CAW Adds New Program Staff
We are pleased to introduce you to three new members of the Creative Art Works family: Program Manager Donna Maganello, Program Manager Riki Sabel, and Program Associate Maddie De Leon. We’ve been having a wonderful time incorporating all three of them them into the team over the past few months, and we hope you will enjoy learning a bit about them as well.
Erika “Riki”Sabel, Program Manager
Erika, who goes by Riki, became a Program Manager in the fall of 2022 after working as a Teaching Artist during the 2021-2022 school year, and then with the Monte de Flores mural team last summer. Riki first fell in love with teaching art to young people while working at the Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College. After working on a mural with Robert Gober at Glenstone Museum, she knew she wanted to continue working on large-scale projects, so CAW felt like a natural fit.
Riki’s personal art practice is grounded in drawing and painting, but she likes to dabble in all the mediums including installation, sculpture, and ceramics.
Donna Manganello, Program Manager
Donna has spent most of her career managing and operating arts-based youth programs throughout New York. She holds a BA in psychology from St. John’s University and a master’s degree in applied psychology with an emphasis in child and adolescent development from Adler University.
Donna enjoys spending time with her eight-year-old daughter and taking ballet classes. She also sells crocheted hats, scarves, and stuffed animals at craft fairs and on her Etsy shop.
Madeline De Leon, Program Associate
Maddie first worked for Creative Art Works as a summer public art Youth Apprentice in 2016. Later, she worked as a Teaching Artist Assistant on three mural teams between 2020 and 2022. Maddie joined the core staff as a Program Associate this fall. She graduated from Borough of Manhattan Community College with honors and holds an associate’s degree in animation and motion graphics. She is pursuing her BA in digital art from City College.
When she is not working, Maddie is a huge fan of comics, video games, 90’s grunge music and nu metal. She is a huge professional wrestling fan, and “The Undertaker” is one of her favorite wrestlers. On weekends, Maddie enjoys giving painting lessons to her cousins.