Our Staff & Board

Making It All Happen.

Our Staff

Board Executive Committee

  • Virginia Cleary (2027)

    President
    (Chapel HIll)

    Virginia grew up in Raleigh, attended UNC-Greensboro, studied Interior Design, and earned her master’s in business from UNC Chapel Hill. She has worked in the commercial interiors industry in Greensboro, Washington, DC, and Raleigh. She has served on the vestry of her Episcopal church in Raleigh and has volunteered and worked for several non-profits throughout her career.

  • David Bradsher (2027)

    Treasurer
    (Falls Church, VA)

    David is a seasoned accountant with over 25 years of experience serving clients large and small. He started his CPA career assisting small and medium-sized businesses, including nonprofits.

  • Sophie Potts

    Acting Secretary

    Sophie is the Center’s projects manager and is currently acting as the board’s secretary.

Board Members

  • Aaron Wilcox (2027)

    (Wilmington)

    Aaron is a practicing artist and Professor of ceramics at UNC Wilmington. He is the primary faculty member for UNCW's Ceramics Program and has taught various courses, including Sculpture, Design, and Senior Exhibit.

  • Barbara Wiedemann (2026)

    (Chapel Hill)

    Barbara joined the UNC School of Social Work in 2022 as assistant dean for strategic communications and marketing. She previously served at Carolina as a communications strategist with UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media (2018–2022) and as director of UNC’s in-house design team (2006–2008). Her service to the state also includes roles with the North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) as publications director and, earlier, as head graphic designer. She is also an avid pottery lover.

  • Brenda Hornsby Heindl (2026)

    (Liberty)

    Brenda is a graduate of the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture who has been making pottery since 20210. In the summer of 2012, she became a co-owner of a farm, where she had the chance to put down some clay roots and, with a Regional Artists Project Grant, built a 60-cubic-foot wood-firing kiln. For her work, she uses the method of single firing, which has given her the chance to experiment with glazes made from local clay, ash glazes, and natural clay glazes.

  • David Zmiewsky (2025)

    (Pinehurst)

    David is an avid pottery lover and a Market Executive working out of First Bank's (FBNC) Seven Lakes office. He has over a decade of banking and financial experience and expertise.

  • Heather McLelland (2026)

    (Wilmington)

    Heather was born in Seoul, Korea, and grew up in Montclair, Virginia. Heather received her BA in Psychology from Elon University with a minor in Art. She furthered her education at UNC at Wilmington, where her interest in wood-fired ceramics started. Continuing her pursuit in clay, Heather did an apprenticeship in Cromarty, Scotland. Prior to Attending ECU, Heather worked as a studio potter and ceramics technician at Cape Fear Community College and UNCW while also teaching classes at Orange Street Pottery in Wilmington, NC.

  • Joseph Sand (2025)

    (Randleman)

    Joseph is a wood-firing potter and ceramic artist. He studied general art with an emphasis on ceramics at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. During a year abroad in Italy with the University of Georgia-Athens’ program for art students, Joseph committed himself to becoming a professional artist. He then studied at the University of Wolverhampton, England, and later became an apprentice for potter Mark Hewitt in Pittsboro, NC. Joseph owns and operates a pottery studio and shop in Randleman, NC.