Business of Craft Workshop - Speaker Bios

Cynthia Blake Sanders is an experienced intellectual property and media lawyer with a practice spanning copyright, trademark, fair use, licensing, advertising, and technology transfer issues. She represents publishers, advertisers, advertising agencies, filmmakers, record labels, producers, performing artists, visual artists, songwriters, authors, graphic designers, health care companies, colleges and universities, trade associations, and software developers. A textile artist and graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art, Cynthia is an active member of Baltimore’s arts community. She is a volunteer attorney and serves on the board of Maryland Lawyers for the Arts. She also serves on the boards of the Advertising Association of Baltimore (AAB), and the Black Cherry Puppet Theater, and serves as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maryland, School of Law where she teaches Entertainment and Sports Law. Cynthia is a member of the Maryland State Bar Association’s Intellectual Property and Entertainment and Sports Law Sections. She earned her B.F.A from MICA in 1985 and her J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1999. Cynthia lives in the Roland Park community of Baltimore with her husband, artist D.S. Bakker and children Anna and John. Cynthia enjoys running, yoga and gardening.

Thomas Wynn was born in Baltimore, Maryland, where at the age of 15 he received his first camera as a gift. Thus a new outlet of artist expression was born and a new direction in life was started. While attending college and working as a photographers assistant Thomas entered into the Medical Photography training program at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. This is also the time he realized the importance of computers were to be in the future of photography. He went out and purchased his first Macintosh and self taught himself Photoshop. After leaving Hopkins he went to work for the University of Maryland at Baltimore and now currently manages the Photography and Arts Section for two divisions of the National Institutes of Health. He currently teaches workshops around the country based of alternative processes for photography. Thomas Wynn’s works are shown in galleries on the east coast and he has been published in various books, medical journals and Rolling Stone magazine.

Nita Gale was introduced to the World Wide Web while working for Winterland Productions, then the marketing division for MCA Music / Universal Pictures. She was immediately inspired and began to see its practical applications. After receiving a Presidential Appointment to civil service, she had the opportunity to make her ideas a reality. Using materials garnered from the many off site training classes at the Department of Defense's Leadership Development College she began to write her first bit of code. Working at night, her plan was to make classes no longer dependent on budget or time constraints but to offer every employee the opportunity of education " at your own pace - in your own space." Upon completion of her project, she presented it and a supporting paper "Workforce 2000" to key members of the DoD. Her initiative was hugely successful quickly becoming the DoD standard practice. After completion of her federal commitment, Nita entered the private sector. She worked at Solomon Smith Barney (Citigroup) as the lead java developer and her project was mentioned in Bill Gates' Business @ The Speed of Thought. She then became lead developer or special projects team leader for other companies in their initial on line ventures, including but not limited to Sotheby's and Sotheby's Amazon joint venture, IBM, Datek, iCopious, and Town Sports International. She also contributed to special projects and kiosk displays for BMW International and the NFL.

Amelia Ariella Levin is the founder and President of Baltimore’s Best Bookkeeper, Inc., a growing accounting and business support company serving a wide variety of local enterprises for eight years. A seasoned entrepreneur, Ms. Levin founded and participated in a real estate firm that operates in Baltimore, as well as closely participating in family enterprises including investment, engineering and manufacturing activities. Ms. Levin is a 1980 graduate of Goucher College with a B.A. in Theater. Her participation in the arts ranges from acting to nurturing her own crafts and art creations enterprise, Sun Fire Galleries. Ms. Levin is a member of the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers and a Quick Books Pro Advisor with 25 years of bookkeeping & accounting experience.

Jen Menkhaus has close to 10 years experience in retail merchandising and buying. She spent several years working for Anthropologie, one of the most respected lifestyle merchandising companies, and there developed a mastery of the relationship between sales and display. She later worked as a decorator, buyer, and sales analyst for a local interiors store, where she learned about the day-to-day of managing an independent business. Jen applied this knowledge as the Exhibitor Services Director for the Philadelphia Buyers Market of American Craft, where she advised craft artists on booth display, product line development, pricing, marketing, and building relationships with buyers. Jen currently runs her craft business, The Littlest Bean, does consulting and marketing for craft artists, gives talks on product line development and gallery relationships for craft artists, occasionally teaches at MICA's Creative Entrepreuneurship Program, and helps run the Baltimore Etsy Street Team, all while chasing around her 3 year old daughter.