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Summit Artspace Leadership

Staff

Natalie Grieshammer Patrick​

Executive Director
Email: natalie@summitartspace.org
Phone: (330) 376-8480 ext. 1

Anna E. young

Director of Artist Programs and Exhibitions
Email: anna@summitartspace.org
Phone: (330) 376-8480 ext. 3

Antonio Rion

Operations and Event Manager
Email: antonio@summitartspace.org
Phone: (330) 376-8480 ext. 0

Amber Bishop

Community Engagement Coordinator
Email: amber@summitartspace.org
Phone: (330) 376-8480

Melih Meric

Education Outreach Coordinator

Email: melih@summitartspace.org
Phone: (330) 376-8480

Nick Lee

Gallery & Programs Coordinator 
Email: nick@summitartspace.org
Phone: (330) 376-8480

Natalie Grieshammer Patrick is an arts leader, artist, and curator from Akron, OH. Over the past decade, she has dedicated her visionary, results-driven leadership to serving local artists in Northeast Ohio. Grieshammer Patrick’s work is driven by the goals of empowering artists to create their own path to success and to create a more sustainable landscape for artists to call home. 
  
Through her previous role as Director of Artist Resources at Summit Artspace, Grieshammer Patrick has made a significant impact on the organization, the artists it serves, and the community. Her contributions have been instrumental in defining how Summit Artspace serves local artists and carries out its mission.
Over her tenure, she reimagined its galleries and hallway spaces throughout the building to more strategically serve exhibiting artists and engage visitors while expanding artist professional development programs, grounding them in research from nationally based organizations to ensure they address artists’ most pressing needs. 
 
In addition to leading artist-serving initiatives, Grieshammer Patrick has been influential in creating a more financially stable organization in partnership with previous Executive Director, Heather Meeker. Natalie’s work at Summit Artspace has included strategic planning, relationship building, and fundraising. Her concepts for new artist programs led to transformative grants from the John S. & James L. Knight Foundation, Peg’s Foundation, and the Ohio Arts Council. 
Before transitioning to a staff role at Summit Artspace in early 2021, Grieshammer Patrick served on the Board of Directors in 2020. Previous arts leadership roles include Gallery Director at Praxis Fiber Workshop, Donor & Member Program Manager at the Cleveland Museum of Art, and Arts & Programming Manager at Akron Soul Train. She served as a member of the Community Advisory Council at the Akron Art Museum beginning in 2022. In 2021, Grieshammer Patrick was the recipient of the 30 for the Future Award by Greater Akron Chamber, which recognizes up-and-coming leaders in the community. 
  
For over fifteen years, Grieshammer Patrick has been a practicing fiber artist. She employs non-traditional materials to create large-scale weavings that highlight the celebrations and challenges of feminine identity. Her artwork has been shown in galleries and museums throughout Northeast Ohio including at the Akron Art Museum, McDonough Museum of Art, and Transformer Station. Natalie is also a partner and strategic advisor at Akron Recording Company, which she founded with her husband in 2017. 
  
Grieshammer Patrick holds an M.A. in Arts Administration from the University of Akron and B.F.A. in Fiber and Material Studies from the Cleveland Institute of Art. 

Anna E. Young is an artist and arts advocate. She holds an M.F.A. in Photography from Cranbrook Academy of Art and a B.F.A. from the University of Akron, with minors in Printmaking, Art History, and Professional Photography. Young is an assistant lecturer at the University of Akron, Myers School of Art, in the 2D Design and Photography department. She is the co-founder of KINK Contemporary, an arts organization whose mission is to support emerging artists and curators. Artistically, she creates fine art photographs, prints, and silicone sculptures revolving around contemporary social issues, body dysmorphia, trauma, and mortality.

Amber Bishop is a memory worker, artist, and filmmaker based in Ohio, dedicated to uplifting and protecting Black stories. The work aims to capture their Black experience, revisits the past, and reimagines the future, focusing on alternative sites of memory and the Black fantastical life. They enjoy making films and video installations, and archiving the internet. She exhibited at institutions such as Summit Art Space, the Wexner Center, Aurora Dallas, and Akron Soul Train. Currently, they are a Woods Whole Film Festival Programming Fellow and help run youth programs in their neighborhood. Amber earned her MFA in Documentary Studies and Production at the University of North Texas and recently joined the staff at Summit Art Space.

Melih Meric (b.1998, Istanbul/Turkey) is a printmaker and educator. They received their MFA in Print Media from Cranbrook Academy of Art, and BA from Bennington College in Printmaking. Melih has been an educator through the Essential Experiences program in partnership with APS, serving as a Gallery Teacher at the Akron Art Museum and previously as Educator at the Akron Children’s Museum.


Their visual arts practice explores a spiritual journey through Islamic geometric abstraction. Using printmaking as their main medium, they create works that talk about diaspora, assimilation and a combination of Middle Eastern traditional practices. Their works combine traditional pattern making and a contemporary way of creating editions of prints. With a passion for pattern and paper, they use innovative methods of printmaking and textile arts to create stitched editions and embossed works on paper. Their works have been exhibited in NYC,
Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin, Vermont, Texas and internationally in Germany, Australia, Netherlands, Austria, and Turkey.

They received the Individual Excellence in Visual Arts Award by the Ohio Arts Council in 2025,
and serve as a member of the selection committee for Waterloo Arts Gallery in Cleveland.

Nick Lee is a painter and 2021 Kent State University graduate. Lee’s work is inspired by the diversity of the human experience. As a Japanese-American, Lee’s visual art strives to better represent minorities like himself in American portraiture and Western art. Motivated by self-discovery, Lee uses symbolic Japanese objects in his paintings to connect with a culture that was never taught to him growing up.  Lee is the 2023 recipient of the Distinguished Citizen for Art Education for the Northeast Ohio region by the OAEA. Lee is also the recipient of the 2024 Arts Alive Emerging Artist award by Summit Artspace. 

Antonio Rion (he/him) joined Summit Artspace as Development Intern in August 2021. Antonio earned his undergraduate degree from Kent State University in Music Performance with a concentration in flute. He has always been interested in the arts, specifically music. Antonio is active in numerous ensembles, and operates a private flute studio.

Board of Directors

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Micah Kraus

PRESIDENT
Artist/Owner, Work Studio Ltd
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RObert L. tucker, ESQ.

VICE-PRESIDENT
Attorney at Law, Retired
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Alexandra Eliopoulos

SECRETARY
Visual Art Teacher/Dept Chair, Old Trail School
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Amanda Novelli

TREASURER
Dir., Development & Communications, Grace House
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Robert Reza Greer Sr

DIRECTOR
Artist/Owner True Story Collective
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Catherine McKinley

DIRECTOR
Artist and Admissions Counselor, Stark State College
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Ashley Moore-Dunson

DIRECTOR
Leadership & Team Development Coach Co-Owner, MooreDunson Co
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Kristen Nervo Dowey

DIRECTOR
CEO, OneKey Virtual Care
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Jill Oldham

DIRECTOR
President/CEO, Greenleaf Family Services
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ROBERTA ROGERS

DIRECTOR
Recreation Supervisor, City of Akron Recreation and Parks
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Karen Starr

DIRECTOR
Co-Owner and Interior Designer, Hazel Tree Interiors
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Bronlynn Thurman

DIRECTOR
Program Officer, The Cleveland Foundation
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Brandon Waithe

DIRECTOR
Director of Education and Learning, Urban League

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