Together, We Spark Wow
WE=The Heart+Hustle Crew
Catherine Debrocke
Founder+Executive Director+Educator+Activator (AKA Our Fearless Leader)
Meet Cat (she/her), enthusiastically wacky and unapologetically in love with Art+Community.
Cat created the mission and vision for The Center | Art + Community from a core belief: that creative practice can help build a more connected, equitable community, and that every human deserves a space where they can feel safe, seen, celebrated, and empowered to thrive. As Founder and Executive Director, she is passionate about building The Center with the community, cultivating partnerships, amplifying voices, and creating opportunities for people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities to meaningfully contribute.
Cat identifies as creative ADHD; her attention can be delightfully hijacked by just about anything with creative potential. Her life as an artist, educator, curriculum developer, and community-builder spans decades and seemingly every creative discipline she can get her hands on: dance, plants, sculpture, music, murals, clay, painting, design, and everything in between. Cat has taught and led at Sparhawk School, Essex Art Center, and River Valley Charter School, serving in roles ranging from art teacher to school administrator. Along the way, she has initiated countless collaborative art and community projects designed to bring humans together and create space for people to be seen, heard, and part of something bigger. Her work has crossed age groups, classrooms, communities, and applications, always rooted in the same belief: Art is a powerful tool for creating connection, telling stories, and elevating human voices. This is exemplified in the community project she led, Building a Better World: The Wave Mural Community Mosaic.
At The Center, Cat brings that same infectious mix of curiosity, deep artistic knowledge, playfulness, and creative chaos to everything she does. She believes creative practice belongs to everyone, and that some of the most meaningful art happens when we stop worrying about being “artists” and simply start making things together. You might find her covered in clay, surrounded by a million ideas, enthusiastically chasing the next creative possibility or quietly shedding a tear of pure heartspace joy while watching the magic unfold at The Center.
She’s pretty freakin excited to be living this dream in real time!!
Daniela Currie-Gutierrez
Chief Heart & Hustle Officer+Educator+Activator (AKA The Best Person You’ll Ever Meet)
Daniela (she/her) is an artist, educator, and community-builder who believes that creating together is a powerful catalyst for human connection. Deeply rooted in family, culture, and curiosity, Daniela’s work is driven by the conviction that art is a vital doorway to social justice, new perspectives, and deeper self-awareness. As a foundational member of The Center | Art + Community, she was among the dedicated hands that helped bring the art center from Cat’s vision to a living reality, pouring endless hours into its creation for a greater, collective purpose.
Born in Mexico City and raised in Puerto Rico and New Hampshire, Daniela earned her degree in Art Education from the University of New Hampshire. Her lifelong dedication to service includes impactful work with AmeriCorps and 18 months of grassroots volunteering across Latin America. For 13 years, she taught art at Sparhawk High School, where she treated education as a daily practice in building belonging—whether through exploring culture, traveling, celebrating PRIDE, or simply sharing a meal.
Today, Daniela brings her passion for creative, process-based exploration to her roles at The Center | Art + Community and Heartwood Nature School. For Daniela, art is a crucial tool for advocacy and protection. In light of current culture that target vulnerable populations, she recognizes the urgent, undeniable need to cultivate safe, welcoming spaces where families can gather without fear. Through inclusive programming, collaborative public projects—like the installation of The Wave Mural in downtown Amesbury—and intersectional activism, she works to ensure The Center serves as a sanctuary of joy, resistance, and mutual support. Daniela is immensely grateful to collaborate with the inspiring women and local partners who are actively shaping a more just, expressive, and connected community for people of all ages.
Lizzy Keery
Artist-in-Residence+Creative Operations+Educator+Activator
Lizzy (she/her) is a multidiscipline artist whose creative process is connected through the process of collage. Across her work in dance, video, ceramics, textile and paper her method is the same - take things apart and put them back together.
Lizzy’s background includes teaching English through Performing and Visual Art in Barcelona and Arts Integration at the River Valley Charter School. Lizzy helped weave creative thinking and artistic practice across disciplines, using art as a way for students to explore ideas, make connections, and engage more deeply with their learning. Her work reflects her belief that creativity isn’t confined to the art room, it is a powerful way of seeing, questioning, communicating, and understanding the world. Lizzy also served as a co-lead on Building a Better World: The Wave Mural Community Mosaic, a large-scale collaborative public art project created through the contributions of thousands of community members. The project beautifully embodies her belief that community is something we create together—and everyone should have a hand in making it.
Lizzy is a fan favorite at The Center. Her fresh perspective, coupled with years of field experience across the globe and as a homegrown community member and Montessori raised student and teacher, has shaped her ease of approach, reaching each community member and individual, regardless of age and ability. She is also just a generally super freakin rad human and artist!! She keeps her personal studio at The Center.
Across teaching disciplines Lizzy values the process of making. She believes that creativity is intrinsically human and is passionate about it’s power to build and sustain community.
Under Construction…
More Stellar Staff + Our Exceptional Board of Directors
