Alumni Founders | 2014-2015
We are a group of eleven artists and storytellers, who founded Ampersand in 2014. We created Ampersand because we believe that creativity is an ongoing narrative, which continually reinvents itself to viewers and listeners. Read more about us below.
Christina Campodonico, dabbled in everything from ballet to architecture, considering herself an all around arts enthusiast. She is a true Southern Californian – in part because she lived “back east” for four years in college – and to this day believes bad days are only possible if you forget your sunglasses.
Roles: Managing Editor, Producer, DanceMapLA Reporter, Executive Producer of The Drive Home
Stephanie Case is a Philadelphian turned Angeleno who’s always looking for new books to read, music to listen to, and artists’ brains to pick. She loves radio – and thinks listening to stories about the arts might be even better than reading them.
Roles: Executive Producer
Danielle Charbonneau approaches the world with wide eyes, looking to discover fresh sub-cultures, meet new people and stay fascinated. With deep passion for social work — particularly involving the homeless and addicted – she is interested in examining the role of art in social work through immersive, participatory journalism.
Roles: Social Activism Reporter, Visions & Voices Liason
Meghan Farnsworth is a writer and journalist whose work has been featured in SHK Magazine, Brooklyn Spectator Magazine, Full Stop and the Hechinger Report. Inspired by anything colorful, creative and edgy, she loves fashion, the music of the underground and pop culture. (Kathleen Hanna once told her that she should start a rock band.)
Roles: Host, Web Designer & Social Media Manager
Ana Luisa Gonzalez is an arts reporter, who recently came to Los Angeles to pursue visual storytelling. She is originally from Bogotá and keeps inspired by Latin American arts and its potential cultural dialogues. As a short story lover, she also seeks to tell new stories through multimedia.
Roles: Latino/a Culture Reporter & Social Media Editor
Heather Heise writes on the intersections of music, performance, and new media technologies. She lives for down-to-earth conversations about time-based art. Trained as a classical pianist, she likes detective stories, vintage Samsonite, and science fiction films.
Roles: Music and Media Reporter
Maureen Lee Lenker is a native Angelino who hates driving and cites peacoats and scarves as her favorite clothing items. She is an Anglophile, who attempted to fulfill her dream of attending Hogwarts by completing her master’s in British History at the University of Oxford. She is a cock-eyed optimist, rom-com aficionado, classic movie buff, musical theatre geek, and general pop culture enthusiast.
Roles: Theatre, Musical Theatre and Film Reporter
Elizabeth Nonemaker began her creative life at six writing songs for the violin and drafting picture books about talking rabbits. Today, she spends her time in much the same way. A composer, writer, and candidate for an M.A. in Specialized Arts Journalism, she hopes to continue building a broad artistic career: one encompassing music, journalism, creative writing, and arts promotion.
Roles: Critic-at-large & Music Reporter
Uttara Valluri is a visual and dramatic storyteller who frequently travels to sate her wanderlust. She came here in August from Mumbai to feed the beast and report on Los Angeles’s arts & culture & entertainment & creativity. She fell for Hollywood and is now a budding documentary filmmaker. Although she is very passionate about Hemingway, she also loves to binge-watch soccer on television.
Roles: Photo, Video & Architecture Reporter
Myah Williams is a southern girl who fell in love with movies as a child, went to New York City to study them and moved to Los Angeles to work in their business. Her passion for storytelling and interest in cultural representation led to arts journalism. Walt Disney said it’s kind of fun to do the impossible. She agrees. #defygravity
Roles: Opinion Editor, DanceMapLA Reporter, PR & Marketing
Vanessa Wilson is an introverted horror-movie-junkie new to Los Angeles. She is continuously impressed by LA’s thriving art scene and ever-appreciative of In-N-Out’s accessibility down here. Although she is now at USC, she remains a Cal bear at heart.
Roles: Visual Arts Reporter & Critic
Explore the Founders’ Archive here!