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Key Staff Bios (click here)
Mark Packer, Executive Director, joined the staff of Appel Farm in 1984. From 1985 through 1987 he served as the Summer Arts Camp Director and in 1988 became the Executive Director. A native of Montreal, Canada, he is a graduate cum laude of Kenyon College, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology, and attended courses towards his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University. He plays a major role in regional and statewide arts organizations including the South Jersey Cultural Alliance, which he co-founded in 1992 and is currently a Trustee, and ArtPride New Jersey, where he has been a Trustee since 1988 and currently serves as President. He co-founded the Arts & Business Partnership of Southern New Jersey and was honored in 2002 as the recipient of ABP's annual Art Partner of the Year. He has served as a consultant and panelist for numerous organizations, including the Gloucester County Cultural and Heritage Commission, and the G.G.Green Redevelopment Project.
Sean Timmons, Artistic Director, joined the staff of Appel Farm in 1985 and has served as Artistic Director since 1989. A native of Ireland, Sean worked as a freelance photographer in London before coming to the United States. He played the leading role in the creation of Appel Farm's concert series, school arts programs, community arts outreach programs and the annual Appel Farm Arts & Music Festival. He has been a panelist for national music conferences such as the North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance, South by Southwest Music Conference, and the Philadelphia Music Conference, and is a member of the Consortium of Eastern Regional Theatres (ConsERT). He also serves as professional manager and consultant to musical artists.
Jennie Quinn, Arts Camp Director, joined the staff of Appel Farm in 2001 and is a graduate of West Chester University with a Bachelor of Science-Education degree (Early Childhood Education). Jennie has worked for the Wilma Theater and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and co-produced Through The Lens, a short film series for WYBE Public Television.
Cori North, Arts Camp Director, is a graduate of Queens University with a B.A. in Elementary Education. Cori began her teaching career in Cottingham, England, and has spent the past several years as a teacher of gifted and talented students in Summerville, South Carolina. Her passion for camp comes from her experiences as a counselor, theater director and Arts Department Head at Kamp Kohut in Maine, and recently as the Assistant Director at Camp Curtain Call in Virginia. Cori has also had the opportunity to direct several children’s theatrical productions and perform in countless productions herself.
Dee Billia, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, joined the staff of Appel Farm in 2007. Billia was the Vice President of Communication for the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) where she created and implemented communication strategy. Media relations, publications, and external and internal and communication strategy were part of her responsibilities. Prior to her tenure at the NJSO, Billia was Director of Marketing and Public Relations at the New Jersey Theatre Alliance (NJTA), an award-winning statewide service organization for professional theatres . She coordinated marketing and audience development initiatives like the New Jersey Professional Theatre Calendar, Family Week at the Theatre and njArtsTix. org, a discount ticketing service. She holds a B.A. in Theatre from Barry College, Miami, Fl. Billia has served as a trustee for Opera at Florham and Harmonium choir. In 2002 she was named Arts Advocate of the year by the Arts Council of the Morris Area.
Nicole Schaller, Director of Arts Education, received a Masters of Art degree in Museum Education (K-12) from the University of the Arts, Philadelphia, in 1997. She also holds a B.F.A. degree in Ceramics from Arcadia University in Glenside, PA (1993). She came to Appel Farm in 2002 from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where she had been Family Programs Coordinator since 1998. She has taught at the Clay Studio (ClayMobile), the Cheltenham Center for the Arts, Shriner's Hospital, and Catholic Social Services. She is a regular presenter at the Delaware Valley Association for Educating Young Children conferences, and serves on the Arts Education Working Committee for Arts Plan/New Jersey (New Jersey State Council on the Arts). She is a member of the Education Committee of the South Jersey Cultural Alliance and represents the Center at the Arts Education Collective of the NJSCA.
Lawrence Schmidt, Director of Special Projects. A native of southern New Jersey, Schmidt has over 20 years experience in the state’s nonprofit cultural field as a program officer, administrator and consultant. He joined Appel Farm in March 2007, having worked previously at Trenton's Old Barracks Museum; the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, the state's partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities; The Noyes Museum of Art, and Tuckerton Seaport. Schmidt studied history and historic preservation at the University of Pennsylvania, from which he earned a B.A. He has served on numerous boards including those of ArtPride New Jersey and the New Jersey Association of Museums, as well as on committees of several county arts agencies and conference panels. He is presently serving his fourth term as president of the South Jersey Cultural Alliance, a member service organization for nonprofit arts, history and cultural groups in eight counties of southern New Jersey.
