at Norfolk Southern Corporation and was named Executive Director of the Norfolk Southern Foundation in 1998.  She served on the boards of directors of the Virginia Opera and the Virginia Opera Guild, the Tidewater Performing Arts Society, and the Isle of Wight Art League, where she curates 10 exhibits annually.  She was a member of the Chesapeake Fine Arts Commission from 2000 to 2006 and was Chair from 2003 to 2005.  She has served as a judge for the Alli Awards competition sponsored by the Cultural Alliance of Greater Hampton Roads and has been an advisory panelist for the Virginia Commission for the Arts.